Out of focus and Over exposure

[wordlesstu]

Hi,
I brought my D200 to shot at Arabia Mountain in Georgia yesterday. I was trying to experiment different combination of Aperture/shutter speed to see what is the best. I come across couple questions, and I am looking forward to hearing all your comments. Just a short note, does anyone know how to find out what Aperture/shutter speed I used once I uploaded the image to a computer or the album? Do I need to download a particular software?

Group 1 photo:
1. For this shot, I want to was trying to show the tree and the detail of the land, and allow the sunlight come in through the upper right part. However, how can I let the sun stay in shape in the photo instead of radiating out the lights? Can anyone also comments on which photo comes out the best result?

1. Group1-01

Group 1- 02

Group 1-03

Group 1-04

Group 02 - For this photo, I want to achieve: 1. The reflection of sun on the lake. 2. The detail of the stone. When I lower the exposure down, the stones are too dark. When I increase the exposure, the reflection of the light is not as detail. Can anyone advise?

Group2-01

Group 2-02

Group 2-03

Group 2-04

Group 02-05

More in the next post.Thank you, :cheerful: everyone!

 

[wordlesstu]

Group3: Same concerns as Group 1 photo. How do I have the detail of the land and trees, allowing the sunlight coming through in the meantime allowing the sun in shape?

Group3-01

Group 03-02

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Group 3-05

Group 4:The Same concerns as Group 1 and Group 3 photo. How do I have the detail of the land and trees, allowing the sunlight coming through in the meantime allowing the sun in shape? One question comes with uploading the images of Group 4. I was trying to rotate the image on the default edit image function of this website.I tried to rotate it vertically or horizontally, 90/180/270, the image does not right. Can anyone advise how to rotate the image using the album default setting?

Group 4-01

Group 4-02

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Group 5: In this photo, I tried to achieve a shadow- like feel of the plants. Somehow it was out of focus. Can anyone advise? I also seek for the opinion of the best result out of these three photos.

Group 5-01

Group 5-02

Group 5-03

Thank you.:cheerful:

 

[Horoscope Fish]

... How do I have the detail of the land and trees, allowing the sunlight coming through in the meantime allowing the sun in shape?

What you're running into is a matter of Dynamic Range and it's a bit of a sticky wicket for all photographers.

The "big stick" solution is to use HDR, or "High Dynamic Range", photography to overcome the problem. It requires a particular shooting technique (bracketing) as well as specialized software, such as PhotoMatix which works with the bracketed photos and merges them into a single image.

The other, lower-end approach, would be to work with the shot in post processing. Your best bet would be to expose the shot for the Highlights (meaning no blown out Highlights) and then do the best Shadow recovery you can. It would be a bit of a juggling act to see you can strike an overall exposure you're happy with.

 

[wordlesstu]

Hi,

Thank you so much for your response.:encouragement: I have follow-up questions.

What you're running into is a matter of Dynamic Range and it's a bit of a sticky wicket for all photographers.

The "big stick" solution is to use HDR, or "High Dynamic Range", photography to overcome the problem. It requires a particular shooting technique (bracketing) as well as specialized software, such as PhotoMatix which works with the bracketed photos and merges them into a single image.

In this case, does it mean it is beyond D200's capability? If I want to have better image quality, I should buy a more update to date camera?

The other, lower-end approach, would be to work with the shot in post processing. Your best bet would be to expose the shot for the Highlights (meaning no blown out Highlights) and then do the best Shadow recovery you can. It would be a bit of a juggling act to see you can strike an overall exposure you're happy with.

Other than retouching the photo, will a polarizer help to prevent blow out from highlight? and when I took the shot, should I set "Spot metering" or "Matrix metering", or "Center-weight metering" ?

Thank you!

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Hi,

Thank you so much for your response.:encouragement: I have follow-up questions. Other than retouching the photo, will a polarizer help to prevent blow out from highlight?

Unfortunately a polarizer will not help with dynamic range issues. I told you this was a sticky-wicket! So while a polarizing filter will, obviously, reduce polarized light of course, that's not the issue here. It will reduce overall exposure slightly but that's still not the heart of the issue. To restate things, dynamic range -- the spectrum of the brightest Highlight to the darkest Shadow -- is the heart of this issue; and your camera can only handle "so much" dynamic range. Once that range is exceeded one of three things will happen depending on how the dynamic range is being exceeded: 1) Parts of your image will have more light than the sensor can record while showing detail, and those area will (Highlights) will "blow out" which means they are pure white and without detail. 2) Parts of your image will too little light for the sensor to record any detail and those areas (Shadows) will be "crushed", or completely black and without detail. 3) The image will have both blown-out Highlights AND crushed Shadows because the dynamic range has been exceeded at both ends of the spectrum.

.....

and when I took the shot, should I set "Spot metering" or "Matrix metering", or "Center-weight metering"?

I wish there was a simple answer to this question but, like most things in photography, it depends... How you meter is determined by how you want the final image to look. Do you fully understand how the different Metering Modes work? If not, you should start there. Either way, there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to exposure. We could be standing side-by-side, shooting the exact same scene at the exact same time and we might have very differing ideas about how the shot should be exposed. The best thing you can do is learn to read and understand Histograms. Once you really understand what your camera's histogram is telling you, you'll be able to get the exposure you want every single time. Histograms are directly tied to your camera's dynamic range so as you learn about one, you're learning about the other. And having a really, REALLY solid understanding of these two things will elevate your photography exponentially.

 

[wordlesstu]

Thank you! :encouragement:

 

[Dawg Pics]

You can use a tripod and take several different exposures as suggested and stack them in photo processing software, then "erase" the overexposed and underexposed parts.
Anytime you shoot into the sun, you are going to have this problem unless you willing to do a lot of post processing.

What computer are you using, and do you have any processing software? I believe Nikon Capture NX-D is a free download on their website. Also, are you shooting in jpeg?
On my iMac, if I right click on the thumbnail, and then click "Info", a panel will appear with the image information.

 

[Dawg Pics]

This isn't my best effort, but it will give you an idea of things that can be addressed in post.

 

[wordlesstu]

Hi,
Thank you so much for the tips. I am using Mac, and I don't have any experience with processing software. I am shooting on JEPG. I will download Nikon Capture NX-D and be playing with it. I fond out the thumbnail you are referring to. Thank you! :cheerful::cheerful:

 

[wordlesstu]

Hi,

Thank you so much for the explanation. I will study Histograms. :cheerful:

 

[Dawg Pics]

When you are ready and decide you like post processing. RAW format is much easier to work with. Good luck.

 

[wordlesstu]

Got you! Thanks!