Exposure assitance required

[Terry P.]

I have been trying to take some shots of the birds in the corner of the garden on a overcast / dull day. Equipment; Canon 400D Canon ef 100-300mm 1:5.6L ISO 200.
The exposure reading is -2 with the 5.6 apperture reading flashing. Adjusting the ISO did not help. Is it a straight forward case of not enough light or is their other areas I can try to remedy this situation.
I am new to photography as you can guess but any comments appreciated.
Terry Phillips /UK

[Chip]

Terry - if you could post or shot or 2, with the EXIF information, then it would likely be a good bit easier to provide some useful advice.

But if your shots are too dark, then, generally, you just need to let in more light like you said. A slower shutter likely isn't a good option for birds, so maybe try a wider aperture (lower f#) and/or higher ISO. And if you're shooting in program mode, try going to aperture or shutter priority - you might find it's easier to control the variables that way.

[sfisher]

Originally Posted by Terry P.

The exposure reading is -2 with the 5.6 apperture reading flashing. Adjusting the ISO did not help. Is it a straight forward case of not enough light or is their other areas I can try to remedy this situation.

It sounds to me like you're in Tv (shutter priority) mode and you've chosen a shutter speed which is too fast. If the aperture reading is flashing, it means the camera cannot open up the aperture far enough to achieve a correct exposure with the specified ISO and shutter speed.

Some solutions:
Increase the ISO (you mentioned that you adjusted this, but you didn't say how far)
Reduce the shutter speed (assuming you really are in Tv mode)
Switch to Av mode and choose f/5.6 (this will let the camera choose which shutter speed to use at the lens' maximum aperture)

Hope this helps!

[Terry P.]

Originally Posted by Chip

Terry - if you could post or shot or 2, with the EXIF information, then it would likely be a good bit easier to provide some useful advice.

But if your shots are too dark, then, generally, you just need to let in more light like you said. A slower shutter likely isn't a good option for birds, so maybe try a wider aperture (lower f#) and/or higher ISO. And if you're shooting in program mode, try going to aperture or shutter priority - you might find it's easier to control the variables that way.

Thank you Chip,
All the shots were deleted unfortunately.
I was set on shutter priority and tried changing the speed and then tried AV too but 5.6 was the lowest it would allow and the AV reading would not stop flashing indicating something was not right I presume. The ISO settings were changed to try and eliminate the problem but it did not work. Thank you for your comments and I will try again on a much brighter day and see how the camera reacts.
The equipment has been tried and tested so it must be the light.
Regards
Terry

[Palladius]

sfisher's definitely right then... the flashing number means that your camera wants to set a wider aperture than 5.6 to let more light in but can't due to the limitations of the lens. When you take the photo anyway, it will come out dark.

Since the exposure reading is -2, I presume this means two stops under-exposed. You should be able to get a good exposure just by putting the ISO up to 800.

[Terry P.]

Thank you Sfisher. Yes it seems to be insufficient light in the area of interest.
On AV 5.6 the speed selected is too slow for the activity. However pointing the camera at a lighter source and the speed goes to where you want it to be.
Thank you for your time and helpful comments.
Terry

[fletch]

Originally Posted by Palladius

Since the exposure reading is -2, I presume this means two stops under-exposed. You should be able to get a good exposure just by putting the ISO up to 800.

On a lot of camera the meter only works in the range -2 to +2. A reading of -2 could mean -2 but it could also mean a lot less than -2 so therefore the ISO change may not be enough.

[wulf]

Sharing a photo would help a lot (as will waiting for a brighter day).

Alternatively, strong glue on the bird table should keep the fellows in position while you set up your lights around them... (*)

Wulf

(*) That suggestion should probably have one of these

[OsmosisStudios]

Another option: shoot manual. The camera cant lock you out for any reason, and you can always adjust up to a couple of stops in RAW process.