How do you avoid a BLOWN UP SKY?

EdMista

EdMista

Active member
Hey guys,
How do you avoid a BLOWN UP SKY (when the sky looks totally white)?
How do you approahc this problem?

I know video is not sensitive enought like film, and blows up the sky most of the time. However I've seen a couple of shots when the sky is blue and the people in the shot are visible (not silhouttes).

?
 
Youve gotta light the foreground.....then you can turn down the iris and everything will be alright.
 
are you aiming at the sun? i haven't had that happen...although outside besides the ND filter i set the iris around 4.0 and that gives a good rich blue to the sky. play with it and see what you like.
 
I would set zebra 1 to 100 then adjust the iris for correct white exposure. Like Weston said, you might need to light for proper rendition of the foreground.
 
use reflectors to bounce the sunlight back at the actors, and stop down, just as has been said.

BTW, the sky gets "blown out", not "blown UP" :D
 
An ND Grad filter can come in handy here as well. It'll knock the sky down a little, while keeping the lower part of the frame brighter.
 
The easiest way is to just let it record the whole time and then speed it up in post. What model do you have? The original and the "A" both have an intervalometer allowing you to do time lapse effects. The "B" doesn't have that option.
 
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Barry_Green said:
and always try to structure your shots so that you're shooting with the sun at your back, that'll help.
Click to expand...

Barry, this really interests me since it makes sense at first but goes against everything I've learned about daytime exterior cinematography. I've always been told to use the sun as a backlight and use the softer bounced light for faces (so they look less "harsh.") Maybe this is just for film? Certainly Days of Heaven looked fantastic and used this approach, but it was shot entirely at magic hour...or at least mostly.
 
that depends on the look you are going for, but i personally have used the sun as a key light and worked from there. you could use the sun as a key and then a reflector as your backlight or an arc :grin:
 
Pointing into the sun washes out the sky. Pointing away from the sun makes the sky blue.

The question of whether you want your subject staring into the sun is a valid one; obviously it would work better to be at a bit of an angle but I find the sun-at-their-back technique can work well with film, but it overpowers video and you just end up with washed-out skies. Whereas with the sun-at-your-back you're getting maximum key light performance and the sky is held in check a lot better.
 
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