FORGET Settings & Histogram | Perfect Exposure EVERY Time!

[@ForbesPhoto]

Jan! You're a content machine lately!

[@jan_wegener]

Trying my best :)

[@markelness-oh1ph]

Ok, Jan....you just perfectly illustrated why I need your masterclass courses. Great video!!

[@jan_wegener]

Editing can make such a difference, it's not everything, but a learning a good workflow can often make an insane difference, probably much more than new gear in many cases. It's just not as "sexy" :D

[@iglolosa5196]

5* video/tutorial, Jan. Excellent presentation

[@silvavaughan-jones7121]

Excellent tutorial Jan, always enjoy your seamless expertise, even though there is some I am familiar with, - I always learn heaps every time, - you are a national treasure!

[@jan_wegener]

Thanks for the kind words! I know that some things I have to say can be a bit basic, but hard to get to your point otherwise at times

[@silvavaughan-jones7121]

@@jan_wegener I am retired teacher, your teaching is superb, repetition even if you know it, is good revision, never worry about that, you also deliver in digestible bites, the best way to learn, thank you for being so generous with your expertise. I am long time fan.

[@deekelly2578]

You are one of the best editing coaches, Jan, and this is a stellar example of your ability to share your knowledge in a clear and easy to understand way. I detest editing, but I know it needs to be done to get a great final result. Your masterclass has been invaluable in helping me understand what I need to do to get professional results. While I still have a long way to go, at least now I have a reliable and idiot free 'handbook' to help me. You are my number one educator, and I'm so grateful to have discovered you. Thank you so much. 🏆

[@jan_wegener]

I appreciate your kind words! So happy I could help.

[@bjrn-einarnilsen687]

Loved this video, Jan. Very nice and helpful to see some of your ways to do things to your photos. Yes the edit is very important to get a great final result, but how to do it in the field, as you explained, is crucial for the final result. Thanks for all the great tips. Wishing you and yours a great week. Cheers, Bjoern

[@jan_wegener]

Thanks mate :)

[@j4kke046]

Excellent video Jan, thanks for sharing your experience and tips 👌🏻

[@jan_wegener]

thanks mate

[@catherinegrimes2308]

I use LIVE VIEW HIGHLIGHT ALERT on my Fujifilm camera and find it to be really useful, especially on swans. It would be nice if there were an exposure mode to automatically do this without having to manually change the exposure compensation.

[@sh1209macro]

I think I like it better with the darker background but I realize we all have different editing styles. Anyhow, great video!

[@jan_wegener]

Yes, there's no right or wrong when it comes to editing and tastes

[@sh1209macro]

@ we certainly do and I feel sometimes it’s different from day to day lol. I do really enjoy your videos. Keep up the good work!

[@janbrandl9509]

Thanks for the great content… from Jan to Jan 😉

[@jan_wegener]

Glad you enjoy it! Great name!

[@russellthorstrom6084]

Thanks Jan for what you provide! Great info. You are amazing in your post-process knowledge.

[@jan_wegener]

Thanks for the kind words :)

[@Richard-wm8jz]

Thanks

[@jan_wegener]

Thank you!

[@randyschwager84]

Outstanding and very helpful information! Thanks!

[@jan_wegener]

I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@richardlaurin913]

Great video! Thank you for sharing these tips with us.

[@jan_wegener]

You're welcome! Glad you found it helpful.

[@JacoDeVilliers]

Thank you Jan. I am a new/noob photographer. My passion is birds but this now spilled over to photography. I am interested in your master classes and possibly the prosets. I have seen photos where people introduce "mist"/"haze" and create a dreamy effect to separate the subject from other birds. Do you teach that and other effects in your master classes?

[@jan_wegener]

I’m teaching you everything I know about how to make the bird stand out nicely and create great overall scenes. I don’t know whether I personally introduce most or haze, but you would know how to do it with the classes. There’s great bundles available on my page.

[@alansach8437]

Since I migtated to mirrorless and exposure simulation in the viewfinder, I rarely worry about the light meter, or exposure modes. With wildlife I am normally in Flex mode (Canon), set the shutter speed and aperture to my needs, and let ISO take care of itself. I will then compensate as necessary until the image looks like what I want in the viewfinder and click. I almost never have to adjust exposure in post. If I do, it's never more than 1/3 of a stop. Very liberating compared to the film days!

