How to prevent hot spots

<p><a href="../photo/11128173"><img src="../photo/11128173" alt="" width="91" height="91" /></a><br /> How to prevent host spots like on the log the woman is sitting on?<br /> http://www.photo.net/photo/11128173</p>

<p>The drugstore processing hosed the film. </p>

<p>Choose better lighting. That's pretty much the whole trick to good photography, once you've got the hang of basics like exposure and composition.</p>

<p>Beyond that, don't expect decent scans from minilabs when you have 'em process your film. My local minilabs did reasonably good scans a few years ago but now they're not even trying. Last time I ordered scans along with snapshot print film the scans were atrocious. I asked the button pusher about using higher resolution - he had no idea. I asked for a very slight crop to emphasize 2/3 of the original frame in a 4x6 print. The pixelation and artifacts were horrible. They're not even trying anymore.</p>

<p>Lex I know just how you feel .</p>

<p>Joe , from the example you have given I would say you need you work on your lighting a lot more , hot spots like this are better if they are dealt with before you take the shot .</p>

<p>When shooting out doors I always carry a small hand held reflector so you can bounce some light back into the darker areas to balance out the lighter areas .</p>

<p>You can also use flash to fill in the dark spaces or to highlight a certain part of the composition</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses.<br>

The photo was taken with a 300 mm Lens from about 75 yards. Minolta 700x Minolta Lens. I was testing out Kodak Ektar film. The Woman was watching a pro take pictures of her family, She was taking a break from being photographed. It was October in a county park. The pro was shooting lots of shots of the family in shady locations among the trees. I am sure she was playing with light streams coming through the leaves and branches. I did my observation of the shoot from a distance watching the posing and locations. I did not want to horn on on her gig.<br>

I suppose I should have noticed the bright spot when I was looking through the view finder, but I did not. Lack of being aware.<br>

I should have spot metered for the bright spot.</p>

<p>It might look better when properly scanned and non-minilab curves applied. Color balance looks pretty bad and they tend to apply too much contrast and sharpening. There's a hotspot you should have noticed, sure, but it's hard to say how objectionable it really is.</p>

<p>color balance was real BAD you should see the sky no you don't want to</p>