John Mitchell Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 A question for cloud-shooters: How do you adjust exposure for Alamy when it comes to cloud shots ("cloudscapes")? A lot of cloud images on Alamy look ruined (too much contrast) to me because contributors have set the points (black 0, white 255 or within 5%) as Alamy requests in their guidelines. My tendency is to leave the histogram alone -- leaving exposure as shot -- to preserve the true "dreamy" look of the clouds and blue sky. I'm hesitant to upload cloud images for this reason. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 A question for cloud-shooters: How do you adjust exposure for Alamy when it comes to cloud shots ("cloudscapes")? A lot of cloud images on Alamy look ruined (too much contrast) to me because contributors have set the points (black 0, white 255 or within 5%) as Alamy requests in their guidelines. My tendency is to leave the histogram alone -- leaving exposure as shot -- to preserve the true "dreamy" look of the clouds and blue sky. I'm hesitant to upload cloud images for this reason. . I have a few cloud shots and didn't change the white and black. I just punched up the blue sky a bit Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Confess I'm not that subtle John, I typically give skies a bit of a boost on the basis that punchy shots stand out more and have more chance of selling. If you are talking about clouds only I don't have any on offer, but would think that extreme manipulation would be counter productive, if there are no genuine blacks that shouldn't matter surely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdh Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I always leave my shots as they come out of camera, aside some crops, that includes the clouds and the skys. Also know that if I'd boost some of the colors, the pictures would stand out more, but I cant be bothered as I dislike editing. as for black and white point I never had problems with QC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Confess I'm not that subtle John, I typically give skies a bit of a boost on the basis that punchy shots stand out more and have more chance of selling. If you are talking about clouds only I don't have any on offer, but would think that extreme manipulation would be counter productive, if there are no genuine blacks that shouldn't matter surely. Right, I left this jet trail image alone (no adjustments) and it passed. So I guess the same goes with clouds in a blue sky shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Burdett Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I had an early fail for black/white point adjustment so I always bring the sliders in to just avoid clipping in any channel. It can mess up the appearance of some shots then I don't submit. Generally im always trying to represent what I saw at the time as accurately as possible. This cloud shot took a lot of levels adjustment and is one of the few shots I have that didn't want an s curve for contrast, just a boost to the midtones: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Burdett Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 And no I don't know what type of cloud that is! Cloud keywording- Grrr- see other thread...☺ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broad Norfolk Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I normally take an incident light reading from the sky and shoot in manual mood. Call me old fashioned if you like, but I still use a light meter on occasions! Seems to work for me plus add a bit of saturation in post processing. Jim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdh Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I normally take an incident light reading from the sky and shoot in manual mood. Call me old fashioned if you like, but I still use a light meter on occasions! Seems to work for me plus add a bit of saturation in post processing. Jim. Agree, I also almost always shoot manual, unless I do street photography, where I use aperture priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandre Fagundes Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 I just focus on not clipping the whites, sometimes I decrease the blues so the clouds stand out more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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