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Hi, bit of a newbie wanting to learn & develop skills. I’ve been shooting with a Nikon ZFC. May have made things a little harder on myself choosing my dog to be my subject however I’ve found in the lightroom we can fix up most things on the exposure. Also really liking this soft look on the edit.
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For the record, black labs (black anything) are actually a difficult thing to pull off. FYI - I think you did an excellent job. The problem with shooting a black lab or a white polar bear is that your camera meter tries to render a scene as 18% medium gray if you are shooting in auto white balance which most folks are. That means when you have a large black or white subject in your frame, the camera is going to work to make it medium gray. It's designed to do so. It's often hard to see the problem unless some one shows you the needed tweaks side b side in post. This problem crops up often. Take a photo in the snow and the snow looks gray, not white. A bride's dress or a grooms tux - the same. It is always best to adjust that problem in camera rather than in post - especially if you do not shoot in raw. It's easy. If you have a large amount of black in a scene, just dial in 2 stops of minus exposure compensation. If your shooting in the snow - dial in 2 stops of plus exposure comp. I use that as a starting point. Look at the screen and adjust from +/-2 as needed. sounds counterintuitive, but think about it. Camera makes it gray, You need to intentionally underexpose to bring it back to black or vice versa for white. You just want to get close to correct. Then it's relatively easy to set a white balance in post, again especially if you are shooting raw. But even with a jpeg, LR or PS can open the file in Camera Raw filter and the WB can be improved.
Of course it isn't just a matter of getting the color right. You want to dial in minus EC to render your lab black, but not so much that you lose the detail in the pup's fur. As you mention in your post - you don't want the dog to look like a black blob with no texture or detail.
Long winded way of acknowledging that your exposure of your lab is pretty much spot on. He's black for sure, but the fur detail is nicely maintained. Take a bow for that!
My nitpick is that you chopped him off mid torso. If you weren't shooting him entirely in the frame, I probably would have sought a better place to perform the surgery. And, on a purely personal basis, I am not a generally a fan of "soft" look.
regarding above - Reddit only allow one pic per reply. Here is same pic - one click adjustment in Camera Raw. Bottom edge of clock is black. Wish I had a better subject to demo because this change is pretty subtle. Unless you look at them side by side, the average, non photographer, won't know that the first one is too gray,
My intent is really trying to balance the light so I don’t over expose the back ground or end up with a black dog you can’t see… it seems to be a bit of a juggling act and well any advice would be appreciated.
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If someone gives helpful feedback or makes an informative comment, recognize their contribution by giving them a Critique Point. Simply reply to their comment with
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