Rain and Peter :: How to DIY ::

Despite a couple of rehearsals before our Europe trip, we still shot some pictures that are not up to par. I am showing some of them here, hoping you can learn from our mistakes

Underexposed

Incorrect exposure. Rain's face looks too dark.

The problem
Rain's skin looks too dark — underexposed.

Why?
Two main reasons: (a) Rain was lit from the back; (b) I used automatic metering.

In this picture, everything below Rain's shoulders was brighter than her face. The upper parts of the background is also quite bright. This confused the camera to reduce the amount of exposure. As a result, the picture was underexposed.

Possible fixes
First try the simple option: eliminate the backlit condition by finding a new shooting angle in which the subject is not backlit. As a second option, you can overexpose by a small amount, or accurately meter off the subject's face. These techniques are explained in the latter parts of the Exposure section.

Too sunny

Harsh sunlight casted dark shadows around Rain's face and made her squint.

The problem
There are unpleasant shadows around her face, and Rain squinted a little.

Why?
Harsh sunlight made it difficult for anyone to smile naturally. It also casts harsh shadow under her nose and chin. However, changing the shooting angle may result in a backlit condition — an equally challenging condition.

Possible fixes
Simply avoid photographing under a strong sun: find some shadow area next to a building; wait for a piece of cloud to block out the sun; wait for the late afternoon just before dusk; wait until the next morning. Or you can master the advanced metering technique to take nice pictures under a backlit situation.

Ambiguous focus

Ambivalent theme. Did I want to put the focus on Rain, or on the architecture?

The problem
The subject does not stand out.

Why?
The background is colorful and somewhat cluttered. It grabs attention from the subject. Moreover, Rain is only in half of the picture.

Possible fixes
There are a few options. First, get closer to the subject to make sure the subject occupies a good portion of the picture. Second, blur the background (see Other tips). Third, use Photoshop to crop away the unnecessary areas.

The overcast sky

Pictures taken from a low angle generally contain too much of the sky.

The problem
Too much dull overcast sky in the picture

Why?
This picture was taken with the camera pointing slightly upward to a degree that it included too much of the sky. The light of the overcast day is good but the sky is not. It is a boring shade of gray. It also tends to affect the metering system, making your picture underexposed like the first mistake in this section.

Possible fixes
Simply change your camera angle to include less or no sky when taking pictures on overcast days. In general, try to pitch the subject against some background buildings or objects. Just anything but the overcast sky!

Too small

The problem
We are too small in the picture.

Why?
It is very common to zoom out to have a wider view of a scene, especially when the background is very scenic — we want to take as much of it in the picture as possible! However, this often creates a picture in which the subjects are tiny.

Possible fixes
Simply walk closer to the subject or zoom in to have a closer view of the subject.

High contrast and the wrong time to apply a soft filter

The problem
The picture looks hazy.

Why?
There are two mistakes in this picture.

First, it was taken on a sunny day. Although we did the right thing by hiding behind the shadow of buildings to avoid the harsh light, the shooting angle I chose pitched our faces against a very bright background, creating very high contrast.

Second, I applied a black diffusion filter in this picture. My intention was to get smoother looking skin. However, soft filters like this one achieve the smooth skin by "spreading" light from the highlighted areas to the darker areas (usually where the blemishes are). In this situation, it diffused the strong light in the background to our faces, making them look hazy.

Possible fixes
On a sunny day, in addition to positioning the subject in shadow, avoid contrasting background. For instance, I should have used the buildings on the left as the background, instead of the right.

Also, apply soft filters only when the contrast of the scene is not high (see the Other tips section).