Protect your Highlights: A lesson for Light and Life

I have just clicked what I like my photography to look like and how to achieve it. Thank you so much!

Hello from 2022, thank you for the message in this video. well said!

You can’t protect your highlights in every situation. I have an R5 and use Lightroom, and you’re very limited in what you can recover in shadows and the colors won’t look right if you push them too high. If you’re outside in bright sunlight, you’re going to clip and it’s fine. Just be aware of when it’s happening and where you’re losing detail. If the shadows in your frame look great if they go to black or aren’t too dark to make the picture look like crap, then you can protect your highlights. Searing hot sun reflections look white to your eyes anyway, so you’re not really losing detail for something like that.

Wonderful tutorial and message. Thank you. I’m sharing with my son.

on a personal note aside from all the knowledge you give in this video i really love you sir <3

Sean, You are not only a good photographer, bloody good motivator too. Thank God ! I found you today.

Great piece! Thank you.

4yrs later and Sean is still taking me back to school. Good job Sean.

I think this video is a a-ha moment for me and my life. You have just changed my photography style I absolutely love your photos I have been exposing all the wrong things all these years because I’m terrified at under exposure I cannot thank you enough!

Great video

Very interesting
Thank you do much

Thank you Sean, for your heartful sharing and for the inspiration :)

Your generosity sharing your knowledge and insights is remarkable. As an old teacher, I recognize the changing power of your giveaways. You are a most respectable human being. My sincere greetings.

Thank you for sharing you knowledge and your vulnerability. It is rare these days to experience such authenticity.

I like the logic here

From your examples, i finally understand what protecting highlights mean. thank you

You need some Music in your life my man, I also have a question about the shot from Mr Robot,. Have you actually calibrated your monitor to show the correct luminocity and colours from that movie?

Great video Sean, on multiple levels.

Thank you.


Protect your highlight 🎉

You’re the best

Great talk, and protecting your highlights is an important lesson for all photographers and non photographers to apply to our lives as well! I have also found that taking an hour walk when my mind is heavy or sad really does help to lighten or clarify your perspective! So great tip to always do before heavy shoot days!

how you explained the approach with tv stills, then demonstrated these understandings in your own work was a joy to see. Clear and wonderful way of communicating your knowledge thankyou

This is some of the best advice for any artist that I've heard. Very inspiring and uplifting. Thank you.

Absolutley encreadeble, top lesons, clear english thx for it! Now I'm in Ukraine and in this time I hearing civil defense siren, which means is rocket bombing again, but, i feel inspiration form your work. Thank you.

Thank you so much for creating this video very inspiring both for photography and also much morely for life

Totally agree with you . Cheers and thx !

Feels like you were the teacher I longed to see in my classes.

Such a useful and informative video. The concept, I had been struggling for quite a while. Thanks Sean.

I was enlightened by this video. Would definitely protect my highlights moving forward. Thanks, Sean!

Photographers who love that kind of bokeh that destroys every detail around their subject are the same ones who resist losing those details to darkness.

So where are your highlights falling in camera? Are they medium gray?

"Protect your highlights" was one of the most useful advices of the last years for me. Thanks

Sean Tucker is my go-to for photophilosophy. The absolute best. Thank you for this video.,

Your all videos are million dollars worth it sir😍😍😍😍😍

Love your videos, very inspiring Thank you, Sean!

Can someone explain to me what “expose left” actually means? Like does that mean make an image brighter or what?
What is it in terms of aperture/SS/ISO?
Or is that an editing thing? I find this video quite confusing and not explaining much 🫤

Thanks for precisious info.

You're one heck of a great teacher.

I'm so amazed that You are not a just Photographer, you are a Foto philosopher ("I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.") Mark Twain that is that you mentioned in your Title.

Thanks!

Protect your highlights; very very philosophical.

I always protect my highlights and keep my exposure compensation at -1 and meter for the highlights. Not sure if that’s right but 9/10 any shadow detail lost can be recovered in LR and the exposure can be compensated as well. Assuming you shoot raw.

I work at home. The dogs get me out every day, multiple times.

You sound like a doctor for photos
Treating them like a genius!

Fantastic video. Came here to learn about photography and received extremely important life lesson. Thank you!

So useful, thank you. Protect your highlights also with negative people, some people love to rain on your parade.

I disagree somewhat with your choice of highlights from other work though. Highlights are not just light, also the story, actor etc. I much prefer YOUR work. Your lights always enhance your subject, not detract from it.

That theory you gave would be ok if we had actually evolved but I do not believe for a second that I evolved from monkeys 👎
I’ll ignore that theory & just take what is useful.

Love this. Protect your highlights! All of them.

I always protected my highlights from the the day I learned 'Partial Metering' :) I didn't know back then why they looked so cool! These days I realize it's because my ancient dslr had low dynamic range. This method works better on HDR sensors as the shadows can have some minor details to make things look dramatic.