Bright light need help

New to all of this and am looking to learn, any help would be great. I am shooting with a 30d and a 28-135 my only lense for now until I get some more practice. All the changing settings iso, ap and so on has got me spinning, but here is goes. I take a lot of pic's of the kids but mostly in bright light and I need help.

Check your in-camera histogram to make sure you're not overexposing your photos. This image was overexposed by about 1.5 stops.

Your settings on auto?

This is when you have to set the camera on f8 or f11, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/250 or faster. See that helps. Do this on manual. If you are not sure, put the camera on P and go ISO 100 and see what happens.

Actually, the camera is slightly over exposed, and I cant imagine this was shot in auto. with such a bright background, you would expected it to be grossly underexposed. Are you looking for a way to correct this image, or recommendation of how to avoid it happening again? its also not very sharp but that may compression artifact. In such direct sunlight, it is impossible to get good exposure without fill flash. the parts of her face and body which are not in direct sun, actually have good exposure. you needed to use fill flash for this image, and expose for the background sun.

Another way. Set that 30D On switch to the second On detent. All the way. This will allow the rear wheel to be turned with your thumb to set Exposure Compensation. Now set the Camera to Av Mode, the top dial on the left. Set the metering to Evaluative, Brackets with a dot in the middle. Set ISO to 200. Set the aperture to F/8. Now, the camera will set the shutter speed when you press half way. Virtually impossible to over or under expose an evenly lit scene like this kid in bright light.

Now, if the sun is behind you and in her face, use your thumb to dial in some Negative exposure compensation. You will see the pipper move in the viewfinder when you turn it one way or the other. Go two or three notches to the - side. 3 notches is 1 f/stop. Now, look at the image in the rear preview window. Hit the Info button til you see a small image and the histogram. The hump you want a little to the right of center. Also, if the image is blinking, it means hot spots, blown out whites. You don't want those on the subject, like the shirt. Dial in a couple more notches. You should never need to go more than about 5 notches though. And for gawds sake, always shoot in RAW mode. In RAW, you can later adjust yet one more F/stop in post processing without adding a lot of noise.

Now, heres what your doing. The camera, in Av Mode and the pipper set in the center mark will take a pretty good shot. When you turn the rear dial and add or take out exposure compensation, you are tricking the cameras metering mode into setting a shutter speed to over or under expose the frame, or part of the frame.

If the sun is behind the kid and in your face, then you will want to over expose the shot, turn the pipper to the + side a notch or three. This will have the effect of blowing out the background, but will keep the shaded side of the girl from being under exposed. It's a tradeoff, unless you have a speedlite, in which case, use fill flash.

canonloader wrote in post #5856315
Another way. Set that 30D On switch to the second On detent. All the way. This will allow the rear wheel to be turned with your thumb to set Exposure Compensation. Now set the Camera to Av Mode, the top dial on the left. Set the metering to Evaluative, Brackets with a dot in the middle. Set ISO to 200. Set the aperture to F/8. Now, the camera will set the shutter speed when you press half way. Virtually impossible to over or under expose an evenly lit scene like this kid in bright light.

Now, if the sun is behind you and in her face, use your thumb to dial in some Negative exposure compensation. You will see the pipper move in the viewfinder when you turn it one way or the other. Go two or three notches to the - side. 3 notches is 1 f/stop. Now, look at the image in the rear preview window. Hit the Info button til you see a small image and the histogram. The hump you want a little to the right of center. Also, if the image is blinking, it means hot spots, blown out whites. You don't want those on the subject, like the shirt. Dial in a couple more notches. You should never need to go more than about 5 notches though. And for gawds sake, always shoot in RAW mode. In RAW, you can later adjust yet one more F/stop in post processing without adding a lot of noise.

Now, heres what your doing. The camera, in Av Mode and the pipper set in the center mark will take a pretty good shot. When you turn the rear dial and add or take out exposure compensation, you are tricking the cameras metering mode into setting a shutter speed to over or under expose the frame, or part of the frame.

If the sun is behind the kid and in your face, then you will want to over expose the shot, turn the pipper to the + side a notch or three. This will have the effect of blowing out the background, but will keep the shaded side of the girl from being under exposed. It's a tradeoff, unless you have a speedlite, in which case, use fill flash.

when you say metering are you talking about the little bar graph?(can you tell im new?) ive never shot in anything but M, but the veiw finder was impossible to see in such bright light. Also about raw, it takes up a whole lot of memory correct? I only have one 2 gig card now so ive only been shooting jpeg, and also don't have any pp.What is a fill flash, and how is it used?(I feel really stupid)

Don't feel stupid, you'll get it.

PP = Post Processing. All digital shooting should need some post processing to bring out the best in any image. I use Adobe CS3, which I bought brand new at a fantastic price for $360. It is maybe the best there is for under several thousand dollars. RAW files are huge, yes, but they hold all the data the camera recorded and with many programs, including one of the best, which came free with your camera, you can edit the RAW files to fix lighting problems and some minor noise issues, then export them to JPG format for the web. It takes time and dedication to learn any program, but digital imaging requires some post processing.

Metering refers to the light meter built into the camera. No, there is no guage or bar graph. The bar graph you see in the viewfinder is for Exposure Compensation I talked about earlier, when in Av Mode. There are either three or four metering modes you can set for in most Canon cameras. You should read the manual to learn about each one. Evaluative seems to be the most useful for all around shooting. It's forgiving and good for almost any kind of light. Instead of a dial or bar graph for the amount of light, you see the numbers in the viewfinder change when you move the camera around to dark or bright spots. If you set to Av Mode and Evaluative, then point the camera at light or dark spots, you will see the numbers on the shutter speed readout change. That's about all you get in the new cameras. In other modes, such as Tv Mode, the Aperture number would change. In Manual Mode, then the bar graph pipper moves.

