3 Tips For Dealing With Bright Skies in Landscape Photography
3 Tips For Dealing With Bright Skies in Landscape Photography
Today I’d like to talk about a very common, but Dynamic range refers to the limit of light values to
important challenge: dealing with bright skies in our dark values that a camera is capable of capturing.
landscape photos. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll Think about standing outside in bright sunlight and
find that like most common frustrations this one can then trying to look inside of a shadowy room. Your
be surmounted with a bit of planning. eyes will have difficulty picking out detail in the
As a new photographer, I distinctly remember facing shadows. A camera suffers from the same issues.
this challenge early on. In such a scenario, you would essentially have to
choose between exposing for the outdoor lighting
I had snapped a shot of a lovely vista, and when I (bright values) and exposing for the indoor lighting
returned home, I found that while my landscape itself (dark values).
was well exposed, my skies had vanished into a white
blur. Fortunately for us, the human brain performs
complex computation that tricks us into thinking we
This was frustrating, as the cloudy sky had added a have better dynamic range with our vision than we
great deal of drama to the image. actually do!
I immediately recognized the basic issue: my camera Different cameras have different levels of dynamic
was metering for the darker parts of the scene, and in range. Typically, high-end, or professional-level,
doing so had blown out my highlights. cameras will possess the ability to capture a wider
dynamic range. Luckily, for amateurs, technology has
Unfortunately, at the time, I was unsure as to how I trickled down over time, meaning that most cameras
should combat this. If you’ve ever found yourself in today are miles above their earlier predecessors.
that situation, this tutorial is here to help you.
I’m going to start off with the most basic technique your photographic journey – so if you haven’t done it
– using post-processing to help negate the effects of yet, now is as good a time as any!
limited dynamic range. As I mentioned earlier, every
camera is different, and some will benefit more from Raw image file editors vary widely. Lightroom is
this particular method than others. a common program for editing and cataloging
photo image files, but you can also download free
The first step in this post-processing workflow lies programs like Raw-Therapee or GIMP.
within your camera. If possible, you should set your
camera to capture “raw” files. Most cameras, and Recommended Reading: This tiny section on
even some cell phone cameras, allow “raw” capture. post-processing could easily fill a book. To discover
even more in-depth techniques and easy-to-
Simply explained, raw image files are the ‘digital understand explanations on processing raw image
negative’ obtained by reading out the sensor data files, check out Photzy’s premium guide, The
from your camera (without any in-camera alterations). Ultimate Guide to Fundamental Editing.
Many of us, myself included, began taking pictures in Even if you shoot raw image files, there are limits to
the .JPEG format. While JPEGs are easy to manage what a camera can capture.
due to their size, and even easier to share online,
they are a compressed format that is difficult to edit Therefore, you must make the best use of your
without creating artefacts. cameras imaging sensor by understanding the nature
of digital imaging.
Raw images, on the other hand, are a larger file
size, and cannot be opened or shared without first Digital sensors tend to do very well at recovering
processing them in specialized software. details in the shadows, and they struggle to retain
highlight information (when clipped beyond a certain
While this may sound intimidating, learning to shoot, point). This means that, in most cases, you should
and process, raw image files is an important step in expose your image slightly to the left (to the left on
Most cameras require that you activate the ‘bracketing’ Many photo editing programs, like Lightroom, feature
function, which automatically under and overexposes a built-in ‘Merge to HDR.’ Simply select all of your
some image frames for you. image files (from the bracket) and then click the ‘Merge
to HDR’ button. The program will align and merge the
In some cases, you may even have to manually set your images into a single, high dynamic-range frame.
exposure.
If your editing software doesn’t have an HDR option,
Assuming your camera has a bracketing function, the you can find many free HDR programs online that will
in-camera process is quite simple. do the job just as well.
Place the camera on a tripod (it is important that the The most important thing to remember about HDR
framing remains identical throughout the shots), and is not to overdo it. It’s quite easy to create unnatural,
then look for your bracketing setting in the camera’s cartoonish-looking images, including off-colored,
menu options. oversaturated-looking skies. However, if you use a light
hand, this technique will allow you to create stunning
Once you activate the bracketing function, you will images.
usually need to fire off several consecutive shots to
complete the bracket. How many shots there will be in Recommended Reading: If you’re
the bracket is determined by how you set the bracket interested in improving your post-processing
up. Most cameras allow for three or more frames to be workflow, check out Photzy’s premium guide,
included in the bracket. Understanding Masking.
Recommended Reading: If
you’re interested in improving your
post-processing workflow, check out
Photzy’s premium guide,
Understanding Masking.
1. What is dynamic range? For this field assignment, I want you to put into
practice one of the techniques that I described
2. What does a graduated neutral density in the article. Which one you choose is up to
filter do? you.
3. What does HDR stand for? 1. The first step is to find an ideal candidate
4. Which type of image file is larger and for your shot. This should be easy enough,
harder to use, but provides superior as bright skies are all too common, even
quality? in rainy or snowy climates. Remember
that you can shoot in any genre you want
5. What function on your camera is critical – though architecture and landscape
to shooting High Dynamic Range photography often benefit the most from
images? these techniques.
Have fun!
Blog: david-veldman.squarespace.com/blog
Website: david-veldman.squarespace.com
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/themercurist
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