Overexposed

It’s not often that I shoot performances outdoors, especially where there is no shade, such as this rehearsal of Taming of the Shrew with pirate theme, by the Napa Valley College. Here’s the scene:

This was an early rehearsal and the set was complete enough for close-up and medium shots. For the first act, the stage was in direct, low-angle sun from behind, so I thought my exposures at low ISOs would be just fine, until I got this washout:

Settings: 145mm, Subject dist: 12.7m, 1/60 sec, f/4, Mode: Av, Metering: Evaluative, Exp comp: +1/3, ISO: 250.

The sky had enough glare to bounce back into the camera’s sensor and saturate the exposure. I’d left the lens hood at home, so my sunlit shots had to be framed to exclude the sky’s glare, like this one:

Settings: 200mm, Subject dist: 16.8m, 1/160 sec, f/4, Mode: Av, Metering: Evaluative, ISO: 250.

A look at the preview screen when shooting against the sky had me cranking up the exposure compensation.

Settings: 145mm, Subject dist: 16.8m, 1/1000 sec, f/3.5, Mode: Av, Metering: Evaluative, ISO: 400.

Even so, when shooting at a wider angle in the evaluative mode, the glare can’t be avoided so some fading of the main subject is to be expected. PhotoShop to the rescue.

Settings: 200mm, Subject dist: 25m, 1/800 sec, f/2.8, Mode: Av, Metering: Evaluative, Exp comp: +1, ISO: 1600.

I recovered most of the colors by adjusting the levels after cropping, sacrificing some detail.

The lesson: bring the lens hood when shooting daylight performances.