And these are a bunch from our group pumpkin patch trip: October2007
I really like this one, its over exposed but I love the way my son's curls show up here:
I'm finding that I love love love my 2.8 lense BUT when I use it in decent lighting outside set to Apeture Priority 2.8 then my pics are really over exposed and I don't notice until I get them onto my computer in the house. This is especially a problem when we are in partial shade so the same setting in the sun is overexposed and those in partial/full shade are too dark- this is almost too much brain power when chasing children and getting them to look at the camera!
New collage in my sigline as well
Sarah
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Mommy to Elias (Summer 2000), Hannah (Fall 2001), and Bayus (Spring 2005)
happy wife to Eddie (September 1999)
Since March 29, 2008.............
Hot food for chickens, pumpkin muffin recipe, and too much snow leads to imagination! Hey LOOK! I've got a blog
yea...running children...often demand auto settings.
this is one thing i love about my d200...i can set it at my desired f stop and then i have another dial that i can adjust my shutter speed...there is a little meter that tells me which way to turn it...if i'm going to over or underexpose. love it.
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~julie~
mama to savannah, jackson and baby scarlett due in 2009! STUFF I HAVE FOR SALE
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do you use the histogram? it'll tell you at a glance if you have overexposed...the LCD is notoriously inaccurate for exposure and focus.
learning to read my histogram was probably one of the most beneficial points i found when learning to go from film to digital photography.
do you use the histogram? it'll tell you at a glance if you have overexposed...the LCD is notoriously inaccurate for exposure and focus.
learning to read my histogram was probably one of the most beneficial points i found when learning to go from film to digital photography.
Yes I have played with my histogram but I forget to look at it- that is a great tip that I will try to remember next time I am outside shooting like this.
Julie- that sounds too cool about your camera. I will try to forget you said that about your camera so I can continue to be in love with mine
BTW I'm not sure how I got my son's curls to show up like that but I love it and wish I could repeat the effect reliably. That is a good representation of the movement and coloring of his hair.
Yes I have played with my histogram but I forget to look at it- that is a great tip that I will try to remember next time I am outside shooting like this.
Julie- that sounds too cool about your camera. I will try to forget you said that about your camera so I can continue to be in love with mine
BTW I'm not sure how I got my son's curls to show up like that but I love it and wish I could repeat the effect reliably. That is a good representation of the movement and coloring of his hair.
Thanks for looking ladies,
Sarah
too funny sarah..i'll keep all my other secrets about my camera to myself....shhhhh
and you can probably set the histogram to show up immediately after you take a shot and you don't have to remember to scroll for it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juliebelle
oh and i'd say a slight overexposure is better than underexposure.
really? i have found if i slightly underexpose i can better fix it in RAW. if i overexpose, the pixels are blown out and the detail isn't there. if i *barely* underexpose the detail is still there and i can just lighten it a tad...if i really underexpose it though i get grain and that's not so great.
maybe that's just my camera...(i realize i'll be on an entirely HUGE learning curve soon...)
another tip about the photo in the OP...looks like the lighting is dappled and partially full sun. i hear what you are saying about the effect on his hair, but the camera exposed for the harsh light and blew out most of the photo...that was bc the light was so harsh in that spot. you can see on their faces...they look like white sections of face right up against much darker sections of face...did that description make sense? that can be avoided by watching where the subjects sit or from what angle you shoot them...
under a tree is great provided the light isn't dappled. dappled light gives areas of harsh/blowable light and shade on top of one another. open shade is light that is even and slightly darker than just outside of that spot...like under a full tree in summer foilage or under an awning (but not at the edge or you get blow outs...a bit further back in the shade.)
if the shade is too dark you can use a reflector or a fill flash (speedlight) bounced off a reflector to lighten their faces in a more gentle way that would give details to his curls and face but not blow out the shot. or...you can raise your ISO slightly. in open shade or slightly heavier shade an iso of 400 will generally do great for you with minimal grain. even 800 should be ok depending on how many MP you have in your camera.
i have no idea if i described this at all well. lmk if i made zero sense and i'll post examples...
oh...if you'd like, post your exif data including ISO and see if we can make suggestions... (i hope you don't mind...i'll stop if you'd like, just trying to help! i know that lighting is FRUSTRATING...)
really? i have found if i slightly underexpose i can better fix it in RAW. if i overexpose, the pixels are blown out and the detail isn't there. if i *barely* underexpose the detail is still there and i can just lighten it a tad...if i really underexpose it though i get grain and that's not so great.
maybe that's just my camera...(i realize i'll be on an entirely HUGE learning curve soon...)
another tip about the photo in the OP...looks like the lighting is dappled and partially full sun. i hear what you are saying about the effect on his hair, but the camera exposed for the harsh light and blew out most of the photo...that was bc the light was so harsh in that spot. you can see on their faces...they look like white sections of face right up against much darker sections of face...did that description make sense? that can be avoided by watching where the subjects sit or from what angle you shoot them...
under a tree is great provided the light isn't dappled. dappled light gives areas of harsh/blowable light and shade on top of one another. open shade is light that is even and slightly darker than just outside of that spot...like under a full tree in summer foilage or under an awning (but not at the edge or you get blow outs...a bit further back in the shade.)
if the shade is too dark you can use a reflector or a fill flash (speedlight) bounced off a reflector to lighten their faces in a more gentle way that would give details to his curls and face but not blow out the shot. or...you can raise your ISO slightly. in open shade or slightly heavier shade an iso of 400 will generally do great for you with minimal grain. even 800 should be ok depending on how many MP you have in your camera.
i have no idea if i described this at all well. lmk if i made zero sense and i'll post examples...
oh...if you'd like, post your exif data including ISO and see if we can make suggestions... (i hope you don't mind...i'll stop if you'd like, just trying to help! i know that lighting is FRUSTRATING...)
yea..i guess when i underexpose i REALLY underexpose...so i get grainy images. I just seem to be able to fix the overexposed pictures...especially if i turn them into bw.
