New, need some insight

I just purchased my Sony Cyber Shot DSC-V1 ywo weeks ago. Am heading to the mountains this weekend. Am looking for tips on how to take landscape pics which will highlight the clouds you often see hanging low in the mountains. Thanks for any help.

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Originally Posted by volcamp

I just purchased my Sony Cyber Shot DSC-V1 ywo weeks ago. Am heading to the mountains this weekend. Am looking for tips on how to take landscape pics which will highlight the clouds you often see hanging low in the mountains. Thanks for any help.

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You're lucky to have a live histogram on that thing. Just remember that any values peaking on the right edge mean overexposed, so if you keep it away from that you should preserve the detail in the clouds. More importantly though, the time of day will dictate how good your pictures come out. Early morning and late evening, when the light is warm and directional, will create the best detail and mood.

That is a simple set of suggestions. I strongly suggest you take time to learn how the histogram and exposure correlate, it will make taking the shots and preserving what you want, much easier.

Here is a link to a really good explanation of the histogram.

Thanks, Sebastian. That helps alot. I had skimmed over the histogram section without absorbing much. Thanks for the link.

I'm not sure if you can get one to fit that camera. But for sky and cloud emphasis, you can't beat a polarizing filter. It darkens the blue sky and adds contrast to clouds. I almost always use one when I'm taking outdoor photos.

One more thing, keep the sun behind or next to you. If the sun is shining from behind the clouds you're photographing the bright spots will be REALLY bright, and the dark spots really dark, and you'l get little detail in both.