[cdd29]

ok. Went to shoot an old iron truss bridge and creek. The sky is blown out and the rest looks good or the sky has clouds and detail and the rest is too dark and muddy. Hoping to expose for the highlights and pull the shadow detail out in post, but didn't quite work. I plan going back later in the week with my K3ii, 18-135 and see if it does any better. As this picture is, I'm happy with the exposure of the bridge and stream, but the sky is blown out with no clouds.

K-1, FA 15-30mm
f/4.5 1/80, ISO400

I should know better, but how to bring the detail from the bright sky and keep the detailing in the stream, bridge and everything else?

Attached Images

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[Ausable]

You could try bracketing the shot and then combine them with HDR software in post, or you could try the HDR option on the camera, or you could use a 2-3 stop graduated neutral density filter on the lens.

[bwgv001]

underexpose the darker parts. With software it's easier to lift that later. blown highlights you cannot fix.

[SelrahCharleS]

I've found I have to 'underexpose' according to the meter quite a bit in scenes like that. You could probably use the same settings and drop ISO down to 200 or even 100 and get detail in the sky, and pull up shadows to your liking in post (shooting raw). You can pull a lot out of the shadows on the K1 on a single shot, but there isn't as much room to recover highlights.

Otherwise if shooting with a tripod you could bracket exposures and combine them later, which will give you the best quality.

[cdd29]

I tried booth in camera HDR and doing it manually in Photoshop but didn't look great. I was underexposing by 2 stops at one point but was too dark. May be related but I have had issues with the K-1 overexposing. That's why I'm returning with a K3ii and 645z to check.

[tuco]

Was the sky even blue to begin with or have any texture to it at all? It looks like one of those white, hazy, textureless sky days. That kind of sky sucks with any camera. Perhaps convert it to a monochrome. If you go back with a different camera on a different day, I doubt the sky will be the same so that won't tell you much.

[stevebrot]

I should know better, but how to bring the detail from the bright sky and keep the detailing in the stream, bridge and everything else?
Attached Images

I don't know if the image shared above can be saved, but the solution to this problem when shooting digital is to do a series at different exposures (say a bracket of five at 1/2 stop increments around the metered setting) as the basis for merge using HDR software in post-production. In-camera HDR might also be a possibility, but to be honest, it is a feature that I have not had particularly good luck with. I use HDRMerge.


Steve

[SelrahCharleS]

I was underexposing by 2 stops at one point but was too dark.

Are you shooting raw or JPEG? You should be able to pull a lot of detail even from shadows that look nearly completely black from K1 raw files using a raw converter light Lightroom or Rawtherapee.

[AstroDave]

What is your exposure mode? Full aperture, central weighted, center?

For a shot like this, the best (only!) single shot exposure will be to expose for the sky (probably with center-weighted or even spot, and exposure hold) and (as others have noted) dig into the darker areas with your PP software. Shoot RAW!

[biz-engineer]

In such situation, scene dynamic range is too high for 18% gray exposure. I suggest three methods that I use:

Method 1:Single exposure in RAW with 3 stops soft ND grad filter, live view mode
- LV mode with outdoor setting +1 (due to day light)
- expose for the high lights in LV.
- not using the histogram
- enabling the high-light blinkies
- tweak the exposure until blinkies appear
- back off 0.3ev to be on the safe side
- take the shot

Method 2: Single exposure in RAW without filter, hand held, looking into OVF.
- set the light meter to spot mode
- set exposure compensation to +2ev
- point the center of the viewfinder to the brightest area of the sky
- press AE-L button while looking in the viewfinder to lock exposure settings
- re-compose for composition and take the shot.

Method 3: Multiple exposures
- with or without 3 stops soft ND grad filter
- set camera (K1) drive mode to exposure bracketing
- 3 exposures -2 ev, 0ev, +2ev or 5 exposures -3,-1.5,o,1.5, 3
Note: for hand held shooting, bracketing set to one push bracketing and bracketing order set to lower exposure first to minimize effect of camera motion

Others may use different methods.

[SpecialK]

The exif indicates an exposure for very low light. Was it shot at 7:46 PM? Hard to tell if that is an issue. Also, I would suggest not using spot metering.

[clackers]

Yeah, definitely a two frame job, CDD, combine in post!

[pschlute]

Agree with the others, take a number of shots (3 or 5) using raw, and do a HDR merge in software.

Or as an alternative you can cheat and add your own sky

[ProfessorBuzz]

I'd be temped to experiment with a Circular Polarizer to get rid of the wash-out effect, and a few ND filters or a gradient filter to help dim the sky. Otherwise you need to bracket and pick the best to work from in post.

[DonV]

There is no "single" correct exposure for that picture- JMHO.
Bracketing is your friend; as are the other suggestions from filters to post processing; I like the "added" sky as the ultimate choice!