Newbie exposure failings

[Julial1345]

This is my first post ever to DPS. I'm looking forward to improving my skills so in 10 years I can call myself that holy word: Photographer!

I know there are some obvious problems with this photo, such as all the noise from the high ISO and the horrendously wrinkled backdrop. However, my kids were all in a good mood and feeling cooperative, so I grabbed my camera, threw my backdrop over a door, and snapped away while the calm lasted (about 5 minutes.) I got a couple cute shots of my older two kids that you can see on my flikr site.

I can't seem to get the expose right in-camera. This was shot in Aperture priority mode. I messed with the others from this shoot in Picasa, and although lighter, they don't look quite right either. Any suggestions as well as other general critiques?



Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 53 mm
ISO Speed: 800

[mandyatm]

I don't see the pic.

[zona5101]

HI! and welcome!
Sogood on you for getting them infront of the camera even if for only 5 minutes... So this picture seems out of focus or you had some camera shake. You could use some more light! This will give you a higher shutter speed and also alway you stop the lens down a bit. (and allow youto lower your iso.) You don't need to go out and buy anything just take advantage of what you have...sunny window light, maybe a white poster board to act as a reflector.
Keep at it!

[autofocus]

In order to get a properly exposed image there is one constant that has to be considered...and that is your light source. As best as I can determine, what you have here is available light coming from your very cute babies left side...probably window light. Because of the limitations of your camera / lens, the light you have here might not have been enough to provide a proper exposure. So, that leaves you with a couple of choices to improve the light source...select your widest aperture (which I suspect you did, use a slower shutter speed, but already at 1/60th of a second you already did not have any room to go much slower and pull off the shot, move your subject closer to the light source, bump up your ISO, use your flash (bounce if possible), use a reflector (already mentioned above) or lastly, buy a faster lens $$$ that will help you better deal with low light shooting opportunities.

Hope this helps a little

Vinnie

[Benji]

The most obvious thing IMHO would be is to add an additional light source that matches the color temperature of the most powerful light source you already have, that being the flash on your camera. If all you have is the pop up flash it will need to be redirected up and/or back. If you have a speedlight it will be directed backward into a reflector. Either way it will be your fill light. Then you add an additional off camera light (another flash) as your main light. The on camera flash will be your trigger to fire the other light. (This may or may not be able to be done with your camera.)

Why flash? No blurring due to camera shake or subject movement, consistant color temperature makes for easy white balance and you can use a low ISO for great looking noiseless images that will enlarge well.

Benji

[Julial1345]

Thanks for the responses! Maybe I should have mentioned that I shoot with a Rebel XTi and yes, the main light was a large window over my right shoulder. I have a 430ex II, but I don't know how to blend natural light with flash. Is it easier to fix that in Photoshop (better to have funny colored light that too little light?) or is there a simple way to do it? Would a gray card come in handy in that situation (still wanting to get one)?

[mandyatm]

Okay, I feel like I can help out here. This is exactly what my pictures looked like when I first started. One thing to mention, a white background will likely cause underexposed images when in aperture mode. The camera sees a lot of white, so it thinks it needs to underexpose to compensate. A way to get around this is to increase your exposure compensation. I have a Rebel XT and there is a little Av button by the screen that you hold down while turning the dial, adjust it to +1 and see if that helps. Now with the data you gave, you still will not have enough light with this setup. The shutter speed will be too slow and you will get blur. Put the baby closer to the window or even open a door at a 45 degree angle to him. A north facing window will be good for most times of the day. Pull him a few feet from the background as well and you won't see the wrinkles so much and you won't get the shadow behind him.

If you can get more light, try upping the exposure comp. and see if that helps. Try to get enough light so you can lower your ISO and so that the speed is at least 1/124 sec. If you want to use your speedlight, you can bounce it off the ceiling or wall for more light.

[autofocus]

...as stated above, "One thing to mention, a white background will likely cause underexposed images when in aperture mode. The camera sees a lot of white, so it thinks it needs to underexpose to compensate."

I agree with pretty much everything you are saying here, however, to define it a little further the problem you noted above not only can happen in aperture priority, but in all shooting modes. It's really more of a metering issue, and less of a shooting mode issue. If you were to spot meter vs matrix metering, I'm sure you'd have less problems with the white background. And I agree about your suggestion to use bounced flash...it would probably help immensely, and the output level can always be adjusted up or down as needed. Also using a plastic diffuser on the flash probably would not hurt.

[LeeR]

I ran this through Photoshop using 'Levels' and sharpening and got a much improved image. Give this a shot and see if you aren't pleased with the results.

[Benji]

Originally Posted by Julial1345

....the main light was a large window over my right shoulder. I have a 430ex II, but I don't know how to blend natural light with flash. Is it easier to fix that in Photoshop (better to have funny colored light that too little light?) or is there a simple way to do it? Would a gray card come in handy in that situation (still wanting to get one)?

Daylight and flash are nearly the same in color temperature so there are no worries there. Now if you were using a tungsten "garage" light and flash or window light you would have major issues in trying to get a proper white balance between the two.

An 18% grey card only works if you are shooting in Raw (which I strongly suggest.)

Benji