New camera, yea!....

Well I finally sucked it up and got a dslr. No more point and shoot. Ended up going with an xti, sigma 18-50 2.8, and a polarizer for now. Happy with it for sure but also finding it a little frustrating. Definitely a bit of a learning curve I think. Went out for a little hike yesterday and took the camera. Almost everything I took seemed to be way overexposed, almost like I had bumped up the iso some. I was shooting in a dark, damp, cloudy northwest forest and you would think I took the shots in the same place but mid summer at noon with no clouds. Any insight here? I tried several different modes including manual, aperture priority, shutter priority etc.. Have a feeling this is a stupid mistake where Im overlooking something fairly simple. Other than that I think it was a good choice. Heres a few shots from the first weekend with it.

Congrats on the new camera. Can you post an example or two of the over exposed images along with what mode they were taken in? I wonder if the exposure compensation wasn't set to over expose the image?

Other than the skateboarder, who is in a dark place anyway, the others look to be exposed fairly decently. You could have dialed in a -2/3 EC to halp avoid blowing out the highlights. Also just because you shoot in Av or Tv, doesn't necessarily mean the exposure is going to be correct. You are still relying on the camera to make the decision for you, based on your meter settings. There are many times when you have to use the exposure compensation dial. Yes, there is a fairly steep learning curve.

Maybe overexposed was the wrong word. I would definitely agree with you guys that the images above look to be exposed pretty well. I guess I felt more that I had almost lost the atmosphere of where I was. Whereas I was shooting in a dark forest on a cloudy day I was getting images that seemed to be in a well lit forest on a sunny day. I remember playing with the ev some when I noticed this but not specifically when. Ill get it, just takes some fiddling. Good excuse to go play with the new camera more. :)

Congratulations! Aperture priority I know will overexose in dark situations with my D80.
If Canon does the same its the camera deciding what the pic should look like and in your case selecting a longer shutter speed for the aperture selected.
Get used to manual and expose for something in the middle range....not the darkest nor the lightest part of the picture.

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Originally Posted by agtaylor

Maybe overexposed was the wrong word. I would definitely agree with you guys that the images above look to be exposed pretty well. I guess I felt more that I had almost lost the atmosphere of where I was. Whereas I was shooting in a dark forest on a cloudy day I was getting images that seemed to be in a well lit forest on a sunny day.

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That sounds like more of a perception problem than an exposure problem. Our minds do all kinds of compensating that we have to learn to be aware of. One of the more difficult photographic skills to learn is the ability to see what's really there. And tangentially, how to capture and express what we want with the camera.

I always shoot middle to quicker (darker) on your exposure while bracketing thru the different apertures. You can always bring light in later but very hard to bring it out on overexposed pics, especially where the sky blows up.

I don't know what metering mode you were in but the camera wants to see 18% gray. If you were in an averaging mode it wants the whole scene to balance out to a light gray. Other modes want to see light gray in a majority of the scene, or just a part of the scene. So with a dark scene the camera wants to lighten the image up to a light gray in at least a part of it. .

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Originally Posted by EOSThree

I don't know what metering mode you were in but the camera wants to see 18% gray. If you were in an averaging mode it wants the whole scene to balance out to a light gray. Other modes want to see light gray in a majority of the scene, or just a part of the scene. So with a dark scene the camera wants to lighten the image up to a light gray in at least a part of it. .

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Good point!

So, if you're shooting in dark woods, and you want your photo to look like dark woods, you're going to need to underexpose by 2/3 of a stop or so. And learn to use your histogram!

Definitely use the RAW format when you're shooting, especially while you're still getting the hang for exposure. The Canon Digital Photo Professional program that comes with the XTi is pretty good for correcting RAW images' exposures.

I've had my XTi for 8 months and love it.

Thanks for all the responses. I think it may have been a combination of the perception problem John mentioned and the camera wanting to make the image lighter as Eosthree said. Jk, very good point to keep in mind. Ive found youre right and it is much easier to lighten a shot some then it is to decrease the exposure. I've been working on using the histogram and think Im just starting to get a grasp on it a little bit. Ive been looking forward to seeing what I can do with a RAW shot and I meant to try it out that day but completely forgot to change the setting. Ill post some shots as I experiment with it more later this week an on. Thanks guys.

Have fun, read a lot, congratulations on your new camera.

agtaylor, these images are not all that bad - I really like the first one :thumbsup: . Having been at digital photography for a couple of years after a lifetime of film photography, I would agree that there is a new learning curve for your DSLR. I often feel like I am having to learn photography all over again - the nice thing about digital is that you can experiment to your heart's content and if you aren't happy with what you get, the you can throw it away and try some thing new, so keep on trying and experimenting, you will be amazed at where you will end up. Good luck!! :D

Cheers,

WesternGuy

First, congratulations on your new camera.

Second, when it's dark out, the camera cranks up the exposure. Nature of the beast.

Check your exposure compensation and make sure it doesn't have some comp dialed in. Also, which metering mode you shot in can affect the exposure of the image. But my guess is, the meter did exactly what it was designed to do.

Congrats on the camera, it is a very good one indeed. I think you have alot of good advice and suggestions already.
the thing to understand is that your camera, no matter how good it is, is not going to take the picture for you. you will understand how it "thinks" and learn to compensate for it. As stated already, the darker scenes will be made lighter by the cameras meter so you will have to under expose using either manual mode or your EV dial to recreate the nature of the scene. Same with a bright beach or snow scene. the cameras meter will want to turn the sand or snow to a grayish light so you will have to dial in overexposure on your EV dial or in manual set for a higher exposure. A spot meter would allow you to indicate to your cameras meter exactly what you want to expose for, but the XTi has no spot meter. thats ok because it's easier anyway to just compensate for what you know it will do in any given situation. Yes, look at your Histogram,. A dark scene should have most of your levels on the dark side, and vice versa for a light scene.
Also, no camera is going to compensate or make a good photo out of poor or less than ideal lighting conditions. Middle of the day with harsh sunlight is going to have too much contrast with blown highlights and dark shadows.
It certainly is alearning process but thats part of the journey and the fun.
Enjoy!

Went out again today and tried to keep in mind some things from this thread. Shot in raw which after some editing I can understand why that seems to be emphasized a lot. Played with the ev a lot more too. I got use to using the spot metering on my compact for some stuff and think that may have been part of it. Tried out the different metering modes some more today which makes a big difference. Dont see myself running out of excuses to go learn something new anytime soon. :)

Nice website Gary, hadnt clicked on that link before.