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10/25/2004 10:25:53 PM · #1 |
I took a few Fall shots today at a local cemetary, they all turned out bad. When I take a photograph I hold the button halfway down and lock the exposure, should I be using different aperture or shutter speed settings? Can you please tell me how you would have taken these photos, settings, etc? I think I had my camera settings on AUTO for both photos, taken around 7pm.
Locked the exposure on the sky.
ExposureTime - 10/750 seconds
FNumber - 2.8000
ExposureProgram - 3 (aperture priority)
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/60 seconds
ApertureValue - F 2.83
BrightnessValue - 3.5400
ExposureBiasValue - 0.0000
MaxApertureValue - F 2.83
MeteringMode - 5 (multi-segment)
FocalLength - 8.4000 mm
Locked the exposure on the ground.
ExposureTime - 10/85 seconds
FNumber - 2.8000
ExposureProgram - 3 (aperture priority)
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/8 seconds
ApertureValue - F 2.83
BrightnessValue - 0.2800
ExposureBiasValue - 0.0000
MaxApertureValue - F 2.83
MeteringMode - 5 (multi-segment)
FocalLength - 8.4000 mm
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10/25/2004 10:32:09 PM · #2 |
I have the same camera and find that I equally share your frustration. there is the option of manually setting your exposure on this camera but I'm finding it too cumbersome and this camera "wants" to take pictures in the "Auto" mode. We are damned to buying one of them thar new fangled SLARS.
Just a thought. |
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10/25/2004 10:34:40 PM · #3 |
I definitely do plan to buy a dlsr at the first of the year, but this just bugs me! I see all these pretty photos with perfectly exposed foregrounds AND sky, it just drives me nuts!!! :o) hehe
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10/25/2004 10:36:14 PM · #4 |
| If you don't have Split ND filter, you may find digital blending useful. |
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10/25/2004 10:41:07 PM · #5 |
| The blending is very cool but would that be considered "Advanced Editing"? |
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10/25/2004 10:49:58 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Ivo:
The blending is very cool but would that be considered "Advanced Editing"? |
I don't think you could use "blending" in challenges since the picture would be a composite of two seperate images. Therefore, for pictures you wish to enter challenges, you'd have to find another way, such as using split ND filters. I also once tried this technique, but the results were somewhat weird with the sky looking as if there'd been a nasty storm brewing or something. |
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10/26/2004 01:44:59 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by Ivo:
The blending is very cool but would that be considered "Advanced Editing"? |
Blending two exposures is not leagal.
However, if your camera is capable of shooting in RAW mode it is legal for advanced editing -- provided the blending is done from different exposure compensations of the same RAW image.
This thread provides a bit more detail on the process as well as the SCs approval.
David
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10/26/2004 01:59:16 AM · #8 |
What other metering modes do you have on this camera? When I have problems with the sky I will spot meter on a happy medium (in this case the bush above the headstone (headstone would blow the sky out)) then recompose the shot and shoot. You also have Exposure Compensation try a click or two in the - direction to lighten w/o blowing out the sky (ExComp doesn't always work for me...I usually end up in full manual).
ED: I may have goofed this up. spot metering the bush may blow the sky out and the headstone might be right, try one of each.
So many modes so little time.
Message edited by author 2004-10-26 02:04:00. |
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10/26/2004 02:37:57 AM · #9 |
Check your camera documentation. When you press the button it may only lock the focus and not the other settings.
If you have Aperature or Timing automatic priority settings, work with these to see when they would work better for you.
Also I use a circular polarizing filter to help get better sky color, good contrast and a darker image. Then I can adjust levels in post-edit to enhance the midtones which is acceptable even for basic editing challenges.
These look like you may be shooting towards the sun, try shooting the same locations early in the morning for darker skies. |
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10/26/2004 04:53:40 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by aerogurl:
I took a few Fall shots today at a local cemetary, they all turned out bad. When I take a photograph I hold the button halfway down and lock the exposure, should I be using different aperture or shutter speed settings? Can you please tell me how you would have taken these photos, settings, etc? I think I had my camera settings on AUTO for both photos, taken around 7pm. |
Digital has around a 5 stop range (iirc) it can expose correctly at a time -- but nature can have several times that amount. The result is the problem you have discovered. As awpollard mentioned, spot metering an object midway between the two extremes may be of use; provided the range is not too great. One thing to be aware of with this, however, is the chance of tinting your images with a certain color. If your camera is anything like mine, it locks the WP adjustment with the exposure. If spot metering on the green of the shrubs, my camera would make that particular shade of green into neutral grey. This is what it is suppose to do; but this causes the entire image to be tinted with the complementary color of what I am metering. In the case of metering on the shrubs it would be a redish tint. This can be corrected for in post processing (with varying degrees of sucess), but it is best to find something that is fairly close to grey to meter on and just avoid the color tinting all together.
