1) Any lights that are turned on burn out pretty bad - there is little to no detail in the light/globe fixture.

2) Keeping a consistant brightness level throughout the composition is a problem.

I am a novice when it comes to adding lighting, and I've tried different ISO settings with the same result. Any help would be appreciated.

Gary from Columbus, Ohio

Anthony

The Moderator Page and My Gallery
"Eliminate the unnecessary and focus on the substance." (Tommy Ramone of the Ramones)

i underexpose using ev compensation and the histogram, then bring up the lowlights/shadows in photoshop using curves. capture and other programs with curves can do the same. using the burn tool can also help - the area may be one solid color, but at least it won't be a blinding white.

i agree that using the available light looks best. i usually use no flash at all for that very reason - i think the rooms should look as they do in real life. not to mention the fact that i don't know squat about speedlights.

i'm not a pro, i just do it occasionally, but much to my surprise i've seen LOTS of shots in magazines (interior decorating and such) with blown out lights. not just little ones, either. large ones like windows, large ceiling lights, etc.

it's not always possible, but shooting a room that has windows when they're in the shade helps.

"The whole of life withal is a struggle in the dark."
     - Lucretius

I wonder if that might work. I intend to try it out some time in the next couple of weeks.

A BAD DAY BEHIND A NIKON (OR NIKON-HYBRID DSLR) BEATS A GOOD DAY BEHIND A DESK - Bob Tomerlin
My Nikonians Gallery

You could always clone some texture into the light hostspots to pull them back a bit too. There's nearly always a fix as long as it's in focus.

http://www.neatimage.com/

D70, 18-70mm lens @ 18mm, f4.5, 1/15sec, SB-800 aimed backwards at the opposite wall with diffuser on. I took some 30 of these shots of my office, and this was roughly the mood I was aiming for. Probably should have closed the window, though. A faster shutter speed would have muted the lamp and window even more, and still kept roughly the same brightness level due to the flash.

-Tesla
http://dhtns.com

I'd do the following:

1) If you are using a tripod I'd use the lowest ISO setting I could to get the best quality, least noise.

2) I'd be shooting in RAW format which has almost an additional 2 stops of exposure lattitude built in due to its higher bit depth. Then I'd bring the details back out of the bulbs/fixtures using Nikon Capture's DDE (or is it DEE?; renamed to something else in 4.2) or PhotoShop's "Shadows/Highlights" adjustment. This will bring out the details of the otherwise burned out highlights.

See: http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jennifer/fix-overexposed.html

I chose a very difficult subject.
This is my kitchen with under counter and ceiling lighting all on.

D70 with 12-24mm Nikkor @12mm f/8 ISO 200
The upper left shot is an unprocessed "normal" shot with lights "blown out". (1/3rd sec)
The upper right and lower left are unprocessed shots at higher shutter speeds. (1/15th sec and 1/250th sec)
The lower left is a blend of all three done in Photoshop CS.

I have to say, I'm quite pleased with my first attempt at blending.

What do you think?

Bill

Visit me, info and galleries at: Nikon Photos and Information

I actually do abit of in camera burning and dodging, by turning on and off lights during the exposure (obvioulsy these are longer exposures) and then messing with it a bit in Photoshop, smoothing out exposures, highlight to shadow..

I do this when I shoot film (4x5) as well, by shooting with the lights near their peak intensity, and only exposing them for a brief moment, it keeps their color true, and the image doesn't get a red/amber cast from the lights being dimmed.

Another idea is to put an 85 gel on your flash, this will take the blue out of it and make it match the Tungstens. This way, you can have your main source (the flash) lighting the scene, and not rely on the pratical lights for anything but giving a cool hightlight to the picture.

You can probably get a small amount of gell at you local photo store, or check out Lee or Rosco gels and try a to get a sample pack.

And yes, I, at times, use additional lighting to make my photographs.

I would really just play around with it, and find what works for you.

bill

http://home.socal.rr.com/icamera/Arch1.htm