High dynamic range cameras are all the rage lately, and for good reason. Arri set the gold standard for DR with Alexa a few years ago, and now almost everyone wants to shoot with a camera that can pull 13 or 14 stops of dynamic range. But unfortunately, not everyone has an Alexa (not even a Blackmagic) and many of us are often faced with the challenge of having to shoot with a low DR camera. The good news is that in order to capture beautiful images, you don’t necessarily need a high dynamic range camera…you just need to know how to get the most out of the camera you have.
In this article, I will share with you 5 tips for capturing beautiful images with a low dynamic range camera. If you shoot with an older Canon digital SLR, a GH2, or any camera with 9 stops of DR or less, this article is for you. The truth is, capturing gorgeous images doesn’t necessarily require capturing a wide dynamic range. You can create beautiful work with a camera that only has 7 or 8 stops of dynamic range, as long as you know how to take full advantage of that dynamic range and take the camera’s limitations into consideration when shooting.
The most obvious way to combat low DR sensors is to use light. In other words, if you’re shooting a high-contrast situation that your camera can’t handle, adding a lot of fill light is definitely a viable way to get your image exposed in less dwell time. Still, for the purposes of this article, I don’t want to pay attention to the lights at all. Instead, I want to focus on how to get great images on a low DR camera, even if you don’t have access to any lighting.
1. Silhouette
In many high-contrast shooting situations, your best option is to expose for highlights and make your character fall into silhouette. This is a great technique no matter what camera you’re shooting with, but it’s especially important with low-DR cameras. For example, let’s say you have to quickly shoot a scene in front of a large window in an office building, and the sun is shining brightly outside. With a low DR camera, you obviously need to choose whether to expose the skin tones (and blow out the highlights) or expose the highlights and silhouette the actor. Depending on the nature of your story and what you’re filming, you may want to consider the latter option.
Silhouettes can create a beautiful mood that completely shapes the feel of any given scene, and you can easily achieve this look by simply exposing your highlights. Obviously it’s not suitable for every project (you probably wouldn’t shoot a corporate commercial or commercial this way), but for dramatic films this look works really well and doesn’t require you to shoot with a high DR camera. Essentially, you are using your 9 aperture range (or whatever your camera may have) to capture the highlights and allow your shadows to clip to black.
I used a lot of silhouettes in the film Footsteps, as shown below.
2. Highlight the highlights
This is the exact opposite technique to the previous point. As opposed to exposing the highlights in a high-contrast situation, you may want to expose the actor’s skin tone – even if that means the highlights will be blown out. My general thought on this (and the previous point) is that you don’t always want to fight the fact that a camera has low DR. Many photographers try to find some kind of middle ground by adjusting camera settings to squeeze out more DR, but in reality they should either light the scene correctly for the camera or choose between exposure for shadows or highlights. .
Let’s say you’re shooting in the same scene as above (office window), but need to show the character’s face clearly – blowing out the highlights might be perfectly fine. I’ve written about this before, but many filmmakers (including Steven Spielberg) will deliberately exaggerate their highlights in certain shots, so don’t feel like you can’t do it in a pinch. The key is knowing when to do it and why. Don’t choose to blow out highlights randomly because you’re too lazy to set up the lighting, but choose to do so when it suits the tone of the story.
This is a highlight exposure shot shot with Canon 7D from the movie “The Sound of My Voice”.
3. Use a springboard
The first two points on this list are excellent choices if you’re willing to have your character fall into silhouette or eliminate highlights. But what if your scene requires something different? What if you need to show skin tones and details in the background, but your camera forces you to choose between highlights or shadows? The obvious answer is to use lights, but assuming you’re not using a lighting kit, you can still “light” the scene using reflectors or reflectors.
Over the years I’ve had to take some very high contrast photos without any lighting other than a single bounce board, and was able to produce some really nice results. In fact, if used correctly, baffles or reflectors can act as very powerful light sources, and in many ways they are better than traditional cinema lights in some situations. The biggest reason I often prefer using reflected light over film lighting is color temperature. Assuming you bounce sunlight onto the talent, the reflected light will always match perfectly (color temperature wise) with the other ambient light in the scene. The color temperature of sunlight changes over time, but by default, the temperature of the light reflected on the actor’s face also changes. This is obviously not the case with traditional movie lights, which need to gel throughout the day or adjust to the sun’s changing color temperature.
I used a springboard to protect myself from the harsh sun in my short film Mannequin.
4. Use ND gel
In most situations, when you’re trying to capture an evenly exposed image, a springboard will be your best friend…but they’re not always practical. Imagine a situation where you need to shoot inside a car on a sunny day. Obviously, it’s very difficult to install a bouncer inside a car (unless you’re using a small one), and even then there’s probably not going to be a lot of light reflected through the window onto the board. In this case, the key is to take the opposite approach. Instead of trying to add light in the shadows (by using reflections), you can use ND gel to remove light from the highlights.
ND gel has always been used on film sets because it provides an excellent method of light control. In the car situation I outlined above, you could simply apply ND gel to the outside of the car window of the vehicle you want to photograph, which in turn will significantly reduce the light. Ambient light inside the car will now fall within less of the light outside the car, making it easier to maintain detail inside and outside the car.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the margin call, showing how the staff used it Rosco ND Gel Control the lights in this building.
5. Shoot during golden hour
This is probably the simplest option on this list and simply requires you to choose to shoot your exterior during golden hours, which is about an hour before sunset or an hour after sunrise. The worst time of day to shoot outdoors is usually midday (around noon) because the sun is directly overhead and it casts heavy shadows on the actors’ faces. This is especially difficult to deal with when shooting on a low DR camera, as shadow detail cannot be recovered in post if the clip is black. On the other hand, golden hour is definitely the best time to shoot because you can avoid these problems entirely.
The light quality during golden hour is second to none. Some filmmakers (such as Terrence Malick) have built their careers on shooting with this kind of light because it provides a mood and texture that cannot be replicated by film lighting. Thankfully for those shooting with low DR cameras, golden hour offers much lower contrast light to shoot with. , much more tolerant, and less harsh. This means you don’t need DR in your camera to get exposures at that time of day, unless you’re doing something very specific, like shooting directly into the sun to capture a sunset. In my opinion, shooting during golden hour is always a good idea – no matter what camera you’re shooting with, but it’s especially useful when your dynamic range capabilities are limited.
The photo below was taken recently during Golden Hour without a bounce board or lights of any kind.
in conclusion
It’s entirely possible to get beautiful images with a low dynamic range camera, it just may require a step or two more than you’d need to do on a camera with higher DR capabilities. If you’re not dealing with any lighting or light modifications at all, I’d recommend either exposing for shadows or highlights, and avoiding shooting in the ugly middle ground, which really only emphasizes the limitations of your camera. If you have access to a bounce board or ND gel in your scene, this can be very helpful in situations where you need an even exposure…again, just choose to shoot at the right time of day (especially golden hour) too Make your life easier. Finally, remember that many incredible films have been shot using cameras with the same amount of DR as yours. It’s all about working around the camera’s limitations and maximizing its capabilities.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to check out my guide to shooting cinematic images with a DSLR!
