Canon Power Shot S5lS

Hello,
Canon Power Shot S5lS
I took some pictures of Loons over the weekend. The photos were very sharp. Only one problem. A Loons neck and head is black. The eyes never showed up in final prints on LCD Monitor???? Their eyes are red. I did not use flash, only natural sun light, Auto mode. What happened??
Dan

Post one of the pics and let us see...post the exif data too if you have it.

My guess is that the camera set the exposure to water/sky around the loon which will be much brighter and probably better lit than the loon. Consequently the loon would be dark. There may not have been enough light on the face, making the eyes look black not red to the sensor.

Using manual settings and exposing for the loon, not the surrounding area would correct this, as would shooting with the sun to your back, using a flash (if close enough) or possibly even a reflector.

Without seeing the picture it's impossible to tell, but I'd say that 90% of problems like this are caused by an underexposed face.

Thanks,
I will try your suggestions
Dan

Sent picture of loon--------no eyes
Any suggestion---go manual instead of auto???

My guess is the loon was backlit, which would mean the eyes were in shadow. This happened to me last year. Overall, the loon was exposed properly, but I never got the red eye like I should have. Or, like Dumpy said. If the surroundings were bright, and you didn't have a flash, you would have needed to increase the exposure with the EC function.