[@jan_wegener]

Sounds like a great workflow! Glad you found something that works for you.

[@alanclarke6195]

Thankyou Jan I will check out your master classes after seeing this video

[@juantolentino4963]

Excellent video!! Great tips on the transitions from bright to dark areas

[@jan_wegener]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@gossedejong9248]

Absolutely brilliant, thank you!!!!!!

[@jan_wegener]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@nicolasviegener]

Hi Jan, I wanted to know if your master class courses are in Spanish since I don't speak English. Thanks

[@jan_wegener]

Not at the moment, but maybe dubbing will be an option in the future

[@jeremykoloski]

This is great! Is there a benefit to creating a duplicate and masking in the details rather than using the burn tool to darken the bright patch on the original edit?

[@jan_wegener]

Usually gives you more scope for recovery and a smoother blend.

[@bsc5068]

Great Video! Any chance of having your master class available for Capture One and Affinity users?

[@jan_wegener]

Not at this stage

[@peterdisbury]

Super knowledge and explanations 🎉🎉

[@jan_wegener]

Thank you so much 🙂

[@BijuJohn-l8g]

Thanks , Jan Great tips

[@jan_wegener]

Glad you found it useful!

[@damienu.2668]

Great job indeed, thanks for sharing 👍 I’m looking forward to trying this on my own images. Very helpful.

[@jan_wegener]

Awesome, thank you!

[@andrewkeir2282]

Brilliant video Jan, I am at the stage where I am reasonable with Lightroom and just starting to learn Photoshop. This video has got me inspired to learn PS. I will have to save up to buy your course.

[@jan_wegener]

I'm glad you are enjoying the video and learning so much!

[@jameshogg7842]

Thanks Jan. A different and valid view. I hear what you say about Histogram +blinkies on the camera I shoot D850 and Z9 wildlife. I have checked with Nikon technical and the manuals and my understanding is that histogram and blinkies reflect the Jpeg displayed on the back of the camera not the RAW file. You can have 2-3 more stops before RAW clipping occurs. You Know you have RAW clipping if you see a spike at either end of the histogram. To put it to the test take a clipped picture in RAW and edit it . Increase/decrease by 2 stops look at the blinkies + histogram of the resultant jpegs and the original RAW file They differ but all have identical RAW files. It's interesting that they change in a different way on the Z9 versus the D850 It could be that Nikon have changed the system.

[@jan_wegener]

Yes, it shows only the Jpeg, so there's a bit more room in the RAW, but it gives you a good indication where things are heading

[@KingfisherSeven]

Really very interesting - thank you. The course looks good.

[@jan_wegener]

I'm glad you think so!

[@AndiusTeijgeler]

Great video! Love your double RAW files solution!

[@jan_wegener]

Great to hear!

[@nerrelloader4226]

This was a really interesting video Jan. Thank you. Whilst I don't use Lightroom or Photoshop, these lessons I can apply to the program I use (Affinity Photo). I think I get a bit lazy when I'm processing my photos, especially when I have a good portrait photography session with birds in my backyard. Thanks again.

[@jan_wegener]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@marleenvandam6931]

Blown out zebras on the Sony cameras are so useful! just wanted that Nikon implemented this for stills as well!

[@jan_wegener]

Yes, it's a cool feature

[@kenclark6050]

Hi Jan, Really find your videos to be informative and very useful. Question I enjoy wildlife photography based on in South Africa have a 1 DX MK 2 and 600mm prime and 200 - 400 with built in converter. Looking to go mirrowless. Should I consider R5 MK2 or R1

[@jan_wegener]

Comes down to whether you want more MP or not. R1 is like your 1dx on steroids. R5 II is very good too

[@squareeyes]

Cheers. Very useful info and techniques!

[@jan_wegener]

Glad you liked it :)

[@janwilhelm6589]

Thank you very much for this great video!

[@king5amwich]

19:06 oh man, this reminds me of a long difficult editing session I had on some Southern emu-wren photos I have (shudder) those tail feathers give me nightmares.

