Always the light

[Kalogerus]

Hey, I apologize if already answered before but i am having a problem with my light adjustment

I usually take a photo like 10 times with changing options every time (apreture and shutter speed) and sometimes ISO as well

but i still cant get it right, basically sometimes light is too bright that contrast is really high that it hides some colors, i put aperture value lower and/or shutter speed higher but it becomes too dim, and while playing with those 2 values the shot is either ruined or I get to a result that I dont really like but the best I got

Usually my colors come out kind of dim and i try to enhance them with photoshop or highly faded so I try to add contrast to it and play with levels n curves until colors are more acceptable... its just depressing lol

thats during the day, at night its a different story, i totally suck at it i dont know what to do... i shot some nice night shots before but those were selected out of maybe 600 pics.... i hate it when i shoot all day n only come bk home for 6 or 7 shots

My question may seem a bit hazy but m confused myself lol

Please somebody advice me about the light stuff

thanks in advance

[Sterling]

Tha answer is to simplify what you are doing if you want to learn to shoot in Manual. Adjusting 3 variables at the same time is a sure way to never get anything right and a great way to confuse yourself. First of all, your camera has a light meter. Learn to use it. Second, just concentrate on changing only one variable at a time. For example, if taking well lit, outdoor shots you can safely just leave the ISO at 100 or 200. Then with the shutter speed set at a fixed setting, say 1/125, you can experiment with changing the aperture until you get the exposure you like. Do same thing to isolate shutter speed and ISO in separate sessions. The key is to change only one thing at a time.

The camera will usually take a perfectly good shot using the P mode. It certainly won't require 10 shots in P to find one that works. Maybe use P for a while and take note of the settings the camera uses. Then try to replicate those settings in M.

[LeeR]

This is crazy! Ten shots to try to get one exposure and you still miss? I would much rather see you put the camera on 'Auto' and shoot ten shots that are pretty darned close. You can usually salvage a near miss in PS. If you really want to learn to shoot manually then you probably need to do a bit more reading on the subject before jumping into those waters. I am actually a much bigger fan of learning to override your automatic systems than turn them off entirely. Most DSLRs have systems that will allow you to go up or down several stops in either direction if you feel the need and most also have a bracketing feature that will allow you to take two or three shots either direction of what it thinks is perfect. Learn these two tools and the number of times when you truly need full manual will drop to an insignificant number.
Why? You're making it harder than it has to be. One day you will read an article and the light will go for you on manual exposure. In the meantime, set the camera for auto and have some fun.

[Kalogerus]

Originally Posted by Sterling

Tha answer is to simplify what you are doing if you want to learn to shoot in Manual. Adjusting 3 variables at the same time is a sure way to never get anything right and a great way to confuse yourself. First of all, your camera has a light meter. Learn to use it. Second, just concentrate on changing only one variable at a time. For example, if taking well lit, outdoor shots you can safely just leave the ISO at 100 or 200. Then with the shutter speed set at a fixed setting, say 1/125, you can experiment with changing the aperture until you get the exposure you like. Do same thing to isolate shutter speed and ISO in separate sessions. The key is to change only one thing at a time.

The camera will usually take a perfectly good shot using the P mode. It certainly won't require 10 shots in P to find one that works. Maybe use P for a while and take note of the settings the camera uses. Then try to replicate those settings in M.

Thanks for the advice, I will sure try to apply that and read more about it. Your right, I always seem to be getting busy trying to fix everything at once which causes me to wind up confused as hell.

Originally Posted by LeeR

This is crazy! Ten shots to try to get one exposure and you still miss? I would much rather see you put the camera on 'Auto' and shoot ten shots that are pretty darned close. You can usually salvage a near miss in PS. If you really want to learn to shoot manually then you probably need to do a bit more reading on the subject before jumping into those waters. I am actually a much bigger fan of learning to override your automatic systems than turn them off entirely. Most DSLRs have systems that will allow you to go up or down several stops in either direction if you feel the need and most also have a bracketing feature that will allow you to take two or three shots either direction of what it thinks is perfect. Learn these two tools and the number of times when you truly need full manual will drop to an insignificant number.
Why? You're making it harder than it has to be. One day you will read an article and the light will go for you on manual exposure. In the meantime, set the camera for auto and have some fun.

I didnt say I shoot 10 and miss them all, but i only keep around 5 or 6 decent shots to compare and choose from and work on in photoshop. Also I like to take more than 10 shots simply because I have a big memory and a small screen that does not show the errors in detail that may have occured

As for the reading I already read, doesnt mean I really got it. I read about exposure and shutter and all that on this site and other sources and was useful enough but reading is different when its time for application. Shooting on auto? hmmm not so keen of it, it always pops out the flash and it becomes harder to edit on photoshop, at least for me. It doesnt always get my shots like I want them and I like to be in charge of my camera not let it be in charge

Thanks again for all the feedback

[teaking]

I got to say I agree with alot of the posters in this thread, use the overiding features such as exposure compensation on one of the auto modes like Av Tv or P thats what it is there for to make your life easier.

