Specular Highlights

[Tim Ayers]

Hi All

Not sure if this is the correct terminology, but how do you deal with spot highlights like the sun or a streetlight or car headlamp in a night photo. It seems the general opinion that these extreme spot highlights can be left as pure white as otherwise they may alter the correct general exposure. Up to now I've been doing my best to deal with them to keep Alamy QC happy, but is this strictly necessary or do Alamy understand that some blown out spot highlights and the associated histogram is acceptable?

Thanks for your advice, Tim

[Doc]

Hi Tim;

 

I would leave them as they are. Interested to hear what others would do. 

 

Kumar

[spacecadet]

None of my night stuff would pass QC as I'm too lazy to carry a tripod, but otherwise apart from some LR recovery I leave them. QC don't take the full histogram requirement too literally IME. I might not leave a large area at 100% but that wasn't the question.

[Sultanpepa]

There are thousands of high key images on Alamy where windows have been left to blow out. My take is that as long as the main subject is correctly exposed QC wont fail them.

[Bill Brooks]

When shooting I allow specular highlights to blow out in camera. This will preserve proper detail in the darker tones. I usually have my camera set to overexpose 2/3 of a stop for everything, and 2 stops overexposed if there are a lot of specular highlights.

 

Thats the way I see specular highlights, so pulling them back just makes the image look weird.

 

[Armstrong]

I recover them as much as I can without affecting the overall exposure. In my experience highlights such as sun glinting off a railing are fine. However if it's a large area and detracts from the image I won't submit.

 

Michael

[spacecadet]

 

overexpose 2/3 of a stop for everything, and 2 stops overexposed

I assume you mean under.

 

[Bill Brooks]

Nope. I mean overexpose 2/3 stop from the exposure set by the camera. Shoot raw. Easier to recover highlights than shadows.

 

2/3 overexposure means histogram exposed to right with specular highlights blown, but none specular highlights just below 255.

 

Pull back exposure the 2/3 stops in Adobe Camera Raw. Much better shadows, but you have to walk the exposure knife edge of possibly destroying whites. Also be careful of blowing supersaturated colours.

 

2 stops overexposed from camera exposure will move the histogram to the right edge for a totally white subject.

 

Here is a discussion of all sides of the question.

 

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/digital-exposure-techniques.htm

[Robert Brook]

You mention night photography:  I do night photography for a US agency (i.e. I do a lot). No digital camera can cover the luminance range in some situations I shoot in so I always make at least four exposures – but often more.  I find if I make each exposure about 2½ times the previous one, I get a good range.   I then use exactly the same method as I recently outlined for digital dupes to create three layers – shadow, normal and highlight (see post 7, ‘Scanning Kodachrome Slides’).  Once you have the three layers you can decide how you want lights to appear.  I never use HDR software.  Most examples I’ve seen using it look pretty grim to me.  But maybe this is too technical.

 

If it is just to keep Alamy happy, rather than maintaining your own exacting standards I wouldn't worry.  Blown highlights that look awful to me, Alamy will pass with a nod and a wink.  And even display them on the front page.

[John Mitchell]

I usually leave small blown-out highlights alone. They often add to images, and QC is fine with them, I've discovered.

 

However, like Michael, I don't upload shots with large blown-out areas in which important detail has been lost.