What am I doing wrong?

mw0dbb

mw0dbb

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Name
John
Edit My Images
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Hi all, I am having a real problem and not sure what I am doing wrong? These are a few shots I have taken and I can't understand why they look washed out? I set the WB for sunny conditions as it was very bright outside.

John


house2 by V twins are cool


house3 by V twins are cool, on Flickr
 
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i just looked at the exif data and it says you had a iso setting of 800. in sunny weather try it at 100


bleddyn
 
WB only determines how warm/cold the image is. It's the exposure you need to think about.

Either go out and play about with changing exposure to see how it affects the image, or download a free trial of Lightroom, import one of these photos and play about with the exposure slider and the WB slider to see the difference each one makes to the shot.
 
I do have lightroom, I was just trying to see what I was doing wrong without the processing. I set the ISO that high to try and capture them in flight, was the only way I could get a fast shutter speed? I find if I go down to F2.8 on this lens it is hard to get it in focus?

John
 
mw0dbb said:
I do have lightroom, I was just trying to see what I was doing wrong without the processing. I set the ISO that high to try and capture them in flight, was the only way I could get a fast shutter speed? I find if I go down to F2.8 on this lens it is hard to get it in focus?

John
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They also looked over exposed to me ? The camera can get confused if the back ground is mostly white.
 
Try taking some pics of just the wall, I assume the bird (a swallow?) wouldn't make that much of a difference to the exposure.. Once you have the exposure right then ur ready to take the pic when the bird returns...

You are right, you can increase the ISO to get a faster shutter speed (but potentially increase the noise), but maybe you increased it too much? Try slightly lower values for the ISO or maybe even a slightly faster shutter speed... Just play with them and see how they affect the image
 
Did you have any kind of filters on the lens? did you have the camera in a cool place then straight out to warm sun (could be slight misting on the lens). They just seems to lack contrast really.....could just be bad light…
 
Light is harsh, lower ISO increase shutter perhaps and make sure you use a lens hood.
 
mw0dbb said:
I do have lightroom, I was just trying to see what I was doing wrong without the processing. I set the ISO that high to try and capture them in flight, was the only way I could get a fast shutter speed? I find if I go down to F2.8 on this lens it is hard to get it in focus?

John
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You have over exposed the shot, so lost contrast and that's why it's "washed out". It's nothing to do with WB.
 
The problem is lens flare, very obvious in the second pic, caused by the very bright sky just at the edge and outside of shot.

If you have a filter fitted, take that off. A good lens hood would help, but would probably not be deep enough. Suggest shade the lens with a piece of black card held just outside the frame.
 
It's nothing to do with most of the above. The camera's set for spot metering, so it's exposed for the nest.
 
Yes the camera may have metered for the nest so what we are suggesting is how to override that automatic setting as it isn't working in this case due to the bright white wall?
 
As hoppy said, it.s flare more then anything. If a hood was on the lens it was probably inadequate iin these circumstances...harsh light, white walls.
 
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HyperD said:
Yes the camera may have metered for the nest so what we are suggesting is how to override that automatic setting as it isn't working in this case due to the bright white wall?
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It's not a question of 'may'. It has metered for the nest.
It's nothing to do with automatic settings.

Ways around it?

HDR with 2+ exposures
Expose for the whole scene and use fill flash.
Expose for the whole scene and dodge the nest.
Tighter framing.
Accept the limitations of the sensor.

... and I'd you haven't done so, always use a lens hood.

Edit:

Btw, I can't see where you've actually addressed the question; ie 'what did I do wrong?'
The answer to which was spot metering.
 
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Fiddling with exposure won't help - problem is lens flare caused by the very bright sky and also the wall in direct sun below. Longer lenses are more prone to flare (because by definition it is always closer to the lens axis) and consumer grade zooms more so. Shade the lens.

Fill-in flash is also a good suggestion, to lift the shaded area under the eves closer to the surrounding area brightness. You'd need high speed sync though to get the right shutter speed, and keep the power down to avoid shadows.
 
Fiddling with Photoshop will help a bit


8946846158_0c52269101a_zps414b584e.jpg
 
I shall have another play and see what happens.....They are nesting on my house anyway, so it's not like I have to go far! Also I would like to get into the habbit of making the camera do all the work and just use the likes of photoshop to just clean an image up.

Thanks for all your help guys.

John
 
Um, yes. That's how it works. You get the exposure bit right in the camera, then the editing bit right in post. Both parts are just as important.
 
I have just been outside again and noticed the sun is at a high angle and I do get the hazing effect at this time of day.....Maybe that is what I was getting? Never really noticed the position of the sun yesterday but I was taking the pics earlier in the day.

I always use the lens hood on the camera aswell but it made no difference at all.

John
 
mw0dbb said:
I have just been outside again and noticed the sun is at a high angle and I do get the hazing effect at this time of day.....Maybe that is what I was getting? Never really noticed the position of the sun yesterday but I was taking the pics earlier in the day.

I always use the lens hood on the camera aswell but it made no difference at all.

John
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If you point your camera at a bright light, you'll get some flare. It's physics (it's not the first time I've used the 'it's physics' answer;).

You can mitigate it by not pointing directly, by using a hood, by adding to the hood with extra shade, by not using filters and by having a spotlessly clean lens. But you need to understand the opponent in order to win the battle.
 
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