Landscapes at dusk/evening

[vinnyvagus]

Hi there. I've just purchased my first DSL which is a Canon 450D. now i need some help here and hope I can explain clearly what my issue is. I am taking a landscape picture around dusk time and the sky is still pretty bright but the grass and trees along the bottom of the shot are pretty dark and covered in shadow but with my eyes i can still see the detail of the tress etc.. Now when I take the picture it seems there is no detail to the tree line and is very dark, now I'm sure this is due to the brighter sky but I am not sure of the technique to use to show more detail in the darker shadows? I assume its to do with exposure setting...but i am not sure. i am taking the picture at f16 and experimented with iso 200, 400 and 800... but still the dark shadows on the grass/tress (bottom of the landscape) show no detail and covered in darkness.....

I hope I've explained this well enough.

Thanks

[leemo]

Hi Vinny, The reason the foreground is darker than the sky, is that the number of stops (exposure) is greater than the camera can record.. There are a couple of ways to remedy this, first the use of graduated filters, this will allow you to bring the exposure of the sky down.. Second is to shoot multiple images at different exposure settings, this could be just two images or as many as nine. You can then blend the images together using various software packages.. Hope this helps a little..

Lee

[vinnyvagus]

Hi Lee
Thanks for the reply. Sorry if I sound dumb here but whats a graduated filter? Is it a gradient filter or am i completely wrong here? So to over come this - it seems a filter is the only way (apart from editing afterwards)...and its not any kind of setting or technique i need to perform with my camera?

I did try increasing the exposure by +1 stop and this brought more detail (brighter) into the darkened trees etc.. but at the same time the sky became even brighter!

thanks for the quick reply.

[leemo]

Hi Vinny,
A graduated filter is darker on the top section and gradually decreases to having no effect on exposure at all.. They attach to the front of your lens, using an adapter filter holder..
Each filter refers to the amount of light or stops they hold back, example, 1 stop, 2 stop, etc,etc... This helps you to calculate the difference between the sky and the foreground..

If you put your camera into Aperture mode and take a reading from the sky, lets say it reads 1/250 @ f22 and you then point the camera at the foreground, (try not to get the sky in frame when you do this) and it reads 1/60 @ f22.. Then the difference between the sky and foreground is 2 stops of light, you then choose a 2 stop filter, place this onto your lens, put your camera in manual and dial in the reading for the foreground. 1/60 @ f22, therefore balancing the exposure.. You then have a starting point for which you can experiment...

Cheers
Lee

[chris-p]

*** leemo suggested you could try HDR.

The best tutorial on the web is here. It's a 10MB pdf file but is the best and most comprehensive tutorial you'll get. I've got a FAQ and hints & tips HDR tutorial here

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by vinnyvagus

Hi there. I've just purchased my first DSL which is a Canon 450D. now i need some help here and hope I can explain clearly what my issue is. I am taking a landscape picture around dusk time and the sky is still pretty bright but the grass and trees along the bottom of the shot are pretty dark and covered in shadow but with my eyes i can still see the detail of the tress etc.. Now when I take the picture it seems there is no detail to the tree line and is very dark, now I'm sure this is due to the brighter sky but I am not sure of the technique to use to show more detail in the darker shadows? I assume its to do with exposure setting...but i am not sure. i am taking the picture at f16 and experimented with iso 200, 400 and 800... but still the dark shadows on the grass/tress (bottom of the landscape) show no detail and covered in darkness.....

I hope I've explained this well enough.

Thanks

you can't compare what you see with your eyes to what the camera sees also, remember that when you look at the foreground your eyes refocus to take in the details. If you look at the sun and straight away at the trees, then they will appear dark to you until your eyes refocus/ adjust. In sunsets most focus on the sun to bring out the red of the sun/sky. If you want to image the light instead of the sun, then just angle your camera down until the sun isn't in view. On the first image below I focused by the sun whilst, on the second I angled the lens down to underneath the sun.





Click photo for bigger size.

You can achieve this sort of thing without filters (preferably with cloud above the sun to avoid a burnt out sky)



using AF/AE lock : - Focus in area without the sun in view, lock and pan to shot.


Regards
Andy

[vinnyvagus]

Originally Posted by beauxreflets

You can achieve this sort of thing without filters (preferably with cloud above the sun to avoid a burnt out sky)



using AF/AE lock : - Focus in area without the sun in view, lock and pan to shot.


Regards
Andy

Hi Andy. Thanks for this. I have looked up AF/AE lock and just read about it. now I want to go and try this out

Have fun Vinney - and I look forward to seeing how you get on

Cheers
Andy

[charwood23]

I had the same problem Vinny and went down the filter route. For sunest I'd recommend a Hard Grad filter of around ND6 or even an 8 (ND = Natural Density & the number, the number of full stops in exposure reduction). This will reduce the exposure of the bright sun or sky. The hard grad means that the graduation between the clear part of the filter and the dark part is more abrupt. Pretty much a straight line. This is ideal for scenes with a clear horizon. I find AE lock good for scenes with contrasting colours but even on Andy's brilliant image above, the sky is burnt out. Each technique has its merits but for sunsets etc reducing the strength of the sun by blocking light with a filter, I feel, gives better results but each to their own. Once you have your filter system you can add different filters, common ones being polarisers, and full ND filters (non graduated). The Cokin P system is a cost effective if you by a third party holder and adapter ring (£12.00 total)