Red Blows out

[Nikkie]

Hi all I have a nikon D3100 Ive been trying to take photos of red flowers one post I made somebody said the red in the flower was blown out big time I did not know what that meant so I asked the poster did not get back to me fair enough I went out to have a look at the flower again I thought the flower was pink well it is but more of a deep pink the photo I took was pale pink I then got on to reading more about this and found that this is a common prob It was suggested to me that I try shooting on a cloudy day this still did not help much not as blown out but still a fair bit. I just want a red or deep pink flower to look that way Ive tried all the f stops and all that has been suggested to me but I just can't seem to get it right If the flower does come out red it still to soft is this something that is way beyond the capability's of somebody on there L plates and best left for professionals or intermediate photographers. I had a look online and this does seem to be very common from what I read is there a filter or a trick or something I can try to get the flower to be red or deep pink or just leave it alone until I have more experience behind me.

[William]

Hi Nikkie, Did you try "Spot Metering" just on the Petals, I dont have a Nikon, But I guess the camera has that function, I've found that helps on red flowers - Cheers Bill :)

[Nikkie]

no I had it on center - weighted as that shows a photo of a flower lol but I must admit its a pink flower they are showing yes I do have spot metering thanks Bill Ill give that a try :th3:

[kiwi]

I think you want to underexpose by 1/3 stop and then in processing look at the histogram as you use curves and exposure adjustments to process the image...the red spectrum is easy to "blow out"

[ameerat42]

Nikkie. I tried looking for that thread of yours but couldn't find it. Can you pls let us know which it is?
Am.

[Nikkie]

Nikkie. I tried looking for that thread of yours but couldn't find it. Can you pls let us know which it is?
Am.

http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?86722-I-found-a-new-setting-on-my-camera

[fillum]

Something else that might help is reducing the contrast in camera. The simple way of doing this is with the Picture Control setting in the camera's menu.
1. Go to the Shooting Menu (it's the little camera icon)
2. Find the "Set Picture Control" option - it will probably show "SD" for "Standard"
3. Set this to "Neutral" - it should then show "NL" (from memory, or something similar)
Don't forget to change back to "Standard" when you are finished.

Are you shooting in raw or jpeg format? (I've assumed jpeg).


Cheers.

[Terri]

Hi Nikkie. I'm not an expert, but it sounds like it's over-exposed. Can you minus the exposure compensation a bit? Also, if you set the view to "highlight" when you're reviewing your picture, do those bits flash? That would tell you that they're over-exposed. Sorry, not sure of exact technical terms!

[Nikkie]

Are you shooting in raw or jpeg format? (I've assumed jpeg). no I have my camera set on NEF (RAW) + JPEG fin that way with each shot I get one raw and one JPEG as I don't know much about RAW and doing PP but I can play with them to learn.

[Wulfys Kingdom]

Also in post processing, try decreasing the saturation/vibrancy on the image on the computer to bring back some detail or make it a little easier on the eyes