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Pictures to bright

Joined
Apr 15, 2013
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Location
Beeville
First Name
Bryan
Last Name
Hughes
So when I take photos outside, I try to adjust the settings and on the camera screen the picture looks good, but when I view it on the computer the picture is too bright. Some times it's the opposite and too dark. Why would it look good on the camera screen but not in the picture? Besides the obvious OPERATOR ERROR, is there something else I might not have considered or setting to change?
 
The LCD brightness setting on the camera has nothing to do with picture exposure nor will it correlate to your computer screen brightness/contrast settings.

If this isn't what you're describing then I have nothing to add.
 
The LCD brightness setting on the camera has nothing to do with picture exposure nor will it correlate to your computer screen brightness/contrast settings.

If this isn't what you're describing then I have nothing to add.

I think it does, and I think you are saying what I think you are lol.

For example,

In one shot the lcd looked really bright. I had read in one page that with the stock lens and good GENERAL aperture setting is around 6.5 to 8. So I set the aperture to that setting then sped up the shutter speed until it LCD looked like the close to what I was viewing. It looked really good. But once I get the photo to the computer it's still too bright.

So naturally I've done photos like the above and made the scene on the LCD look darker than what I'm actually seeing. Sometimes it works sometimes its too dark.

So I didn't know if maybe the LCD screen needed adjustment or not. I doubt it lol. That's why I'm sure it's operator error. Just another learning curve.

I will say those that can take outside photos now have my respect. It's hard!
 
:tab You have to understand what your camera is trying to do when it determines a "proper" exposure. It is trying to set the exposure based on the assumption that the entire scene can be reduced to an 18% average grey. If you shoot a very bright scene, the camera will try to under expose (darken) to bring it back to the 18% grey. If you shoot a very dark scene, the camera will try to over expose (brighten) it to get it back to the 18% grey. Snowscapes, white flowers, bridal dresses, etc,... can look dark or muddy as a result. The point is that your camera's meter will not always get the correct exposure. This is where you have to step in and adjust the exposure based on what you are seeing.

:tab If you are shooting in manual mode, you can just change aperture, shutter speed, or your ISO to either over expose or under expose. For instance, you are shooting a very bright scene like a snow covered mountain. The camera will try to darken the scene to bring it back to 18% grey based on the assumption that ALL scenes can be reduced to 18% grey. To correct this, you actually have to over expose the image (let in more light) to force the camera to depart from the 18% grey to match the actual scene. You would just have to play with it to determine the right amount of over exposure. If you were shooting in one of the program modes or scene modes in the camera, then you would use the exposure compensation control to do the same thing.

:tab Likewise, if you are shooting a scene with a lot of dark areas, the camera would try to over expose to brighten the image and bring it back toward the 18% grey. You would either have to adjust aperture, shutter speed, or ISO to reduce the amount of light coming in, or change the exposure compensation to under expose.

:tab At first it might seem kind of backward that you have to let in more light for a bright scene and less light for a dark scene. But it helps to remember than the camera is trying to pull the scene back to that 18% grey and you have to counter that action. Also, remember that it is not about how much ambient light you have, but rather what the colors tones are in the scene. In low light, you will generally have to let in more light to get a good exposure and with lots of light you may generally have to crank down on the amount of light coming in to get a good exposure. This is more about the reflected light coming off your subjects.

:tab There are TONS of articles, blogs, and videos on the subject.
 
The other problem is whether or not your computer monitor is properly calibrated. If it is not, even if you shoot the perfect picture, it will not look right on your screen. Some poor quality monitors simply cannot be adjusted enough to be properly calibrated. To get it right, you need a decent monitor AND a calibration device. There are several available in a WIDE price range. I use this one,

http://spyder.datacolor.com/portfolio-view/spyder5pro/

I could stand to have a little nicer monitor, but the one I have works. Before I calibrated, the images I printed came back with an orange color caste to the whole image even though they looked perfect on my monitor. After calibration, the prints looked perfect. Seeing them side by side the difference was quite stark.

Here's a good primer,
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/monitor-calibration.htm
 
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I'm only using the manual mode. I'm wanting to force myself to learn how to use it.

Here's a question.

If I'm shooting outside and it's super sunny and the view is bright on the LCD. Would you try adjusting the aperture before the ISO or shutter? I've read that the higher the ISO the more noise you'll get. So I try to stay under 1600 usually between 800-1600 and just tweak the shutter speed or aperture.

I plan on taking classes soon. There's a few things in the pipeline that have to take place first. But if all goes well I'll know by Nov 1 when I can register. More info to come Nov 1!
 
:tab HOW you change the exposure is based on what you are trying to shoot.

:tab For instance, if you want to freeze motion, you need fast shutter speeds. This will mean that if you need more light, you can either adjust aperture or ISO. In general, I try to keep the ISO as low as possible to minimize noise in the image (grainy look). However, changing your aperture affects your depth of field. So if you also are trying to maintain a particular depth of field, then your only option left is to crank up the ISO.

:tab If you are shooting something that is stationary and shutter speed is not so critical, especially if you have a tripod with you, then you can go with longer shutter speeds to get more light. In such cases, you are often going to be doing a shot where you are much more interested in controlling the depth of field and then picking a shutter speed to set the final exposure. Again, I would try to keep the ISO as low as possible and only adjust if changing the shutter speed becomes an issue.

