Thanks Navcom here's another

[Christi9409]

I wanted to say thanks for all the tips. Some of them don't quiet make sense to me yet but they will. I took a drive yesteday mid morning, This is a pic. from my car on highway 34, this is probably about 15 miles from my house. How lucky. I can't wait til some of it turns green. I did set the WB to shade and I was amazed at the difference. The sky was still cloudy, foggy, hazey, We had just had spring snow storm go through 2 days before. I tweaked the photo a little bit with Picasa auto contrast. I don't like doing that, I guess I should show the one that I didn't do. there isn't a lot of difference maybe not as bright. So that means I need to set the shutter speed to 1/200 or something like that (let me know) Oh yea the camera is in M one thing I have learned it's OK to change all those settings, the camera won't break. LOL Thanks for taking the time to help me Christi

From 2010-03-07

Canin Rebel XSi lens kit 1/250 f/7.1 ISO 100 focal length 123mm

[navcom]

Hi Christi!

You definitely live in a beautiful part of the country! From your post I take it you are working on getting proper exposure techniques down. For landscape photography, using the manual exposure mode (or aperture priority) is the way to go for best results in my opinion. And you are right...the camera won't break when you change settings! Another important piece of equipment to have is a tripod. Use it always if possible.

For most landscape shots, depth of field is very important. DOF is how much of your image is actually in focus. With a shallow DOF, not much will be in focus. This is great for up-close shots like flowers or portraits where you want the background blurred. For landscape shots, the opposite is usually desired. You want as much of the image in focus as possible.

So how do you control DOF? Easy...first and foremost with your aperture setting. The smaller your aperture opening (large the f/stop number), the larger the DOF will be. Likewise, the larger your opening (smaller number), the less your DOF will be.

So then you should use the smallest aperture opening for maximum DOF, right? Well...not really. There is always a disclaimer, isn't there? When you approach either extreme end of the scale (smallest or largest aperture), you start running into image quality problems. As you approach the smaller apertures, you progressively get more diffraction, which starts to make your image soft and a bit fuzzy. This usually starts around f/16 or so. On the larger end you get a more "washed-out" effect. This is most noticeable on the largest couple of stops.

Back to landscape shots. If you want to get the most DOF and the best image quality, you should use an aperture setting somewhere between f/8 and f/13 for starters. Of course every image is different and there are times when you really want maximum DOF and will use f/16 or f/22, etc. The trade-off might be worth it.

So your camera is set to manual mode. How do you know what to set all the settings to? It's actually quite easy. Since DOF is important, first set your aperture to get your desired DOF. Next, for best image quality, set your ISO to the lowest your camera will go. The only thing left is the shutter speed. Set it until your exposure meter tells you that you have a proper exposure. Whatever gets the meter to read a proper exposure, that's what it is. For most landscape photos (unless you have a lot of moving items in your image such as trees on a windy day), shutter speed is not that important. This also assumes you are using that tripod.

Now take your shot. If it appears over or under-exposed (or you purposely want it over or under-exposed), simply adjust the shutter speed up or down to get the desired result.

I should also mention that I don't want to mislead you on your white balance settings. I use "shade" for most sunrise or sunset shots. I don't necessarily recommend using it for all landscape shots. "Shade" acts similar to using a warming filter over your lens when you are shooting in sunlight. It makes the colors warmer. If you are actually in the shade, it won't have the same effect. I usually set a custom white balance for most scenes using the custom option on my cameras. The shade setting just works really well for sunrises.

And one final tip. The best time (but not always) for most landscape shots is within an hour after sunrise and within an hour before sunset. This is referred to as the "golden hour". During this time the sun is low and casts long shadows. These shadows give your image depth. The light is also more "golden" (thus the name) and can make an otherwise mundane image pop with life. During the middle of the day, the light is more harsh and bright, which can make getting a proper exposure harder. It's usually the first thing to think of when your images appear washed out or harsh.

Sorry for the "book"! Hope that helps and isn't too confusing!