When we are shooting scenery, we will inevitably encounter some environments with high light ratio. The camera is different from our naked eyes, which can be adjusted automatically. The limited latitude of the camera does not provide a good balance between highlights and shadows. For example, the sky and the ground, if the light ratio is too large, we will find that either the dark part is pitch black or the sky is pale. At this time, we are going to solve the problem through some special means.
There are many methods, such as: shaking the black card, gradient mirror, HDR post-production and so on. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.
Table of Contents
Shake Black Card Technology
Advantages: the transition between light and dark is natural, and the color reproduction is real.
Disadvantages: The success rate is low, and it is easy to succeed only when the exposure is longer. Of course, the success rate will increase a lot after being proficient.
A more commonly used method, but it is generally used before sunrise or after sunset. Properly maintain a long exposure time to ensure the success rate.
As shown in the figure below, shooting parameters: manual exposure, aperture 11, exposure time 4 seconds.
Use of Gradient Lens
Advantages: convenient, and the price of the gradient lens is very cheap, and it can be used for one-time imaging.
Disadvantages: the color tone is easy to change, the picture quality is easy to deteriorate, and the gradient lens also has the problem of light gear. For each different light ratio, a gradient lens with a different light ratio gear should be used.
As shown in the figure below, shooting parameters: aperture 11, exposure time 1.3 seconds. The color of the sky has obviously changed.
HDR Post-production
Advantages: It is more convenient and easy to grasp by using bracketing to take several photos with different exposures. Through post-production, you can better take into account the details of the light and dark parts.
Disadvantages: Not very natural, especially the edges are prone to bright edges.
As shown in the picture below: Taken at the Catholic Church in Weizhou Island, bracketing and shooting three different exposure pictures. Canon DPP software post HDR production.
Some Other Tips
In addition to the above methods, let me share some tips below, hoping to help everyone.
Method: Take two photos with different exposures, or shoot in RAW format, and adjust the two photos with different exposures. Afterwards, it is processed by the PS post mask tool to take into account the exposure of highlights and shadows.
1. Meter the highlights
Meter the highlights and shadows separately, write down the parameters at that time, and fix the camera on a tripod to compose the picture. Manual M file exposure, adjust two different parameters and take two different photos (one with normal exposure for highlights and one with normal exposure for dark parts).
High-light exposure photos: The sky is exposed normally, and the dark parts are too dark.
Shooting parameters: manual exposure, Tv (shutter speed) 1/13, Av (aperture value) 11.0
Dark part exposure photo: normal exposure of the water surface, high light exposure of the sky.
Shooting parameters: manual exposure, Tv (shutter speed) 1/4, Av (aperture value) 11.0
2. shoot in RAW format
Without a tripod, shoot in RAW format, adjust two photos with different exposures in the later stage, and then synthesize them through the above-mentioned later stage methods. The prerequisite is to ensure that the highlights and shadows can retain certain details.
(1) Shoot the original film in RAW format, the highlights of this film are not overexposed, and the dark parts can also retain certain details, as shown in the following figure:
Shooting parameters:
Shooting mode: aperture priority automatic exposure, Tv (shutter speed) 1/200, Av (aperture value) 11.0, metering mode is evaluative metering
(2) Adjust the highlight to a satisfactory result. At this time, the dark part is completely black, but the highlight is normal. As shown below:
(3) Adjust the dark part to a satisfactory effect. At this time, the highlight position is pale, but the dark part is normal. As shown below:
Precautions for Using Large Light Ratio
This method is to be carried out under the premise of shooting in RAW format, and to ensure that the shooting time ratio cannot be too large. Appropriate remediation in the later stage can get more satisfactory photos. However, no matter how you remedy it, such processing will lose a certain amount of image quality, such as brightening the dark areas and there will be obvious noise. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you, if possible, don’t be afraid of trouble and try to use the first method to shoot. Of course, you can also choose other methods, the one that suits you is the best.
The large light ratio environment is an unavoidable situation that we encounter in landscape photography. But if the light ratio has exceeded a certain level, no matter what method you use to shoot and process, it doesn’t make any sense. Try to shoot in the early morning and dusk, because the light-to-light ratio at that time is relatively small, and the colors are rich and changeable.
The Use of Neutral Gray Density Lens and Gradient Lens
The filters with the highest usage rate of water scene slow gate include the use of polarizer CPL, medium gray gradient filter GND, medium density ND filter, and reverse gradient near RGND for shooting. The use of CPL is very simple, it is to make the sky bluer by rotating the filter, eliminate reflections, and make the water surface clearer. This article will describe the application of ND and GND, which are less exposed to everyone.
Mid-Gray Density Mirror:
The neutral gray scale mirror is also called the neutral gray scale mirror, or ND for short, its function is to filter light.
