Beginner Exposure help

Ch1Ck3n TiM3

Ch1Ck3n TiM3

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Brett
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Hi all. I'm quite keen on taking pictures of birds. Any type really but when flying on a bright day I can't seem to get the exposure right. It always ends up with bright sky and a silhouette of a bird. I have a Canon EOS 1200D lens I normally use is a Sigma 70-300mm
 
Can you spot meter off the bird? Or if not possible dial in exposure compensation moving the cursor to the right of the exposure scale thus making the shadows lighter.
 
Hi, If you get a reading of say 250th for shutter speed then just increase it buy about two stops so shoot at 1000th if you find that is to bright just come back down to 500th remember over exposing a little is not a problem as it can to a degree be sorted in post.
Russ
 
russellsnr said:
Hi, If you get a reading of say 250th for shutter speed then just increase it buy about two stops so shoot at 1000th if you find that is to bright just come back down to 500th remember over exposing a little is not a problem as it can to a degree be sorted in post.
Russ
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You're making the bird even darker.
 
With bird in flight shots it is often best to set the exposure manually so that it will not change with the background, you need the exposure to be correct for the bird not for the bird + sky or bird + trees or bird + rocks etc.
The easiest way to do that is to set the camera up for manual exposure and then point the camera at some green grass, which is in the same light as the bird will be, and centre the meter.
You only need to change the exposure if the light levels change.
 
I suppose the op could get some idea by boosting the dark bird shots exposure post capture. If they need to be boosted x stops then when out again next time dial in x compo.
 
Av priority, set iso to get desired shutter speed, dial in +2ev. Check histogram and blinkies on screen. You won't be far off.
 
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