Boat on water- overexposure?

[edfrombama]

Good morning to all-
I shoot lots of photos and videos with my Mini 2 of boats on the water, and I have noticed a consistent occurrence. If there is anything white or light-colored on the boat, it will be completely blasted out overexposed. No detail in the light-colored areas at all. Is this correctable with filters or a change in exposure setting on the drone? Is this change even possible?
With my DSLR, cameras I'd just change the exposure and the background would still be OK and the lighter parts would show up much better.

thanks for any suggestions- Ed

 

[Meta4]

If there is anything white or light-colored on the boat, it will be completely blasted out overexposed. No detail in the light-colored areas at all.

This is a common issue in bright sunlight.
The cause is that your camera is metering for the average of the whole scene, but a small part of the scene is much brighter than the average, so it is overexposed.

Is this correctable with filters

No .. any filter would affect all parts of the scene equally and give you a similar exposure, but with a slower shutter speed.

or a change in exposure setting on the drone?

Yes .. to some extent.

Is this change even possible?

Yes .. how are you setting your drone camera?

Some things I do to deal with this exact issue:
In general, I find that I get a better exposure when I set the camera to underexpose by 0.3 stops.
But if I have to shoot a boat or ship in bright sunlight where white details and bow wave will burn out, I set to -0.7 stops.
An extra trick is to shoot AEB which gives me 3 shots, almost identical, but at different exposures so I have a few options to choose from ... like this.

Then you can do a little tweaking of highlights and shadows to get it just right in Photoshop or whatever you use for editing.

 

[edfrombama]

Good morning to all-

Many thanks for the guidance- most appreciated. Ed

 

[Meta4]

Good morning to all-

Many thanks for the guidance- most appreciated. Ed

Another tip is to shoot on overcast days rather than blue sky/bright sun if possible.

 

[vindibona1]

@edfrombama Forgive me if I'm telling you something you already know...
There are some things you need to know about exposure and two tools available to the Mini 2.
1) Often the brightness range of the light (AKA dynamic range) exceeds the sensor's ability to capture it entirely. That's where HDR (high dynamic range) comes in, but a discussion for later on. You have to learn how to deal with that, which brings us to the "tools".

2) Histogram. You cannot rely on your phone's screen to determine if you've got the exposure right. The histogram is the best tool to get the exposure the best you can.

3) Zebra stripes (AKA Over-exposure warning).

To explain the histrogram better, it the "density" of tones, from white without detail (far right side) to black without detail (far left side. The top two images illustrate where you'll capture all the tones in the shot because the subject matter does not exceed the sensor range. However, the bottom two illustrations show something different. Bottom left shows "crushing" of the highlights. In other words, once your exposure gets past that right histogram "wall" you lose all the detail beyond the wall that is not recoverable. The bottom right shows you "clipping the shadows". While not ideal, you stand a far better chance of recovering detail in the shadows in post production. My advice is that if given a choice, slight under-exposure is a far better choice than any over-exposure. Some might disagree. You should test for yourself.

Zebra stripes is another tool to watch out for over-exposure. There is a setting where you can toggle "over-exposure warning" on or off. I do not use zebras as the histrogram tells you much more, though the zebras can tell you where the over-exposure is occurring and might help you make a decision about how to utilized the historgram. If the sky is over-exposed but has no detail and is unimportant, then you'll pay attention to where the exposure is with other subject matter. So perhaps you might find the histogram and zebras together might initially be helpful, though IMO the histrogram is essential at all times.

In the case of the white boat, I'm almost certain you clipped the highlights in the exposure and consequently lost the detail. While not the be-all/end-all of exposure, the histogram will at least tell you that something is exceeding the sensor's range on one end, the other or both (high contrast). With the Mini 2 in daylight I'm sure the camera was set to ISO 100. The aperture is fixed at F2.8. The only adjustment you have is shutter speed. While a ND filter may have been called for, you're still limited to shutter speed adjustment.

