bright daylight

[chrissyb2411]

Hi, wondering if I could get some advice. Now that I have gotten used to adjusting my settings indoors, the warm weather has come and I am having a hard time getting my settings right outdoors. I shoot mainly my kids, and sometimes scenery. I am very new to dslr's. I have a Nikon D3000, the kit lens and a 35 mm 1.8 lens. I like the kit lense when we are outside for range, but have used the 35 mm exclusivly indoors so I could shoot without a flash.

We have been out and about several times the last couple of days, parks etc, and pretty much all of my shots are over exposed. I am using the histogram on the camera but that doesn't seem to help. I tried taking a few shots in auto and checking the settings the camera chose and copying those, but that didn't seem to help either. So, in bright daylight where do you usually start in terms of settings? Maybe I need to adjust white balance (which is the only setting I don't have a good understanding of, so maybe thats my trouble?) Here is an example of what most of my shots look like (I do realize everything about my photos needs some help, still trying to figure out how to compose a good shot while chasing a 1 and 5 year old lol. I am a work in progress!) Thanks for any input!


Stats
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 55 mm
Focal Length: 55.0 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

[Benji]

The image you show above was not lit by daylight, it was lit by sunlight. Before you start thinking I'm splitting hairs in terminology, there is a huge difference between daylight and sunlight photographically speaking. Daylight is the light that is found outdoors after sunrise but before sunset that is not sunshine. One finds daylight under porches, under the canopy of a dense forest, and when the sun is obstructed by clouds. It is usually bluer in color than direct sunshine. Sunshine has a color termperature of between 5000 and 5400 K, cloudy conditions raise the daylight to 5500 to 6500 K, and overcast conditions raise it further to 6000 to 7500K. This is why white balance is so important.

Exposure in direct sunshine. There is a rule called "The Sunny Day f/16 Rule" which states the correct exposure for anything front lit by the direct sun will always be f/16 with the shutter speed matching the ISO or any equivalent. For example, you have the ISO set at 125 in the above example, so your shutter speed will be 1/125th of a second and the aperture will be f/16. Lets assume your ISO is set at 400, then the shutter speed would be at 1/400th of a second and the aperture will be f/16. Any equivalent means just that, any equivalent shutter speed and aperture combination that will give you the same exposure as f/16 - ISO and aperture match. For example lets assume you are using ISO 125, so the correct settings would be f/16@ 1/125, OR f/11 @ 1/250 OR f/8.0 @ 1/500, OR f/5.6 @ 1/1000 and so forth.

Benji

[OsmosisStudios]

Nothing like a pedant...

I think the bigger issue is that the OP is using the histogram and the preview screen as a judge. While this can be good, doing so outdoors in bright daylight () is never good. The screens arent good for that kind of thing and tend to look darker than they actually are, so you overexpose.

[chrissyb2411]

Ok, I am going to re read the sunlight/ daylight thing a few times and see If I can understand it. And don't use the histogram, ok. Its hard for me to tell when the preview of the shot comes up how it looks because the sunling makes the lcd screen almost impossible to see. So if I don't use the histogram, and I can't see the lcd readout well enough to tell how the exposure looks, is it just a matter of trial and error, see how it looks when I download it? Because all of my pics from the day at the park were way overexposed (this one isn't even the worse) and they looked ok on the LCD screen, from what I could see.

Thanks for replying!

[i speak in math]

Maybe moving this thread to a relevant subforum would help you get the answers you seek. I don't see how this topic relates to strobe or continuous lighting.

[chrissyb2411]

Originally Posted by Benji

The image you show above was not lit by daylight, it was lit by sunlight. Before you start thinking I'm splitting hairs in terminology, there is a huge difference between daylight and sunlight photographically speaking. Daylight is the light that is found outdoors after sunrise but before sunset that is not sunshine. One finds daylight under porches, under the canopy of a dense forest, and when the sun is obstructed by clouds. It is usually bluer in color than direct sunshine. Sunshine has a color termperature of between 5000 and 5400 K, cloudy conditions raise the daylight to 5500 to 6500 K, and overcast conditions raise it further to 6000 to 7500K. This is why white balance is so important.

Exposure in direct sunshine. There is a rule called "The Sunny Day f/16 Rule" which states the correct exposure for anything front lit by the direct sun will always be f/16 with the shutter speed matching the ISO or any equivalent. For example, you have the ISO set at 125 in the above example, so your shutter speed will be 1/125th of a second and the aperture will be f/16. Lets assume your ISO is set at 400, then the shutter speed would be at 1/400th of a second and the aperture will be f/16. Any equivalent means just that, any equivalent shutter speed and aperture combination that will give you the same exposure as f/16 - ISO and aperture match. For example lets assume you are using ISO 125, so the correct settings would be f/16@ 1/125, OR f/11 @ 1/250 OR f/8.0 @ 1/500, OR f/5.6 @ 1/1000 and so forth.

Benji

Can I just bounce this back, see if I get it. So, always use f16 in the sunlight. Check. So in the above pictures my iso was set at 200, so to get good exposure I should set my shutter to 1/200 and keep aperature at f16?

[chrissyb2411]

Originally Posted by i speak in math

Maybe moving this thread to a relevant subforum would help you get the answers you seek. I don't see how this topic relates to strobe or continuous lighting.

The subforum is called "lighting" I figured this was where it belongs. It doesn't say studio lighting or anything indicating it is for artificial lighting only. Not sure where else you think it might belong?

[i speak in math]

"Flash / Strobe / Battery powered / Whatever you guys use" ~ from the sticky

I agree that you have a "lighting" problem but it more about basic camera settings and knowing about exposure and so forth. We don't have a good forum for it. That is one of the reasons I suggested a Beginner's Corner forum. The "Other" section will have to do for now.

[Benji]

Originally Posted by chrissyb2411

Can I just bounce this back, see if I get it. So, always use f16 in the sunlight. Check. So in the above pictures my iso was set at 200, so to get good exposure I should set my shutter to 1/200 and keep aperature at f16?

You are correct. With the ISO at 200 and the aperture set at f/16 the correct shutter speed would be 1/200th of a second, or any equivalent exposure when shooting in full sun and the subject is front lit. If you open up the aperture (lower numbers) by let's say five clicks (assuming each click is 1/3rd of a stop) you would INCREASE the shutter speed the exact same amount (five clicks, again assuming each click represents 1/3rd of a stop.) If you don't you will be overexposed by 1 and 2/3rds stops. Three clicks equals three clicks etc, etc.

I use ISO 100 about 90% of the time and a hand held meter 100% of the time.

Benji

[chrissyb2411]

Originally Posted by Benji

You are correct. With the ISO at 200 and the aperture set at f/16 the correct shutter speed would be 1/200th of a second, or any equivalent exposure when shooting in full sun and the subject is front lit. If you open up the aperture (lower numbers) by let's say five clicks (assuming each click is 1/3rd of a stop) you would INCREASE the shutter speed the exact same amount (five clicks, again assuming each click represents 1/3rd of a stop.) If you don't you will be overexposed by 1 and 2/3rds stops. Three clicks equals three clicks etc, etc.

I use ISO 100 about 90% of the time and a hand held meter 100% of the time.

Benji

Ok, thanks so much for your time, got it now. Will try again see how I do.

Sorry if I offended you posting here, and really I got exactly the info I was looking for. The sub heading under this forum says "every aspect of lighting...." and I do understand the settings on my camera, just not always how to fix them to get what I want every single time.

Thanks again Benji, you were very helpful!