Beginner Camera settings

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AMG44x

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Name
andy
Edit My Images
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I've recently been getting to grips with my new sony a5000, which I actually think is perfect for my needs. I did a comparison shot agains my iPhone 6s camera, and although subjective, I personally think the colour is better on my iPhone 6s camera yet the actual image quality is a lot better on the a5000 in the comparison shot. See below images, A is the sony and B is the iPhone, click image to enlarge.

As I'm relative new to photography, I do understand the basic concepts, If I wanted to alter the colour of the skyline to make image A look more like image B, would that be to change the white balance setting on the sony camera?

A)
B)
 
AMG44x said:
As I'm relative new to photography, I do understand the basic concepts, If I wanted to alter the colour of the skyline to make image A look more like image B, would that be to change the white balance setting on the sony camera?
Click to expand...

Maybe, try it :D

If you wade through the camera menu you will probably see white balance, colour and contrast changes you can make and of course you can always change things on your pc with post capture software, you may also want to investigate shooting raw and processing for best effect if not already doing so.
 
Eltheza said:
Hi Andy:welcome:!

See the paragraph here - "Take camera out of Auto White balance mode" - it might be worth experimenting with:

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-sunrises-and-sunsets/
Click to expand...

I will have a read, and try it out.

I've tried experimenting tonight with the white balance which does enhance the image, also I'v had a mess around with adjusting the exposure compensation.

The results were the sunset colours were enhance but the fore ground (tree, etc..) was extremely dark. I guess every day is a school day, any pointers in correcting this?
 
Grab yourself a trial copy of Adobe Lightroom and have a play. You can do a lot with either of those images, though I've probably overcooked this.

sunrise.jpg
 
AMG44x said:
I will have a read, and try it out.

I've tried experimenting tonight with the white balance which does enhance the image, also I'v had a mess around with adjusting the exposure compensation.

The results were the sunset colours were enhance but the fore ground (tree, etc..) was extremely dark. I guess every day is a school day, any pointers in correcting this?
Click to expand...

I found this tutorial helpful, Andy:):

http://digital-photography-school.com/4-mistakes-new-photographers-make-and-how-to-avoid-them/
 
Take two images. Expose 1 for sky and 1 for the foreground, use a tripod so NO movement between shots, shoot in RAW mode, take them into a program like GIMP (free) merge them together, pick a white point on the image and use the eye dropper to adjust the W/B.
 
russellsnr said:
Take two images. Expose 1 for sky and 1 for the foreground, use a tripod so NO movement between shots, shoot in RAW mode, take them into a program like GIMP (free) merge them together, pick a white point on the image and use the eye dropper to adjust the W/B.
Click to expand...

I will experiment with that. Does editing in a programme like that have the same effect as using a polarising lenses to alter (or) enhance the image colours?

(i'm not talking about reflection)
 
AMG44x said:
I will experiment with that. Does editing in a programme like that have the same effect as using a polarising lenses to alter (or) enhance the image colours?

(i'm not talking about reflection)
Click to expand...
Hi, No, a polarising filter is probably the only filter that you cannot generate inside an editing program.
Remember when/if you use a pol filter you need to be 90 degrees to the sun.

Have a look at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+combine+two+landscape+images+in+GIMP
there are a few tutorials on how to merge images.
 
russellsnr said:
Hi, No, a polarising filter is probably the only filter that you cannot generate inside an editing program.
Remember when/if you use a pol filter you need to be 90 degrees to the sun.

Have a look at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+combine+two+landscape+images+in+GIMP
there are a few tutorials on how to merge images.
Click to expand...

Ah so a pol filter image is not suitable for editing.

Any decent resource to learn about pol lenses, what would the affect be if you was 180 degrees to the sun? and what is the affect if you include the sun?

This is a lot more interesting to learn about than my degree for some reason. I'm going away in a week so it will give me time to experiment but I don't know if i should get a pol lenses before I go. I would need one for the sony a5000.

Edit: also the concept you was explaining about exposing the foreground and back ground, is that the same principles of using an auto HDR except the camera does the image processing?
 
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AMG44x said:
Ah so a pol filter image is not suitable for editing.

Any decent resource to learn about pol lenses, what would the affect be if you was 180 degrees to the sun? and what is the affect if you include the sun?

This is a lot more interesting to learn about than my degree for some reason. I'm going away in a week so it will give me time to experiment but I don't know if i should get a pol lenses before I go. I would need one for the sony a5000.

Edit: also the concept you was explaining about exposing the foreground and back ground, is that the same principles of using an auto HDR except the camera does the image processing?
Click to expand...
There are many video explainations on Youtube on how to use a filter of most kinds. Yes same principle as HDR except you choose the exposure not the camera again can be seen on Youtube and many written articles here on this site and others throughout the web.
Russ
 
If you Google "Polarising Filters" you'll get loads of info but essentially a polarising filter has two effects. It can reduce the reflections from non-metallic surfaces and darken a blue sky. The darkening of the sky is most marked, as Russell has said, at 90 degrees away from the sun, though there is an effect visible either side of the 90 degree position. The closer to either 180 degree away from the sun, or directly towards the sun, the less the effect and at 180 degrees away or directly towards there is no effect.

Dave
 
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