[Tofufah]

Hello Everyone,

I was bored one evening so I decided to experiment a little with candle light. I played with different EV settings but found that I either blown the details from the front candle holder or I would lose the highlights in the flowers. Any suggestions? Please feel free to be blunt, I am quite thick-skinned.

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne...9338992&size=l

Shutter speed: 1 sec; f/4; focal length: 24mm; Original format: RAW; WB custom colour temp 2300k

[silver]

probably the easiest thing is to take 2 exposures - one for highlights one for shadows and blend them together somehow

another idea is to use like f16 for 20 seconds (or whatever it works out as) and blow out the candle 1/2 way though (assuming there is ambient light also)

experiment is the key

Sil

[Rob Barron]

Could you put the photo here so we can all see it on this thread? It is better to have it here in your gallery and makes comments more pertinent for people reading the thread.

Thanks.
Rob

[skipper954]

I really like the effect here. The softness of the tulips is very evocative.

Yes, the blown far candle is a problem, as you know. Expanded dynamic range imaging is an option, but you need a tripod and probably a cable or wireless shutter release for that. You might be able to bracket 3 images, but it is possible that the exposure differences would not be great enough.

Finally, you could reframe so that the candle is out of the image, or have someone hold the candle out of the frame. But that would also change the light on the flowers.

I also wonder about spot metering on the candle then bringing out the shadows in ps, but that would probably be a lousy image b/o noise.

Bottom line, either edr or reframing are your best bets.

skip

[Tofufah]

Thanks Skip. I think I will experiment with HDR. I don't have CS2 but I will try Photomatrix to see if it is any good.

Sorry, Rob. I will try to put my photos on the gallery next time.

Regards

T