Some Trumpeter Swans showed up at our lake and I went down and took some pictures but getting decent exposure without blowing out too many highlights while maintaining some depth in the image is a challenge. At my end of the lake it is narrow with tall trees on both sides. I'm also shooting down a little so the Swans are against what can appear to be an almost black background. This can be a dramatic and pleasing affect but I'd like other perspectives as well. A low sun had just come out making the contrast more extreme and I will go back down today or tomorrow when it will be overcast and possibly easier but interested in ideas. Thanks.
Nice images.
Some thoughts on exposure:
- White birds on dark backgrounds can be challenging. If the birds are small to medium sized in the frame the background will strongly influence metering if you're running your Z9 in Matrix Metering mode. In that case dialing in a couple of stops of negative exposure compensation (assuming you're shooting in an automated exposure mode such as: Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Manual with Auto ISO or really any mode with Auto ISO). That will help keep the dark background dark but more importantly reduce the chance of blowing out the white feathers. The darker the background and the smaller the white bird in the frame the more negative exposure compensation you'll want.
- If the birds take up most or all of the frame you'll want very little exposure compensation or perhaps even some positive exposure compensation to keep the bright feathers bright. It all comes down to what fills the frame and how much that influences the metering when working in Matrix Metering mode.
- If the subjects aren't moving fast you can spot meter or use a center weighted metering mode and adjust with Exposure Compensation as necessary depending on whether the image elements under the chosen metering area should be bright or dark (positive exposure comp to keep bright tones bright if they occupy all of the small spot metering area, negative exposure comp to keep dark tones dark if they occupy all of the small spot metering area, no exposure comp if the spot metering is on something neutral toned like green summer grass or the blue/grey feathers on a Great Blue Heron or similar). Spot metering can be very difficult for things like flying birds and can be tough with subjects like your Swans assuming you're placing the focus point (and hence the metering point) right on the eyes via eye detection or even placing the focus point there manually as the area right around the Swans eyes have both black and white tones. IOW, Spot Metering isn't a cure all for tough metering situations but there are ways to use it in some situations and can be really helpful for setting exposure when not running in an automated metering mode.
- Nikon cameras also support Highlight Weighted Metering which is built just for situations like your bright Swans on dark backgrounds. You might experiment with this mode next time you shoot subjects like these swans. You may still need some negative exposure comp if the backgrounds are very dark and the Swans fairly small in the frame but typically much less compensation than you'd need in normal Matrix Metering mode.
- Overcast, diffuse or golden hour lighting almost always makes exposure easier as it decreases the tonal range between the brightest and darkest tones in most scenes but it also has benefits such as reducing or eliminating dark shadows thrown by clear mid day sunlight which you can see in the photos you posted. That includes things like the shadows on the necks and the shadows cast by their necks onto the Swans bodies. So yeah, shooting in softer light is almost always a big plus but you'll still want to meter appropriately which is usually a combo of appropriate exposure compensation and/or using tools like Highlight Weighted Metering in your Z9.