A polarizer is what I use to help in a situation like this, it saturates the colors, handles reflections and can eliminate glare -- but can be a bit finicky to get set just right. I find that I am unable to set the polarizer properly with the lcd; so I have to take it off, hold it up and find the correct orientation -- then screw it back on the camera while maintaining that orientation. Even then, they are only effective with the right conditions, but the effect can be quite dramatic when it is right.
David
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10/26/2004 07:12:16 AM · #11 |
What I used to do with my old 602z was meter on the sky and remember the value (i.e. 1/750). I would then meter on my main subject and remember the value (i.e. 1/100). I would then put the camera in manual mode using the same aperature setting but varying my exposure time until I got the best result possible. I know this sounds tedious, but it used to work... sometimes.
Don't be fooled, but I think a DSLR will produce the same results you posted from your 5000z if you just point and shoot without considering light intensity levels.
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10/26/2004 10:28:14 AM · #12 |
Originally posted by Britannica:
Digital has around a 5 stop range (iirc) it can expose correctly at a time -- but nature can have several times that amount. |
Yeah, a human eye works in range about 12 stops. This is 128 times(!) more dynamic range than a digital sensor. Some scenes are impossible to capture with any type of camera without some clever trics, some of them described here. This is the first lesson I learned after purchasing my camera, sort of my favorite topic ;D.
Sky was exposured properly at 1/60s, the graveyard at 1/8. This makes it about 3 stops difference. Using multi segment metering mode the camera propably measures some kind of average value of the brightness, so the scene is in the middle of the sensor range (2,5). This leads to a total of about 8 stops (2,5+3+2,5) of range in the picture and it just can not be recorded without blowing out the sky or hiding the ground in shadows. But this might not be true, I am heavily making assumptions of your cameras multi metering mode ;D.
Basically doing this thing using Beagleboys method seems to be the best. But you should set your camera to single point metering mode, so you get the exposure values for brightest and darkest spots in your scene. Then try to get the actual exposure value (like shutter speed) in the middle of these two extremes. Problem with multi metering is that it uses somekind of weighted approximation unknown to human and conclusions derived from this data might or might not be correct ;D.
You would propably want to set the exposure value somewhere less than the middle point. Its better to have a bit of blown out sky and a decent subject compared to decent sky but a very dark subject.
But I am afraid the second picture is about the best you can get in that lighting. If you increase the shutter speed your subject will get darker from that and sky will get little less blown out.
Did you consider using fill in flash for your subject?
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10/26/2004 10:37:40 AM · #13 |
Similar in vein to the Beagleboy is simply to choose an exposure which is as close to the right side of the histogram as possible without blowing out. Then bring the image luminosity back to normal using levels or tone curves.
Luminous Landscape has a good article on exposing to the right. |
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10/26/2004 11:56:27 AM · #14 |
If post processing in Photoshop CS, there is a function called 'Shadow/Highlight'.
This utility can frequently recover a photograph with extreme lighting levels.
Both shadows and highlights are independently adjustable, as well as 'tonal range' and contrast.
Image>Adjustments>Shadow/Highlight
Click on 'preview' and 'Show more options' to obtain the maximum benefit of this excellent utility.
Ask an SC member if this utility is acceptable for 'basic' or 'advanced' editing! |
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10/26/2004 02:35:27 PM · #15 |
Just a bit of an untechnical and easy fix might be to buy a cheap grey card and lock your exposure to it
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10/26/2004 04:04:41 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by Beagleboy:
Don't be fooled, but I think a DSLR will produce the same results you posted from your 5000z if you just point and shoot without considering light intensity levels. |
Yup! I screw up my exposure constantly still.  |
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10/26/2004 04:08:50 PM · #17 |
Fantastic article here: Ultimate Exposure Computer
And you can always bracket... |
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10/26/2004 04:39:15 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by fulgent:
Check your camera documentation. When you press the button it may only lock the focus and not the other settings.
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Just to clarify, my manual says "..when you press the shutter button halfway down the focus and exposure settings are fixed (AF/AE lock)..."
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