confused

[grumpyjohn]

hello i am attempting to stop using the auto presets on my nikon d60 but when i set my camera on aperture priority my shots always seem to look like this pic. could someone give me some insite what i am doing wrong or is it a problem with my camera this pic is not a real good example but they usually come out looking way over exposed
thanks

[Benji]

You used off camera flash for your shot as evidenced by the shadows. I assume this was done non TTL with a PC cord, via some sort of a radio slave or by optical slave. In aperture priority when the shutter button is activated the camera's meter measures the amount of ambient light that is available and sets the aperture accordingly. Then the flash fires and adds a significant amount of additional light to the scene, but since the aperture has already been set for the weaker ambient light the capture is overexposed.

Try this shot again, but this time put the camera in manual, set the shutter speed at 100 then set the aperture at f/4, then f/5.6, then f/8 then f/11 then f/16. Open the five files in your photo editimng program in your computer and see which one looks the best. Whichever one looks best is the aperture you should use every time you use that same flash unit at that distance. This is not entirely or perfectly accurate but it will sure get you real close. If you want to know how to do it perfectly let me know.

Benji

[grumpyjohn]

thank you very much for the info i will try that .and yes i would very much like to know the right way of doing it . im just learning but welcome all the info and tricks of the trade thanks again

[kirbinster]

If you included the exif data it would help explain the problem(s). It looks like the focus was off and there is some camera motion blur as well.

The other thing with flash is to remember that the shutter speed controls the amount of ambient light that comes into play while the aperature controls the light from the flash itself. Thus, you could probably shoot at a faster shutter speed to avoid the blur.

[Benji]

Originally Posted by grumpyjohn

thank you very much for the info i will try that .and yes i would very much like to know the right way of doing it . im just learning but welcome all the info and tricks of the trade thanks again

Before I go into detail about how to get perfect exposure and white balance I need to know three things. Do you have Photoshop and if so what version, and two do you have a hand held meter?

Benji

[grumpyjohn]

no i dont have photo shop but i am using GIMP 2 , or learning how to use it anyway .
and for your other question no i do not have a light meter.