Out and about shooting

[BecdS]

I picked up my camera to learn (rather than just snap) for the first time in a long time. Sadly, I didn't do too well. Today is quite bright outside, with a few really large, fluffy clouds. I set my camera onto P and adjusted the focus myself. The most obvious problem I found with my images was under-exposure.

Example:


I have started following the course here and I also have myself a copy of "Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow Handbook". However, I wonder... how do I know what settings to use when I'm out "in the field" shooting? It's easy to see where I've gone wrong when I get home and upload them to the PC, and in a few situations I can go back and reshoot some subjects, but that's not going to work often.

[mongo]

need a better description of the camera used, the lens ( manual or AF), ISO and shutter speed. It may also be set to several EV underexposed. At this point , Mongo would guess there is possibly nothing wrong with the equipment - it seems more a "settings" thing/error.

Also , does the camera not have a screen on the back to check your shots in the field ??

[Nikkie]

I am not going to talk to you about your camera fstops ISO shutter speeds or white balance because I don't have the experience or the right knowledge or information to do so. I know only to well what its like to have disappointment. But this is my advice for you when out in the field and this is what I am going to do myself very soon. I am going to buy one of those small laptops you can get them in 7" or maybe a little bigger and only have what I need for photos like my pp programs as long as I can stick my memory card or USB into have a look while I am still there as the monitor on the camera just is not good enough to see esp on a sunny day maybe this is just an idea I had myself but it might also give you something to think about

[William]

What Mongo says is true, Need more info Bec, But it is fixable, Gave this a quick process in Photoshop with Shadow/Highlights and this was the result

[William]

The biggest help when shooting Out & About is the Histogram which shows up on the Camera's LCD screen

[old dog]

have to agree with Bill here...use that histogram. I`d probably shoot in aperture mode or if you are a bit more adventurous...shoot in manual. Both methods are relatively easy......

in A mode (Nikon)...select what f stop you want.....read up on that. Lowest number gives shallow depth of field to isolate subject.........higher number gives deeper depth of field to include more in focus. Decide what you want to achieve, set f stop in camera and allowing for ISO setting (if shutter speed too low then up the iso value) and shoot. Check histogram and adjust if necessary and reshoot.

in M mode (Nikon)....set aperture you desire as above in A mode and rotate the wheel on your camera so that it lines up in the centre on your exposure meter. Shoot and check same as above. Main thing to remember when shooting in manual mode is to meter off the brightest area in area you wish to shoot.

if you do either of these above then you are well on the way to achieving a good exposure. Hope I have helped a bit........and PS....read your dang manual..

[ameerat42]

Shutter speed w-a-a-y high.

Need to meter the exposure and set it. Look @ EXIF... Am.

Camera Maker: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL
Lens: 75.0-300.0 mm
Image Date: 2011-08-17 12:33:19 -0600
Focal Length: 230mm
Aperture: f/10.0
Exposure Time: 0.0010 s (1/1000)
ISO equiv: 100
Exposure Bias: -2.00 EV
Metering Mode: Average
Exposure: program (Auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: Adobe RGB (1998)
GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined
Photographer: Bec

[fillum]

Bec you have -2 exposure compensation set in camera so that will underexposed by 2 stops from what the meter determines.



Cheers.

[Nikkie]

I also did a little PP for you just basic crop sharping contrast topaz De noise topaz adjust crop

[BecdS]

Bec you have -2 exposure compensation set in camera so that will underexposed by 2 stops from what the meter determines.
Cheers.

Is this something I've "accidentally" set or a result of putting my camera into "P" mode?

Thank you all so much for the info already! I realised that settings needed changing, and I could always PP the images at home, but I guess what I'm asking is - How do you know what setting to adjust to what level when you're out shooting? Is there a "Sunny day v Cloudy day" rule of thumb that I can work from and make minor adjustments to suit my varying situations?

I like your suggestion about the laptop, but I'd like to have more control of my shooting, rather than just hit, hope for the best and likely miss.

[William]

Maybe try this Rule of thumb Bec, "The Sunny 16 rule"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_16_rule

[fillum]

Is this something I've "accidentally" set or a result of putting my camera into "P" mode?

It shouldn't have anything to do with setting "P" mode, but you may have done it accidentally. I'm not familiar with your camera, but it's usually a little button with "+/-" on it - check "exposure compensation" in your manual.

On cameras I'm familiar with, "P" mode is essentially an auto mode (although with a bit more flexibility), I think you are better off using either Manual or Av mode as per old dog's post above.

Something else that might be worthwhile is to turn down your cameras lcd brightness if it is particularly bright. An under-exposed shot can often look ok on the lcd if the brightness is up. (Although as already mentioned it's much better to learn to read the histogram).



Cheers.

[William W]

Is this something I've "accidentally" set or a result of putting my camera into "P" mode?

The Exposure Compensation is a function you have selected, apart from selecting P Mode.

The Exposure Compensation will function in every Creative Zone Mode except: M (Manual) Mode, so if you have been using any Basic Zone Mode, you would not have noticed the -2 Stops Compensation.

Refer to Page 89 of your 350D User Manual for the fix.

WW

[William W]

On cameras I'm familiar with, "P" mode is essentially an auto mode (although with a bit more flexibility), I think you are better off using either Manual or Av mode as per old dog's post above.

On Canon EOS cameras the P Mode is just as “automatic” or “not automatic” as the Tv Mode (Shutter Priority) or Av Mode (Aperture Priority).

