camera settings to eliminate white out and dealing with blue sky background (1 Viewer)

digiscope09 · Dec 23, 2009

I notice when taking photos of white birds, that whilst the overall exposure of the photo is good, the feather detail of the bird is lost due to "white out".

Also, when attempting to take photos of birds against a blue sky or on reflective water, the camera has problems focussing. I have tried changing aperture settings and speed settings without a satisfactory solution.

I did read a comment on one of the forums some time ago about these problems but cannot locate them. Can anyone assist please?

finno

RJM · Dec 24, 2009

If the sun is behind you and evenly illuminating the bird and you don't care about background that will be cropped out, try using centerweighted metering if the bird is large or spot if it is small. If shooting program mode, adjust negative exposure compensation until the histogram or Playback highlight blinkies (if your camera has these functions) indicate correct exposure.

If the Sun is behind the bird and casting it in sillouette, you will need to apply positive exposure compensation.

If the Sun directly overhead or perpendicular to the side, it may be impossible to get proper exposure for the entire bird. Best to change position or perspective if possible or just make the best of a bad lighting situation.

merry christmas,
Rick

digiscope09 · Dec 26, 2009

RJM said:
If the sun is behind you and evenly illuminating the bird and you don't care about background that will be cropped out, try using centerweighted metering if the bird is large or spot if it is small. If shooting program mode, adjust negative exposure compensation until the histogram or Playback highlight blinkies (if your camera has these functions) indicate correct exposure.

If the Sun is behind the bird and casting it in sillouette, you will need to apply positive exposure compensation.

If the Sun directly overhead or perpendicular to the side, it may be impossible to get proper exposure for the entire bird. Best to change position or perspective if possible or just make the best of a bad lighting situation.

merry christmas,
Rick

Thanks Rick

Bosque Bill · Dec 29, 2009

If the camera is consistently blowing out the white feathers, try setting the exposure control to a minus setting. I use -0.3 as a default on my P6000 and go to -0.7, or whatever, if the conditions dictate.

The P6000 doesn't have a histogram display for shooting (only on playback which is near useless.) I just try to underexpose slightly and then fix it in Photoshop or CameraRaw, both which have histogram adjustments.

digiscope09 · Jan 7, 2010

Bosque Bill said:
If the camera is consistently blowing out the white feathers, try setting the exposure control to a minus setting. I use -0.3 as a default on my P6000 and go to -0.7, or whatever, if the conditions dictate.

The P6000 doesn't have a histogram display for shooting (only on playback which is near useless.) I just try to underexpose slightly and then fix it in Photoshop or CameraRaw, both which have histogram adjustments.

Thanks for the tips.

finno

camera settings to eliminate white out and dealing with blue sky background (1 Viewer)

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