Dark photos in sunny conditions

[Paul Stam]

Who can help me with the following problem?

I have nade photos at Dusseldorf while it was very sunny. Nevertheless my pictures are very dark. What do I wrong?

Here are two examples of the photos:







Paul Stam

[img]file:///D:/DOCUME%7E1/Paul/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/img][img]file:///D:/DOCUME%7E1/Paul/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg[/img]

[B7772ADL]

Without looking at your exif data, i'd say that the camera has metered on the very bright white body, set the exposure for that and has averaged it out over the entire photo, or you could just be underexposing too much.

[LX-A343]

It would make it easier to help, if we knew the settings. Please post a photo with the EXIF infos.

[Paul Stam]

Thanks for your reactions.
Here is the photo of the B757 with EXIF info.



File: - D:\Documents and Settings\Paul\Mijn documenten\Mijn afbeeldingen\Dusseldorf 1-8-2007\Dusseldorf 089.jpg

ImageDescription - SONY DSC
Make - SONY
Model - DSLR-A100
Orientation - Top left
XResolution - 72
YResolution - 72
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - DSLR-A100 v1.04
DateTime - 2007:08:01 10:49:55
YCbCrPositioning - Centered
ExifOffset - 390
ExposureTime - 1/640 seconds
FNumber - 9.00
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ISOSpeedRatings - 100
ExifVersion - 221
DateTimeOriginal - 2007:08:01 10:49:55
DateTimeDigitized - 2007:08:01 10:49:55
ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr
CompressedBitsPerPixel - 8 (bits/pixel)
BrightnessValue - 10.50
ExposureBiasValue - -0.30
MaxApertureValue - F 4.99
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 160.00 mm
UserComment - SONY DSC
FlashPixVersion - 010
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 3872
ExifImageHeight - 2592
InteroperabilityOffset - 25212
FileSource - Other
SceneType - Other
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
WhiteBalance - Auto
DigitalZoomRatio - 0 x
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 240 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - None
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Hard

Paul Stam

[seahawk]

It is typical for DUS, you are using Multi-segment metereing (which I believe is using the whole frame to meter), in your case it seems to try to avoid overexposing the fuselage and you put in -0,3ev, so it comes out dark. Especially for DUS I can only recommend to use center weighted metering. Most Canon users I know suffer from serious iverexposure when using their area mode, my D100 jumped all over the place.

[LX-A343]

If your camera has a histogram feature, use it regularely to check the exposure. If not, an exposure meter will help.

F9 @ 1/640 seems rather at the low end even for a sunny day. The bright fuselage as well as the large greyish sky are plaing fools with the in-camera metering.

In all my times, I have always been using exp. comp. by +1/3 up to +2/3, even now with my EOS 20D.

What your camera did was to et an exposure, which doesn't result in too much overexposed areas. In my opinion, these photos are easy to fix.

Another trick BTW is bracketing. I use this all the way.

[Orinoco]

.........Another trick BTW is bracketing. I use this all the way.

Glad to see someone else uses this, I often get looks of dismay in my direction when my camera is clicking away due to bracketing, and before the purists go on about how I should be able determine the correct exposure settings without the need to bracket, I'd rather get a shot I can work with when I get home, admittedly it would be great to correctly expose my pics everytime but given the amount of times the light changes just as you are about to take your shot bracketing is my safety net

[LX-A343]

before the purists go on about how I should be able determine the correct exposure settings without the need to bracket

. Ask them about the additional costs of two more photos ..... which can be deleted in no-time.

[Paul Stam]

Thank you for your advice. Next time I use bracketing.

Paul Stam

[Paul Stam]

Today I made the following photo by using bracketing:








The following EXIF belongs to the first photo:


ImageDescription - SONY DSC
Make - SONY
Model - DSLR-A100
Orientation - Top left
XResolution - 72
YResolution - 72
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - DSLR-A100 v1.04
DateTime - 2007:08:12 10:04:05
YCbCrPositioning - Centered
ExifOffset - 390
ExposureTime - 1/800 seconds
FNumber - 7.10
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ISOSpeedRatings - 100
ExifVersion - 221
DateTimeOriginal - 2007:08:12 10:04:05
DateTimeDigitized - 2007:08:12 10:04:05
ComponentsConfiguration - YCbCr
CompressedBitsPerPixel - 8 (bits/pixel)
BrightnessValue - 10.37
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 4.50
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Daylight
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 75.00 mm
UserComment - SONY DSC
FlashPixVersion - 010
ColorSpace - sRGB
ExifImageWidth - 3872
ExifImageHeight - 2592
InteroperabilityOffset - 25212
FileSource - Other
SceneType - Other
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto bracket
WhiteBalance - Manual
DigitalZoomRatio - 0 x
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 112 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - None
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Hard

I myself find the photos too dark. What can I do to change that for the better?

Paul Stam

[Paul Stam]

There are no photos?

So here is the photo belonging to the EXIF:



Paul Stam