Problem with hot spots

[sheribeari]

What can I do to get better detail in the "hot spots"??
It is frustrating to get detail in most of a picture then have an area that is totally blown out

I had to crop out most of this horses neck because of this....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bysheri...7624147867257/

had to use link... for some reason could not get picture to insert

[J Eddington]

Blown out areas are caused from overexposure. I suggest you get and read the book Understanding Exposure. It will really help you.

[revjvegas]

When you loose detail in the "hot spots", it is due to over exposure. Try metering off the white area on the horse, then compose your shot. If the contrast range is too wide and you then loose detail in the shadows, you'll next want to think about some sort of fill light.

That's just one suggestion. I'm sure as others wake up, you'll get more :-)

[jfoureyes]

Originally Posted by sheribeari

What can I do to get better detail in the "hot spots"??
It is frustrating to get detail in most of a picture then have an area that is totally blown out

I had to crop out most of this horses neck because of this....

Draft Horse Stallion on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

had to use link... for some reason could not get picture to insert

I shoot in RAW so I can adjust the exposure with the software these days, but in the film days I usually bracket the shots and pick the best one.

[DougC]

With digital, it's always better to under expose as you can usually pick up some detail in the dark areas whereas with blown whites there is simply nothing there in most instances. As Jim said, always shoot RAW and you can pick up 1-1 1/2 stops of light with very little loss of detail in most cases.

[DougC]

Here's an example: Left is "as shot" and right is +1.0 exposure in CS5 ACR RAW Converter. Very slight loss in detail on the neck. Picked up some details on the wings. Hope this helps.

[Tim T]

Another suggestion would be to look at your histogram and make sure that you aren't climbing the right side which means over exposure. If you are, just use some negative exposure compensation to back off of the exposure. Also make sure that your camera is set to show blinking highlights. It's a quick way to see what is being over exposed.

[GypsyHighSide]

My easy suggestion for a mobile subject such as the horse, is to move it into the shade. There by reducing the range of light from you deep shadow to your extreme highlights.

[sheribeari]

Originally Posted by GypsyHighSide

My easy suggestion for a mobile subject such as the horse, is to move it into the shade. There by reducing the range of light from you deep shadow to your extreme highlights.

Unfortunately, there was no shade that day.... open pasture...

[corralup]

Looking at the shadows it looks like you shot at high noon. It's hard to recover from the sun directly overhead. I personally don't think they are bad at all. I enjoyed seeing what you got. In high noon cases or full sun like that I try to set my camera at F16 to tame my pictures down. I also bring my ISO down to around 400. PS always helps especially shooting in RAW like others mentioned.
I like this picture!

[sheribeari]

I really appreciate all the input.... you know how it is here in Texas.... hot, bright summers. I will have lots of opportunities to try all this out :0)