Using photo references for your painting

So you happen upon a scene that your eyes tell you would make a nice painting.  There are already things about the subject that you want to be sure to include and "push" in the work to make sure the viewer takes notice of what exactly it was that inspired you in the first place.  After all, look at all the detail here.  Way too much in my opinion.  But that is a topic for another blog.  Let us look at why I took three different exposures of the same picture.

Alas, our camera has it's limitations.  If we don't suffer from any eye problems, most of us can take the 3 major tonal values (lightest light, middle tone, darkest darks) and still pick out all the color and detail in the scene.  Cameras, I think are getting better and better at that but still lack the miracle that God gives us with our own eyes.

A "perfectly exposed" photo tries to balance the 3 tones as much as possible, giving you all that it can. Example is the middle photo.  But for a painting reference I will need more info about what colors are in the sky and what detail and colors are in the darkest dark (the tree trunk in this case).  So I decide to overexpose the first photo to see into the dark and underexpose the third photo to bring color back into the lightest light (the sky).  Pros call this technique "bracketing".

Please make sure you also do a sketch if possible because even still, the camera will not emphasize what you love about the subject unless you take it into photoshop and play with it.  Also spend a little time here and make mental notes or written notes about some of the things only your eyes will tell you.