Everything too bright?

I just read over the thread "Exposure probs" and found out a little bit, but I had a few other questions as well.

I was out shooting this weekend (very bright, sunny with little to no cloud cover). We were at the new WWII memorial in DC and according to the in camera meter I was on target for the pictures. Push the button and blam... ultra white overexposure. I had the ISO set to 400 and brought the shutter speed down to an indication of underexposure (1 on the left of 0) pushed again and another very overexposed image. I ended up stopping down to f/32 and setting to 1/1000, 1/2000 and 1/4000 and finally I was getting something almost close to the proper exposures. Some were over and some were under, never quite got the 'spot on' exposure. This was after using all sorts of combinations from f/16-32 and 1/250 to 1/4000.

I am sure that if I spent enough time I would find the sweet spot and get the proper image. Problem is I don't know how to, I guess, pre-compensate in my adjustments to get the right combination.

Is there anything that can be done to get a proper setting for images that won't be mostly white/blown-out in the midday sun?

What can I do? I am using the DRebel.

First off, on a bright sunny day, use ISO 100. That will get your shutter speed down and your apertures more reasonable. Put the camera in P mode and see what speeds/f stop combinations are being chosen. It would help to know what mode you are using. As long as the meter is reading in the middle, you should get a reasonable exposure unless the subject is heavily backlit which will give you underexposure, or surrounded by shadow/black, which will give you overexposure.
Scott

I think I did use ISO 100 as well (failed to mention) but I will have to go back and check the file info for the pics. I could be wrong on that.

Using the Digital Rebel - 300D, it was the last thing I mentioned, but probably should have been further up.

I was on fully manual mode. I guess I need to stay away from that for scenes like these.

The light was more side lighting then back or front lit.

I am sure that a fair amount of this is due to inexperience, but now that I know the problems, it is time to learn how to use the equipment for the solutions What is it Bob Ross always said "There are no mistakes, just happy accidents"

Ditto. 400ISO is way too high for midday sun.
50-100 is optimum if your camera has a 50 setting.

Unfortunately I think the Digital Rebel only goes down to 100. Unless someone knows of a way to change that.

I have never played with RAW files. Is that something that could be 'fixed' with exposure control? Changing it from 100 to 50?

Probably not, but I won't learn unles I ask.

Sorry for all the apparent ultra-green, beginner questions.

100 will be much, much better than 400 is bright sunny situations.
Try it and check out the results..
RAW would allow some flexibility, but will not allow you to change the ISO setting.

Start by stating what your camera settings were. For example, what was the mode?

There are several different ways that the camera can be set and it will still get good exposure, and there are several different ways that the human can override these and get a bad exposure.

---Bob Gross---

I did make mention of what mode I was in on my first reply to the thread. I was more looking into others experience with having to make adjustments eventhough the camera meter was saying was a "good" shot, although it would produce an overexposed shot.

When I get home I will have access to the image information and can post more then.

ISO 400 should have worked fine in bright daylight as 1/ISO @f16 is the sunny day exposure. I wonder if you were using the flash which would make the camera default to 1/200 - at best - shutterspeed. That would explain the overexposure. Try it on manual exposure with no flash and see what you get.

Nope, no flash and on manual exposure.

I'll try to throw some images up tonight so people can actually see the image with the settings. I'm afraid what I have posted here hasn't been able to give everyone enough information.

Like DaveG mentioned, if you were REALLY using ISO 400, f/32 and 1/4000 sec in order to get the proper exposure of a side lit scenery, then your scenery were being illuminated by something 40 times brighter than our Sun.

If it were the case, life as we know it on this earth would have ceased to exist after your pictures have been taken, and we will not be here discussing it.

Another possibility is that your lens has been outfitted with some top-secret, high dynamic range, full color image intensifier. Just imagine that a night scope that can work in sunlight and starlight!

However, the most probable cause is that your settings are not what was stated.

Ken

f/32 @ 1/4000 sec..?? Wow.. I just tried that with my 10D on a bright but overcast day.. The results are the same as if I left my lens cap on.. Completely black images.

What happens in P, Av or Tv ?

If you're still overexposing that badly in these modes, then you probably have a fault with your camera.. If not, you're doing something wrong It is best to post examples with the exif data..