Exposing photo with both white and black dog?

<p>I'm going to be doing some dog portraits with 2 dogs, one solid black and one solid white. Mostly outdoors, but may do a few indoor as well. What meter setting should I be using? Matrix metering?<br>

I'm thinking I should expose more for the white dog, as I'll be shooting in RAW and hopefully will be able to pull some detail on the black dog out in post.<br>

Any advice?</p>

<p>What camera are you using? Do you have any flash equipment, and the ability to use it off-camera? While you don't want to blow-out the white dog's fur detail (good idea!), you also don't want the black dog blocking up into a solid black blob. The best way to handle that is to skim some light across the black dog's features so that the coat shows some texture and detail. You might still have black blacks, but at least the dog will apear three dimensional.<br /><br />If you have an extra body or two to assist, you might be able too achieve the same thing - or close to it - using reflectors and your available daylight. If you spot meter on the white dog, your camera will do its best to push that white coat down to 18% grey. So you might need a little exposure compensation in order to squash that histogram over to the right a bit. Or, if you're not in rapidly changing light, just go manual, and allow yourself to deal with your dynamic subjects without worrying about whether that spot meter point has drifted off of the white dog and onto the background, etc.</p>

<p>Control the light. Use a reflector or supplemental light source to balance the exposure.</p>

<p>If you check the home page for the beginner forum, near the top of the page you'll find links to online illustrated tutorials, including some very good lessons on available light portraiture using reflectors or simply by learning to use the light that's available by understanding how to meter and expose appropriately. Check the Web Photo School site, for example.</p>

<p>if you hvae a reflector, use it as Matt says to get some light into the black dog. dog fur likes the silver-y type of reflector</p>

<p>john,</p>

 

<p>The others have addressed lighting techniques — in short, put more light on the black

dog than the white. Might also be able to put the black dog in the sun and the white dog in the

shade of a tree, or the like.</p>

 

<p>As for metering…use the camera’s built-in spotmeter. Aim for something that has

the white dog two or three stops overexposed, and then see how much the black dog is

underexposed. Ideally, the black dog at that point will be two or three stops underexposed. Adjust

lighting and exposure as necessary.</p>

 

<p>Also keep in mind that black fur isn’t. It’s usually a very, very, very deep and rich brown. Try to get at least one close-up of just the black dog in very bright light in an attempt to bring out the color. Similarly, white fur usually has all sorts of interesting subtle features, sometimes even including hints of iridescence. Give the white dog a solo shot as well.</p>

 

<p>Some seemingly pure-white or pure-black animals actually have markings that are so subtle they’re almost always overlooked. Black jaguars, for example, have gorgeous markings that are only visible in direct sunlight. Look for that sort of thing on the dogs and, if present, try to capture it.</p>

 

<p>Cheers,</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

<p>Expose for the black dog. Develop in your raw developer for the white.</p>

<p>Or, just trade 'em all in for 18% grayhounds. :)</p>

<p>". . . 18% grayhounds."<br>

Boo-oo! Hiss! </p>

<p>Why not break out a black cloth and a white cloth under similar conditions to what you're going to use when you make the photo, and try a little practice? This way you can drape the cloth and use some folds to help you figure out how you're going to expose for those details. This will help you solve some of those situational problems. </p>

<p>This is one of the oldest dilemmas in photography. Even lighting, and average metering will underexpose the black dog, and over expose the white dog. A white card will meter approx 2.5 stops brighter than a 18% gray card. A black card will require approx 2.5 stops more exposure than the gray card. So now we know that white to black equals approx 5 stops. Most high contrast recording media , either film or digital, will have difficulty dealing with such a wide range. In film, lower contrast portrait films were commonly used for weddings with controlled lighting. These would allow a bride in white and the groom in black to hold detail in both outfits.</p>

<p>The solution in a studio would be simple, more light to the black dog, less on the white .</p>

<p>In your situation I would simply shoot RAW at various exposures, and then play with he images in PS.</p>

<p>A great case for incident metering!</p>

<p>hope for clouds or find shade without shadows</p>

<p>Try all of the obove .I am asuming you are using digital . do you have any lighting and or reflectors ,try every thing to see what works for you<br>

What do you have to loose ,,nothing<br>

what do you have to gain ,, a lot but allways remember to record what you have done and all your setings and this includes the position of your lights and reflectors and the possiition of the sun .<br>

photography is all about the controle of light and it makes no diference what sort of camera you are ussing .<br>

Also try to get it right with out the use of PS or any photo editing software .once you have worked out how to get it just the way YOU want it then you can play with PS and do what ever it is people do with PS</p>

Place them both in the shade, take a reading off your hand and open up one stop.