By the sounds of it your Faffing about with dials and buttons thinking utlimately it will get you a better shot but in reality using P mode with - 1/3rd EV comp could get you a better result its doing the exact same thing as you are trying to do in manual mode but in an easier route to the same result.

[Agata]

Originally Posted by Kalogerus

Hey, I apologize if already answered before but i am having a problem with my light adjustment

I usually take a photo like 10 times with changing options every time (apreture and shutter speed) and sometimes ISO as well

but i still cant get it right, basically sometimes light is too bright that contrast is really high that it hides some colors, i put aperture value lower and/or shutter speed higher but it becomes too dim, and while playing with those 2 values the shot is either ruined or I get to a result that I dont really like but the best I got

Usually my colors come out kind of dim and i try to enhance them with photoshop or highly faded so I try to add contrast to it and play with levels n curves until colors are more acceptable... its just depressing lol

thats during the day, at night its a different story, i totally suck at it i dont know what to do... i shot some nice night shots before but those were selected out of maybe 600 pics.... i hate it when i shoot all day n only come bk home for 6 or 7 shots

My question may seem a bit hazy but m confused myself lol

Please somebody advice me about the light stuff

thanks in advance

Maybe you're just a little too overly critical of your shots?

When I started I was give a very good advice, that is, your camera's Auto setting can be your best teacher. You take your first shot in Auto and check the settings, then adjust to your needs. I do that sometimes when I can't get the exposure right in Manual setting. I compare and fix my shots in Manual by I either changing my depth of field or shutter speed 1 f-stop at a time and so on.

For colors, I used to hate the color in my shots until I got a WB lens cap ($30). I adjust my WB every time I change light source and that seems to give me good looking colors, and if I can't get the color right -- I cheat -- I switch to B&W mode and play with filters. :-)

[RichardTaylor]

I day light shooting I agree with the comments about P mode and dialing in some exposure compensation if need be.

Do you know how to read a histogram?
That will give you an idea if you need to dial in some exposure compensation.

Keep in mind that lighting conditions will have a considerable impact on the "quality" of your image. Try shooting at a different time of day or from a different angle.

For night time shooting I shoot manual. I will use the camera metering indication as a guide for the initial shot (or set up the exposure with values I know from experience) and the use the histogram to adjust the exposure as needed.

[seanhoxx]

And I still don't understand, but get lucky at times! Try a shot in 'auto' see what you think about it, then one in aperture and one in shutter, make note of the values and use them as your 'baseline' for making your own settings. adjust ISO last and stay as low as you can with it.
bracketing WB shots is also good to see differences. I often fall back on the simple, if it moves use shutter, if it dont use aperture. Any way it is supposed to be fun, there are no bad shots, just different artistic expressions. And man have a made a bunch of different expressions!

[tolyto]

Whenever I'm struggling with what settings to use, I'll play around with some of the auto settings and see what my camera chooses - for example, I was taking a picture of a landscape and couldn't get the settings right, so I switched it to "landscape" mode and saw what the camera was choosing to do. I then used those settings with a change to the WB and had better luck. I've been learning my DSLR for about a year now (started with an XS last April - then got a 50D in Jan). It takes a long time and a lot of practice - but you'll get there!

[Kalogerus]

Thyanks everybody for your input!

Originally Posted by teaking

I got to say I agree with alot of the posters in this thread, use the overiding features such as exposure compensation on one of the auto modes like Av Tv or P thats what it is there for to make your life easier.

By the sounds of it your Faffing about with dials and buttons thinking utlimately it will get you a better shot but in reality using P mode with - 1/3rd EV comp could get you a better result its doing the exact same thing as you are trying to do in manual mode but in an easier route to the same result.

I never really thought of using P or Av ot Tv, i just didnt know what they were and how they worked, i looked them up and i will try practicing on those modes to see what I can come out with

Originally Posted by Agata

Maybe you're just a little too overly critical of your shots?

When I started I was give a very good advice, that is, your camera's Auto setting can be your best teacher. You take your first shot in Auto and check the settings, then adjust to your needs. I do that sometimes when I can't get the exposure right in Manual setting. I compare and fix my shots in Manual by I either changing my depth of field or shutter speed 1 f-stop at a time and so on.

For colors, I used to hate the color in my shots until I got a WB lens cap ($30). I adjust my WB every time I change light source and that seems to give me good looking colors, and if I can't get the color right -- I cheat -- I switch to B&W mode and play with filters. :-)

Thats a good point, I already started doing that, copying from auto mode, I got much better shots but what bothered me is it was a bit confusing still. The WB lense cap could be a nice idea, I ordered one and will see how it works out, thanks again for your input