Dynamic Range & Lighting Problem HV20

[Imaginate]

I just finished shooting a short film about a hunting trip that goes wrong. For the most part I really like the results that I was getting from the HV20 that I was using.

As I'm editing now I see some of the problem shots that have issues with dynamic range.

http://redantdc.com/siggy/Picture 1.jpg
http://redantdc.com/siggy/Picture 2.jpg
http://redantdc.com/siggy/Picture 3.jpg

Any suggestions on how on how to deal with scenes like these? How to set them up better or maybe to help these shots in post... ( maybe I could have locked the camera off and exposed for background... then shoot again exposed for foreground and mask out the actor in post? )

We were in a remote location with no lighting... but maybe light reflectors could have helped alot.

I read this article about using a light meter to shoot scenes like this and wonder if there are others of you who also use this method.

http://www.cineobscure.com/author/j-van-auken/

 

[Barry_Green]

You don't need a light meter for this, you just need to have your zebras on and control the light through reflectors or selective framing. If you can't light something up enough to compete with the sun, change your shot to eliminate whatever's too bright in your scene.

 

[Ryan Patrick O'Hara]

Your main problem seems to be the contrast between the brightness of the sky and your 'scene'. There are multiple ways to help this problem.

1. Add fill light. This is tricky, as day exteriors tend to need lots of juice. Since you probably do not have access to very large HMI lighting, reflectors (as you mentioned) are very helpful. This however, can also be tricky as your action tends to take place under the shade of a tall tree canopy.

2. Use of filters. There are filters made to help deal with exposure and contrast. Graduated ND filters can help curb exposure issues when only a section of the frame needs brought down. Contrast filters can help light 'leak' into the shadows reducing contrast. Either way, grad filters are usually only helpful on locked shots, landscapes, etc. Not an easy solution.

3. Time of Day & better locations. Shooting early morning or late afternoon yields some good looking light and is often less intense then high noon sun. Also pick your locations with the sun in mind. If you are going to shoot under the shade of trees, make sure that shade continues into the background, so exposure falls more close together. This is the issue with frame grab #1. The difference between shade and direct sun is a very hard contrast to wrangle.

4. Try and simply frame out the blown out sky to minimize this.

5. Post production options. You can bring down highlights and bring up shadows, but this is usually at the expense of the image. Bringing up shadows produces milky blacks and digital noise. Bringing down highlights can work but not if you exceeded the 100% threshold where all detail has been lost. On the same token, if you are using a high quality color correction program, you can learn what 'power windows' are and selectively to the previous to just a portion of the screen. Like graduated ND filters these power windows only work well on locked shots, landscapes, etc.

Handling dynamic range when shooting in direct sunlight in day exteriors is very challenging. By using a combination of all four suggestions you will have a fighting chance. I'll update this if I think of more, but I gotta get going right now. Best of luck.

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

I just finished shooting a short film about a hunting trip that goes wrong. For the most part I really like the results that I was getting from the HV20 that I was using.

As I'm editing now I see some of the problem shots that have issues with dynamic range.

http://redantdc.com/siggy/Picture 1.jpg
http://redantdc.com/siggy/Picture 2.jpg
http://redantdc.com/siggy/Picture 3.jpg

Any suggestions on how on how to deal with scenes like these? How to set them up better or maybe to help these shots in post... ( maybe I could have locked the camera off and exposed for background... then shoot again exposed for foreground and mask out the actor in post? )

We were in a remote location with no lighting... but maybe light reflectors could have helped alot.

I read this article about using a light meter to shoot scenes like this and wonder if there are others of you who also use this method.

http://www.cineobscure.com/author/j-van-auken/

I'll counter the suggestion that a light meter would not be useful...

The use of a light meter would have given you the correct exposure for the people in the shot. The shot examples for the most part had 'underexposed' people, combined with hot spots of sunlight in either the background or as it shines through the trees. I suspect that the 'automagic' setting was on for the exposure.

If you don't have the budget to manage the light with lights, screens, reflectors, or the location just doesn't permit the use of these... find as best you can the best lighting for the 'main' subject... which I presume is the people.

All of these shots should have had a much more open aperture, and a camera angle selected to minimize strongly lit areas.

That being said... at some point let the background go blasted, but make sure the 'people' are correctly exposed... as it is now, it looks like you will have to boost the values by some means to improve the exposure on the people.

One method is to dup the clip in the time line, placing the copy on top of the first clip, and aligned to each other in terms of time, then set the copy's mode to something like 'screen'. Then, use a mask to limit the 'screen' mode copy from areas that are too bright. (The same trick using 'multiply' mode will bring down blasted shots, usually the subject being too light or the like... but if data is lost... it's lost...)

If the subject moves through a bright zone, well, one would begin to think about a cutaway for the brief period to cover up the movement through a difficult area to mask.

For example, if the fellow standing over some camp gear, with a blown out background, could be 'masked', and the levels of each area 'better' adjusted, and he moves... well, difficult to track that with a mask. Better to cut away to what he is looking at, then when he is stationary again, do the masking work at the new location.


But back to metering... sure, the zebra lines will tell you when the area is blown out. But it will not tell you that the subject is properly exposed, nor the range between the whatever you are thinking of a the key light vs. fill in 'wild' settings.

In any case, it may very well be that you have to compromise on a shot, and so, one should have at least an idea of how much work it is going to be in post to save the day.