# Overexposed photos



## bjornebarn (Sep 13, 2021)

When talking about photography, people keep saying how important it is not to overexpose the photos, and how to rectify it when it happens. But I thought, why not take advantage of it instead. This is a photo of my wife (who has black hair), and even though it's heavily overexposed I like it. In particular how the main details are clearly visible (face, accessories, hair) with the rest whitened out, and also how the hat creates a sort of white shadow.

What do you guys think? How would you go about overexposing, and what to think about when taking the photos?


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## Jeff15 (Sep 13, 2021)

Hello and welcome, I think you have overdone the effect.


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## NS: Nikon Shooter (Sep 13, 2021)

The only technical aspect I got on my mind — prior to shutter release — is
to make sure that the capture is well within the limits of the camera's DR,
from there everything is possible; from cinematic lighting to overexposure.

ISO, SS, ƒ stops are all parameters important to consider prior to SR and
that is only to guaranty one's freedom of expression through artistic intent 
of all the options at one's disposal… within an other _subjective limitation_
known as good taste.


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## jeffashman (Sep 13, 2021)

Welcome! I like it!


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## Scott Whaley (Sep 13, 2021)

Very interesting photo.  I didn't like it at first, but it grows on you the more you look at it.   Nice job.


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## terri (Sep 13, 2021)

Welcome to TPF!

You're actually talking about high key photography.   Minimal blacks/midtones.  Look it up if you're interested in this approach.


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## bjornebarn (Sep 14, 2021)

Thanks a lot for your replies!  




Jeff15 said:


> Hello and welcome, I think you have overdone the effect.



Sure, the effect is strong, but of course the idea was not to have a "realistic" looking portrait. Do you have some examples of photos in this style that you like?



jeffashman said:


> Welcome! I like it!





Scott Whaley said:


> Very interesting photo.  I didn't like it at first, but it grows on you the more you look at it.   Nice job.



Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.



terri said:


> Welcome to TPF!
> 
> You're actually talking about high key photography.   Minimal blacks/midtones.  Look it up if you're interested in this approach.



Thanks, I had not heard about "high key" before. I will look it up.


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## bjornebarn (Sep 14, 2021)

NS: Nikon Shooter said:


> The only technical aspect I got on my mind — prior to shutter release — is
> to make sure that the capture is well within the limits of the camera's DR,
> from there everything is possible; from cinematic lighting to overexposure.
> 
> ...



Indeed, if everything is within the dynamic range, I can get whatever result I want in the post-processing, but I prefer avoiding post-processing as much as possible...


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## NS: Nikon Shooter (Sep 14, 2021)

bjornebarn said:


> … but I prefer avoiding post-processing as much as possible...



After all the work, the invested time and money, PP is the
time when my vision takes over and crowns it all.


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## bjornebarn (Sep 14, 2021)

NS: Nikon Shooter said:


> After all the work, the invested time and money, PP is the
> time when my vision takes over and crowns it all.



I guess it's a matter of getting used to it. Personally I am on Linux, and I only found a good lightroom program Yesterday (it's called darktable if anyone is interested). Until then it was always a pain, especially shooting in raw. At least now I can get a quick overview of the photos and easily convert them to jpg, so maybe I will start doing more post-processing


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## Granddad (Sep 15, 2021)

The pose and the young lady herself are very, very nice. My opinion matches Jeff15's, it's a bit too much. What mostly spoils it FOR ME (totally subjective) is the bottom half of the image. I think you could improve this with maybe 5 or 10 minutes in post by trying a couple of different crops and playing with the levels and highlights. I'd show you what I mean but your profile doesn't say that you allow editing.


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## smoke665 (Sep 15, 2021)

Welcome! Playing outside the box is what keeps photography fun. As Terry mentioned High Key and it's opposite Low key are two distinct styles that add interest and set a mood for the image. The pose in this one is really good, but the effect is off, because High Key isn't about overexposing or post processing.

As NS mentioned above its about managing the DR throughout the image. In the digital world you only have 255 shades of gray with 0 being pure black and 255 being pure white. If you "overexpose" and blow the whites nothing is recorded in the file, meaning you lose any detail in your highlights. The light hat the young lady is wearing becomes featureless as does the arm. On the opposite end 0 is pure black anything less is going to be black period, you lose your details in the shadows.

Depending on your camera you only have somewhere between 12-15 stops of DR. High Key is managing the exposure such that using your camera limitations you adjust your lighting and camera settings to capture the upper midtones and highlights. A little reading for you How to Light, Shoot, and Edit for High-Key Photography


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## bjornebarn (Sep 15, 2021)

Granddad said:


> The pose and the young lady herself are very, very nice. My opinion matches Jeff15's, it's a bit too much. What mostly spoils it FOR ME (totally subjective) is the bottom half of the image. I think you could improve this with maybe 5 or 10 minutes in post by trying a couple of different crops and playing with the levels and highlights. I'd show you what I mean but your profile doesn't say that you allow editing.


