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Author Topic: against the sun  (Read 3022 times)

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against the sun
« on: May 25, 2003, 09:22:28 pm »

There's no problem. I do it all the time.

Have a look here.

Michael
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sergio

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against the sun
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2003, 09:49:31 am »

The manual states that it is advisable not to frame in the sun. I guess it is like medicine boxes : hyper cautious and conservative. By the way what a nice photograph of the geese with sun. Thanks.

Sergio
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Jonathan Wienke

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against the sun
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2003, 03:56:47 pm »

The risk of sensor damage from the sun is no greater than that of burning a hole in film. Unless you are using mirror lock-up, (which would seem kind of pointless given the shutter speeds generally involved in frames including the sun) the shutter curtains and sensor are only exposed to the sun for a brief fraction of a second, while the mirror is flipped up. This isn't long enough for heat to build up and cause damage. If looking through the viewfinder is uncomfortably bright, then use a neutral density filter.

BTW, Alan, with a DSLR, you cannot use the LCD as a viewfinder, it is for after-shot review only. You have to use the optical viewfinder, which looks through the lens.
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Jonathan Wienke

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against the sun
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2003, 01:43:59 am »

There's always going to be a price drop, just go buy the thing. Then I won't feel so bad about the $10K I just spent on my 1Ds, lenses, and accessories...
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Jonathan Wienke

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against the sun
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2003, 10:38:43 am »

I commonly open RAW files multiple times and adjust for different areas of the image, then blend together. The second large B&W image in my web portfolio is an example of this. Actually, I not only opened the image twice, but I did separate B&W conversions, and then combined the results together. The first time, I adjusted for the darker areas on the left and upper background, the second, for the sunlit areas of the river, bridge, and right bank. As an aside, I highly recommend theimagingfactory's B&W Converter Pro, it does an awesome job. After blending the B&W conversions together by airbrushing the layer mask, I flattened and applied a home-grown sepia tritone.
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sergio

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against the sun
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2003, 04:38:39 pm »

Shooting against the sun (including it in the frame) is something I do very frequently with film. Can it be done safely with a digital camera? Can it damage the sensor? It would be very limiting not to be able to compose with the sun in the frame. And I mean a bright sun, not necessarily the sunset.
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alanrew

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against the sun
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2003, 07:59:15 am »

Michael,

I'm intrigued by this. Isn't there a risk of eye damage if you look at the sun through the viewfinder? Or do you compose solely using the LCD, as a precaution?

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but I'm still using a film camera (EOS 50E/Elan IIE); I'm planning on buying a Canon 10D later this year.

Thanks in anticipation for any safety related advice about sun photos with digital (or film) cameras.

Alan
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against the sun
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2003, 10:47:25 am »

The sun in this frame was partially obscured by clouds and therefore when I panned across with the birds it wasn't blindingly bright.

One needs to use common sense. Just as one wouldn't stare into the sun on a bright day one doesn't look at it directly though a camera. But if the sun is low on the horizon, or obscured my mist or fog to the point that it's comfortable to look at it with the naked eye then there's little risk through (or to) the camera. The only caveat to this is that with a long lens the sun is magnified just as with binoculars, and therefore danger increases.

Like I said, common sense.

Michael
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alanrew

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against the sun
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2003, 05:18:23 pm »

Quote
BTW, Alan, with a DSLR, you cannot use the LCD as a viewfinder, it is for after-shot review only. You have to use the optical viewfinder, which looks through the lens.

Thanks for clarifying this, Jonathan.

Hopefully, I'll find the 10D relatively easy to master, as the features seem very similar to those on my EOS 50E.

I'm waiting for the predicted price drop in the 10D later this year - but I might crack before then & just buy the thing anyway :-)

Regards,

Alan
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Jacques Gratton

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against the sun
« Reply #9 on: May 28, 2003, 06:59:12 pm »

The use of RAW format in digital permits to increase the range of values.  In the example below, the same file was converted twice in Fuji EX, then the layers were merged in a single image after erasing the unwanted portions of the top layer.

Taken at 4:45 yesterday morning, from a slippery roof...  (photographers get up early and live dangerously, sometimes!).

http://jacquesgratton.com/RAW.jpg

Jacques
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BJL

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against the sun
« Reply #10 on: May 28, 2003, 09:53:15 pm »

Jacques,

   nice result, and since you have dealt well with one of my nightmares (a subject with too much contrast for a straight print and sharp, complicated boundaries between light and dark regions to make dodging tricky) and since, unlike Michael Reichman's example of blending two shots at different exposure levels, this is done from a single image, I am curious about how best to do this sort of thing.

How does your method compare to adjusting contrast on a single high bit file output from raw? I suppose one point is that you can avoid excessive reduction of local contrast levels within each of the two regions (sky, not-sky), but could that be done be selecting regions in a high bit depth file, and applying brightness adjustments locally --- is that harder, or impossible?

P.S. The image also suggests that the supposedly limited dynamic range of digital cameras is not as bad as made out, at least with your Fuji, and perhaps more a matter of needing "digital printmaking skills".
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