I've taken a few pics recently that suffer from what I think is known as blown highlights but being a complete numpty at this stuff I'm not too sure if that's the right term.

Anyway here are a couple of examples of what I mean;

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b204/power_shot_a75/IMG_0297.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b204/power_shot_a75/IMG_0480.jpg

As you can see in the first image both on the right and the left the bright sunshine has saturated everything and in the top right of the second image the same again, so much so there is some purple fringing.

So the question is how do I get around this, tha camera is a Canon Powershot A75 and I know next to nothing about photography.

TIA

To get around it.....

The A75 is a compact camera, and I'm not sure if you can get any filters for it, so that the shots where excessive light and darkness are in one picture can be achieved in one click.

It looks as though you could have underexposed both those pictures to get a better result. Obviously, on the second picture you didn't need the detail of inside the room.

What mode are you using to shoot?


If I was in your situation, I would under-expose the shots to obtain the information that is being blown out and then join (in photoshop etc.) it with the normal shot.

The fringing is a nightmare. There is a major problem with many optical devices like cameras and scanners where there is a hard contrast. It looks to be fairly bad on this test picture: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A75/FULLRES/A75DBWBM.HTM

It does sometime mean that a bit of photoshopping is required, although there is a nice feature in Photoshop CS2.

There is more to it than that, but I don't have the time to explain and give example pictures. Maybe next week ;).

To get around it.....

The A75 is a compact camera, and I'm not sure if you can get any filters for it, so that the shots where excessive light and darkness are in one picture can be achieved in one click.

It looks as though you could have underexposed both those pictures to get a better result. Obviously, on the second picture you didn't need the detail of inside the room.

What mode are you using to shoot?


If I was in your situation, I would under-expose the shots to obtain the information that is being blown out and then join (in photoshop etc.) it with the normal shot.

The fringing is a nightmare. There is a major problem with many optical devices like cameras and scanners where there is a hard contrast. It looks to be fairly bad on this test picture: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A75/FULLRES/A75DBWBM.HTM

It does sometime mean that a bit of photoshopping is required, although there is a nice feature in Photoshop CS2.

There is more to it than that, but I don't have the time to explain and give example pictures. Maybe next week ;).
First of all thanks for the reply :)

Yes the camera can use filters, you can buy 2 different adapters that screw on and you can then use either a 37mm or 52mm filter, depending on which adapter you go for. So if I were to get this what filter would I need to use?

As far as settings are concerned, looking at the properties of them the first says Shooting Mode - Program AE, Photo Effect Mode - Off, Tv( Shutter Speed ) - 1/80, Av( Aperture Value ) - 4.0, Metering Mode - Evaluative, Exposure Compensation - -2/3, ISO Speed - Auto, Lens - 5.4 - 16.2mm, Focal Length - 11.3mm, White Balance - Auto, AF Mode - Single AF
& the second is
Shooting Mode - Program AE, Photo Effect Mode - Off, Tv( Shutter Speed ) - 1/40, Av( Aperture Value ) - 2.8, Metering Mode - Evaluative, Exposure Compensation - 0, ISO Speed - Auto, Lens - 5.4 - 16.2mm, Focal Length - 5.4mm, White Balance - Daylight, AF Mode - Single AF.

I did go back and have another go at taking a shot of the fence with different settings to see what difference it would make, the best seemed to be this one;

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b204/power_shot_a75/IMG_0496.jpg

This was shot using these settings Shooting Mode - Aperture-Priority AE, Photo Effect Mode - Vivid, Tv( Shutter Speed ) - 1/25, Av( Aperture Value ) - 5.6, Metering Mode - Spot, Exposure Compensation - 0, ISO Speed - Auto, Lens - 5.4 - 16.2mm, Focal Length - 13.4mm, White Balance - Auto, AF Mode - Single AF.

So other than a filter is there any other adjustments I should make, I've taken a few shots in the recent sunny weather and quite a few have suffered from this issue, even ones in full sun as opposed to those above which are taken in a shaded position and it's starting to get annoying :mad:

All comments gratefully received ;)

I think you'll need graduated neutral density filters to stop the highlights being blown when the difference between the shadows and highlights exceeds the range that your camera can handle -- about 3 stops for digital cameras/slide film. These filters come in several densities (ex. 1,2,3 stops) and can be combined. I'm currently saving my pennies to buy some Lee ND grad filters but as they are glass, they are not cheap. I don't know what filters are available for your particular model of camera but you would ideally go for something like the Lee/Cokin system whereby you can slide the filter(s) up and down in it's holder to position it to where you want rather than mount it on the lens as you would with say, a Skylight or UV filter.

Alternatively you could meter the scene so that the exposure setting you use keeps the highlights within the range and let the shadows go dark. Later you can bring out the shadow detail in Photoshop. Once you've blown the detail in the highlights, you've lost the information but with the shadows you can bring out more detail than you might think. Try doing a search on Google for metering for highlights. This article from Fred Miranda is also useful I found http://www.fredmiranda.com/A16/

Hope this helps.

I think you'll need graduated neutral density filters to stop the highlights being blown when the difference between the shadows and highlights exceeds the range that your camera can handle
Yep


But with the shadows you can bring out more detail than you might think.

Photoshop has a great little shadow/highlight function. However, as we all know it's best to get the shot right in the first place.

Photoshop has a great little shadow/highlight function. However, as we all know it's best to get the shot right in the first place.

Is that in CS2? I haven't upgraded yet and am still pondering whether or not it's worth the money (currently using CS1).

Also agree that it's best to get the exposure right first time. In the first shot I would have underexposed by a couple of stops and also changed the composition so that the top of the bridge is cut off and going for a symmetrical shot breaking the beloved rule of thirds (which I'm usually banging on about). :)

Is that in CS2? I haven't upgraded yet and am still pondering whether or not it's worth the money (currently using CS1).

Also agree that it's best to get the exposure right first time. In the first shot I would have underexposed by a couple of stops and also changed the composition so that the top of the bridge is cut off and going for a symmetrical shot breaking the beloved rule of thirds (which I'm usually banging on about). :)
Shadow/Highlight is in CS1 although it isn't functional in CMYK mode whereas CS2 it is.

Makes mental note....must pay more attention to the new features in Photoshop.

Cheers 68K!

Some interesting reading there Frenchie, thanks for that, wouldn't say I inetirely understood it all but I think I get the idea.

I have had a play with the spot metering mode on the camera and it did make it easier to reduce the blown highlights but in the situation is was shooting in I found once I got the highlights under control the subject was way too dark :(

I'll have another go sometime this week if the weather is OK and see how I get on, thanks for the help guys :)

Once you have persuaded the camera not to over-expose and burn out the detail, you then need to open you editing software and bring the brightness of everything else up, by using Curves, Variations or whatever you like really.