[@jan_wegener]

haha, they're amongst the worst for sure!

[@birdysviews]

Once again your videos are always helpful and entertaining. One question though.... I currently have a Canon 77d with a Sigma 150-600mm lens. I am looking to upgrading to Canon R6 mk2 but I am thinking of using a 1.4x teleconverter, to compensate for the crop factor from the 77d, as it is Crop sensor instead of Full frame. This would mean I have to use an RF adaptor and then add the 1.4x Converter onto that then add the lens. Will this degrade the images alot ?

[@jan_wegener]

I don't think the Sigma with the TC will be a great combo in terms of AF and IS. I'd try the R6 II or maybe R7 first and then decide if you want a TC or maybe upgrade to a native Rf lens. You will need the adapter for your current lens. However when you want to use a TC, you will need the EF TC for the lens, not the RF one

[@tender.branson]

Is it a good idea to use exposure compensation for ETTR?

[@jan_wegener]

when using the more automatic modes likes AV, TV or manual & auto ISO you will need exposure compensation to get good exposed files

[@DanBetty]

As always well done and Very Helpful !!

[@jan_wegener]

I’m glad you found it useful!

[@sutv6754]

That's a lot of great tips. Gold. I noticed that when you were using the histogram in light room to "Balance" the dynamic range, you did not focus at all on the shadows and the blacks. So my question is.... When you balance the photo first, it only means focus on the right hand side of the histogram? I was thinking if one lowered the shadows and the blacks that would balance things as as a whole but since you did not do that I was wondering why. Thank you.

[@jan_wegener]

I like to push the photo to the right as much as I can first to get max detail in everything and then tweak the rest from there. Blacks, unless a big part of the image, like underwings don’t play as much of a big role and can be darker if need be usually. So not as critical as the light parts

[@larrys6111]

Oh, damn. I totally did not know you could use the brush while the subject is selected so that the changes are only applied to the selected area. This is mind blowing! I will sign up for your master class as soon as I get a few extra bucks. Cheers!

[@jan_wegener]

Glad I could help you learn something new!

[@Dhruvarorax]

Jan please do more of editing videos. Your masterclass is too expensive for most of the countries and you may please need to set the fees as per pay parity this will definitely help you reach more people I bet

[@Kellysher]

I use evaluative metering in the field, and the histogram is activated in my viewfinder. Is there a case when you would change the metering mode due to the situation?

[@jan_wegener]

not really, unless you're using a semi automatic mode and the suggested exposure is way off

[@ruley74]

Nice mate, I liked this one 👌

[@jan_wegener]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mitch1958no1]

Hi Jan - enjoyed the video - this maybe a dumb question - time stamp 8:20 - Is there an advantage to do the two layers, then mask etc in photoshop rather than just do a brush mask in Lightroom?

[@jan_wegener]

If you do two separate raw files you can get more out of each file and there’s a smoother transition when brushing in. In LR masking that part out can work but may be harder to blend in

[@mitch1958no1]

@@jan_wegener thanks

[@ambrosechiu2338]

Happy New Year Jan and thanks for this great video.

[@jan_wegener]

Happy New Year to you too!

[@ambrosechiu2338]

@jan_wegener thank you

[@selkiemaine]

I think a lot of folks who've been doing this for a long time were traumatized by slide film back in the day, where you could be screwed if you were off a half stop.

[@briansilcox5720]

Too true… 30 yrs of shooting Kodachrome 64 taught us to meter carefully. Rescue became possible for overexposure with digitization and PS. I have been able to recover very usable images from +1 overexposed K64. Not so from -1 exposure

[@jan_wegener]

Yes, it;s interesting how certain film philosophies still persists when things have changed a lot

[@Kellysher]

In the field, I have the histogram active in my viewfinder and use it for exposure. I expose ttr much as I can. When processing an image the other day, I was increasing the exposure in Lightroom, looking at the white color, pulling it to the right but not touch the edge. What I noticed was the blue color was actually touching past the edge, so, does that matter in lightroom? Am I looking at just the white line, or all of them when processing?

