Forum Moderators: not2easy
Anyway, the front view is partly in the shade all day and we are finding it difficult to get a nice sunny photo to put on the front page of our website. It is not possible to take a photo of the back.
Can anyone please suggest how we can get a decent photo to attract potential guests
someone else can probably give a bit more advice on that.
BUT, if youre still struggling and have access to photoshop, you can open the photo in there, duplicate so you have two copies on seperate layers, and set the top one to 'screen' .
The play with the opacity to get a lightened up image :)
i do have photoshop and could probably do what you suggested by lightening one of the copies. however, the shadow covers parts of the property but not other parts so i would not want to lighten the whole photo?
it is a big headache for me.
Many cameras with automatic exposure set the exposure level as the shutter button is pressed, but before the exposure is actually made.
In difficult lighting situations, such as a back-lit subject as you describe, you can use this to your advantage.
Approach the subject, and frame the critical area of the subject so that it fills the viewfinder -- In your case, the part of the villa that is in partial shadow, say halfway between fully-shaded and fully-lit. Do not include any fully-lit area in the viewfinder.
Now push the shutter button most of the way down, short of the point where the photo will actually be exposed.
Holding the shutter button down, back off and frame the entire subject area you want. Then push the shutter button fully to expose the photo.
Your camera may or may not have this 'exposure hold' mode. If it does, you'll get a better image.
Jim
Using flash to "fill in" dark areas can be amazingly effective and easy, so do try it.
Rgds
Damon
Use a flash to fill in the shady areasSorry, maybe I didn't describe the situation correctly. It is the OUTSIDE of the villa that I would like to be 'shadow free'.
Because the villa is north facing, it is not possible to get a shadow free photo because the sunshine casts a shadow.
Therefore, a flash in the sunlight would not work.
I most often use fill-in flash outside rather than inside, precisely to "fill-in" the shadows from strong sunlight.
By eye it looks like it cannot possily work, but it can!
We may of course still be misunderstanding one another, so Google for "fill-in flash" and see if the various tutorials you'll find are any clearer.
Rgds
Damon
By eye it looks like it cannot possibly work, but it can!My camera is a very basic no-zoom Sony digital DSC-P32. I see that there is a 'lightning' icon on the flash selections so I presume this is the fill-flash. I will test it on the next sunny day.
To get good results with photography, you have to start with a good original image
the link you posted is amazing - what a great improvement it makes to the whole photo. the colours are now much more colourful and the shadowed area are much easier on the eye. cheers a lot.
i suppose i have a slightly different problem now due to some much darker shadows only in certain sections of the photo. For example, a much darker shadow that is cast on the wall of the property due to an object.
Can these sections be made to look like sunshine is shining on them?
Try taking photos on a less than sunny day,Now that's an interesting idea. I will be flying to the property for 1 week in July and I bet I'm the only one hoping it will NOT be sunny (haha).
Maybe it won't be sunny in the early morning on late evening?
(If you (or anyone else) are interested in using natural light, I strongly recommend the book "Mountain Light" by the late Galen Rowell.)
Why not simply employ a local professional to do the job for youArkette - thanks for your suggestion. I just hate giving my money away to others when I can do it myself - after all they would only do what I am doing, right?
...But if the lighting conditions are tricky, your camera is basic, you are inexperienced, and the image is important to you, then the professional with the right gear may get you the results that you cannot otherwise get.
Do you service your own car with a cheap toolkit? Do you do your own electrical wiring using duct tape and prayer? Would you hire university professors straight out of high school?
Alternatively, buy yourself a nicer camera and have some fun learning how the get the effects that you want and become a semi-pro yourself.
Rgds
Damon
Nice valid points.
I would still like to try to get better photos by my own hand, with the help of advice from the forum of course. Surely it can’t be too difficult, just like designing and creating your own website? If I get stuck then I will call in the ghostbusters.
OR
In daylight, again lamps/floodlights. Use as many mirrors as you can find to reflect the light onto the property, white sheets or anything that will put the light where you want it.
Halogen floodlights are cheap...LOTS cheaper than a photographer.
Take a photo on an overcast day when the light is highly diffused through clouds. This will bounce more light into the shadows, proportionally. Wait till almost twilight and put on every light in the house. There is an exact time of day where the lights from the house are at about the same brightness as the ambient daylight. Shoot around that.
This will all need a long exposure - perhaps a quarter of a second or longer so use a tripod or set the camera down on something and use a cable release if possible. Then you raise the contrast in your editing software later and increase the color saturation. The pic will look so gorgeous no-one will miss any glaring sunlight!
You could use a fill-in flash, but light is subject to the inverse square law. Its easy to produce enough light to take closeups at a party, but to reach 30-50 foot away? Thats some flash.
Don't forget to bracket your exposures. That is, no matter what the camera wants to do, take a few with longer exposures and a few with shorter as well.
However, if you open one of your darker shots and in photoshop go to:
image --> Adjustments --> Shadow/Highlight and play around with that for a while ... you'd be surprised what it will do. You may have to also play with colour balance as well.
Sometimes (not often though) using "Auto Levels" can also work.
Good luck!
<added> I like Alex_Miles suggestion for doing a twilight shot. Excellent idea really!
Look up color correction, exposure problems and layer masks on the web.
There are 1000's of tutorials.
You have to learn some things or pay for them.
