taking pics of people in front of a window

Hi everyone!
I have a question: when I take photos of people standing in front of a window, the people turn out really dark and sometimes I'm really lucky and they don't! I'm not sure why sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't.:confused: Can anyone please share any tips on how to avoid getting dark subjects when I'm taking photos of people standing in front of a window? Thanks so much!:)

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Originally Posted by PhotoGirl

Hi everyone!
I have a question: when I take photos of people standing in front of a window, the people turn out really dark and sometimes I'm really lucky and they don't! I'm not sure why sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't.:confused: Can anyone please share any tips on how to avoid getting dark subjects when I'm taking photos of people standing in front of a window? Thanks so much!:)

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I imagine what you mean is that your subjects are in a room with their backs to a window and you are inside the room trying to do their picture?

Usually the light outdoors is much brighter than the light indoors. As your subjects have their back to the window, they are lit by the dim light from inside the room. The camera "sees" a dark object in the center (your subject) surrounded by a much brighter area (the window). It doesn't know which is the subject so it tries to make a compromise between the two. The result is that the subjects come out darker than the way you see them, because when you look at them, your eyes "expose" for the subject and ignore the window.

Three possible solutions:

1. Use spot metering on your subject so that the meter ignores the window
2. Move in closer, meter the subject, lock the exposure (if your camera has such a function) then move back and shoot normally
3. Use fill-in flash to bring the light on the subjects up to match the light coming in from the window and correct what is effectively backlighting. Modern DSLR's do this quite well.

Charles

And be careful of the flash's reflection in the window!

thanks for the replies. :)

I read through my camera manual and it doesn't say anything about 'spot metering', so I don't think I have that function on my camera. Is there any other way, other than using the fill in flash, to avoid this problem? thanks.

You'll really need fill flash to do this - as Charles said, there's a huge difference in the amount of light in the background and inside the room. The fill flash fills in the shadows.

In theory, another option might be to try this when it's a little darker outside - just after the sun goes down or a heavily overcast day - but in the real world the timing would have to be just about perfect so this would be difficult at best!

Still using your Pentax MZ-60 ?

There are a few ways to improve things.
- if you have exposure adjustment, go +2 or +3 on exposure
... you are trying to expose for the shadows and let the outside world go overexposed
- if you can use the camera's meter manually, meter inside the room
... without getting the window in the shot, then recompose with the window and people

Or the best way, oif you have a powerful enough flash
- use fill flash to fill in the shadow

Yup, still using my Pentax! :)
Sometimes just using the fill-in flash works well for me and seems to be the most convient thing to do; but I'll definately try adjusting the exposure, and see how that works out too. Thanks everyone for the help! :)