Exposure miss. Work anyway?

[dlhartman]

Canon 40D
1/60
f/5.6
ISO 320

You wouldn't know it but Mount Rainier is in the background of this shot. I couldn't get the exposure right to have both the couple and the mountain clearly illustrated and in focus. So, I exposed for the bride and groom. However, I'm wondering if the sky looks too white and blown out? I love everything else about the photo but the angles of the trees draw your eye to a big empty space. Does it work regardless or should I scrap including it in the client's final disc of images? And if it doesn't work, how do I expose for both properly? (This was only my second wedding.)

[RichardTaylor]

Just a couple of thoughts from a hobbyst..

I agree with your comments re the blown sky and it doesn't contribute to the photograph..

A couple of things to try.

Use a ND grad to control the sky/background.

Or

Shoot a burst of bracketed exposures (normal and a couple of pics at a 1-3 stops under ) and combine the pics in PPing.

Or expose for the mountain & and use a fill in flash, off camera if need be for the couple.

Here is an example taken by my wife during a vacation using just a pop up flash as a filll in. It could have been done better but it will give you an idea.

(pics 2&3)
Exposure


Hope this helps.
Richard

[NicoleScraps]

Is this the only shot that you have to work with? Or did you take another one with the sky properly exposed? if so, I would try to combine the two somehow in PP. If this is all that you have, I would probably crop out the sky. Maybe keep them off to the left side of the frame, but with the top and bottom pretty tight on them. It is a great shot of the people though.

[dlhartman]

Originally Posted by NicoleScraps

Is this the only shot that you have to work with? Or did you take another one with the sky properly exposed? if so, I would try to combine the two somehow in PP. If this is all that you have, I would probably crop out the sky. Maybe keep them off to the left side of the frame, but with the top and bottom pretty tight on them. It is a great shot of the people though.

I did take another with the sky properly exposed but the bride and groom were out of focus. I tried to correct it as best I could but it definitely did not meet my expectations. To be honest, this being only my second wedding I really didn't know what I was doing (a fact I informed the couple of and I also didn't charge them - just wanted the experience) and for whatever reason, I could not both focus and expose. Am I missing something really basic here? I normally shoot portraits so this has never been an issue for me before because I shoot a wide aperture and want that nice blurry background but this photo would have been so much better with the mountain. How do I expose for the sky and still keep the couple in focus? Seriously, I'm sure this is a stupid question but I really appreciate anyone taking the time to teach me.

[NicoleScraps]

Well, I am still learning too, but I would think to get the mountain and the people in focus you would need to use a small aperture, not a large one. And more importantly, the bright sun coming over the trees was probably the cause for only being able to properly expose one or the other.

You're not allowed to post two photos, are you? I would like to see the one with the mountain, even if the couple is out of focus. I bet they could easily be combined in photoshop if you were in the same position when you took both shots.

But again, I am still learning too. I am sure one of the experts will chime in really soon.

[RichardTaylor]

Foreground & backround in focus.
That is not a problem .
Shoot at a relatively small aperture (F11-F22) and focus on the couple (as they are the main subject)

or shoot at the Hyperfocal distance.

Examples

(1)

Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/20
Focal Length 32 mm
ISO Speed 400

(2) Not a great photo but it will give an idea.



Camera Canon EOS 5D
Exposure 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/13.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off

re the exposure (not focus, see my first post)

A good reference book that may help is:

http://www.amazon.com/Captured-Light.../dp/0321646878

[RichardTaylor]

For a good thread on focussing see this (on this site):
Focus Method, expalantion needed please

[dlhartman]

Thank you! I now feel like a total idiot because duh, of course I knew that! It's so basic. That wedding threw my for a loop to say the least and I with so many people telling me where I needed to be and what I needed to shoot and that I only had TEN MINUTES I definitely let the stress get to me. Next time, I'll be more prepared.

[oldwolf]

The big difference between Richard's photos and your's is the fact his subjects are all in the sun. Your subjects were in the shade and probably deep dark shade from the looks of how overexposed your sky was.

You can turn on AEB (autoexposure bracketing) in your camera and take 3 consecutive pictures to help with that picture. The pictures will hopefully expose for the sky, background and couple but then you'd combine the pictures in post.

Your other solution would be to use a flash to help with the exposure. Expose for the sky and the let the flash help with the couple.

What's the other shot look like? You can still probably combine the two pictures together to get a nice shot where the background and the couple are exposed properly.

[neubauer6]

If you have access to Lightroom 3, add a graduated filter from the top down and darken the exposure. That should bring back some of the background details.