Sunset Swans

[ajsmith]

Looking for tips for shooting high contrast images. How do you keep the details in the whites or light areas? Any other comments to improve the photos welcome. Thanks.

[FootLoose]

Exif would be helpful, Ali. Did you expose for the white feathers on the body of the swan in both images? Where did you set your focus point?

I like the second image, btw.

[ajsmith]

Hi Greg,

How do I publish the Exif data? The photos on my computer have the data, so somehow it is being removed when posting.
I thought that I had focused on the white swans, but possibly I did not and just focused near them.

[ajsmith]

I went back and read the document about the different ways to post photos. It look like the Tiny Pics does not strip out the EXIF data. I will try that method next post.

[Geoff F]

Some software will remove Exif information when the image is exported or the format is changed. For example where a Tiff or the 'native format' of your software is converted to Jpeg for uploading.

So you might still have problems. Just try it and see what happens.

As Greg said, swans, or other white birds, can be very difficult to expose perfectly, particularly in strong sunshine. Lightly overcast conditions sometimes produce better results.

Try spot metering on the white areas or using some exposure compensation to slightly under expose. But there can then be problems with the background becoming excessively dark; although this can usually be improved with careful editing.

ps. The general compositions looks fine to me.

[ajsmith]

Geoff,

Thanks for the tips. I will try those the next time I go to the lake for swan photos or on any light subject with a dark background.