Taking a photo into the sun....
Discussion
I've bought the wifey a DSLR for Christmas as she wants to get into photography as a hobby (which I'm actively promoting, as at present she sits on her arse all evening watching Eastenders Street).
Anywhoot - I've bought her an unused Canon D400 (I think) and wanted to put a couple of pictures on the memory stick.
On the way into work this morning, the field next to our house had 3-4 young deer stood right in the middle of it, with the low morning sun directly behind them....how could I take this picture without it just been a blur or sun light?
Advice for an amateur would be much appreciated - but please be gentle, I'm not camera savvy!
Anywhoot - I've bought her an unused Canon D400 (I think) and wanted to put a couple of pictures on the memory stick.
On the way into work this morning, the field next to our house had 3-4 young deer stood right in the middle of it, with the low morning sun directly behind them....how could I take this picture without it just been a blur or sun light?
Advice for an amateur would be much appreciated - but please be gentle, I'm not camera savvy!
That's inherently a tricky shot to attempt as the camera must try and deal with very bright sun and relatively dark deer. As a rule of thumb it's much better to shoot with the sun at your back.
I'd have though if you left it on auto the camera would expose for the sun and you would get a silhouette - ie the deer would appear just as dark outlines, could be nice
I'd have though if you left it on auto the camera would expose for the sun and you would get a silhouette - ie the deer would appear just as dark outlines, could be nice
You can either expose for the sunrise and let the deer turn into silhouette, or expose for the deer and let the sky burn out. Assuming the deer don't take up much of the screen the camera will probably go for option one, and that might be the most pleasing. To force it to expose for the deer (ie they are brown with fur not black cutouts), either use spot metering (if you have it) or dial in +ve exposure compsensation (EV), or use manual exposure.
Get a pressie for her indoors and use it yourself - man after my own heart. Although it backfired badly when I got Mrs Snap a set of spanners for her 50th...
Take the camera off auto exposure, use manual settings and learn to interpret the "highlight warning" and histogram. The light meter won't tell you anything helpful, it's better to know how to analyse the information you've captured in test shots and use that information to refine the exposure until it's perfect.
Auto exposure programs (A,S,P etc) are designed by a man in Japan who hasn't a clue of what you wish to shoot and can only be correct if the shot you want to take conforms precisely with his algorithms. Otherwise, you have to apply 'exposure correction' and ability to use that well depends on a good working knowledge of manual settings (aperture, shutter speed and ISO). So, the only real way to ensure correct exposure is to learn and DIY.
Take a short course on photography, a decent teacher should be able to explain this stuff in a couple of hours. Like learning to drive, it'll then take you a while to put the theory effectively into practice.
Take the camera off auto exposure, use manual settings and learn to interpret the "highlight warning" and histogram. The light meter won't tell you anything helpful, it's better to know how to analyse the information you've captured in test shots and use that information to refine the exposure until it's perfect.
Auto exposure programs (A,S,P etc) are designed by a man in Japan who hasn't a clue of what you wish to shoot and can only be correct if the shot you want to take conforms precisely with his algorithms. Otherwise, you have to apply 'exposure correction' and ability to use that well depends on a good working knowledge of manual settings (aperture, shutter speed and ISO). So, the only real way to ensure correct exposure is to learn and DIY.
Take a short course on photography, a decent teacher should be able to explain this stuff in a couple of hours. Like learning to drive, it'll then take you a while to put the theory effectively into practice.
In some light situations you'll be better taking 2 photos, one for the deer, one for the sky but not so dark as to be unnatural, just enough so you have the best of both worlds
If a one shot wonder I'd be exposing a little under for the deer and adding some fill in a RAW converter, then pulling back the highlight recovery to see whats still there
If a one shot wonder I'd be exposing a little under for the deer and adding some fill in a RAW converter, then pulling back the highlight recovery to see whats still there
In addition to what has already been said...
In strong 'back light' situation (though I dare say not with deer!) if your camera has a flash then you can try a small amount of 'fill flash'. It basically means a low power flash that helps to reduce the difference between the brightness of the background and the darkness of the foreground.
E.g. Both these shots use a small amount of flash to avoid over exposing the background or silhouetting the foreground:
By motion-images, on Flickr
In strong 'back light' situation (though I dare say not with deer!) if your camera has a flash then you can try a small amount of 'fill flash'. It basically means a low power flash that helps to reduce the difference between the brightness of the background and the darkness of the foreground.
E.g. Both these shots use a small amount of flash to avoid over exposing the background or silhouetting the foreground:
By motion-images, on Flickr
Not really helpful but I spotted the pic in the link below earlier this week when browsing another forum and thought it might inspire the OP:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yohan_photography/625...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yohan_photography/625...
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