[@jan_wegener]

You will have too look at all of them or desaturated a bit of the blue channel for instance to stop it from blowing out

[@drummerg3331]

Great video Jan! Does your photoshop masterclass include general information, such as layers, adjustment tools, etc., or is it only in relation to wildlife? I really need a good general purpose photoshop instruction manual, so I’m hoping that’s what your masterclass is.

[@jan_wegener]

I explain everything you need to know including layers, masks, AI tools, removal tools etc I show how they work on bird photos, but you'd use them very similarly on many different subjects, too

[@drummerg3331]

@ awesome, thank you!

[@Met.Photography]

Hey and G'day sir, What will be better for wildlife and small bif's?The Nikon Z8+Z 800mm f6.3 vsZ9+600mm pf vs.Eos R1+Rf 100-500mm+1.4x vs.R5ii+100-500mm+1.4x+70-200mm rf z? Waiting for a clear and definite answer from you! Thanks in advance.

[@XoXo475]

Both

[@user-nf7cr6wn6o]

This is a non-comparison. All of these systems can do "wildlife and small bif", but that doesn't tell you anything yet, cause you don't seem to know what you want to use it for. Will you handhold or mount mostly? Will you wander or station yourself? Do you want to plan your composition like you'll have to with a prime? Getting 100-500 when you're already sure it'll be with a TC is random and highly illogical as it's hardly compatible. If you're starting and you don't have a clue about your flow in the field yet, it might be best to get yourself a middle of the road, budget friendly kit such as A7III+200-600 used or something. If you're spending without a clue, I'd prolly say get Z8+180-600, can't go wrong there. Sorry if it comes of cynical but you need a small shake if you're comparing these systems without a clue, of which some cost 10k. Buy an R10+100-400/a6700+70-350 and learn more about bird photography is probably the actual best advice. I can guarantee you that most of the published bird photos are hardly ever taken from a big distance anyway. In good light, a 2k kit will get the job done with a little fieldcraft. Good luck anyway.

[@jan_wegener]

well said

[@jan_wegener]

Hey, I have commented a few times. I always give people ideas and options, but I will never tell you what to buy, only you can decide that. My favourite "amateur" birding lens would be the 600pf.

[@Mirrkat]

Hi Jan, Amazing educational video. I’m considering your master classes but can’t find information on what version of LR and PS you’re using? Please let me know as previously I found this to be an issue with a different online class I purchased (not yours) and the version was out dated.

[@jan_wegener]

Hi, It's as recent as humanly possible. I filmed it in I believe May/June last year and there has not been any major update since that would affect anything in the classes :)

[@Mirrkat]

@ awesome!! Thank you.

[@francescopaolopalma4746]

Ciao, grazie per il video "illuminante" seguo molto il tuo canale. Finalmente in questo video c'è il doppiaggio automatico e volevo chiederti se nei tuo corsi c'è la possibilità del doppiaggio automatico e poterli ascoltare in Italiano, grazie.

[@jan_wegener]

Hey, Not at this stage I believe

[@francescopaolopalma4746]

@@jan_wegener guarda che già io sento i tuoi video in Italiano con doppiaggio automatico

[@francescopaolopalma4746]

Non tutti però, adesso per esempio c'è su questo video, ieri non c'era, l'altro ieri si, ecco perché chiedevo pensavo dipendesse da te.

[@jan_wegener]

@@francescopaolopalma4746 not sure why

[@vladislavkuba5837]

ich denke, das war dein wichtigstes Video!

[@jan_wegener]

danke :)

[@robertfrowenfeld5866]

Regarding the points you make about exposure and, in particular, lighting,... I've noticed that some of the birds I've been trying to photograph always have their back to the sun. Makes perfect sense -- these are birds of prey -- and they're not stupid. Just as I know to keep the sun at my back to get a good exposure (and color), the hawks know that having the sun to their back makes it easier to see their prey! As such, if I take a photo to get a good frontal view (taking a picture of just the back of a bird just doesn't do it for me), then the colors aren't bright and the background is totally blown out. I've asked the hawks to please turn around, but that just doesn't seem to work either. Such is life. But, all kidding aside, great video with good information for LightRoom users. Thanks for all the tips!

