shooting toward the sun

[scottmei]

Hi, i really appreciate having this wonderful forum for student filmmakers, and of couse, the best part is questions are answered by experienced professionals. ok, here comes the question, I am always nervous about shooting toward the sun or a silhouetted situation. How do I set a proper exposure to achieve the ideal look for the film become a tough job for me. I recently shot a sunset (silhouetted ) scene. I exposed the actor at -3 stops, the sky +2 stops, and the sun(hot spot) was +5 stops, but it didn't turn out as i expected. I tried set my exposeure refer with the zone system , but the background was too hot and sort of blow out. should I render the background -1 stop more to avoid the blow out? then, do you have any recommand lighting ration or tips when shooting at this extream situation? thanks.

best regards

Scott Mei

 

[Digigenic]

Welcome to the forums,

What format are you shooting in?
I've shot in direct sunlight on quite a few occassions with digital, but I don't have anywhere near as much experience with technical lighting as the professional members have. I would recommend that you also post this same question in the Roy H. Wagner ASC forum, and in the Cinematography forum.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

When shooting into a sunset sky with the sunball visible, you pretty much have to silhouette the foreground subject because the sky is so much brighter, unless it is a really hazy, cloudy sunset with a weak sun shining through.

Generally I pick some part of the cloud formation that I consider close to 18% gray and spot meter that and set my exposure that way.

But it also depends on your focal length -- a wide-angle shot where the sunball itself is small in frame means you will probably expose more for the sky itself, whereas a telephoto shot with a huge sunball requires you expose more for the sun to hold its color.

In your case, though, there is always the chance that it can be printed down to look correct. It sounds like instead of exposing so that the sky was +2 stops, you should have exposed for the sky.