New guy with some questions

I just purchased a T1i and have a question. I have basic knowledge of DSLRs but my last camera was a Pen Mini by Olympus, nowhere near the same thing. Here's my issue: I am shooting in manual mode with the following settings...

Shutter speed-1/50
Aperture-F7.1
ISO Speed-100
Exposure Comp-0
Landscape
Daylight
Evaluative Metering
Highest megapixel setting/fine
One shot AF
Singke shooting

If you ask why any of those settings are what they are, I can't answer that. I like to go out and take pictures to see what settings I like and I will write them down for next time. These settings were being used to shoot an old building and did great except for the white balance (?). It just seems waaaayyy too white and I'm not sure how to remedy it. I will include a couple pics for reference. Any help would be appreciated. Criticism, whether constructive or not, is welcomed as well. I have thick skin. I look forward to learning as much as I can here.

What lens are you using? That is a slow shutter speed for that light, and for most situations unless you have iso pumped up high and that is the only alternative. Get your shutter spped up higher. Where are you metering light? Are you using single point? Looks like it metered in the wrong place and overexposed the photo.

Were these taken on the Manual setting, Aperture priority or Shutter priority? M,AV,TV setting on your dial.

The pix to the left is over-exposed, but I'm not sure if it's because the camera was on manual or just the "green" box setting.

Also, take a look at this resource about Camera Metering and Exposure.

http://www.cambridgein​colour.com/tutorials/c​amera-metering.htm

Best regards,

David

The issue isn't white balance (which affects colour), it is exposure. Decrease aperture (larger f number), increase shutter speed, or drop ISO.

Or, use Av or Tv modes and dial in some EC as necessary.

BTW, EC has no effect in M mode.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by the white balance being too white. Since the goal of white balance to be balance the colors so that white is actually white, that doesnt make any sense. Both shots are over exposed, especially the first one. That will make the highlights blow out. If you arent already you should learn how to use your histogram. Its a graph that shows the distribution of tones in the image, you should be able to access it on the back screen of your camera. It will show the tones in sort of arc, the left side being the darker areas (shadows) and the right side being the highlights. When you overexpose and begin to lose detail in the whites the arc will extend outside of the frame of the graph. Look up the term histogram on google to see what I am talking about in more detail.

When I was first starting, I might use Auto or Program to see what settings the camera selected, then switch to Av or Tv and change to suit what I was shooting.

Your picture is over exposed. I would use av mode, this way you can play with the aperture and the camera can pick correct shutter speed and iso. If you want to go full "m" mode, I have never used the t1i but I would think in your viewfinder you should see a meter, and change shutter and or aperture and get the needle in the middle.

based upon the data you provided the only thing wrong with the settings is the shutter speed. it is way too low.

As others have said, a way to reverse engineer learning is to go out i auto and see what the camera does. Then you learn to make adjustments upon those numbers.

Also I suggest that you keep these settings in a NOPE file. This way if you were to try these settings again you already know they dont work.

It was in M mode. I will try in Av this afternoon. I said white balance with a (?) because I had no idea if that was the reason or not. I was using the 18-55 lens. Thanks for the tips and I will definitely try them out.

If I get you correctly you used these settings based on the fact that they did before at another place or time ? if you are learning what settings to use try Green Box ( I had trouble typing those words ) and see what the camera choose and play around in that range until you get something that you like , also get the Book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson to learn what Shutter speed ISO and aperture do and how they work together , all of your shots are Overexposed .

David

peeaanuut wrote in post #16630755
Also I suggest that you keep these settings in a NOPE file. This way if you were to try these settings again you already know they dont work.

Not necessarily true. They can work in endless situations, just not in this specific one with that kind of light.

Frodge wrote in post #16630764
Not necessarily true. They can work in endless situations, just not in this specific one with that kind of light.

i had deleted part of what I typed and then retyped and forgot to put back in the part about "in that situation".

shaunmcfd wrote in post #16630756
It was in M mode. I will try in Av this afternoon. I said white balance with a (?) because I had no idea if that was the reason or not. I was using the 18-55 lens. Thanks for the tips and I will definitely try them out.

If you were in mode "M", then that means you are supposed to make the decisions about Aperture and Shutter Speed which affects exposure (I don't know if you realized it at the time).

When you shoot in "AV" mode, that means you will need to make the decision about just the Aperture setting. The camera will make the decision on shutter speed, which ultimately will affect your exposure. Most of the time the camera will make a good decision, but there are times it will not.

Just in case you missed it... Understanding Camera Metering/Exposure
http://www.cambridgein​colour.com/tutorials/c​amera-metering.htm

As said this has nothing to do with WB (Color Temperature).
Image is over exposed. Thats all.
Set your exposure to low seting assuming light remains the same or better use 3 Bracket images the highest exposure set as normal the other two, under exposed. Then check for yourself.

Nice go, im really getting into shooting with my T1i this season as well and from the bit of googling ive done, the sweet spot for your lens sharpness is between f/8 to f/11. the image will be sharpest for landscape or outdoor in that range.

I tried using M but have reverted to Av as well for exposure purposes.

use your screen to see how light the expose makes it rather than looking through the view finder as well.