Back lighting in AF

[tombo]

Hey, just got the S30 and am having fun with it! I did wanted to get some advice from the experts on taking outdoor pictures that have back-lighting. The problem that I am having is that the subjects (people) tend to be dark because the background is bright, i.e. the subject are on my patio that is covered but outside the patio the sun is shinning. I want to use the AF but don’t want fill-in flash because it takes the warmth (natural look) out of the picture. I never remember having this problem with my old 35MM compact. Maybe because, after getting them developed, I just through them away because they were over or under exposed.
Thanks, Tom

[Rustle]

Try using centre-weighted light-metering. It's good for backlight situations. The camera will try to ensure that the centre of the picture is properly exposed, but the surrounding area might be over-exposed.

Russ

[Conk]

Ok then. I have a newbie question.
Is this where a nuetral density filter would be used and if so, are there different kinds?

[Rustle]

I don't have any experience with filters, so I took a look over at Megapixel.net. Colin, these guys work out of your neck of the woods.

http://www.megapixel.net/html/articles/article-filters.html

"The applications of Neutral Density filters are numerous, but all involve reducing the amount of light recieved by the camera, thereby allowing longer exposure times."

The article's pretty good for explaining all sorts of filters. Beyond that, I can't be much help.

Russ