Overexposure

Marko9 · #1 12/11/2007, 11:31 AM

I am still really new to SLR pictures. I am glad I have a plave to come about taking photos; so Thanks in advance.

My new problem that I am dealing with is overexposure. I plan on getting the camera out today so I am willing to try different modes, settings, etc to try to get this a little more under control.

I am shooting a Nikon D40x with the 105 vr lens.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Mark

gregr · #2 12/11/2007, 11:09 PM

Hi-
What exposure mode were you using for your overexposed shots? The setting you want to play with to darken the photos is exposure compensation. If the pics are too bright you want to set negative exposure compensation. If you post some pics that'd help us figure out what's going on.

juniormc8704 · #3 12/12/2007, 09:32 AM

are you paying attention to the exposure meter seen in the viewfinder? if so, put it about 1 bar or 1/3 stop into the negative. That always give me better results.

Ebn · #4 12/12/2007, 12:17 PM

What metering are you using?

Marko9 · #5 12/12/2007, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by juniormc8704
are you paying attention to the exposure meter seen in the viewfinder? if so, put it about 1 bar or 1/3 stop into the negative. That always give me better results.

I think that this only happens in one of the shooting modes. I try to pay attention to this more, but I am still learning and it seems like there is always one more thing to keep in mind when shooting.

Marko9 · #6 12/12/2007, 12:42 PM

Eric, I am not sure what you mean by metering device. The tops of my corals are brighter than all the rest.

Marko9 · #7 12/12/2007, 12:54 PM

here are some various shots over the last months that I think will help you help me.

This one is right under one of my halides

JB_1152 · #8 12/13/2007, 12:22 PM

Looks like some highlights here and there. Maybe try bumpin up the shutter speed

gregr · #9 12/13/2007, 05:38 PM

Great looking corals. I think your photos would benefit from a little negative exposure compensation. What exposure mode were you using [i.e. auto, aperture prioirty, etc.]? I've not used that camera but with most cameras, when you're in full auto mode you can't set any exposure compensation. I like to use aperture priority for these kinds of shots, and you can use set compensation in aperture priority. You could always try full manual exposure mode too- experimentation is good

Marko9 · #10 12/14/2007, 10:58 AM

I have been playing a lot in manual and aperature mode. My iso is usually 200 or 400. I am shooting in the 16-20 range. I tried snapping a few shots and they came out a little better. I just need to slow down and take more time. I am learning very slowly that it is not aboutjust taking pictures, but making sure that I am taking the correct picture.

I am still having a very difficult tim with the crispness of WB. I am shooting under helios 20k's. I tired an expodisc and things look a tittle too pink. I tried the coffee filter trick and it worked to some degree. I am so jealous that the real high end cameras have kelvin settings in the camera. I guess that is why they are for the professional.

maroun.c · #11 12/14/2007, 01:10 PM

nice looking corals.
Your shots are not as bad as you describe. What I would do it to see what values the camera is picking up under whatever mode you are using and use those as a starter in the manual mode M then maybe reduce the aperture a bit (bigger aperture number) or maybe use a faster shutter speed. I don't think you will be satisfied with the images that you will get as then you sill struggle with some underexposure of the areas that are now well eposed. you have too much variation in the exposure due to some shadowing on some of your corals and the areas that are good now will get darker.
This can be dealt with a bit in post processing however your best bet would be to shoot in RAW if you have any RAW processing software. That will not only allow you to deal with the shadow areas more efficently but will also allow you to recover some of the overexposed areas better than in a JPEG. Also it will allow you to work with the Kelvin and try the different preset white balance as well as assign any value in kelvin that you want.
Photoshop and maybe other Photo processing applications allow you to deal with shadows and highlights separately and in your case I guess it will work as the difference is not tremendous but I'm sure RAW will help you a lot more.
Anyay I would rather underexpose the whole shot and then work with the shadows in post processing then try to recover any over exposed highlights as that is more difficult.
Hope this helps.