I see what you mean, especially about the lower half and the arms having disappeared.

I have changed my settings now to allow edits, so if you have some suggestions I would be very grateful. Unfortunately the photo itself was taken with a "tourist camera", that however allowed manual settings, eight years ago so I do not have a raw original. I might not even have the original jpg left :/

Maybe I can see if my wife can repeat the pose


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## bjornebarn (Sep 15, 2021)

smoke665 said:


> Welcome! Playing outside the box is what keeps photography fun. As Terry mentioned High Key and it's opposite Low key are two distinct styles that add interest and set a mood for the image. The pose in this one is really good, but the effect is off, because High Key isn't about overexposing or post processing.
> 
> As NS mentioned above its about managing the DR throughout the image. In the digital world you only have 255 shades of gray with 0 being pure black and 255 being pure white. If you "overexpose" and blow the whites nothing is recorded in the file, meaning you lose any detail in your highlights. The light hat the young lady is wearing becomes featureless as does the arm. On the opposite end 0 is pure black anything less is going to be black period, you lose your details in the shadows.
> 
> Depending on your camera you only have somewhere between 12-15 stops of DR. High Key is managing the exposure such that using your camera limitations you adjust your lighting and camera settings to capture the upper midtones and highlights. A little reading for you How to Light, Shoot, and Edit for High-Key Photography


Thank you! I'm really just an amateur and photography is only a small hobby of mine, so every now and then I do some mistake and realize that it could actually turn into something fun and less standard, such as this photo.

I like how the hat is featureless, but regarding her arms and body I agree that they are too blown out. 

Indeed if I had taken the photo within the DR, I could have chosen afterwards what details to highlight and what to remove, now the above is what I'm stuck with.

I will read up on your link, and try to repeat the shot. Now that I have a proper camera as well it should be easier to get something decent


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## Granddad (Sep 15, 2021)

bjornebarn said:


> It's not brain surgery, it's photography; if you make a mistake nobody dies. Try again!I see what you mean, especially about the lower half and the arms having disappeared.
> 
> I have changed my settings now to allow edits, so if you have some suggestions I would be very grateful. Unfortunately the photo itself was taken with a "tourist camera", that however allowed manual settings, eight years ago so I do not have a raw original. I might not even have the original jpg left :/
> 
> Maybe I can see if my wife can repeat the pose


No need to shoot again and don't worry about what camera you used. It's the person behind the camera who is the one that takes the image. OK, so you blew this one out by accident, you won't be the only person on this forum who has made a mistake on their settings (I do it more often than I'd like to admit)! No worries or stress required. As my signature line below says "It's not brain surgery, it's photography; if you make a mistake nobody dies. Try again!" 

Having said that, even though you don't have a raw file or even the original JPEG, I had a go with this to see what I could do. I didn't use any of my fancy software, just a free photo viewer/editor called Faststone Image Viewer. I played with the levels and then the lighting (highlights and shadows) sliders for about 5 minutes and cropped it using the rule of thirds so that her eyes were on the top horizontal 1/3 line and also so that the "dead space" is in front of her and she's facing into it. See what you think. I'm sure there are others here who could do better but this shows that even an old dinosaur like me can do something ...and that I think your image is worth the time. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work, especially now you have a "proper camera" and have taken the time to join this forum. Having a beautiful wife who is willing to be your model is a HUGE advantage.


BE WARNED! Photography can be seriously addictive!


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## smoke665 (Sep 15, 2021)

bjornebarn said:


> like how the hat is featureless, but regarding her arms and body I agree that they are too blown out.
> 
> Indeed if I had taken the photo within the DR, I could have chosen afterwards what details to highlight and what to remove, now the above is what I'm stuck with.



If your luminosity exceeds 255 anywhere in your image middle highlights, highlights, whites, the sensor registers zip, nada, nothing. It only takes 4 1/3 stops of light to turn a black background pure white. Even if you've saved as a raw file (which you should be doing anyhow) there is nothing to recover once you go past pure white. One of my pet peeves is the lazy photographer who intentionally blows the highlights in a HK just to "make sure the whites are white". Yes you can do it, but doing so also blows away the wonderful microcontrast in the upper highlights. Learn to use a histogram to judge your exposure. Histograms for Beginners

A camera sensor only records reflected light in a given range. It doesn't manufacture light, that's the photographer's job, to supply or read it. If you have your lighting right, and your exposure correct, it only takes minor adjustments post to finish. Learning some basics now will allow you to produce exactly what you want later.


