How to determine clipping upper number?

[hirohhhh]

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Hi,

 

Some of my photos looked burnt, especially on a daylight, and I lowered the clipping upper number so I can see the over-highlighter areas before taking a photo. What is by your opinion the best number and do you set it once or change depending on the lighting conditions? Do you use this option, or well trained eye can say whether the image will burnt or not? Is it ok to have a bit of clipping on the image, and what is the well balance?

 

I'm pretty new to the photography, and I'm learning, so please forget my ignorance. Thank you.

[darylgo]

I set mine at the max, 255 and turn off the blinking warnings for highlights, they can be very distracting.  Press the Lower Right button until you see the histogram, use this as a guide for the highlights.  Remember the histogram is a jpg representation of the DNG file and there could be some extra room at the top.  If you not familiar with histograms find a website that explains it well, it is your best friend with exposure.  

[Jeff S]

Small specular highlights (e.g., sunlight reflections off shiny surfaces) may be fine, even desirable, to provide a picture with realistic effect. This is a matter of personal taste and judgment. Trying to keep these small areas from burning out could result in a significantly underexposed image overall.

 

Photo techniques are easy to learn. The most important tools are 'between the ears' (seeing and judging) and are the hardest parts of photography. This is true throughout a print workflow....from shooting to processing. Just as in the darkroom days, however, it helps to start with a negative or file that's easy on the person doing the processing. And that starts with an idea of how you'd like your print to render.....high key, low contrast, etc.

 

Practice will allow you to better judge camera settings and exposure. An incident meter can often help to learn about light. And in the digital world, as noted, the histogram is a good friend, especially in tricky light.

 

Jeff