[@Twobarpsi]

As a beginner digital photographer I would really stress out about getting the perfect exposure SOOC. With film this was critical. Once I started editing my RAW files, I find you just need to be close (at least 2-3 stops), and you can really fine tune the exposure on the computer. I find most of the time, I'm within 1/3 to 1/2 stop properly exposed. It's nice to know, if you do make a mistake there is some leeway in post. Great advice and video Jan!

[@jan_wegener]

You are right, it's much less critical with digital and RAW files

[@Mike_Wazowski-e9v]

Jan, have you tested clipping mask and blendif in Photoshop? I share my teqnic here. For clipping mask: i select my subject, then i create new adjustment layer (any layer without doing any adjustment) with my mask on. From that i create all my new layers on top of that base layer, and from that i create a clipping mask. That way i dont need to select my subject each time. The same teqnic for the background. For blend if: I crank it up my exposure and let some part get overexposed, then i make sure that the otherwise overexposed areas dont get clipped, using blend if. Sometimes i use blend if the other way around by darken my image and make sure that the shadows dont get cliped. That way i dont need to mask in exposure manually, and even the most tricky parts get the right exposure. This works for me, but i like to see a video about those two tecniqes for comparing with other tecniqes.

[@jan_wegener]

Yes, I always save my masks and refine them, but it’s hard to explain that quickly in a video

[@tobiberger5892]

Super Video!

[@jan_wegener]

Thank you very much!

[@mr.mephistopheles2497]

THANK YOU JAN.

[@jan_wegener]

You're welcome :)

[@wanneske1969]

The pigeon at 5.19 looks perfect to me !

[@jan_wegener]

we each like different looks :)

[@wanneske1969]

@@jan_wegener To me, the subject should be brighter than the background but that's just matter of preference. off course you are an amazing photographer :-)

[@dougcampbell6509]

Excellent video, one of your best IMHO! I’m curious to know what are your thoughts on why you prefer such bright backgrounds. Is it just personal taste or do you have specific reasons why you prefer this? Thanks!

[@jan_wegener]

That's what looks best to me and makes the subject pop. How bright or dark you make a BG is totally your choice. I like a lot of painted bird art from artists like William T Cooper, so I think a brighter background allows me to have a bird more of an "art" feel to it

[@dougcampbell6509]

@@jan_wegener 👍👍

[@CrawPhotography]

Great deal of truth to the fact that getting the perfect exposure is near impossible in the field. Its why i'll never understand people that just want to shoot whatever, and then upload the raw file as it is, as a jpeg with no editing or touching of anything. Don't get me wrong sometimes shooting in JPEG can give great results, but it really does limit the control you have over the final image.

[@jan_wegener]

Well said

[@gregdarroch1946]

Love that advice where you duplicate the RAW file and mask to get the highlights detail back. Will be using that in future.

[@jan_wegener]

Glad it’s helpful. It’s a game changer for me.

[@charlesfisher2134]

Great job.

[@jan_wegener]

Thanks!

[@giovannifabiani5840]

You shoot thousands of images, then you have to select the ones you keep, and after that, you process a number of them with Photoshop, Lightroom, or a combination of the two. You master the entire process, so you are surely super efficient and when I look to your videos It seems all manageable. However, it looks like a ton of work every time you take pictures! How do you manage all of that? Cheers, Giovanni

[@jan_wegener]

It is a ton of work, but when you do it a lot you get very quick at it. They key is to know what to look for in the field and when going through the images

[@TeddyCavachon]

