Darkening a Sunny photo

[ejs0035]

Hi Can somebody please tell me what settings I need to change on my camera to darken a photo...I live in a nice sunny (very sunny) country and whenever I try to take photos of my children outdoors (especially at the beach) the photo comes out to bright/white..what settings do I need to change to make the photo more natural colours...In simple terms please....Im a newby lol..oh I have a Nikon 3000D

[OsmosisStudios]

Depends on what mode you're using to shoot.

If youre in the P, S or A modes, you can use exposure compensation to tell the camera to underexpose a bit.

[ejs0035]

Thanks for that will give it a try...had a look and found how to change it so should be ready for next time lol

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by ejs0035

Hi Can somebody please tell me what settings I need to change on my camera to darken a photo...I live in a nice sunny (very sunny) country and whenever I try to take photos of my children outdoors (especially at the beach) the photo comes out to bright/white..what settings do I need to change to make the photo more natural colours...In simple terms please....Im a newby lol..oh I have a Nikon 3000D

Is both your subject(s) and the background overly bright?...or just the background?

[ejs0035]

all of it...take a look... when I took this picture i didnt realise the camera was in manual with the settings below...i changed to auto and all was ok..but Im trying not to use auto as I want to learn how to take good photos by myself what type of setting would I need??






Nikon D3000
1/160
f5.6
ISO 100
55mm

[autofocus]

My suggestions: learn how to take good photos of various subjects in the auto or Program modes first...just shoot that way for a period of time. And then take small steps into other areas. Also, read your manual from cover to cover and do that several times. If you don't understand something you read just ask...someone here will do there best to help. Once you get a little more comfortable and have a better overall understanding of the functions of the camera and what happens when you make changes to those functions, then move on to one of the creative modes..Aperture Priority is probably a good place to start. Shoot the same subject at different aperture settings and see the results in your images of those changes. Once you have a pretty good understanding of that you might want to do the same thing with action shots, and make changes with your shutter speeds. You may want to do the same thing with flash and ISO changes to see the results of those shots. Remember, in these semi-automatic modes (A & S) as you manually make changes to one of those options the camera will automatically adjust the other settings as it tries to compute and set the correct exposure. This is important..you need to know and understand that. Once you're comfortable and you know all of that, then might be the time to take complete control by shooting in full manual mode. You asked a question of what settings should I use? Unfortunately, there is not one setting for each of the different scenerios..it's all contingent on your light, and what you want the end result of the image to be like.

Vinnie

[Sterling]

^^ Good advice. Putting the camera in manual and just fumbling around is not the way to learn to take good photos. It is a recipe for frustration. A thorough understanding of what each setting controls is necessary before venturing out into Manual mode. It seems like shooting crappy pictures in Manual is some kind of badge of honour for many amateur photographers - don't believe the hype.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Sterling

^^ Good advice. Putting the camera in manual and just fumbling around is not the way to learn to take good photos. It is a recipe for frustration. A thorough understanding of what each setting controls is necessary before venturing out into Manual mode. It seems like shooting crappy pictures in Manual is some kind of badge of honour for many amateur photographers - don't believe the hype.

You are so right Sterling. And manual mode is not the be all, and end all mode for all shooting situations. As one may struggle to get everything dialed in in manual you run a major risk of losing the moment (shot). Kids and pets seem to be a favorite subject around here, and many people now using a DSLR (many for the first time) may find it very difficult to get those shots of their 3 year old running around, or their new puppy while fussing with manual. Once again, my advice is to put your camera in P mode (where you can make some exposure and flash changes if needed) and shoot away. Most people should feel a lot better of capturing that once in a lifetime shot than to miss a golden opportunity just for the sake of wanting to be a purist with absolute control. Remember folks, just because you can drive a stick shift car doesn't make you a better driver!

Vinnie

[ejs0035]

thanks for the advise people!! - will contiue to shoot the important pics in automatic - and when all is quiet and the kids are asleep will read and read and play about with all my settings lol

[111t]

Just because your manual settings were wrong doesn't mean manual is not the way to go. The way i look at it, manual is the way to go if the lighting is staying relatively constant. (ie sunny, no clouds in the sky) I find it frustrating to use manual when there are those puffy clouds blowing around periodically blocking the sun. The advantage of manual is that the overall exposures will be consistent from shot to shot. I'm not saying that i never use auto modes, but i rarely use 'p' Av or Tv allow you to turn part of the exposure decision over to the camera without giving up control of either depth of field or the ability to blur or freeze action. Also, be sure that your ISO is set according to what you're doing. (which you did)

This debate has been going on for a long time. One of my earliest cameras was a Pentax MX. It was the 'pro' camera on the line at the time. It was completely manual because no pro would want the camera making exposure decisions. At the same time the pentax super program was a lower end camera aimed at the consumer market featured auto modes. Clearly Pentax was wrong.