HDR... If you're shooting stills you can turn on a feature AEB (auto exposure bracketing) where the camera will take 3 photos in rapid succession, one over exposused, one under exposed and one in the center. You can then combine them in Photoshop (and presumably Lightroom) to render and image with a wider dynamic range than the sensore can provide with a single shot. [I still do it the old fashioned way in Photoshop.]

I'm sure I've missed somethinge, but someone else will chime in.

 

[Meta4]

1) Often the brightness range of the light (AKA dynamic range) exceeds the sensor's ability to capture it entirely. That's where HDR (high dynamic range) comes in

2) Histogram. You cannot rely on your phone's screen to determine if you've got the exposure right. The histogram is the best tool to get the exposure the best you can.

3) Zebra stripes (AKA Over-exposure warning).

While those techniques can be useful with a static subject, the OP is talking about a special case where none of those is much help.

HDR is useless because each of the three AEB images will be different as he's shooting a moving subject.

The histogram isn't much help, again because there's no time to fiddle around with settings when chasing a moving subject.
And the same thing for the overexposure warning.

With the special case he described, he already knows that white parts of the boat and bow wave will be burnt out in full sunlight.
Here's an example of the kind of shot he's talking about:

The white topsides of the vessel and bow wave are only a small part of the scene which is darker in general.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Exposure compensation is your friend! Underexposing with exposure compensation is the best way to prevent burned out highlights in both video and stills in bright sunlight, while still keeping it simple with Auto Exposure. For stills, you can use AEB and shoot in DNG instead of JPG to get the widest dynamic range to work with later in post. Cloudy days are best, as they reduce the dynamic range of the scene and make even the Mini 2 look good!

 

[SkiProiii]

With the Mini 2 on a bright full sun day, I find underexpose with -.03 to -.05, AEB with polarized filter will give you lots to play with in post. I do lots of surf and water stuff and find this gives me fairly constant results on moving subjects where you don’t have time to try again. Little you can do with overexposed media in post vs. under.

Water and white subject reflection is always more challenging with but you should get great results with those changes.

 

[GadgetGuy]

With the Mini 2 on a bright full sun day, I find underexpose with -.03 to -.05, AEB with polarized filter will give you lots to play with in post. I do lots of surf and water stuff and find this gives me fairly constant results on moving subjects where you don’t have time to try again. Little you can do with overexposed media in post vs. under.

Water and white subject reflection is always more challenging with but you should get great results with those changes.

I think you meant -0.3 and -0.5. Just a couple of misplaced decimals.

 

[rickmurray1989]

Good morning to all-
I shoot lots of photos and videos with my Mini 2 of boats on the water, and I have noticed a consistent occurrence. If there is anything white or light-colored on the boat, it will be completely blasted out overexposed. No detail in the light-colored areas at all. Is this correctable with filters or a change in exposure setting on the drone? Is this change even possible?
With my DSLR, cameras I'd just change the exposure and the background would still be OK and the lighter parts would show up much better.

thanks for any suggestions- Ed

I shoot RAW (DNG) exclusively. It gives me the ability to recover many burned out areas (e.g. bright white areas on boats) as well as recover shadow detail. As a professional photographer, I wouldn't shoot any other way. Good luck!

 

[jephoto]

Ed- maybe I missed it, but were you shooting in auto Exposure or Manual?
If Auto, I would try doing Manual. get close to your subject - or a similar one closer to you and get a good exposure setting that holds your highlights, then keep it there... and shoot raw.
If you want to do AEB as well - once you have that base exposure, you'll have some options to play with for minor light fluctuations.
And I apologize if I am telling you stuff you already know....

 

[Meta4]

Ed- maybe I missed it, but were you shooting in auto Exposure or Manual?
If Auto, I would try doing Manual. get close to your subject - or a similar one closer to you and get a good exposure setting that holds your highlights, then keep it there... and shoot raw.
If you want to do AEB as well - once you have that base exposure, you'll have some options to play with for minor light fluctuations.
And I apologize if I am telling you stuff you already know....