I’ve been teaching exposure since 1975 back when I was working at the National Geographic photo labs and the two words I never used were “CORRECT” or “PERFECT”. It’s either OPTIMAL TECHNICALLY and OPTIMAL PERCEPTUALLY or not. Our baseline for NORMAL is what we perceive in our brains which is the result our pupils adjusting to light and our brains filtering the input from rod and cone cells on the retina. The rods cover the periphery of human retina and and sensitive only to a narrow band of wavelength in the green region but they are about 3000x (30EV) more sensitive to light intensity in that range than the RGB sensing cones which are concentrated in just the center 2° of the field of vision - 👍 about twice the width of a thumb at arms length-around the optic nerve and fovea which is a dead spot. We don’t realize it but on a subconscious level our eyes flit around a scene in what are called saccades and the brain stitches together the input from rods and cone cells. Tunnel vision is the sequence of the sensitive rods detecting some change in the part of the POV they are recording and the brain sending eyes there so the color sensing RGB cones are fixated over it at which point our situational awareness what is on the periphery diminishes. The rod cells are still recording the periphery but they brain filters out the signal until there is enough contrasting movement to pull the eyes to fixate there. Understanding that changed the way I compose my photos. I used to crop outside-in starting with the FOV of my eyes. Now I ‘tunnel’ in and crop tight on my focal point and expand the frame and as things enter the periphery asks myself “If this wasn’t in the photo would anyone say “Hey where is the ….” They will do that if you cut off a body part they would expect to see like feet or top of head but not other things. When to stop expanding the crop and whether to put the focal point in it then dictate exposure decisions based on the tone of the focal point the contrast of the lighting and the importance of highlight detail. Highlight detail has a priority PERCEPTUALLY because our eye and brain adjust to expose them OPTIMALLY with detail. Since 2004 when I bought a pair of Canon 580ex flashes and was testing the A:B group FILL:KEY ratios I’ve used black and white terry towels instead of cards as my exposure targets because they can be draped for 3D modeling and the specular highlights on the loops of the fabric reveal texture making it easy to see in the playback if “Zones” 2 (first hint of texture in shadows) and 8 (texture in the highlights) is being accurately recorded relative to what I’m perceiving in person and what I think, based on my experience viewing photos, what other viewers will EXPECT to see. Viewers of photos are more forgiving of a loss of detail in the shadows than they are in the highlights because our eyes ‘expose to the right’ to optimally expose the highlights except when fixating on something in the shadows. The perceptual tricks to use when photographing a very dark subject are to: 1) crop as much of the brighter background out of the image, 2) add flash to create specular highlights because they are what create the illusion of 3D shape and texture when there are no shadow clues! There is a device called the “Better Beemer” which is a telephoto fresnel lens for flash which projects a very narrow beam. It’s purpose isn’t to illuminate and lift the shadow but rather to create the textured defining specular highlights on fur and feathers which have microscopic flat mirror-like facets which create millions of specular reflections. Is it natural lighting? No, but it produces the texture and shape viewers would expect to see. Viewers also don’t expect see as much detail in a far away subject as a near one, so if photographing a black bird on a branch more detail on the bird will be expected in a tight crop than a wide one where if the background is blown out the critique will likely be “why is the background blown out?” not “why is the bird so dark?” Add flash to create specular highlights on the feathers of the black bird in the wider crop exposed OPTIMALLY technically (nothing clipping) for the background and the bird will appear better exposed, albeit not optimally, perceptually because the flash will reveal the texture in the feathers viewers expect to see. I started my brief pro career in retail photography in 1972 near the top of the profession as full-time assistant to Monte Zucker then the top PPofA instructor in wedding photography. The secret to his successful style of wedding photography in the late 60s - early 70s? ALWAYS have FILL FLASH over the lens of camera as heads of subjects (the latter to hide the shadow the flash created behind them). A single flash used that way creates very flat lighting in terms of shadow clues but there are lots of clues created by the specular highlights. What made his photos look perceptually correct was always also using a photo cell triggered KEY flash at the same angle as the sun at 10 AM or 2PM (45° to nose for humans) to create the 3D shape of faces and objects viewers expect to see. From a distance if a face is lit so the key light creates a “Mask” pattern of highlights on forehead, cheek bones and chin it will be perceived as a face even if totally out of focus and you get that mask pattern on human by posing the nose 45° from the key light and with it about 45° higher than eye line so nose is 1/2 in highlight 1/2 in shadow in a full face view. But for non-human subjects the strongest illusion of 3D shape is created by backlighting the subject with key source 45° above and to the left or right which is the position of the sun at 10 AM and 2 AM in mid summer in the Northern Hemisphere where I live. How does this affect exposure decisions? If the angle of the lighting by itself defines the expected 3D shape of an animal the viewer will be less critical of any loss of fine detail. It not necessary to make every leaf on every tree sharp to convey the feeling of being in a forest. At this point on my learning curve, which hopefully never levels off, I don’t really need to think through everything as I just described because with repetition things become reflexive and without thinking I will BIAS exposure for background or subject detail depending on how I crop the image. One of the reasons I love my RF100-500mm on R6mkII for wildlife is being able to take a wide establishing shot a 100mm biased for background being perceptually normal looking at the expense of subject detail then zooming in to 500mm and shifting the exposure bias to optimally expose the subject, not showing enough of the background for less than optimal exposure to be noticed. I never photographed outdoors without a 580ex flash on Stroboframe camera flip bracket with my 50D body but the R6mkII DR and bit depth is so much better I seldom need flash to handle the contrast of the lighting - being able to pull up highlights or shadows in Affinity Photo 2 in post-but they lack the specularity in the subjects because I haven’t yet purchased a compatible flash - the 580ex doesn’t work on the R6mkII. It could if the camera OS was backwards compatible but Canon didn’t rendering them obsolete. 😢

