problem with over exposer

[Primevci]

No matter what i do it seems evan on a cloudy day the sky is way over exposed and ruins alot of my shots how do u guys make this not happen if u guys need me to post a picture i can....

http://www.elusivehideout.com/pics/test.jpg

[Jesper]

The sky is often so much brighter than the landscape that the contrast difference is too large for the camera to handle, and the sky will become blown out (completely white). Did the sky on your photo really look blue with the naked eye or was it already white because of moisture in the air?

Some tips:

- Shoot with the sun in your back.

- You could also use a graduated neutral density filter, which is a filter of which the upper half is dark (sort of like sunglasses) and the bottom half is clear. Put it in front of the lens and make it so that the dark part of the filter covers the sky. This will diminish the contrast difference between the sky and the landscape.

- Put your camera on a tripod and make two photos of the same scene, one exposed for the landscape, the other for the sky. On the computer, mix the two images (using your favourite image editing software). See Understanding Digital Blending (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/digital-blending.shtml) on Luminous Landscape for details on how to do this.

- My favourite way of metering (using my 10D) is to meter for the highlights. I put the camera on partial metering mode, set +1 2/3 exposure compensation and use the "*" (asterisk) button to set the exposure, while pointing the camera at the sky. Then I recompose and shoot. The sky will become bright (because of the +1 2/3 exp. comp.) but not blown out. Sometimes this method doesn't work well, because the contrast difference between the sky and the landscape is so large that the landscape still becomes too dark.

- You can also use your favourite image editing software to replace the white sky by something else.

[Primevci]

thanks for the reply so basically what your saying is experiment with photo software and camera settings I don’t know all those terms u talked about I must really learn how to use this thing I guess.. Do u have any good links or books I should look at? That would be universal on settings and good rules to follow?

[cbc]

Looking at the histogram is one way to control the exposure. For those who are unfamiliar with it or would like to understand it better, this video tutorial http://colorbalancecoach.blogspot.com/ should help, at least it did for me!

[PhotosGuy]

Someone with the same problem here: overexposed/underexposed (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=248928)

[gcobb]

I fixed that mostly by changing my metering mode to evaluative. Facing the sun is always a challenge though.

This was basic and all camera with a little sharpening afterward.

http://www.photogesture.com/images/GNC4502w.jpg