~thought i'd ask : ) thanks

Eugenia- can you talk more on what you mean by the gray card (which I assume is for setting white balance), or else point to some web resources on the topic?

Go into the Color Curves effect and drag the brightest (top right) part down. That will darken the highlights. I you want to reduce the contrast for a certain light level double click on the curve to create a point in the curve that is in the middle of the brightness range for your subject (you can experiment to find that point) and then use the handles to reduce the slope of the curve in that brightness range. That will provide a smoother, more gradual and natural looking, contrast. Also, don't forget that you can use keyframes to adjust the levels as the primary subject moves in and out of the light.

I really don't know how to explain it better than that, but if you play with the curves I think you will see what I mean. Also, take a good look at the help topic for that effect, it has examples of ways you can manipulate the curves.

Paul, if something is completely washed out, there's no recorded information to recover, and using curves won't help much.

Mike: the grey card also sets the exposure, not just the white balance (as long as you are in non-auto mode in the camera).

Yes, that is true, Eugenia. But often there are a fair amount of pixels that aren't 100% white, and you can bring them out by dropping the upper part of the curve. The results aren't great, but if you don't have the opportunity to do it all over again then it is better than nothing.

Of course this brings up the whole topic of lighting in general, and how to expose when you don't have great light for video, a big world all in itself. Quick and dirty, if you don't have a grey card and you can get close enough to zoom in on a hand, have someone hold up the palm of their hand under the "typical" lighting condition, and set your exposure based on the palm. That should give you a reasonable exposure. The ethnic background of the subject typically doesn't make a big difference; most palms are pretty close.

There are a couple of other options.... 1. Cut out some "like video" clips and pass them thropugh at the points where the 'white patches' come in. Using your transitions along with the "cut outs" give it an 'extra camera' effect that works in some cases. If it's right at the most important lyric of the song, it can get tricky, but I've used the "cut outs" before to remedy that problem. 2. you can use stills as a "relief". They stop the action in a dramatic way and if used in the right lighting can be very unusual for the viewers. There again, if the lyrics are "in the way" you have a problem, but if the places are where you can "insert" some changes to the continuity, then you can 'fix it'
Hope this helps
John

Folks,
I 've got a simple problem with Flash Photography at a wedding. Apparently the frames with the over exposure flach accents can be adjusted with Brightness/contrast.