Thread 4458705

How do I deal with the sky being super bright compared to the rest of my photo?

There's a few options
>Expose for the sky only and just make that a thing
>Expose for foreground and live with blownout skies
Both of the above will have a huge say on how you compose your shot. I.e the sky will become the subject, or largely excluded.
Alternatively, you take two exposures, one for the foreground and one for the sky. And then combine them in some software such as lightroom.
There is also physical graduated filters you can use.

>>4458706
I should also say that if you're shooting RAW you can probably correct the expsosure

>>4458705 (OP)
If you want to solve the problem before you even take the photo, you can use a special filter called a graduated neutral density filter. It's basically a piece of tinted glass that's dark on top and clear on the bottom. You slide it in front of your lens, and the dark part covers the sky, making it less bright and easier for your camera to expose everything evenly.
Another option is to bracket your shots. This means you take three or more photos of the same scene without moving your camera. One photo is exposed for the bright sky, one for the middle ground, and one for the dark foreground. Then, you can use software to combine these photos into a single, perfectly exposed image. This is a common technique for a lot of landscape photographers.

Just use a modern camera with enough DR to expose for the sky and push the ground.

>>4458705 (OP)
Circular polarisers reduce the intensity of the sky by 'polarising' it. They also have the effect of reducing all light transmitted too. The photo you posted is taken with a CPL, you can tell because at ultra-wide focal lengths they tend to cause uneven polarisation, which is why the sky in the centre of the image is so much darker than to the sides.

>>4458705 (OP)
Just replace it lol >>4455026

>>4458711
gr8 b8 m8
>>4458710
this guy gets it

Polarizing filters will help darken blue sky (not cloudy skies though), but they also cut down on specular highlights and refections.

I don't want to derail this guys thread, but can some experienced anon give us noobs a quick rundown on physical filters? Like, what they do, and what they're used for?

>>4459432
ND - neutral density, lets less light through so you can use a wider aperture/lower shutter speed on a bright day
CPL - circular polarizer, spin it around to change the polarization of light usually to darken the sky, but also to remove/change highlights or reflections
UV - ultraviolet, unnecessary on any lens made since the late 70s due to improvements in lens coating but boomers love 'em
mist - makes your images softer, gives that 80s glamour model look
color filters - used for b&w to change up the tonality. usually come in red, orange, and yellow but other colors can be used too.
close up focusing - put them on your normal lens to covert them into a semi-macro lens at the cost of a bit more softness and loss of infinity focusing (picrel, used a stack of 3 close up focusing rings on my regular 50mm lens)
those are all the ones I know anyway

Graduated ND Filter or a Circular Polarising Filter

/Thread

>>4459432
They filter light

It's already been said, but just to add to it... Take raw photos. Find your automatic exposure bracketing (aeb) setting and set it so it also takes over and under exposed photos after your medium exposed shot. (Usually about 2 stops over and under is pretty inclusive) Then change the drive mode to an automatic one (not single shot) with a little 2 second countdown to avoid camera shake.

Combining in light room is literally just clicking on all 3 photos (while holding control) and selecting Photo Merge -> HDR.

>>4459440
> UV - ultraviolet, unnecessary on any lens made since the late 70s due to improvements in lens coating but boomers love 'em
generally used today as a lens protector (against physical damage) as a more convenient alternative to using a lens cover.

>>4459440
CPL - circular polarizer, spin it around to change the polarization of light usually to darken the sky, but also to remove/change highlights or reflections

I never understood why my CPL filter was spinnable. I fell a bit dumb but now I know, lol. Thanks anon.

>>4459560
desu, I've never understood why they're called CIRCULAR polarisers when the actual important filter part is a linear polariser (hence why rotating it matters). The circular polarisation is done on the already filtered light as linearly polarised light messes with autofocus.

>>4459560
Very easy to test. Look through the filter at your monitor. As you spin it you'll see the screen get darker and brigher (or yellower and bluer if you've got it backwards). That's what happens when two polarisers meet; your monitor uses a polariser as well. Note not 'all' monitors actually polarisers, but yours probably does.
Also quite easy to see if you go outside and spin it around while looking at some foliage or bush in the sunlight; at a certain orientation the greenery looks more vibrant. That's the angle you'd want to use if you were shooting in that spot and wanted to make that bush look better.

>>4459568
>make that bush look better
That's what I told your mom last night. lmao

>>4458705 (OP)
am I missing the joke here, or do you guys not know about exposure bracketing?

>>4461084
Exposure bracketing is for people too lazy to peep rgb histograms and work with the flat picture profile

Merging brackets = phone photo