1st Attempt @ Action

Here are some pics from today...First time with my new DSLR and action...Please help and give input where necassary..PLENTY of room for it, I just can't pinpoint what I could've done to better the shots...THANKS!!

Shutter Priority
1/400
3.5
ISO 200

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Id say use some fill flash. Maybe try and get the backgrounds a little emptier, which would be difficult in the area that you were shooting.

Under-exposed. By a lot. As was suggested, fill flash would help. Also, even though sometimes I feel like a background czar, they could really be better.

manutd101 wrote in post #5852633
Under-exposed. By a lot. As was suggested, fill flash would help. Also, even though sometimes I feel like a background czar, they could really be better.

Thanks for the input...As i am new to DSLR, can you just help me understand, HOW to make these changes...Sorry, but i'm a serious newbie...When u say fill flash, do you mean just the flash??

First, congratulations on getting started with your dslr!!

First thing to remember is that "you are smarter than your camera". MHO is that anything "auto" will give you inconsistant exposures.

In the images above, the camera doesn't know that the guy in the foreground is your subject. .. all the camera sees is all that light .... the white (reflective) houses and all of that bright sky. That's what it is exposing for. That's why your subject is under exposed in the first four shots.

In your last shot, because you framed it with less bright sky and more midtones (more grass and ground) your subjects fell into the same exposure range... hence, giving you better exposure on "auto".

One way to achieve consistancy is to go ahead and shoot a close up of one of the subjects, look at your "info", determine if you need to make any changes to your lens opening and/or iso and then set you camera's manual settings to the correct exposure for your subject. With experience, you can get pretty fast at checking & setting your exposures. ... and again, with experience, you'll learn which lens openings and/or shutter speeds you'll need to achieve the 'look' that you're after.

There's a sticky about some good books to get. .. but mho is that a really good one is one of Dick Sammon's books on digital photography.

Oh.. also ... you'll probably get some motion blur at shutter speeds slower than 1/800 sec. (sometimes that's a good thing.. depending, again, on the look you're after).

Good luck! Enjoy your new adventure! P.O.T.N. is a great place to learn! Keep shooting & posting!!

Playm wrote in post #5853696
First thing to remember is that "you are smarter than your camera". MHO is that anything "auto" will give you inconsistant exposures.

In the images above, the camera doesn't know that the guy in the foreground is your subject. .. all the camera sees is all that light .... the white (reflective) houses and all of that bright sky. That's what it is exposing for. That's why your subject is under exposed in the first four shots.

In your last shot, because you framed it with less bright sky and more midtones (more grass and ground) your subjects fell into the same exposure range... hence, giving you better exposure on "auto".

One way to achieve consistancy is to go ahead and shoot a close up of one of the subjects, look at your "info", determine if you need to make any changes to your lens opening and/or iso and then set you camera's manual settings to the correct exposure for your subject. With experience, you can get pretty fast at checking & setting your exposures. ... and again, with experience, you'll learn which lens openings and/or shutter speeds you'll need to achieve the 'look' that you're after.

thanks a bunch for the input!! Question, is Shutter priority considered an "auto Mode?" that's what i was shooting in, so i would set the shutter and iso, while the camera set the aperture...

izzy35 wrote in post #5853783
thanks a bunch for the input!! Question, is Shutter priority considered an "auto Mode?" that's what i was shooting in, so i would set the shutter and iso, while the camera set the aperture...

YES! Basically the camera is automatically selecting the aperature. When it saw all the clouds and white houses, it basically closed down the lens opening to compensate and hence your images are underexposed. To overcome this you can shoot in manual at the same shutter and ISO, but then open up your aperture more to compensate. Play around with this and you will see what we mean.

Fill flash is the use of flash to bring the exposure of a foreground subject close to that of your background. It is useful when taking pictures against, for example, the sky.

manutd101 wrote in post #5854193
Fill flash is the use of flash to bring the exposure of a foreground subject close to that of your background. It is useful when taking pictures against, for example, the sky.

i know that i'm new, but when i use to use flash with my P&S in instances like these, it use to make the exposure look bad...Yeah, even worse than these...LOL!! is there a way to just bring light to the exposure without brightening up the exposure too much, like that with a flash?

izzy35 wrote in post #5854236
i know that i'm new, but when i use to use flash with my P&S in instances like these, it use to make the exposure look bad...Yeah, even worse than these...LOL!! is there a way to just bring light to the exposure without brightening up the exposure too much, like that with a flash?

Well, either expose for longer or use a flash (or lower your ISO). There's your options.

Study and learn the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture. This will help you HUGELY with what you're trying to achieve. You also need to understand what each of these things do to your photo.

That aside, you just need to watch your foreground exposure when you shoot with the sky as your background; and your subject focus.

Keep going, it's a great journey!

one easy way to help get the exposure how you want it is to basically move where you are shooting from, try to always keep the sun behind you, and keep your shadow out of shot, also, try and wait for a bright day to shoot, as everyone on this forum will tell you, natural light is the best light!

happy shooting.