[@jan_wegener]

Wow, thanks for sharing all that! Very interesting. With the mechanical shutter the 580ex should work?

[@waynedettman6472]

Thanks for keeping it simple.

[@TeddyCavachon]

@@jan_wegener The problem is that the 580ex uses coded optical pre-flashes between A group “Master” and B and C group slaves. Canon did that originally back in 2004 because it was so difficult to get approval for radio devices internationally. For example the frequency Pocket Wizards use in the US is reserved for NATO in the EU why US and EU models were incompatible. Thankfully Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for phones and computers resulted in worldwide standards and Canon then switched to Wi-Fi frequency triggering rendering the 580ex obsolete so it could sell a new generation of flashes. It has done it again with new proprietary multi-pin flash interface the R6mkII and other new bodies has. At some point I’ll buy one of the new model EL-5 flashes for my R6mkII it just isn’t a priority because the DR of the R6mkII is so amazing even in sunny backlight, not ideal for making exhibition prints but perfectly acceptable for sharing in 2K videos on KZbin most will watch on phone or tablet 😂

[@Slewis71119]

I have always thought that you need to darken the background and lighten the subject to show off your subject.

[@jan_wegener]

You can, but it;s not how I like to do it. For my taste it looks better the other way around

[@JGZphotography]

I don't get the reason to bounce between Lightroom and Photoshop when editing. Actually, Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) is the Lightroom developing tool (without a library). Photoshop is paired with ACR when needed with speed keys. Another note, instead of loading two separate exposures to mask, why not use Photoshop to copy a layer above other, change the exposure on the lower layer, then go to the upper layer with a mask and brush to make spot exposure changes to that layer. When done, flatten the top layer to finish.

[@jan_wegener]

You will only be able to get all the details out of the RAW file if you develop it twice. Just darkening the brighter exposure won't get the details back. I don't jump between LR and PS when editing myself, but I like to show both in the videos

[@michaelhains2291]

A Sony sensor (unlike Canon) is better at recovering shadows than highlights. So I do not expose to the right, I make sure not to blow any highlights - the zebras make this easy.

[@KurtisPape]

Exposing to the right is similar to using zebra's, you are pushing the exposure to the limit of the highlights without clipping them. So if you have a white bird, both methods can result in an under exposed image.

[@michaelhains2291]

@@KurtisPape Using zebras is no the same as exposing to the right and the histogram tells me so. At least on Sony cameras with Sony sensors.

[@KurtisPape]

@@michaelhains2291 I just tested my Sony camera and the zebras appear right as my histogram touches the right. Have you got yours set to 107+?

[@GabePerlPhotography]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@chrzanik666]

My photos are underexposed by default, I live in UK 😂😅

[@jan_wegener]

hehe

[@fintonmainz7845]

No such thing as "correct" exposure.

[@jan_wegener]

correct

[@patricedargenton6636]

Juste pour vendre tes cours mais sinon ta vidéo ne raconte rien !!!

[@jan_wegener]

I show you a few very handy tips I use on every photo, why is that nothing? Where else do you see how to transition a an area seemlessly between background and subject or how to use intersect masks in LR?