Photographing a black locomotive

13 years 3 months ago #13768 by debra_moore
This past weekend I attempted to photograph an old black locomative engine. The sun was nicely in back of the machine, give me a nice back light. The light parts of the engine came out beautifully, but the locomotive itself was only a big blob of black, no detail at all.

What could I have done to correct this?


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13 years 3 months ago #13893 by crystal
You need to expose the photo for the locomotive only. I also use a flash. If you would have used a flash, the flash would have gave you light on your subject, which would gave you the details to the locomotive.
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13 years 3 months ago #14224 by Displaced_Scotsman
You don't say whether you were shooting digitally or with film. Here's a film answer: In some cases the film just doesn't have the latitude that we would like. Many times we must compromise with various light sources. A locomotive is no doubt too big to use fill in flash or a reflector, so you would have to shoot at a different time of day when the light is bright on the black metal.

The same "try shooting at a different time of day" advice is good for digital camera shots, too.


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13 years 3 months ago #14226 by SALyons996
Try taking two photos. One to show the back lighting and the other to bring out the detail of the black metal. This is where PhotoShop comes in. Blend the two images into one in Photoshop. It has become so much a part of photography that it's almost as important as the camera itself.


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13 years 3 months ago #14476 by Joves
Well if you are shooting digitally make 3 or 4 exposures one dead center on the meter for the and one over exposed of subject, then the others for the backround usually an underexposure. Generally 1/3 or 1/2 a stop. THen you take the best two or three and do as SALyons said. Mounting on a tripod is best.


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