Images with strong contrasts

A quick tip:  What to do when the image has areas of strong contrasting light.

In this image my grandson was looking out the window into the blinding snow storm.  This type of image creates an extreme challenge because if I expose for the outdoors then the indoor part of the image [my grandson] would be underexposed.  If I expose for my grandson then the outdoor part of the image is 'blown out' or way to light to make out any detail.  What do you do?  In this image I exposed for my grandson's left cheek.  I wanted to ensure as much detail of his face is preserved as possible.  I always shoot in RAW and process the images in Lightroom which permits a tremendous amount of latitude for image processing.  Once the image was in LR, I used the adjustment brush and the graduated filter tool to darken the outside portion of the image.  Years from now, we will look back at this image and remember the snow storm of Jan 09. 

Remember, go out and capture the beauty of life!

Reality TV for photographers

If you have not seen this reality TV series for photographers; check it out. Each week new segments of the show are posted to the site with the 'winner' to be chosen by the viewers. Apprentice has nothing on this show!

Snow lady and off camera flash

We were blessed with 8+ inches of snow over the weekend.

Job 38:22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

Treasures in the snow? Yes, the snow will melt and fill the water tables. I will not take the space to write about all the treasures in the snow. However, here are a few. 1. The snow will fill the water tables better than the rain. 2. There are vital nutrients in the snow for the ground and some state this is the reason why the grass is so green in the areas of the country that receives 'lots' of snow. [I know our grass is very green in the spring, summer, and fall.]

Now to the picture. My wife created this interesting and unique snow lady. To add dimension to the image I lit the scene with my flash off camera and to the left of snow lady. I used a small [large number] aperture so the background would darken and she was lit more than the back ground.

Yes, those little speckles are snow in the air. It was snowing while I was attempting to shoot this image. :-)

Settings: f/16. 1/150 second ISO 800 with the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens