Need help, horrible photos...AGAIN.

[CTScrivener]

OK, so I've been on this long streak of not being able to take a single good shot of anything. I know we all have our off days but....mine is more like an off month.

So I headed out to my favorite park the past weekend when they first opened (7:30am). It was an average morning when it comes to the amount of light and such.

I found many good subjects, but couldnt seem to capture a single on of them correctly, can someone please help me understand what I am doing wrong these days? It's actually seeming like I've gotten worse.

Here are some of the photos I took, any help for an amatuer?


I couldn't seem to get him to expose properly no matter what I did. Am I missing something? Did I forget to change a setting?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Emowhiteguy/IMG_0004.jpg

Same thing with this one.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Emowhiteguy/IMG_0027.jpg


And this one, but if I did get HIM properly exposed, I blew out the background..any tips?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Emowhiteguy/IMG_0031.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Emowhiteguy/IMG_0033.jpg

I apoligize if everything I ask is basic common sense or I am just having a dumb month, but the only way to improve when you don't know the answer to a problem is to ask so....I ask. Thanks in advance everyone, just trying to get better....and I just seem to be having a hard month.

[Duane N]

If it were me (and I'm no expert by any means) I would have lowered the f/stop and did some + EC to try and get some detail out of the bird....looked like a tough shooting situation either way.

With the other images having a shaded subject and a well lit BG doesn't help you as you found out by blowing out the BG.

I have no experience using a flash but I'm sure someone will chime in on that subject.

Either way...looks like you had to deal with little or no light.

[nwyman]

I'm no pro, but here goes my attempt helping.

First off - shooting up at anything, especially when the background light is bright, presents that exposure problem.

You usually have to dial in some positive exposure compensation, which will, alas, blow out the skies.

Secondly - try a larger aperture - I see by your exif that you were at 8. Try a 5.6, which, while lowering your DOF, will give a faster shutter speed (which will get slower again with the positive Exposure compensation). I like to have at least 1/125 as a shutter speed, but sometimes I can't get it.

Third - try using spot metering, if you have it.

In your last shot, there seems to be a lot of chromatic abberation, which, IIRC, can be laid at the door of the 75-300.

I don't have much luck with that hour of the morning, especially when bird shooting - there seems to be too much contrast between sun and shadow for me. Nine to noon works better in my neck of the woods.


and now, someone more knowledgeable than I will shoot me down, but that's my suggestion.

[CTScrivener]

Well thank you BOTH! Trust me, any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for the information and I will definately have to try those methods out.

Spot metering....darn, what did I have the metering on, I can't remember. Oh, partial. Spot metering must be the 3rd one down on my camera. Because isn't it: Evaluative - Partial - Spot....or something like that?

[nwyman]

Well thank you BOTH! Trust me, any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for the information and I will definately have to try those methods out.

Spot metering....darn, what did I have the metering on, I can't remember. Oh, partial. Spot metering must be the 3rd one down on my camera. Because isn't it: Evaluative - Partial - Spot....or something like that?


I'm not sure - I missed the XTi - but had the XT - it didn't have spot metering. But I seem to be in the minority in using spot, so that shouldn't make a big difference.

Have no idea why my typeface changed. So much is still a mystery:oops:

[black_z]

I'm not a pro, either, but it looks like there was nothing you could do, minus using a flash.

You can't have both, in that case, with a normal exposure. :)

[Poco Red]

On my 40D I set one of my custom settings to 400 ISO, Center Spot meter, and Center Spot focus. It gets me into a great starting point at one setting. Just remember with birds a lot of them are white breasted so you will need to allow for that when metering and adjust accordingly. Good Luck!

[gjl711]

Clearly a case where a fill in flash is needed. The exposure is great for the background but there is no light falling on the subject. To expose the subject the background would have to be blown out. Next time your in that type of situation even the pop up flash will do wonders.

[gymell]

I don't think you're doing anything wrong other than choosing the wrong conditions under which to shoot. In a wooded area, it's very difficult to shoot when it's sunny out because the lighting and shadows will be much too contrasty. You might have been able to save some of these shots with fill flash, but a better option would be to go on an overcast day when there is much more even lighting. If you look at landscape photography, you'll see that shots taken in wooded areas are invariably taken when it's cloudy out vs. sunny.

[cure]

hi, could u try to sent iso to like 200? not sure, when i was outside on sunny day, if i have 800, seems dark...maybe its opposite, but i remember setting lower and the picture looked a little better...just another suggestion, maybe can help u..?

[hollis_f]

As others have said - try Spot Metering. Then check your image and, if it's still too dark, use some Exposure Compensation to lengthen the shutter speed (if you're shooting i Av mode).

Also - if you shoot in Raw then you can fiddle with the exposure afterwards without deleterious effects on the image to a much greater extent than if you shoot jpeg.

But there's no way you'll be able to expose correctly for the bird and the sky in these sorts of shots.

[aeast]

On a different forum there is a photographer that uses a Better Beamer on a flash with good results. This would allow you to meter a bit more for the sky so it is not blown while also allowing good fill for your subject. I have been thinking of getting myself one after seeing what he has done with it.