P Mode has much more synergy with both Tv Mode and Av Mode, than any relationship to Full Auto (The Green Rectangle).

And P Mode allows similar: Shooting Settings; Image Recording Settings; and Flash Settings to those allowed in M Mode, but disallowed in Full Auto Mode (Green Rectangle)

Perhaps P Mode is best described as a combination of both Tv Mode and Av Mode.

In P Mode the Camera’s Algorithms select an initial Shutter Speed and Aperture combination based upon the TTL meter.
As in Av Mode or Tv Mode, the Photographer is just as able to adjust either or both of the Camera selected Shutter Speed or Aperture.
These adjustments are best (and easily) done by using “Program Shift”.

There are quite specific and unique functionalities of P Mode, (advantages), compared to using either Tv Mode or Av Mode, when using ETTL-II Flash.

P Mode seems to be the most universally misunderstood of the FIVE SHOOTING MODES supplied on the Professional Series, EOS 1 Series Cameras (i.e. M, Av, Tv, P and B).

WW

Addendum:
P Mode’s Algorithms would have selected in the order of: F/7 @ 1/500s @ (ISO100) ~ F/6.3 @ 1/640s @ (ISO100), for that shot if the -2Stops Exposure Compensation, was not activated.

[mongo]

Is this something I've "accidentally" set or a result of putting my camera into "P" mode?

Thank you all so much for the info already! I realised that settings needed changing, and I could always PP the images at home, but I guess what I'm asking is - How do you know what setting to adjust to what level when you're out shooting? Is there a "Sunny day v Cloudy day" rule of thumb that I can work from and make minor adjustments to suit my varying situations?

I like your suggestion about the laptop, but I'd like to have more control of my shooting, rather than just hit, hope for the best and likely miss.

you must have set this manually (or by accident) and you need to put it back to normal i.e NO +EV or - EV.

[ricktas]

Out in the field, learn to use your camera, in particular learn how to set it so you can see the histogram on the LCD. This is a brilliant tool for seeing if you are under-exposed (as per your first photo above), over-exposed, and more.

To understand how to read the histogram have a look at THIS. It is probably one of the most valuable tools at your disposal in the field to ensure you have correctly exposed your photos.

[fillum]

On Canon EOS cameras the P Mode is just as “automatic” or “not automatic” as the Tv Mode (Shutter Priority) or Av Mode (Aperture Priority).

Thanks for providing the details on P-mode William. My comparison with auto was from an operational perspective rather than a comparison of what settings can/can't be applied in camera in each mode. I'd still argue that P-mode is more automatic than Av and Tv simply because P-mode sets both the aperture and shutter speed and requires no further input from photographer to get a "good" exposure, however that's not really relevant to this thread.

My suggestion to shoot Av or Manual wasn't a response to the exposure issue but to Bec's desire to "learn (rather than just snap)". In my opinion it is a better learning process to appraise a scene and make a decision on how to shoot it (what DOF for example) and then apply the appropriate setting, rather than just switching to "P" and allowing the camera to make those decisions.

You make a good point about flash. I do use P-mode myself when using on-camera flash (but here "P" = "Panic" ).



Cheers.

[William W]

My comparison with auto was from an operational perspective rather than a comparison of what settings can/can't be applied in camera in each mode. I'd still argue that P-mode is more automatic than Av and Tv simply because P-mode sets both the aperture and shutter speed and requires no further input from photographer to get a "good" exposure

I am not arguing.

Yes it is a bit off the main topic, but as you initially brought it up and as it appeared that you did not fully understand P mode I simply answered.

I am simply stating that P Mode, its functionality and applicability is completely misunderstood and ultimately misrepresented or joked about or dismissed by many Photographers – and that leads to a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about the applicability and usefulness of P Mode.

As I pointed out, P MODE is one of the THREE Automatic Modes, available on 1 Series Professional Cameras – and it is there for a reason.

I was not commenting upon your suggestion to use Av Mode – I was merely answering the statement:
“On cameras I'm familiar with, "P" mode is essentially an auto mode (although with a bit more flexibility)”
I quoted the whole sentence, simply because it was to the end of that whole sentence.

Irrespective of how you wish to respnd with arguement about the point of “how Automatic” P Mode is or is not – the fact remains that in all THREE MODES: Tv; Av and P – it is the TTL meter which is making the choice of “a good exposure” and that TTL meter controls the exposure UNLESS the Photographer intervenes.

WW

[Nikkie]

Bec the other thing you can try is using auto take one or two photos read your camera information your manual should help you find out how to do this and use the histogram as suggested when you take an auto shot have a read of your information and histogram is telling you try setting up your f/stop ISO shutter speeds to match or close to the information the camera is telling you but if you want a rule to thumb the best other thing you do is try ISO 400 f/8 the shutter speed depends on the subject I am still learning shutter speeds myself so can't go into that with you at all but play with your camera take some photos say on a bright sunny day around your yard take photos of everything and anything write down your f/stop ISO so on so for an example snap a photos of somethings call that photo 1 next to that add information that you used in that shot over or under or what ever next try changing your settings say just your f/stop or what ever write that down this is how I did and see what photos come out the best and next time use those setting again under similar condition of course just play around with the camera its not easy and try not to learn it all in one go learn about one thing first and then move on to next setting all the best Bec

[Mark L]

How's your exposures going now BecdS?
With your original photo, in P mode, if you were using a 60D I'd simply say turn the dial on the back of the camera 6 "notches" to the right and exposure would be better. (does 350D have a dial on the back?)
Can I ask why you decided to use P mode? (oh, I just did!).