SHORT AND SWEET 1. Make sure you are building your cloud library for use when landscapes, cityscapes, and seascapes don’t have that dramatic sky you wanted. A dynamic sky makes all the difference between a medicre shot and a winning image. Shoot all kinds of skies and cloud formations. You never know what you’ll need.
2. When shooting twilight and night city scenes, I recommend using daylight white balance. This setting will give you the rich cobalt blue plus the golden tones of the artificial lighting. Every city in the world, large and small, photographs best at twilight. This is Bergen, Norway.
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4. With contrasty light, HDR is usually needed to re-
White on white scenes make the histogram useless. You will get a spike on the right even if the subject is perfectly exposed, and this is confusing to many people. Don’t rely on the histogram in situations like this. Instead, rely on your eyes. If the subject looks correctly exposed, it probably is.
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tain detail in highlights and shadows. This isn’t always a function of midday sun. Even when contrast seems minimal, like in this temple shot in Burma, contrast can be problematic. This shot is a 7-frame HDR composite because of deep shadows in the center of the frame. §
