Camera Setting For Backlit Moving Subjects

Davoxt

Senior Member
Contributor
Swan Take Off 40%.jpg

Just recently brought a Nikon 200-500mm lens for wildlife, its a bit of a leaning curve especially when it comes to backlit moving birds like the photo attached.

As I live in a hot dry environment a lot of my photos are at sunrise before the heat sets in so iam having a bit of trouble getting my setting right.
I use centre weight metering 12 for most of my shots plus focus is set in dynamic mode 9 if the subject is moving, you can see the rest of the setting on the image.
I know the shutter speed could have been higher but I spooked the subject and it took off before I could change my settings, it's the lighting in the image I am having trouble with as I can't find much information on dealing with high backlit moving subjects.
I usually shoot landscape so any advice will be greatly appreciative (apart from giving up my day job) and how would you pro's set your cameras up to take this image.

Thanks In Advance
Davoxt
 
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Chris@sabor

Senior Member
As a general rule you'll need a little positive compensation for backlit photos. The backround plays a role in how much. I usually take a test shot to try and get it close, then relay on further adjustments and PP to get it where I want. As you said, you still need a fast enough shutter speed to get what you're looking for. Not a lot of help but, hey it was free!
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
With such a small main subject its not easy, i have never had any experience with the D850 so dont know its sensor, just gone back to the D500 so learning it again.

You need to test the camera on a static subject to find what is best for the metering mode and sensor, i would run some +1 +2 stops then drop the raw files into your PP program and see what you get,most of the time i would not take such a small in the frame subject against the light as i probaly wouldnt be happy with it.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
From what I see, I wonder how the image was processed. Have you done any processing to it or is this an original jpeg from the camera. I would think that you probably could get more details out of the shadows and change the color temperature a bit to warm it up. It looks a bit on the bluish side to me. I also noticed that you had exposure compensation to -.33EV, this didn't help, but since you mentioned you didn't have time to change your setting, this is what happened.

But remember that only practice makes perfect, and with birds in flight, perfection is something we can only wish for.

Enjoy your Nikon.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
When I shot 35mm (not able to chimp), I was taught, when it's bright go brighter, and when it's dark, go darker. What that means is if your scene is very bright--such as images of snow, water, and lots of bright sky, then your camera will underexpose to compensate. After all, camera bodies are designed to meter for medium grey. So brightly lit scenes require making the exposure brighter. When it's a dark scene such as nighttime or low lit scenes, the camera will overexpose to raise the exposure to a medium grey. Therefore, dark scenes need to have the exposure compensated by making it darker.

Just how much exposure compensation needs to be applied will vary depending on each scene. Plus if you use spot metering (and take a meter reading directly off of your subject), then it's possible no compensation would be required.

Just judge each scene with your eye. If you get in the habit of doing that first, you can quickly dial in any changes with the +/- EV button if you are in Aperture or Shutter Priority. I have no idea whether that would work in any Auto or Program modes since I've never used them.
 

Davoxt

Senior Member
Contributor
Thank you all for your helpful tips and advice.

It never stuck me that I should try to brighten up the image with +1 or +2 EV I just try to doit in post but as you can see I am not having much success, I also give spot metering a go as I am heading back out their again this Wednesday morning.

This wildlife photography Is all about practise practise practise, landscape is so much easier.

Davoxt

 
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Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
I personally would avoid spot metering UNLESS you are shooting in manual settings. You could then meter your average scene, do a few test shots (check histogram) and then shoot in manual exposure mode. With birds in flight you'll have enough on your plate without having to constantly verify your exposure. With experience, you'll be able to make small corrections on the fly without the use of the meter.

Enjoy the practice and you should soon improve.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Thank you all for your helpful tips and advice.

It never stuck me that I should try to brighten up the image with +1 or +2 EV I just try to doit in post but as you can see I am not having much success....


Davoxt



One problem when raising your exposure during post processing is it can add noise to an image. So it's better to aim for the correct exposure in camera. When your scene has water in it like this image, you might wind up with some blown highlights. That's because backlit subjects tend to have a very high dynamic range, and when you shoot with +0.07 or higher dialed in, the highlights get clipped. Cameras aren't able to capture both the highlights and the shadows that we see with our eyes. So either the highlights get blown or the shadows are a little too dark in backlit images. If you've ever heard of HDR, that's when a photographer will take a series of shots with various exposures (-2.0, 0.0, +2.0) then merge them together. But for moving subjects, HDR really wouldn't be an option.
 
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