White on White

Copyright 2011 Bob Harvey and Diane Kelsay

Images by Bob Harvey and Diane Kelsay

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Basically, at this point, we adjust the exposure (if needed) to either pull back slightly on an overexposure (with a shorter exposure or smaller aperture) or edge the exposure closer to white (by adding time to the exposure or enlarging the aperture).

It’s important to remember that even though we record both RAW and JPEG images for each shot, that the review pane showcases the JPEG.  It would do that if all we shoot is RAW, too.  That review pane applies white balance, which should give us a good indication whether that part of our thinking is on track, too.  We do, though, usually fine tune the white balance during the RAW conversion step as we take the image into Photoshop.

We’re sometimes inclined to make multiple compositions.  Sometimes we find that one angle separates the shades of white better than another once we get back to our studios.

 

When you get to the digital darkroom, you may find that you need to spread the dynamic range of the image a bit to build separation between various components of the composition.  Most of this work can be accomplished in the RAW conversion.

Once you’ve whipped white on white, you have all the skills you need to work with other images that require a lot of detail and definition in the whites.  Forget the histograms (other than to warn you about blowing out the whites) and concentrate on delivering great detail.

Go out and give it a try!

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