Exposing for black cliffs & white surf?

[daithi23]

I was filming some scenery this morning, into manual mode, filter on and exposure set. So far so good only when I moved from filming the white surf and onto the black, shaded cliffs they obviously looked really dark. If I was taking a photo I'd expose for the brightest area then lighten the dark area if needed in Lightroom. Is the process similar when processing video? Should I continue to expose for the brightest area?

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[4wd]

It depends on your software, Adobe Premiere can lighten shadows an d has levels, more basic software you might only be able to reduce contrast and tweak exposure which will still help.
Trouble is Mavic's dynamic range is not impressive, Brightening dark areas is probably not going to look great.
I'd try to avoid using shots which transitioned in that situation and record at different exposures for shots mainly of cliff.
Also using the Auto exposure is not something to be avoided in such changing light - it will do a much better job than you can and there isn't much of a stepping effect.

 

[daithi23]

Thanks, I will have access to Premiere, just not familiar with it yet. I suppose I got so caught up with getting it "right" I overlooked that Auto might be best in that situation. All good learning lessons, thanks for the tips.

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