Funny how it's different for each person. I'm sure I edit way differently than you since I one, don't know what I'm doing..hahaha...and two...because I usually use lightroom instead of PS.
And i was JUST explaining the dapple light to my husband today...he wanted me to take our family portrait in our backyard and I was insisting that we go to a location I have already picked out. Our backyard is baaaaaad about the dapple light. It's totally fine for a snapshot but portraits no way! haha! he just rolled his eyes and agreed to go tomorrow to my location. hahaha!
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oh yes...very underexposed is not so good hello grain
i purposefully underexpose in most situations by one notch on my meter...the meter in the viewfinder, kwim? i'm tempted to get a sekonic but i think i'll be putting any extra funds we come up with towards the d300 sometime in the next few months. somehow an external meter pales in comparison...
really? i have found if i slightly underexpose i can better fix it in RAW. if i overexpose, the pixels are blown out and the detail isn't there. if i *barely* underexpose the detail is still there and i can just lighten it a tad...if i really underexpose it though i get grain and that's not so great.
maybe that's just my camera...(i realize i'll be on an entirely HUGE learning curve soon...)
another tip about the photo in the OP...looks like the lighting is dappled and partially full sun. i hear what you are saying about the effect on his hair, but the camera exposed for the harsh light and blew out most of the photo...that was bc the light was so harsh in that spot. you can see on their faces...they look like white sections of face right up against much darker sections of face...did that description make sense? that can be avoided by watching where the subjects sit or from what angle you shoot them...
under a tree is great provided the light isn't dappled. dappled light gives areas of harsh/blowable light and shade on top of one another. open shade is light that is even and slightly darker than just outside of that spot...like under a full tree in summer foilage or under an awning (but not at the edge or you get blow outs...a bit further back in the shade.)
if the shade is too dark you can use a reflector or a fill flash (speedlight) bounced off a reflector to lighten their faces in a more gentle way that would give details to his curls and face but not blow out the shot. or...you can raise your ISO slightly. in open shade or slightly heavier shade an iso of 400 will generally do great for you with minimal grain. even 800 should be ok depending on how many MP you have in your camera.
i have no idea if i described this at all well. lmk if i made zero sense and i'll post examples...
oh...if you'd like, post your exif data including ISO and see if we can make suggestions... (i hope you don't mind...i'll stop if you'd like, just trying to help! i know that lighting is FRUSTRATING...)
I LOVE the suggestions- thank you for taking the time to make them I will grab some of the picture info and post it later when I have more than a second (like now) and would love to hear more of your thoughts. You made great sense in all you said. I can totally tell that first picture is harshly overexposed (big white out areas), hence mentioning that in the first post, but it still ended up as one of my favorites. For some reason I like the light extreme in it- I'd like it more if it was a big less over exposed but I still like it (and its my kids so how could I not really ). I have had issues with full sun and dappled light and yet wanting to use my 2.8 lense with the 2.8 setting and getting overexposure to the point of no return so I want to figure this out. I know I can do some reflecting with reflectors and my speedlight but I have no assistant when shooting and don't have 8 arms- so I"m hoping for setting fixes for the most part (this is what I need to learn more anyhow).
I do agree that slightly underexposed is easier to fix post processing but I do also agree with Julie that slightly overexposed is 'better' in that its what I like to see. I'm finding as I puruse other photographers sites and I look at my work that my style tends to run a bit 'overexposed'- I'm not going for totally overexposed but I lean toward more light than not.
i use my 1.8 lens in full sun all the time..it's fine to use your 2.8 lens....just gotta up your shutter speed or lower your iso...you can use it no problem.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juliebelle
i use my 1.8 lens in full sun all the time..it's fine to use your 2.8 lens....just gotta up your shutter speed or lower your iso...you can use it no problem.
what lens is it?
i did this today with my 1.8 in full sun...
ISO 200
5.6
1/30
(i just realized as i typed in my exif that while it was my 1.8 lens, i shot at 5.6...sometimes in full sun you do have to stop down. 2.8 is kind of open for that much light...you'd need a really fast shutter, plus it it harder to get more than one person or even sometimes one part of one person in focus at that ap...)
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if i may ask...what makes you want to use the 2.8 at 2.8 in full sun? i suppose it can be done but you'd need an ISO of 100 or 200 and a fast shutter...
i find that my 1.8 works best at a slightly smaller ap in full sun...with a low ISO and then i let the shutter fall where it may (using a tripod.)
full sun can be so tricky too...it's harder to get the kids to keep their eyes open. squinty eyes are more common in full sun than partial shade. i try to skip dappled altogether (was in a covered bridge today and talk about dapple...geez )
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ALWAYS on a tripod. always. i shake. in HS and into college i was pretty steady but over the years i've developed a very slight shake...i also use the timer if the subject will cooperate. i've only got it set on 2sec but that's enough to decrease my hand shake from pressing the shutter.
i need a remote release but everytime i remember, wolf is out of stock and then i forget by the time i get home.
you are more than welcome to shadow me sometime. i'm just a drive for you, though. i have a shoot tomorrow at 4 if you wanna come! here in cumming...
too funny sarah..i'll keep all my other secrets about my camera to myself....shhhhh
(i hope you don't mind...i'll stop if you'd like, just trying to help! i know that lighting is FRUSTRATING...)
hello grain 
i did this today with my 1.8 in full sun...
)
Linear Mode
