Exposure help please

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Paul
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Guys,

I'm on holiday in Florida at the moment & took the camera out today to take some shots. HELP!

I've a Nikon D5000 & usually shoot in aperture priority mode. This is the first time I've uded the camera in the very light conditions you get in Fl & when trying to shoot I've been getting the flashing icon bottom right of viewfinder that means I need flash (?). This is no matter what aperture setting I have tried.

I even tried switching toi shutter mode and that was pretty much the same. Whilst I've managed to take some shots I'm not overly confident (having not yet viewed them on the laptop) that they will turn out any good.

I'm just trying to get things right whilst I'm doing the parks before I head off to some of the other states during my trip. I'm sure it is probably something simple I'm overlooking here so I'd be grateful for any help as I'd like to get things right before I head away from Mickey Mouse town toi more scenic places.
 
Ive noticed this myself when using my D3100 I think the flashing icon comes along with a message on the LCD stating there is not enough light.

That said however this doesn't mean that you're unable to take a good shot, try and use your aperture, shutter speed and ISO to get a well exposed shot and check it on the LCD afterward. If you're outside during the day you should be fine.

Also press down on the cross keys around the ok button and make check the histogram graph to make sure it mostly falls within the centre without too much of the graph going off the left or right.
 
Hi Paul, I have no idea about Nikons but would perhaps think that your little blinkie is telling you that your shot is going to be overexposed if you are shooting in bright conditions :shrug: Double check you are using a low ISO and a fast shutter. I am sure peeps will go more in depth for you but it is 04.30 and I am off to work :D
 
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Just a thought - might the camera's suggestion to activate the flash indicate that you might be needing fill-in flash? I'm not familiar with Nikons but as I am sure that you know, when shooting in very bright and harsh sunlight, faces etc can often be underexposed, as the camera chooses a fast shutter speed (or narrow aperture) to limit the light that reaches the sensor and correctly expose the majority of the scene. If your clever camera detects a darkish object near the middle of the scene it might think that a little pop of flash will illuminate a face and balance the scene.

Just a thought.

HTH
Neil
 
Thnks for that Neil. Only thing is I've 95% of the time just been taking shots whilst wandering around the parks over here. I;ve not once focused on a face.
 
Paul, I'm struggling to understand your post. If you're that concerned about these images, which are pretty important ones, why aren't you checking them on your laptop? :thinking: At least we'd know whether they were under or over exposed, but even your camera preview screen should give a good indication of that?

You say that it's brighter light in Florida than you're used to (which seems pretty reasonable) so I'd think the last thing your camera flashing is doing is telling to use flash! It's far more likely that if you're shooting in AV mode the camera is unable to set a fast enough shutter speed for the aperture you have set, in which case the camera will flash a warning in the viewfinder to tell you the shot will be over-exposed.

If you shoot in TV Mode you'll get the same problem if the shutter speed you have set doesn't allow the camera to pick a small enough aperture,

In AV try using a smaller aperture in increments until that flashing light stops.

In TV try gradually increasing the shutter speed until that flashing stops.

Your other option is to raise the ISO to bring the prevailing light within the capability of the camera to deal with it.

I hope that makes some kind of sense. If all else fails don't be afraid to put the camera in full auto mode and enable auto ISO if your camera has the feature - that should deal with the conditions quite easily and at least you should be coming back with some decent shots.
 
Only thing I can add is put it in manual choose your F stop. then take a shot look at your image then look at the histogram, change your exposure by under 1 or 2 stops and i you use flash - compensation
 
CT said:
Paul, I'm struggling to understand your post. If you're that concerned about these images, which are pretty important ones, why aren't you checking them on your laptop? :thinking: At least we'd know whether they were under or over exposed, but even your camera preview screen should give a good indication of that?

You say that it's brighter light in Florida than you're used to (which seems pretty reasonable) so I'd think the last thing your camera flashing is doing is telling to use flash! It's far more likely that if you're shooting in AV mode the camera is unable to set a fast enough shutter speed for the aperture you have set, in which case the camera will flash a warning in the viewfinder to tell you the shot will be over-exposed.

If you shoot in TV Mode you'll get the same problem if the shutter speed you have set doesn't allow the camera to pick a small enough aperture,

In AV try using a smaller aperture in increments until that flashing light stops.

In TV try gradually increasing the shutter speed until that flashing stops.

Your other option is to raise the ISO to bring the prevailing light within the capability of the camera to deal with it.

I hope that makes some kind of sense. If all else fails don't be afraid to put the camera in full auto mode and enable auto ISO if your camera has the feature - that should deal with the conditions quite easily and at least you should be coming back with some decent shots.
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Thanks for the reply.

Possibly my OP was not clear or you misunderstood.The theme park photos are not particulartly important. I'm still getting to grips with digital photography. Hence my question. I'd not yet uploaded the pics as I'd not had time. I had viewed them when shot. Some were okay, some where not. The main crux of the question was to find out why the flash ready indicator may my flashing in my viewfinder, as I could see no reason why it would/should.

I'm still soaking up info etc when I can get it.
 
Was the pop up flash up?

I doubt there is too little, as CT has said, more likely too much if it's that bright.

Make sure the ISO is set to it's lowest (usually 100) and stop down your aperture.
 
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HI


what aperture and iso were were you using.The maximum shutter speed nikon d5000 can reach is 1/4000s.Are the shots overexposed?Better to post a picture to get some more info

thanks
 
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