Rebel XSi - Day time/slow shutter

I just bought my first DSLR (XSi). I love the camera, but I'm having hard time shooting during the day time at slow shutter speeds. My pictures keep coming out overexposed, and super white, all the highlights are all blown out. I tried taking a picture of a fountain at slow shutter and it was almost all white. What am I doing wrong?

Most likely you are using too large of an aperture, or have your iso set too high, or both.


ANd welcome to the POTN

Are you using fully manual mode or auto mode?

Ok, take a look at the Sunny 16 rule. Assuming it is sunny and you've got a front lit subject, that rule states that at f/16 your shutter speed is 1/ISO. So if you are at ISO 100, your shutter speed would be 1/100. If you want a slower shutter speed, you need to close your aperture even more... but at f/16 you may be close to the end for your lens. You may have 1 or 2 more stops you can go to (f/22 or f/32) which means you can achieve a shutter speed of 1/50 at f/22 or 1/25 at f/32.

If you want to go even slower, you need to use a filter like a circular polarizer (typically two stops loss of light) or neutral density filters. Another option is to wait for a cloud to drop the light level or come earlier or later in the day.

try to set the mode to auto (green square) and take a shot. if it's overexposed, post your photo and related setting so experts(not me) can give it a diagnosis.

or just try Jacuff's (above) suggestion.

If it's too overexposed, just get less light hitting the sensor. You can do this by
-lowering the ISO
-using a faster shutter speed
-using a smaller (bigger f-#) aperture
-use Neutral Density filters
-Go back when it's not as bright

Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" would be a good read for you. Good luck!

egordon99 wrote in post #6594149
-Go back when it's not as bright

ahahahhahah that was priceless + the wink! lol listen to the guy