Practice pictures

[clutchkiller]

The Histogram(s) shows that all of the pictures I took today were under-exposed, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of things (I hope). I used the TV setting on the camera.

The shutter speed for the two bee's was at 1/500, aperture was 5.6, and ISO was 400.

The shutter speed for the two mushroom's was at 1/125, aperture was 5.6, and ISO was 400.

Would a higher ISO correct the under-exposure problem?

 

[gil850]

Yes, or since you're using Tv mode, a slower shutter speed.

 

[Hideandwatch]

It's good to see that you are working with the new cam and getting the hang of it somewhat. What program do you use for post processing? I played around a little with them in photoshop 7.0 (levels) and managed to get a little better exposure value out of the top two. If you like I will post them and the steps in doing so.

 

[clutchkiller]

Originally posted by gil850+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gil850)</div>

Yes, or since you're using Tv mode, a slower shutter speed.[/b]

I thought raising the ISO would do it (the manuel said it would), but I kept having the aperture reading flash. I'll try the slower shutter speed next time.

<!--QuoteBegin-Hideandwatch
What program do you use for post processing? I played around a little with them in photoshop 7.0 (levels) and managed to get a little better exposure value out of the top two. If you like I will post them and the steps in doing so.

I'm using Microsoft Digital Image Suite (2006). And yes I would like to see what you came up with. I was a little afraid to do too much to them and have them look unnatural.

Thanks Gil850 and Hideandwatch.

 

[Hideandwatch]

Since your not using photoshop, I wont bore you with the tutorial of what I did. But if you have in your program an image tab that has a "levels" tab it will give you a histogram that you can adjust.

 

[clutchkiller]

Wow, thanks Hideandwatch, I definitely like the pictures better the way you edited them. It's a little hard to know when enough is enough... I'll have to keep playing with the images until they look good to me, and hopefully other people will think so too

 

[Lan-Lord]

Besides being a little underexposed, great work on those shots. I really like the yellow shroom.
What metering mode were you using? For landscape and outdoor shots, I find that multi-meter gives pretty good metering for outdoor scenes, unless I can partial meter a neutral gray (or I can meter a gray card)
Clutch, have you ever heard about, or read about "The Zone System" (eg 18% gray)? I found that whenever I can properly meter a scene, pics come back looking great. A gray card is a great way to learn the zone system. Once you knock out exposure, you really dont have to do much in post process (my preference).

this is just me, but if my metering is accurate (eg histogram looks good) the only thing I do is USM in PP. I know others do a lot more and thats fine, but post processing is my biggest dislike of photography. I would rather nail the exposure in the camera, and not spend time PPing.

 

[clutchkiller]

Thanks LAN-Lord, I was using spot metering, and no I've never heard of "The Zone System," or even a grey card... could you please explain what they are?

PP is also a big dislike for me, unless I'm bored and just fooling around with a picture that I really don't care too much for. I would much rather get things right while taking the picture.

 

[Lan-Lord]

The zone system (aka using a gray card) is kind of like cheating. But it will guarantee perfect exposure everytime. (its not really cheating).

You see, when you "meter" a scene, your camera assumes that all of the colors, highlights, shadows, etc of your scene will "average" out to a neutral grey color, aka 18% gray.
This assumption that your camera makes will throw off your photos exposure if the "average" tone is not a neutral gray. So for example, if you are photographing a snow covered hill, and let the camera calculate the exposure, your white snow will look gray, because it assumed that your average color for the scene would be gray (and thus darkend the shot), when in fact, your average color is a bright white. Same thing happens when you photograph a dark scene. the camera will miscalculate the exposure, and you can over expose the shot.

This is where the zone system comes in. Using the zone system means metering on something that is neutral grey. You may be able to identify something in your scene that looks neutral grey. If so, meter on this in order to calculate exposure. If you are not good at finding a neutral grey object to meter on, you can use a neutral grey card (18% gray). what you do is meter the camera (eg half press and hold) when pointing it at the grey card. this tells the camera basically what neutral grey looks like in the given light, and thus the camera knows how to render anything lighter or darker than neutral gray.

The camera's metering mode simply tells the camera how and where to take this average exposure calculation from in your scene (eg multi, spot, partial, center weighted)
That was a long winded explanation, and Im sure there are better resources for explaining it, but If I confused you (or anyone) I'll try my best to explain it. a grey card can be picked up for about $5 at most photo stores.Its the best way to get perfect exposure everytime

 

[Hideandwatch]

Thanks Lan-Lord, very well explained. But since I dont know much about cameras or photography other than taking shots and experimenting around, this also applies to digicams too huh? I dont use much PP myself, unless the levels need just a tad bit of adjustment, but too would like to get the perfect exposure at the time of the shot. PP is fun for really tweeking a shot, or for saving an otherwise file that would have been deleted.

 

[clutchkiller]

That's a great explanation Lan-Lord! My Canon manual has a similar explanation for setting white balance.

I think a post like should be pinned (like in a how to thread, it's very helpful and would be easy to reference in the future if it was pinned. I think it was Hideandwatch who gave a great explanation of how the 1.7 T/C worked, it would be nice if that info was in a how to thread also.

 

[Lan-Lord]

Originally posted by Hideandwatch
since I dont know much about cameras or photography other than taking shots and experimenting around, this also applies to digicams too huh

correct, non-dslr cameras also work under the same premise

 

[foulshot]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (clutchkiller @ Sep 22 2006, 06:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I'm using Microsoft Digital Image Suite (2006). And yes I would like to see what you came up with. I was a little afraid to do too much to them and have them look unnatural.[/b]

Paul, looks like you are really getting into this! It can be very addicticting.

Sent you an email.