Finding the right aperture

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Whipsmack

Member
Anyone have any tips for finding the perfect aperture when there are hard shadows and bright overexposed areas in the same shot caused by being under a tree?

I found F3.6 makes peoples face under the tree perfect, zoom out and everythings washed out. And this is on an overcast day. If our shoot is on a sunny day, i'm so screwed cause I don't know what to do.

Thanks!
 
I'm going on the assumption that you're shooting video or some digital format, which behaves a bit differently from celluloid. Your dynamic range or ability to handle contrast are going to be tighter in most video / digital formats - less ability to render images from bright to dark within the same frame.

There are ways around this. First thing you can do is minimize the extremes through framing. This is the easiest to do, though you might sometimes have to compromise your compositions to a point that it becomes a problem. Frame your subject and the background in like lighting conditions and values.

The situation where your subject is under a tree requires that you compose a frame where the background is close in lighting value to that foreground subject. Sometimes, just moving a few degrees in one direction or another is enough. Any background out of direct sunlight will usually do the trick, allowing you to open your iris and adjust the shutter (if desired, if necessary) for the proper foreground exposure.

Digital and video cameras commonly handle 3 - 5 stops between the lightest and darkest parts of the frame without losing too much detail. Some advertise up to 10 stops. Lots of elements play into this, and it is good to know what your camera's performance baselines are. What is the ISO? How much dynamic range can you expect?

If reframing is out of the question or produces an undesireable composition, you should move your subject into the light or find a way to get light onto the subject. This can be accomplished in a number of ways - but most common would be relatively inexpensive reflectors or more cumbersome lighting instruments.

Things like an overexposed sky can be minimized through in-camera graduated filtration and even, to a lesser extent, in post production.

Most of us who are in the camera department spend our careers constantly solving the problem you asked about. Sometimes simple is best - like moving the camera. Other times, we employ every tool known (or as-yet-unknown) to man to make a shot happen.

Good luck!

e
 
You're running up against one of the toughest things about cinematography, especially with a video camera which has a limited dynamic range.

It's not so much that any particular aperture will be your go-to setting; it's a matter of lessening the difference between the darker and lighter spots in the shot.

You can do this by adding more light to the darker areas, to make the whole picture brighter. This is why big-budget film crews will use giant HMIs outdoors during the day.

Or, you can try to make the bright areas darker, with a grad ND filter or something along those lines.

Either way, you want to try to get the brightest and the darkest spots closer together so that your camera will have a better shot at capturing both well.


EDIT: That Erik Olson . . . he's a slippery one . . .
 
thanks a lot. The close up shots I don't think will be a problem. But the wide shots theres just no way we can have reflectors shining on the whole base of the tree where people will be gathering.....pppplease be overcast heh
 
A 20x20 reflector could help quite a bit, but you might also find that turning the camera so that the background is in shadow is easier. A combination of both would be optimal. The reflector might give you two stops and get you closer to the distant background value. So, if you're metering a 4/5.6 under the tree and can get to a 5.6/8, then an f11 won't be so offensive to the sensor. A good deal of what we do requires a good working knowledge of sun tables and a determination to be smarter than the light!
 
Whipsmack said:
thanks a lot. The close up shots I don't think will be a problem. But the wide shots theres just no way we can have reflectors shining on the whole base of the tree where people will be gathering.....pppplease be overcast heh
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If this is an event like a wedding, you really are going to have to live with whatever the conditions are, with only a vary minimal ability to compensate.

When the Wife was doing weddings, and I was the 'second camera', she would have the flash to fill in for these types of situations, I'd usually do the non-flash type shots.

However, in the case of video there is no 'flash' to fill in, only perhaps a light on the camera, which probably wouldn't help in the outdoor situation anyway.

As a note, 'overcast' is not necessarily a savior... you can get deep socketed eyes in overcast as well.

The other problem with outdoor event coverage is if a canopy is used, the canopy can add its 'color' to the shots... and then when the outdoors is visible to the shot, one has a mixed lighting effect, that perhaps may not be as desireable one would want.

When we switched from film to digital, we basically changed our 'orientation' from negative to slide film. Slide film has less of a latitude as film, and the highlights get blown more easily, that is unsalvagable, and so we compensated by shooting for the highvalues and letting the shadows fall (or filled with flash) where they may...

The one 'advantage' of digital is that the sensors seem to do better in low exposure than film, so, you may be able to make some marginal recovery in your NLE by making sure you have highlight detail, but then create some masks to boost the shadows to compensate... its not much... unless you're Ann Leibovitz and come with truck and a price tag that make people 'do what you want', you'll have to adjust... and carefully explain to your customer what the ramifications are for having the shoot in 'bright sunlight'...
 
this isn't a wedding, its a short film that has to take place under a tree.

We were thinking of constructing a 8 foot wide 5 foot high, swiveling board with exchangeable reflector plates, white sheet, or aluminum foil. Is this kind of ridiculous? We have little to no experience with lighting so this is tough. And we have no budget, but I do have some lumber lying around thats why I was thinking of making a big reflector frame made out of wood, put some wheels on it...

Oh and when you say 20x20 reflector. Do you mean 20 inches? heh
 
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Whipsmack said:
this isn't a wedding, its a short film that has to take place under a tree.

We were thinking of constructing a 8 foot wide 5 foot high, swiveling board with exchangeable reflector plates, white sheet, or aluminum foil. Is this kind of ridiculous? We have little to no experience with lighting so this is tough. And we have no budget, but I do have some lumber lying around thats why I was thinking of making a big reflector frame made out of wood, put some wheels on it...
Click to expand...


Look at the Behind the Scenes features on many dvd/hddvd/bluray movies these days, and while you may not have the 'pro' stands and frames, almost all outdoor shots have a number of elements, screening for the talent, bounce light for talent and background, big artificial lights to just plain deal with 'it all'...

So, you riging up frames, and bouncing light around is quite in keeping with 'do what needs to be done', given a 'no budget' production...

I'd recommend foam core. One can get foamcore with a 'white' surface, or glue foil to it. But for me, foil may create too specular of reflections. A big white sheet mounted on a frame will also bounce light as well.

Also, since you seem to have more control over things, using 'black' sheets to block of unwanted light may be needed as well.

As for materials, I'd recommend light aluminum tubing or PVC tubing for the frame work, some form of 'tripod', and a large amount of sandbags to secure the feet or whatever is touching the ground to keep the frame work in place...

For close up work, you can use car shades which expand out to a couple of feet across and often have metalic and a non-metalic 'light' sides. These would be hand held by someone during the take. Hand held means they can also be moved with the talent if the talent is moving in the shot.
 
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20'. The foamcore is a good suggestion. If you get the 4 x 8' sheet, you can also add lame fabric from any fabric store for very little. They will have gold and silver. It is pretty close to what they use for checkerboard overhead soft goods. Use a light spray of 3m adhesive on the board to stick it on.

Also, beadboard is very popular and you can find some with silver backing at any hardware store. They will be in the insulation department and will give you a white and shiny side in one inexpensive product. We have used these in several home improvement shows I've been on in a pinch and they quickly become a permanent part of the light truck package!
 
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