I'm shooting moving subjects in changing conditions.
What works for me is to shoot in Aperture priority mode and let the camera give an appropriate shutter speed.
Because of the issues I mentioned earlier in the thread, I shoot AEB which gives me three different exposures to choose from.
And to allow rapid shooting as I follow a fast moving subject, I shoot jpg to avoid the long wait between shots that shooting raw would entail.

 

[edfrombama]

Good evening to all-
JEPhoto- I NEVER turn away from good advice, and I appreciate your thoughts. I have been a land-based photographer for a long, long time, and I can generally get my exposures right where I want them with my DSLR very, very adjustable cameras. Learning the cans and can'ts of the pretty much fixed focus, fixed exposure of my drones is a new learning experience for me.
But with help from good folks like you and others here on the forum, I am getting better. Heck, I'm even selling quite a few of my drone shots here lately- imagine that!

you all be safe and keep well- Ed

 

[jephoto]

I'm shooting moving subjects in changing conditions.
What works for me is to shoot in Aperture priority mode and let the camera give an appropriate shutter speed.
Because of the issues I mentioned earlier in the thread, I shoot AEB which gives me three different exposures to choose from.
And to allow rapid shooting as I follow a fast moving subject, I shoot jpg to avoid the long wait between shots that shooting raw would entail.

It does indeed work for you. But you also are probably pulling your EV comp down a bit and obviously not blowing your highlights.
Great stuff.

 

[jephoto]

Good evening to all-
JEPhoto- I NEVER turn away from good advice, and I appreciate your thoughts. I have been a land-based photographer for a long, long time, and I can generally get my exposures right where I want them with my DSLR very, very adjustable cameras. Learning the cans and can'ts of the pretty much fixed focus, fixed exposure of my drones is a new learning experience for me.
But with help from good folks like you and others here on the forum, I am getting better. Heck, I'm even selling quite a few of my drone shots here lately- imagine that!

you all be safe and keep well- Ed

Well, obviously from Meta4’s work, my way anit the only way…

 

[Meta4]

It does indeed work for you. But you also are probably pulling your EV comp down a bit and obviously not blowing your highlights.

From post #2
I find that I get a better exposure when I set the camera to underexpose by 0.3 stops.
But if I have to shoot a boat or ship in bright sunlight where white details and bow wave will burn out, I set to -0.7 stops.

 

[RogerDH]

In photo mode using auto exposure, you can tap on the screen to enter spot metering mode, which means that only the area immediately around the tapped point will be considered in setting the exposure. That should help quite a bit with a subject like a white boat on water.

 

[Meta4]

In photo mode using auto exposure, you can tap on the screen to enter spot metering mode, which means that only the area immediately around the tapped point will be considered in setting the exposure. That should help quite a bit with a subject like a white boat on water.

That's fine if the boat is just floating there, but rather tricky for a moving subject.

 

[GadgetGuy]

That's fine if the boat is just floating there, but rather tricky for a moving subject.

Plus, spot metering on white will tend to turn it gray!

 

[jephoto]

From post #2
I find that I get a better exposure when I set the camera to underexpose by 0.3 stops.
But if I have to shoot a boat or ship in bright sunlight where white details and bow wave will burn out, I set to -0.7 stops.

Have you experimented with shooting RAW only in single shot mode rather than 3/AEB?
I know the P4P buffer allows for up to 6 frames at a time.
Often when I’ve been shooting moving subjects or wanted multiple frames quickly I would manually do three shots in a row , wait a beat and then do three more and the wait time was not excessive that way.

When been shooting moving subjects or wanted multiple frames quickly I would manually do three shots in a row , wait a beat and then do three more and the wait time was not excessive that way.
Although I’m sure shooting in JPEG moment you can go faster than that. Maybe shoot multiple bursts in a row.

Again the quality of these JPEG‘s are pretty darn good so if you are nailing your exposure and have your white balance correct you have minimal quality loss on the slight adjustments you have to do when shooting your boats.