Exposure or color problem - Camera settings off? Advice please

jenswrens

First off, let me state that I am strictly an amateur and photo newbie so any help in simple terms is appreciated.

I've been playing with my new zoom (70-300) lens for my Nikon D40 and I think maybe some of my camera settings are off - not sure if it's exposure or color or something else. The photos out of the camera seem soft and dull, but when I hit the "auto correct" button when PP (yeah, not very high-tech, I know), the color and light really pop. Why aren't the photos coming straight out of the camera this way? What, if anything, should I change? Which photos look better to you?

I think the leaf really exemplifies what keeps happening consistently with most of my photos. It's like someone's turning a light on or something.

Two examples:

Out of camera shot:




After PP:




Another example:

OOC:





After PP:




Thanks!

jfriend

I wasn't really there to see what the subject actually looked like, but these look to me like they were probably just low contrast subjects. Low contrast makes images look less sharp and less colorful. Adding contrast in PP enhances the look of both aspects of the image.

I would guess that your camera is capturing the images as they were in the real world. Your PP is making them look better than they actually did. You can manually bump the contrast and saturation in your camera for situations like this, but that will then overdo things when you have a bright contrasty scene (like something on a sunny day). I like to set my camera to capture what is actually there and then decide later in PP if I want to enhance that or not.

The D40 probably has settings for "auto contrast" if you want to try that in the camera.

angevin1

The photos maybe can come out of the camera this way if you find the right settings. But probably it is just a simple lens issue. and I don't find by looking at the photos, that it is much of an issue. I know my RAW/NEF files are always a bit soft...but the jpg's are not.....but I adjust my cameras settings for vivid for wildlife and landscapes and neutral or standard for people.

ie: color mode III, Vivid +...etc!

You mention it is like someone turns on a light?? you mean after PP? If so, it was you with the Auto control thing..that was enhancing the contrast and Light!

tom

time2smile

Take a look at Ken Rockwell site
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/camera-adjustments.htm

He has info and even custom setting for the D40 as well as other Nikons.

good Luck neighbor