Help & why does this happen

Jane1980Jane1980 Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins
edited January 8, 2009 in Technique
Frustrated, yes! I have a sony DSLRa100. This photo was shot in aperture mode, setting for sun, WB checked and its still a wash. Any helpful hints? So many of my photos are washed out, if I leave the camera on auto, its less likely to happen, but then what is the point of having all those other cool little buttons :) Hope this is the right forum.

Comments

  • HaliteHalite Registered Users Posts: 467 Major grins
    edited January 7, 2009
    What aperture and ISO settings did you use? It looks to me like the combination of aperture and ISO allowed in so much light that the camera could not find a fast enough shutter speed to get a proper exposure.
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  • QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited January 7, 2009
    do you have exif data for this shot?
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  • Jane1980Jane1980 Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins
    edited January 7, 2009
    ISO was set at 400 and the aperture was set around 10. Its kind of a funky picture, except for the missing ocean :( I have almost the same photo, which is clear when I used the "auto" instead of aperture.
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,962 moderator
    edited January 7, 2009
    Hi Jane. I moved this to the Technique forum.

    This is simply overexposed. I don't know much about Sony cameras, but I wonder what metering mode you were using. If you were using spot metering on a dark area, that might explain the result.
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  • Jane1980Jane1980 Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins
    edited January 7, 2009
    Qarik wrote:
    do you have exif data for this shot?

    Exif data? I'm too new at this!
  • aj986saj986s Registered Users Posts: 1,100 Major grins
    edited January 7, 2009
    Jane1980 wrote:
    ISO was set at 400 and the aperture was set around 10. Its kind of a funky picture, except for the missing ocean :( I have almost the same photo, which is clear when I used the "auto" instead of aperture.

    ISO 400 and F10 might be overkill for a bright, sunny beach shot. Is it possible to shoot in Auto, and then see the resulting ISO/F-stop/shutter speed info for a picture? That would give you a possible starting point to consider before going into a more manual mode. IMHO, ISO 400 was probably the weak link; why so high? I target for lowest possible ISO that still yeild desired result. Higher ISO leads to noise issues.
    Tony P.
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  • Jane1980Jane1980 Registered Users Posts: 17 Big grins
    edited January 7, 2009
    Well, it could be that my hubby took this picture....can I blame him ne_nau.gifrofl

    As much as I read and re-read how to use this camera, I'm just not getting any better!

    I'm glad I found this forum, I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot! Thanks!
  • HaliteHalite Registered Users Posts: 467 Major grins
    edited January 7, 2009
    Richard wrote:
    Hi Jane. I moved this to the Technique forum.

    This is simply overexposed. I don't know much about Sony cameras, but I wonder what metering mode you were using. If you were using spot metering on a dark area, that might explain the result.

    This is a definite possibility, but it's hard to see in this image what dark part the camera has tried to render greyheadscratch.gif .

    To take a step back for the original poster: When a camera tries to expose a picture, it tries to make the object its meter is pointing at turn out grey in the image. So if it meters off something black, it'll try to make that grey and thus overexpose everything else that is brighter than black. Conversely, if the camera points at something white, it will also try to render this grey, which will underexpose all the darker objects in the picture. Moral of the story: pay attention to what your camera meter is pointing at and try to keep it from getting fooled by too light or too dark objects. Otherwise, you have to take the next step: exposure compensation.
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  • QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited January 7, 2009
    exif data shows the aperture setting, iso and shutter speed used for the shot. It is associated data for every single picture you take.
    D700, D600
    14-24 24-70 70-200mm (vr2)
    85 and 50 1.4
    45 PC and sb910 x2
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  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,708 moderator
    edited January 7, 2009
    For a sunny day at the beach, try ISO 100, f11, 1/200th or 1/400th of a sec in Manual Mode on the camera if the sunshine is shining on your subject. One or the other will be the correct exposure. You can see how I know this is correct here ISO 400 is two full stops faster than ISO 100

    1/200th f11 ISO 100 is the correct exposure for a normal subject in sunshine during the day. 1/400 is one stop less for the bright reflecting light on a beach.

    If they are backlit, or in the shade, they will need three stops more light.

    The exif data has been stripped from the image posted in this thread so we have no idea what what the actual exposure. Until we have that, all anyone can do is speculate or make a guess.
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  • ZarathustraZarathustra Registered Users Posts: 92 Big grins
    edited January 8, 2009
    Hi Jane! It is rare to see another Sony shooter on this forum (or any other for that matter). Did you check your brackets while in aperture mode? When you look at the LCD screen at the top you've got a line with -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 and an arrow over the top of it. See if the arrow is over the middle or pushed to the right over the 2. That setting will stay in memory for both aperture priority and shutter priority even if you switch it off or switch to auto. If it is over the 2 the camera will over expose everything by two full stops no matter what. If this is the case, you can move the exposure select back to over the 0 by holding the +/- button while spinning the wheel to the left.

    Pathfinder's will work for the most part, but there is another reason to keep your ISO as low as it will go. I don't know if you've noticed or not but the chip in the older Sony models really starts to ramp up the digital noise as soon as you go over ISO 400 and it is noticeable even at ISO 400. The ISO on film was the sensitivity of the film which was related to the size of the grains of photosensitive chemicals. Lower ISO, smaller grains, longer exposure time but clearer picture. With digital it is the length of time that the sensor has to accurately record the scene and clear up any mistakes that the sensor makes. I've heard good things about the newer Nikons and Canons at high ISO not having much noise but we are not in that camp.

    I hope this helps. If you have any other questions about your alpha, I've been through hell trying to get it to do things that Sony decided weren't all that important (off camera, studio lighting) and gotten it to work so I can probably help. It is a wonderful camera with a lot of strengths and I'm glad that I stuck with it instead of switching to Canon or Nikon.
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  • Viffer06Viffer06 Registered Users Posts: 35 Big grins
    edited January 8, 2009
    Jane1980 wrote:
    Well, it could be that my hubby took this picture....can I blame him ne_nau.gifrofl

    As much as I read and re-read how to use this camera, I'm just not getting any better!

    I'm glad I found this forum, I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot! Thanks!

    "Upgrade hubby, pictures get betta!" - Mr. Miyagi wings.gif

    On a serious note, check the metering also and like everyone else's said..
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