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## bjornebarn (Sep 16, 2021)

Granddad said:


> No need to shoot again and don't worry about what camera you used. It's the person behind the camera who is the one that takes the image. OK, so you blew this one out by accident, you won't be the only person on this forum who has made a mistake on their settings (I do it more often than I'd like to admit)! No worries or stress required. As my signature line below says "It's not brain surgery, it's photography; if you make a mistake nobody dies. Try again!"
> 
> Having said that, even though you don't have a raw file or even the original JPEG, I had a go with this to see what I could do. I didn't use any of my fancy software, just a free photo viewer/editor called Faststone Image Viewer. I played with the levels and then the lighting (highlights and shadows) sliders for about 5 minutes and cropped it using the rule of thirds so that her eyes were on the top horizontal 1/3 line and also so that the "dead space" is in front of her and she's facing into it. See what you think. I'm sure there are others here who could do better but this shows that even an old dinosaur like me can do something ...and that I think your image is worth the time. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work, especially now you have a "proper camera" and have taken the time to join this forum. Having a beautiful wife who is willing to be your model is a HUGE advantage.View attachment 248329
> BE WARNED! Photography can be seriously addictive!



Thank you very much! This looks a lot better  I will see if I can find the original file, and try to process it a bit using your suggestions. I have mostly kept the photography to myself. Thus, I do not really know what is "good", or how to improve photos etc. That is why I joined this forum, to learn more 

Indeed, I am very grateful for my wife. Without her I would never get any models 




smoke665 said:


> If your luminosity exceeds 255 anywhere in your image middle highlights, highlights, whites, the sensor registers zip, nada, nothing. It only takes 4 1/3 stops of light to turn a black background pure white. Even if you've saved as a raw file (which you should be doing anyhow) there is nothing to recover once you go past pure white. One of my pet peeves is the lazy photographer who intentionally blows the highlights in a HK just to "make sure the whites are white". Yes you can do it, but doing so also blows away the wonderful microcontrast in the upper highlights. Learn to use a histogram to judge your exposure. Histograms for Beginners


Thanks! I will definitely look up how to use the histograms.


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## jeffashman (Sep 16, 2021)

This has been a very interesting and informative discussion.


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## davholla (Sep 20, 2021)

One way to judge this sort of photo - and only the OP has seen the model, would be to ask "Does she look prettier in the photo than in real life?"


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## bchalifour (Sep 21, 2021)

bjornebarn said:


> When talking about photography, people keep saying how important it is not to overexpose the photos, and how to rectify it when it happens. But I thought, why not take advantage of it instead. This is a photo of my wife (who has black hair), and even though it's heavily overexposed I like it. In particular how the main details are clearly visible (face, accessories, hair) with the rest whitened out, and also how the hat creates a sort of white shadow.
> 
> What do you guys think? How would you go about overexposing, and what to think about when taking the photos?View attachment 248240


Well done. I think this approach to exposure/photography has been used well before digital photography and was labelled "High Key". It achieves a particular mood and visual effect. It can also be obtained from a regular exposure through processing (darkroom or computer). The only issue when doing it through exposure is that all information is absent from the over-exposed part of the image and the future potential variations on the image are rather limited. Well-done anyway.


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## ParadiseBizz (Sep 21, 2021)

Photography is art and a way to express your style. If this is what you like, than there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
People at a certain age might be grateful for such images, since it hides wrinkles and age related blemishes.
For my own taste it is too much, since I personally like to see the texture of the skin, the details in the hair....


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## bjornebarn (Sep 23, 2021)

davholla said:


> One way to judge this sort of photo - and only the OP has seen the model, would be to ask "Does she look prettier in the photo than in real life?"


Well, here is another photo from the same day. You be the judge:


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## bjornebarn (Sep 23, 2021)

bchalifour said:


> Well done. I think this approach to exposure/photography has been used well before digital photography and was labelled "High Key". It achieves a particular mood and visual effect. It can also be obtained from a regular exposure through processing (darkroom or computer). The only issue when doing it through exposure is that all information is absent from the over-exposed part of the image and the future potential variations on the image are rather limited. Well-done anyway.


Thank you! Indeed, the details are lost and it is difficult to do much after taking the photo...


ParadiseBizz said:


> Photography is art and a way to express your style. If this is what you like, than there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
> People at a certain age might be grateful for such images, since it hides wrinkles and age related blemishes.
> For my own taste it is too much, since I personally like to see the texture of the skin, the details in the hair....


Thanks! Indeed, I mostly care about whether I like the photos or not. But it is nice to share with others to hear their view, to open one's own views a bit 

I managed to find the original image (attached), I will try to see if I can  get something better out of it


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## Original katomi (Sep 23, 2021)

Hi welcome. I dont play by the rules either,  I am known for my out of the box/Marmite style of photography. so if this is the effect that you wanted then why not.


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