New Camera help - what am I doing wrong...

Head in the Clouds · June 18, 2006

I know I can't blame the machine - it's just doing what I tell it to do, but does anyone know what I am doing wrong?

These looked fine through the viewfinder ..... (I did have it all on auto as it was the first few shots I've taken with my new 30D) But just really disappointed with these ones ..... Anyone know how I can fix them in photoshop or are they a complete loss?

Any comments gratefully appreciated .....

Head in the Clouds · June 18, 2006

and this one - these are the worst, but there were many more like it

gus · June 18, 2006

You wouldnt be pullin' my leg here kate by any chance

I just had a look though your Smugmug link in your signature...very nice

Gus

Head in the Clouds · June 18, 2006

ha.... cripes. really wish I was joking gus. :uhoh

I've gone from a point n shoot to my first SLR rmember! (sheepishly feeling like a complete idiot ..... and thinking I should spend a lot more time bonding with my instruction manual before posting questions!) and I dont know how to do much at all in ps. (again feeling like complete idiot .... )
Amazing really ... I can make money from taking photographs .. yet I really don't understand what the hell I'm doing.

I can also play piano but can't read music for the life of me.....

shall spend the time between now and when socceroos get their arse whipped by brazil tonight, reading instruction manual ...... again.

gus · June 18, 2006

Head in the Clouds wrote:

I can make money from taking photographs .. yet I really don't understand what the hell I'm doing.

I can also play piano but can't read music for the life of me.....

Pffft...dont worry about it...i do it with electricity all day as well :uhoh .

You will need to master that manual before you get something acceptable to use photoshop on. Photoshop needs something to start with.

First up...get them out of the shadow next time.

Can you tell everyone your EXIF ? (ie shutter speed/f stop/ISO) That will be a good start to getting some advise as we can see what all your camera settings were at the time.

You are in the right place to learn your camera...that i am sure of.

I wont be seeing the socceroo's sadly...im down for the count right about now.

Head in the Clouds · June 18, 2006

gus wrote:

Pffft...dont worry about it...i do it with electricity all day as well :uhoh .

You will need to master that manual before you get something acceptable to use photoshop on. Photoshop needs something to start with.

i'll take that one on the chin ..... and get readin ....

don't kill yourself at work mate!

Mr. 2H2O · June 18, 2006

Kate,
When reading through the manual, please consider taking a look at the exposure options. You pics look like some of mine when I was using multi-point exposure and it caused me to miss my focus subject because it was underexposing or overexposing. With a more narrow meter (like center weighted metering) you can get the camera to expose the subject even if they are in shadows - it would blow out the highlights in the frame but with that many pixels, you could crop out the overexposed parts.

Mike

SitterS · June 18, 2006

Head in the Clouds wrote:

I know I can't blame the machine - it's just doing what I tell it to do, but does anyone know what I am doing wrong?

These looked fine through the viewfinder ..... (I did have it all on auto as it was the first few shots I've taken with my new 30D) But just really disappointed with these ones ..... Anyone know how I can fix them in photoshop or are they a complete loss?

Any comments gratefully appreciated .....

Fairly new to this but when I started ignoring the LCD screen and watching my histogram and understanding it my pictures improved dramatically as far as lighting, etc. My first thought would be to cover up the LCD display and trust the histogram.

: oh and as someone stated above move them out of the shadows. You don't know how many pictures I use to take where half the body or face was very dark. If you see it in the viewfinder it will be in the picture.

Shane

Mitchell · June 18, 2006

Kate,
Did you use fill flash for these? I suspect not. Seems like with the bright areas in these photos and the subjects in the shadows, your camera opted to meter for the bright spots. This scenario calls for fill flash and spot metering. As smart as these cameras are on "auto" they are no match for you once you read and understand the manual!

Good luck!

Steve Cavigliano · June 18, 2006

Kate,
I see a couple of issues. You were shooting under harsh lighting and, as Gus points out, your subjects were in and out of the shadows. Getting your subjects either all the way in the shadows, or all the way out would have helped.

That harsh light will cause bright highlights and deep shadows. If you can't pick the time of day you shoot, like family functions and get togethers, use a fill flash. If you are within a dozen feet the internal flash will do OK. Farther away, you will need an external flash. A fill will help you fill the shadows with some light.

Steve

Head in the Clouds · June 18, 2006

Thanks guys ....

The main reason why I'm confused is that the light was no where near as harsh as it came out in the pic .... through the viewfinder you could clearly see their faces and there was not so much of a distinction between light and dark .... hence why I didn't bother getting them out of the shade ....

Learnt all about spot metering, so maybe if I put it on evaluative metering it might do what it says ... "this is the camera's standard metering suited for most subjects even under backlit conditions. After detecting the main subject's position, brightness, backgroud, front and back lighting, etc, the camera sets the proper exposure" ....

thanks for all your help guys - much appreciated! I just need time to go play/bond with the camera now!

Sam · June 18, 2006

Kate,

One thing to get into your head is that the camera will "see" differently than your eyes. Dynamic range is one area that call fool you. Be very carefull when you can see any shadows. We can see a much broader range of light / dark, and the detail contained than any camera. If you see shadow the camera will magnify this efect. Use fill flash, take several exposures, and blend later, or just choose what is more important, the shadow detail or the well lighted area. Oh, and if possible move your subjects so they are ether in sun, or in shade. Also be carful of people wearing hats. The hat brim can shade the entire face giving a great well exposed hat, with a dark, or blank face.

Sam

You will be able to master this in no time.

Head in the Clouds · June 18, 2006

thanks sam - i think I know what I was doing wrong - getting confused by going from p&s to SLR. with P&S what you see in the view finder is what you get .... not so with SLR. The last SLR I used was an ancient old fujica (probly about 20 years old now easy) God was that simple. The more functions, the more things I can F*%k up

Ahh the learning curve. Gotta love it!

thebigsky · June 21, 2006

Are you sure you're not pulling our legs, you've taken some extraordinary pictures in your gallery, many with difficult exposures that you seem to have mastered?

I'd echo some of the comments already posted, for that second shot you could dial in some exposure compensation or use the spot meter on the subject's face to ensure their face was properly exposed. However this would seriously blow the lighter elements to the right. Better still, use some fill flash to illuminate the subject thus balancing the overall tone of the capture. You've basically asked the camera to expose a very bright picture and a very dark picture at the same time, it can't do it.

If this were a landscape where the sky was very bright and the ground fairly dark, you'd use a grad filter to darken the sky a little because the camera can't expose both portions of the image correctly.

BTW, I wish I had your eye for composition, your gallery shots are beautiful.

Head in the Clouds · June 22, 2006

wow. thanks bigsky.
a few good days of doing nothing but playing with my camera and I seem to be getting better shots. My poor kids have had this damn camera in their faces constantly! I love my kids, but I am OVER taking photographs of children!!!!

This is today's effort:

Thanks everyone for answering my stupid question too. I really appreciate the time you've taken.

RatPhoto · June 29, 2006

You have gotten a lot of good advice. Just to summarize some that I think is worth highlighting.

1. Move them out of the shadows.
2. Learn to use the histogram, the LCD is very deceptive.
3. Learn to expose to the right especially if shooting raw.
4. Fill flash can really help in these sorts of situations.

A piece of my advise is set the contrast to minimum in the camera if shooting J-pegs. This will lead to flatter looking pictures that will need photoshopping. But they will have better dynamic range.

New Camera help - what am I doing wrong...

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