• Members 1260 posts
    Nov. 7, 2024, 12:48 a.m.

    Gentleman, the weather dictates the conditions under which shot is taken. Camera is set for AV, which is an industry standard which governs the camera settings and ultimately metering. I do absolutely minimal pp - levels and sharpness. That's it, that's all. Result is wyswyg.
    What I do recall is fairly dramatic changes in weather conditions that day - sun, clouds, wind which resulted in very challenging light. Camera records the nature's elements at the instant picture is taken. That's all I know. I hope this helps.

  • Members 3952 posts
    Nov. 7, 2024, 1:29 a.m.

    Wyswyg is not necessarily always the case depending on the lighting and metering mode and whether you even use the camera's metering.

    No problem.

    The point I was making is that with the same or slightly smaller exposures than what you used my sky looks natural given a similar sunny day you described for your photos.

    Do you recall if the sky was blue, overcast or something else when you took your photos?

  • Members 415 posts
    Nov. 7, 2024, 7:09 p.m.

    Thanks for the info, Chris!

    Looking again in the GIMP at my example in question, I'm not certain we're done with that particular image:

    windsurfer.jpg

    To me the sky in the frame looks overcast with no significant cloud.

    the camera's Auto Exposure was set to Spot and presumably aimed at the windsurfer, causing the metering to set quite a low exposure perhaps due to the specular reflections from the sea caused by a bright sun overhead or behind.

    The selection's perceptual space RGB histogram is indicative of very low contrast, typical for an overcast sky

    [edit] I just noticed the huge difference in focal length between the colorful shot (17mm) and the dull-sky shot (210mm). But not much color at the horizon in either one. I think I've got it, by George .... [/edit]

    What say, Gentlemen?

    windsurfer.jpg

    JPG, 484.3 KB, uploaded by xpatUSA on Nov. 7, 2024.

  • Members 149 posts
    Nov. 7, 2024, 7:37 p.m.

    The thing that looks like Santa traveling across the sky? He is getting in some practice before the big day.
    Just kidding, it is the lights on an airplane. This was a 3 second exposure.

  • Members 1085 posts
    Nov. 8, 2024, 4:10 a.m.

    Thanks - interesting

  • Members 1260 posts
    Nov. 8, 2024, 11:54 a.m.

    ExpatUSA - you deserve a medal for persistance and drilling for details. Take a break today...

    If my memory serves me well, at the instance the shot was taken there was a sudden lull in the weather and the sky behind the surfer dude became grey, but the beam of light was enough for me to capture his action...He was really reading the wind correctly. I was attracted by the whole scene - man against nature at it's best.

  • Members 3952 posts
    Nov. 8, 2024, 8:52 p.m.

    If the sky was grey as Chris says it might have been then it wasn't underexposed as you originally claimed.

  • Members 415 posts
    Nov. 9, 2024, 3:24 p.m.

    It's @xpatUSA but feel free to call me 'Ted' and I'll call you 'Dan' instead of the more belittling 'Danno' ... toujours la politesse as demanded by our Alan.

    More detail - re: focal lengths:

    17mm in your example shot gives a vertical angle of view of 42 deg = lots of sky and clouds to play with so as to support your argument re: exposure..

    210mm in my example shot gives a vertical angle of view of 3.55 deg = not much sky at all, mostly haze at the horizon with zero detail.

    I think that by now anybody following our discussion can make up their own minds, so ...

    ... TTFN