Chapter 1 Exposure - capturing detail

[casper]

hi everyone,
Fiirst post. My name is Casper (well, really its Noel, but either is OK), and I live in Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia. Trying to develop photography/photoshop skills ready for retirement in a few years. Got the Exposure book for Christmas, hoping someone can assist with my first challenge. Have a scene in my backyard I thought had similarities to the lightship image 1-2 (bright sky, shadows, detail in netting). Attached is is my favourite attempt. The wire screen detail is retained against shadows or dark background but detail disappears against the brightly lit water tank. Taken mid morning, I am facing west (photographs great in afternoon when tank is in shade). Shot manual at ISO 200, F6.4, 1/400, Auto WB, with Fuji Finepix S100FS ("Advanced Zoom"/"bridging" type). I would appreciate any comments or advice about the photograph or the problem. Thanks.

[goldcoastgolfer]

Hi Casper.

I'm up on the Gold Coast so not too far away from you.  I think the question I would pose here is what is your subject.  For me, with the way the light is the tree in front of the water tanks seems to feature more prominently than anything else.  It's also a fairly busy scene so I'm not sure where to direct my gaze.

Mid-morning lighting in Australia is quite harsh and you do end up with the high contrast of bright light and dark shadows.  I'd be interested to see this scene in softer light - say late afternoon.

Cheers,

Malcolm

[casper]

Thanks for the response, Malcolm. I wasn't thinking of a particular subject, simply an exercise in exposing for bright and dark while trying to maintain detail throughout. The dilemma is that if I capture detail in the darker areas, the brighter areas (sky and brighter parts of tank) are overexposed. I notice that Bill (statue, and stately building) and Anne (shingle roof) have the same issue with their subjects correctly exposed and the sky is overexposed. I have attached a late afternoon shot (an hour before dark - manual, F3.6, 1/10s, ISO 400). At this time the scene is backlit, although it was a bit overcast. I took this one from a bit further back, 28mm wide angle. Body of tank is now correct colour but sky and bright top of tank are now overexposed, and still losing detail in the wire mesh of the screen wherever the wire is not in front of a dark background. Thanks again for your comments.

[goldcoastgolfer]

High contrasting exposures are definitely always a challenge. I know a lot of people get around the problem now through her or postponed processing.