:tab Basically, I only play with the ISO if I have to and generally I want to keep it as low as possible. I usually set it at 100 and only adjust if I have no choice. A good example of where I have to mess with it would be when I am doing indoor people photography and I don't want to be popping a flash in everyone's face. For people shots, I generally want to freeze the action, so I need to be around 1/250 or faster. But indoors the light is generally not great, so I have to open up the aperture. The problem here is that if you go to big, you get a really shallow depth of field. Someone's nose might be focused but the rest of their face will be blurred. Or, you might be taking a shot of several people and they are not all the same exact distance from the camera, so one person is focused and the other is blurry. The only solution without changing the distance to the subjects or using a different lens is to use a smaller aperture to increase the depth of field, but this means less light. Now, my only choice is to set the aperture where I need it and then use the ISO to set the exposure.

:tab With my D750 and the post processing abilities of LR6, I generally try not to exceed ISO 6400 unless there simply is no other way to get a shot. My D7000 was really only good up to about ISO 3200 before you could start seeing any significant noise in the image.
 
:tab Also, with regard to the "sunny" day, remember, it is not so much the light outside as it is the light being REFLECTED by your subjects that affects the exposure. It can be crazy sunny outside and you might still need to over expose to get the correct exposure. Think of a sunny day on a snow covered field. It will be crazy bright. If the bulk of your composition is the bright snow with no dark areas in the shot, then the camera will try to pull that brightness back to the 18% grey by underexposing the image. The won't look white, it will be kind of grey. You have to over expose to get it back to white. You CAN do this by upping the ISO, but I would start with either the shutter speed or aperture first and only adjust ISO if you must.

:tab The same can be true if you are shooting a scene that is predominantly dark tones with no balancing light tones. Even thought it might be a bright day, the camera will try to lighten the scene by over exposing to pull all that dark tone back up to the 18% grey. You have to under expose to force it back down. If you are already at ISO 100, then you can only do it with the shutter speed and/or aperture settings (although some cameras can actually go less than ISO 100).
 
:tab Basically, I only play with the ISO if I have to and generally I want to keep it as low as possible. I usually set it at 100 and only adjust if I have no choice. A good example of where I have to mess with it would be when I am doing indoor people photography and I don't want to be popping a flash in everyone's face. For people shots, I generally want to freeze the action, so I need to be around 1/250 or faster. But indoors the light is generally not great, so I have to open up the aperture. The problem here is that if you go to big, you get a really shallow depth of field. Someone's nose might be focused but the rest of their face will be blurred. Or, you might be taking a shot of several people and they are not all the same exact distance from the camera, so one person is focused and the other is blurry. The only solution without changing the distance to the subjects or using a different lens is to use a smaller aperture to increase the depth of field, but this means less light. Now, my only choice is to set the aperture where I need it and then use the ISO to set the exposure.


That makes total sense. Now I know why some of my landscape shots are focused funny.
 
I agree with Scott.

I'm not sure which camera you are using (I'm sure I missed it in another thread), but if you have one, try using the viewfinder rather than the LCD screen on the back. As a general rule, I try to set my aperture according to the amount of background blur I want (Bokeh!) then use the shutter speed to adjust brightness. My particular camera isn't the best for low light, so I generally keep my ISO as low as possible.

Just my .02, believe me there are much smarter people on here than I!
 
...try using the viewfinder rather than the LCD screen on the back.

:tab I totally forgot to mention that! :doh: YES YES YES! I never use the back screen for composing shots unless I just have to (like I am lazy and don't want to remove my helmet if I am shooting while out riding). What you see on the back LCD screen changes a lot depending on the ambient lighting. What you see through the view finder only changes depending on your actual settings and the scene.
 
I agree with Scott.

I'm not sure which camera you are using (I'm sure I missed it in another thread), but if you have one, try using the viewfinder rather than the LCD screen on the back. As a general rule, I try to set my aperture according to the amount of background blur I want (Bokeh!) then use the shutter speed to adjust brightness. My particular camera isn't the best for low light, so I generally keep my ISO as low as possible.

Just my .02, believe me there are much smarter people on here than I!

It's a canon t5i. When I was at precision camera the guy was showing me how you could adjust the settings using the lcd touch screen to take a better photo. So I assumed thats how you did it. The view finder doesn't show any changes you make like the lcd shows.
 
:tab I would learn to just use the exposure settings and ignore what it looks like on the LCD until AFTER you have taken the picture. Even then, keep in mind that the LCD won't ever look as good as say a full size monitor or even something like an iPad. It just doesn't have the resolution as a bigger screen. What you really need to pay attention to is the histogram. Once you learn how to view it, you will have a very good idea whether or not your images are properly exposed. Again, there are a TON of good articles, blogs, tutorials, and videos on how to understand and use histograms.
 
I'm going out on a limb here with the Canon line....

You mentioned you are shooting in Manual mode and your shots are either too bright or too dark. That simply says the image is overexposed (bright) or underexposed (dark). You generally want something between those two (properly exposed).

When you view your subject in the viewfinder eyepiece and in Manual mode, do you have a little set of bars either on the sides, top or bottom and a "+" or "-" on either end? If so, that's telling you where you are in the exposure continuum (under/over or just right). When I shoot Manual (as in 99.9999% of my work) I'm ballparking my exposure based on that little sliding scale inside my viewfinder.

And yes - another photo tech day would be awesome.
 
Hey Scott,

I do have some red dots that flash. I've never paid attention to them in manule mode. In auto they flash green when you are focused and all is good. I didn't think they'd work like that in manuel. I'll check that out to day. I'm headed into town for Elgins hogeye day. Going to take pictures and have my kid take some with my phone (just in case I don't get any good ones lol).
 
Sorry, I'm an IT guy, we have to start with the simplest solution first. You have of course checked your LCD brightness setting, right?

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yh1loTQH0g"]How to Adjust the LCD Image Brightness on a Canon Rebel T3i / T4i / T5i - YouTube[/ame]

I admit, I skimmed the thread though, so this might have been covered, but I didn't see it.
 
Ok, just checking. No sense in messing with anything else if that setting is off to start with. :D
 
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