lighting Clouds moving causes blown out highlights

ajedproduction

ajedproduction

Hi,

so I just did a little test shoot. It looked great as the clouds provided a nice diffusion of the sun. But then there were moments where the clouds would move and the sun would blow out the highlights in the shot, which looked horrible. How can I deal with this? I do not have a de clicked aperture lens unfortunately. I was shooting on the A7s and Canon 24 - 105mm.

Should I expose to the left a bit so keep those highlights when the sun comes out, then brighten up her face a bit in post? I tried to use a small LED light to brighten up her face so I can save the highlights in the sky, but it didn't really have any effect. Maybe I can have a big white reflector underneath the shot pointing at her face?

Her is a screengrab of the horrible blown out highlights.
1112yps.png
 
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A vari-ND filter will simpyl bring the exposure of the whole scene down - which may or may not be what you want. Yes - it might stop the highlight from blowing, but you'll start pushing the other side of the face into darkness.

If we were only looking at this shot as your expsoure, my suggestion would be to add more light to the shadow side of the face and then you can close down a touch and get it to sit right - at the moment, you've got shadow side a stop or two under, with the highlight a couple stops over.

The way you would deal with sun vs cloud is to either stop, and start shooting again when you get cloud cover - or set up a sail or frame with diffusion and keep shooting. We often encounter this on shoots where you're shooting for cloud, or you're shooting for sun and you end up getting the opposite happen halfway through - you need to look at what the clouds are doing, and make the decision as to whether or not to wait, or set up diffusion. If it's going to be in and out of cloud, you may need to wait; if the sun's totally come out - you'll have to bring out your diffusion frame.
 
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jax_rox said:
A vari-ND filter will simpyl bring the exposure of the whole scene down - which may or may not be what you want. Yes - it might stop the highlight from blowing, but you'll start pushing the other side of the face into darkness.

If we were only looking at this shot as your expsoure, my suggestion would be to add more light to the shadow side of the face and then you can close down a touch and get it to sit right - at the moment, you've got shadow side a stop or two under, with the highlight a couple stops over.

The way you would deal with sun vs cloud is to either stop, and start shooting again when you get cloud cover - or set up a sail or frame with diffusion and keep shooting. We often encounter this on shoots where you're shooting for cloud, or you're shooting for sun and you end up getting the opposite happen halfway through - you need to look at what the clouds are doing, and make the decision as to whether or not to wait, or set up diffusion. If it's going to be in and out of cloud, you may need to wait; if the sun's totally come out - you'll have to bring out your diffusion frame.
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Thanks to Jax for correcting me, always politely and with full info on why a solution is incorrect. I really appreciate that.
 
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You're definitely overexposed - even the shadow side is brighter than I'd shoot it. If you don't have ND then get one - it's essential for shooting outdoors on low-ISO cameras, let alone the A7s.

Also, are you shooting in a log mode to get the most dynamic range? A7s needs some heavy-duty ND for that since I believe it'll only shoot s-log(?) at a minimum of 3200 ISO - take a look at Philip Bloom's A7s seminar for some tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeX-eZXaRtw

Shots like this are why I love working with raw :) Here's something I shot today whilst goofing around with my Pocket Camera:

PCC.png


Had to step down and add a fair bit of ND to keep the clouds from blowing out.
 
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I cannot recommend investing in a light meter enough.

When the sun comes out, you'll be able to take a quick reading and adjust your exposure accordingly. You'll be able to meter the shadow side to be able to keep your exposure ratios the way you want them.

If you keep the highlight from clipping, you might be able to pull up the dark side in the grade, but my preference would be to shoot for what you want on th eday.
 
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Yes - knowing your way around a light meter is a useful skill - I have a rather lovely Gossen light meter but I rarely use it any more - still, better to have one and not need it eh?
 
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How to deal with clouds misbehaving?
Cut, wait and do another take.
Or adjust aperture/ND.
Depends on what is going on in the sky and the available time.

I've done both.
Sometimes the waiting takes more time than the shooting, but it is worth it to get a nice scene with matching shots.
 
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Yeah, this is a common problem in filmmaking. Those dreadful moving clouds. It's best to shoot on either a completely sunny day, or even better for more control; an overcast day.
 
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mussonman said:
Yeah, this is a common problem in filmmaking. Those dreadful moving clouds. It's best to shoot on either a completely sunny day, or even better for more control; an overcast day.
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ugh, when people start telling you about the video they want and it starts with a long complex intro during sunrise...one take of every shot! yay!
 
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WhiteOpus said:
ugh, when people start telling you about the video they want and it starts with a long complex intro during sunrise...one take of every shot! yay!
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That or a long complicated sequence that takes place entirely during magic hour.

Inevitably it gets cut short after we spring around shooting as much as possible in 1 hour...
 
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jax_rox said:
That or a long complicated sequence that takes place entirely during magic hour.

Inevitably it gets cut short after we spring around shooting as much as possible in 1 hour...
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You mean you don't just use the 'Magic Hour' preset in your software for every shot? :huh:

Just kidding.

I've done a few those and what I do this setup each shot beforehand as much as I can with the equipment we have. Then run through a couple of rehearsals to figure out any potential problems. During the actual hour, depending on the type of shot, I leave the camera running and do 2-3 takes, one after the other. Once I'm through the scene, go back and redo if light is left.
 
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I agree. Anything you try to do to adjust exposure mid-shot is going to be noticeable and will look bad. Wait for consistent cloud cover, or no clouds at all. Expose accordingly. And definitely invest in an ND filter!
 
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