I use Av Mode almost exclusively, cause it is one step removed from Manual mode. Meaning, I set the aperture I want, the ISO, Metering Mode, everything but the shutter speed. And I do this because I shoot birds mostly, changing light, and changing fast. Too fast for me to worry about messing with dials and switches when shooting. And in Av Mode, I set the aperture. All lenses have a sweet spot, an F/stop where the images are sharpest. I don't want the idiot chip in the camera setting aperture to a F/stop that is soft or downright blurry.

To learn all this, sit in bed at night with the camera and manual and a lens on it. Read the book and work the dials and switches on the camera till you can do it without reading the manual. I hate to admit it, but this is what I did and still do with every new model camera I get. It takes about a week, but I can then set any setting on the camera without looking and while it is up to my face and in the heat of a fast action bird shoot. It pays off, and at night, you go to sleep with all that new info in your head to let the sub-concious work on it during the night.

Fill flash is used to fill in the shaded side of a subject and not blow out the rest of the frame. You need a SpeedLite flash, a 430ex, 550ex or the 580ex. They work with the camera chips to send out the right amount of light to fill in the shadows when shooting in Av Mode and I suppose Tv Mode. And you use it for that during daylight, for like when the sun is behind the subject and in your face. It does such a good job you can't even tell flash was used.

The Speedlites are also used for other flash lighting, but that's different than "fill flash" which is just one specific type of flash work.

When you say, set it to metering mode, how do I do that? I do not have the cd that came with my camera it was missing giving me a better price on the camera. I had photoshop element 6, but with its dating I had a hard time finding tutorials to use it. I am going to try Av mode, its perfect because like your birds my kids are fast on the go changing from shade to bright spots in split seconds, and I can't keep up. My husband is deployed so I am trying to constantly capture every minute that he is missing out on. That is why I am forced to take pis's in such bright light, not for portraits to hang on the wall, but for the memories that a father is missing out on. Thank you soooo much, I already feel better, and I will post again using your guide.

mama2-8 wrote in post #5858618
when you say metering are you talking about the little bar graph?(can you tell im new?) ive never shot in anything but M, but the veiw finder was impossible to see in such bright light. Also about raw, it takes up a whole lot of memory correct? I only have one 2 gig card now so ive only been shooting jpeg, and also don't have any pp.What is a fill flash, and how is it used?(I feel really stupid)

No need to feel stupid. You are basically learning a new language. When you get that part done, more of this makes sense.

A lot of folks seem to want to steer you to using M mode all the time, and it definitely has its place, but I shoot in rapidly changing situations and in situations where it is difficult to see the little metering bar graph. I shoot mostly in P mode and use the other modes for situations that need them. This is coming from a guy who learned to shoot with a camera that had no internal meter at all and spent most of his life shooting with manual film cameras. Part of the joy (and frustration) of using a modern camera is being able to use the things that it can do for you and knowing when and how to use them.

I'm also of the opinion that it is better to learn to use your camera shooting jpeg since it is harder to correct and you need to get things right in camera.

So, with all that being said, yes, it looks a bit overexposed. However, you will probably not get proper exposure in both highlights and shadows in the same image. Camera sensors (and film) just can't see the full range of tones that the human eye can see. I played with it in Photoshop Elements (didn't this come with your 30D?) and even though I couldn't save a few burned out hot spots, I did manage to make it look better with nothing more than a simple "Levels" adjustment. If you don't have Elements, I would strongly recommend getting it. It is much, much cheaper than the full version of Photoshop and it will do an amazing amount of stuff. Then, if you find you need more, you can get the full blown version of Photoshop and chalk Elements up to learning most of the basics of Photoshop.

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On the top of the 30D, one of the buttons has a set of brackets with a dot in the middle, (.), like so, more or less. With the camera on press the shuitter half way to bring it alive, then press that button once. The use the top wheel dial to change the metering mode. Evaluative is the one with the brackets and a dot, there are two or three others. I owned a 30D for a year and have now forgotten, but I think you have Evaluative, Partial, Spot and Center-weighted average. Here's a great preview of the camera with about 20 pages of everything about the camera. You should bookmark this site and read over all about the camera.

You can also download all the software that came with the camera. Here is Canon's pages for the 30D and all downloads for mauals.

I'll look around for the Digital Software so you can edit the RAW images on your computer. They seem to have taken it down at Canon.

Try this for getting the software.

Mitch, Im laughing so hard at myself, I thought that the metering thing was something to do with focuse, ahh I have so much to learn.
Jim, No my camera didn't come with anything do to an open box sale at circuit city, it came with a 40d book that I have read over and over again, but it is like reading a new language. I know! everyone keeps saying raw, but until I get another card and photoshop it really didn't make sense yet since I can't correct them anyway. I agree with learning to take pic's that don't need much pp and this is why I try to only shoot in M. Everyone I talk to says the same thing "don't be a p shooter", but why do they make all those programs if im not supposed to use them"? LOL

If you got the 30D open box, then download the manual on the usa.canon.com website. Print it all and you will get a lot more knowledge on how to use your new toy. I always try to have a hard copy of the manual so I can read it on the road.