The main purpose of using the ND lens is to prevent overexposure. If the light is too bright, it is difficult to choose a slower shutter speed to shoot. At this time, using the ND lens to reduce the light entering the lens, you can use a slower shutter to shoot.
Under the same light conditions, aperture size and ISO, the higher the number behind ND, the higher the gear.
Due to process reasons, the larger the coefficient behind ND, the more color cast. When we buy ND, we only need to say “How many levels of dimming ND do I want to buy”. If you often shoot water scenes in the afternoon, then I suggest you buy a high-end ND. My current ND configuration is two pieces, namely LEE minus 3 gears and Lee’s big stopper minus 10 gears. These two ND lenses are sufficient for most of my shooting needs.
The basic principle of using ND
For example, to shoot at the beach, the aperture is set to 11, ISO is set to 100, we use spot metering to measure the brighter area in the sky, and the shutter is 1/1000th of a second after the measurement. We get a set of data that will take this photo: F11, 1000/1, ISO100.
If we want to shoot foggy water surface, or calm water surface like a mirror, a shutter of 1/1000th of a second is definitely not possible. At this time, we need to install the ND in front of the lens to reduce the amount of light. Because it was in the afternoon, the sunlight was relatively strong, and the shutter speed reached one thousandth of a second, so a 10-speed ND was used for dimming. What is the concept of dimming 10 gears? It is to reduce the shutter speed by 10 steps, and each step is to reduce the current shutter speed by half.
If the 16-second exposure does not achieve the fogging effect we want (to make the sea surface foggy, the big waves must hit the reef for more than 30 seconds), we can extend the exposure time in other ways. For example, reduce the aperture by one level, or adjust the ISO to 50, or even overexpose the photo by one stop.
Adopt right exposure mode
When shooting in RAW format, we recommend to use the “right exposure mode (refers to the histogram)”. 80% of the information contained in a photo in a digital photograph, which concentrates in the highlights, which means that if the photo is underexposed, many details in the photo will lose. Try to brighten the dark part of an underexposed photo in post-production, you will find a lot of noise. Camera has not recorded the under-exposure and the pixels, which caused the noises, so the software can only replace these pixels with noise.
This photo uses a 10-stop ND. The long-term exposure makes the clouds in the sky appear in a brushed shape that is usually invisible to the naked eye, and the impact is full. Designers have made some color adjustments in the later period to make the whole photo feel like the end of the world.
To shoot such a cloud effect, you must choose a windy day with clouds.
Digital photography can allow 1-2 files of overexposure. In the case of ensuring that the highlights do not overflow, I tend to overexpose slightly. In this way, the RAW file in the camera will be able to record more information in the photo. In the later stage, LR can pull back the overexposed part casually. And ensure that the information recorded in the entire photo is intact.
What should I do if there is no ND medium density lens?
When there is no ND, in order to increase the exposure time, you can lower the ISO to 50 and set the aperture to 22. This setting can maximize the exposure time. Photographer has taken the following photo without a filter.
GND gradient mirror:
Square insert type gradient, gradient lens come with two types, that is, hard and soft edges.
Hard edge transition: The transition between light and dark is sharper. Under normal circumstances, photographers often use it when shooting waterscapes, seascapes, and sharp horizons.
Excessive soft edges: Generally adapted to the situation where the transition of shooting mountains is not very sharp.
Photographers should use the gradient mirror GND when there is a light ratio between the sky and the ground (or water). Without using GND, we often took a picture with normal ground exposure and overexposed sky. That was pale with no details. Or the sky is exposed normally, but the ground is underexposed, and an exposure value that has the best of both worlds cannot be found. This situation is because the gray gradient mirror GND, which is necessary for landscape photography, is not used. In our daily shooting process, the sky is generally brighter than the ground. Therefore, in order to ensure consistent upper and lower exposures, we need a gradient lens to suppress the upper light. The upper part of GND is a medium gray area, and the lower part is a transparent area.
How to use GND gradient mirror
For example, to shoot a seascape, set the camera to F11 and ISO to 100. First, use spot metering to measure the lighter area in the sky and the shutter is 1/1000 second. And then we should use spot metering to test the darker area on the water. The shutter is 1/250 second. Then the light ratio of the upper and lower parts we get is different by two gears (1/1000 second reduced by one stop is 1/500 second, and reduced by two stops is exactly 1/250 second). Through calculation, we can conclude that the photographer has used a two-level GND to take this photo to achieve the balance of the upper and lower light ratios.
This photo is the most typical example of using GND, taken against the light. The sky light is very strong. If you don’t use GND, either the ground must be dark or the sky will be pale. After metering, the upper and lower light ratio has five gears. I used two GND stacks to suppress the glare of the sky.