Landscape shots not working out :(

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  • on 01.08.09
  • creampiesca.com
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  • Hi Guys,

    New here, but looks like a ton of resources and help available.

    So, I have been taking photos for many years on the old point and shoot jobby, and my boss just got me a Sony a700 to take shots of places we go in British Columbia. Awesome I thought. During thelast few weeks, I have been learning (well trying) what all the different options are, ut I just can't get it right. If I leave everything automatic as the dial says (like Auto mode, or Landscape mode) I generally find I am not capturing enough light. Everything looks dark and grey, not like what I would see on the day.

    I am taking photos from a boat. The shots I am having trouble with are those that have water, close landscape, and landscape in the distance. Everything seems very very hazy. Below is a classic of what I can't figure out how to fix.

    http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/stewart_arthur/BC/DSC02719.jpg

    This is using: ss: 1/250, F11, ISO400, exp: +1

    The same settings up close:

    http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/stewart_arthur/BC/DSC02647.jpg

    Help???

    I am going to be spending a bit of time at this forum I think!

    Thanks,

    Stew


  • both overexposed.

    pretty sure anyone with eyes could have made that ground breaking conclusion :roll:


  • http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn213/legendavproductions/DSC02719.jpg


    Some things, even PS can't fix.


    http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn213/legendavproductions/DSC02719copy.jpg


  • pretty sure anyone with eyes could have made that ground breaking conclusion :roll:

    are you sure the poster was aware of it?

    OK, I should have read the other replies, but in the OT it said

    "Everything seems very very hazy. Below is a classic of what I can't figure out how to fix."

    So this tells me he was not aware that overexposure is his only problem.


  • get a polarizer filter as well as lowering ISO


  • With the exp, what I mean is that on the camera (and I assume there is a similar thing on most cameras) there is an option to increase or decrease the exposure by +/- 3 with 2 points in between. so (roughly), +0.3, +0.6, +1, +1.3 etc


  • Nate... some things have happened since you've been over at the Nikon Cafe... Alex B. is notorious for whitty trolling... leaving a trail of disaster behind him.... just look at this thread.....

    Ah, I had no idea.


  • With the exp, what I mean is that on the camera (and I assume there is a similar thing on most cameras) there is an option to increase or decrease the exposure by +/- 3 with 2 points in between. so (roughly), +0.3, +0.6, +1, +1.3 etc

    Make a a dozen of tests to see what's the best option.
    Are you shooting Manual or Automatic?
    If manual, try to dial the shutter, aperture and iso so that the arrow thingie, stays in the middle pointing to 0.

    If automatic then check you exposure compensation and dial it to 0.


    also dont be afraid to use the flash, it helps cut down on ugly shadows outdoors.

    Using flash for a landscape won't help you with anything. Your advice will work best when you have a subject, or making a portrait in the harsh light of the sun.

    pretty sure anyone with eyes could have made that ground breaking conclusion :roll:

    He just said his opinion. Your comment is pretty dumb i might add.


  • Using flash for a landscape won't help you with anything. Your advice will work best when you have a subject, or making a portrait in the harsh light of the sun.

    itll change the general colors of the image since the flash is pretty close to the lens. also if there is any nearby foreground, you wont lose as much detail due to shadowing.


    He just said his opinion. Your comment is pretty dumb i might add.

    yeah well my opinion is grass is green. ground breaking. the guy already knows somethings wrong with his pictures, otherwise he wouldnt be asking for help. oh yeah i forgot youre the leader of the censoring committee around here. im so sorry ive offended your superior intellect :hail:


  • Well, try throwing it into Photoshop and lower all your levels, and exposure, seems as if your exposure level on your camera is a bit hot, which is why you see lots of blow light. You might be able to try to lower your exposure level and snap a couple, or if anything with those picture, take em in photoshop or if your using a Mac, a simple program is Iphoto, edit the pictures and see what you can get with that. I am not a professional, but that looks like a blow exposure. Can be fixed, just a simple problem.


  • No reason to fight about a post I have made.

    Since I only have things to tell which anyone with eyes could see and anyone with a brain could figure out by himself ... I should probably stop posting altogether. :lmao:

    I never told anyone on here anything beyond what he could have figured out by himself ;) Honestly!



    stewart.a please ignore the silly fighting in your thread ... it just happens sometimes ;)

    troll....


  • use a uv or polorizing filter


  • lol... Alex B. is not a troll.... just satirical...


    :lol: I caught on.


  • both overexposed.


  • ....do not feed it.

    lol... Alex B. is not a troll.... just satirical...


  • All he did was state what was wrong (i.e. overexposed). Obviously the OP didn't know this or he wouldn't have asked. Hey....at least Alex B isn't telling him to use a flash on a scenery that's miles away with a picture that is already overexposed.

    Nate... some things have happened since you've been over at the Nikon Cafe... Alex B. is notorious for whitty trolling... leaving a trail of disaster behind him.... just look at this thread.....


  • troll....


    ....do not feed it.


  • I SEE THE PROBLEM!! It's in your Exif data.

    You are shooting in full manual mode and clearly don't understand how to read the camera's meter. Put it in Aperture Priority at around F8-F12 and I'd be willing to bet that all of your problems are solved.

    Yes, you are 100% correct.

    Thanks for the help. Have tryed the suggestions and it is much better. I am still getting my head around how everything can be used the best. Will try some in Ap Priority.

    A few of the replies are really giving me a better insight into how to handle lighting conditions. Thanks for that. Can understand a lot more haze around the ocean.

    Dusk shot turned out ok.

    http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/stewart_arthur/BC/DSC02534.jpg

    Is there much point of me even playing with full manual at the moment (own level of knowledge)?

    What would be the best to being out more 'crispness' in the greenery? Some shots seem good like the one below.

    http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q111/stewart_arthur/BC/DSC02528.jpg

    Thanks,

    Stew


  • I have heard that as a general rule you should expose for the highlights, because it easier to pull detail out of the underexposed parts than it is to pull detail out of the overexposed parts.


  • Honestly, there are few circumstances that I believe full manual is needed.....the largest being when using flash. Using a flash, full manual will let you control the balance of ambient light by changing the shutter speed. Other times may be on night shots when you want to control the lightness of the night scene.

    For the most part though, Aperture priority is best (in my opinion) and there are some times when shutter priority is better.


  • Landscapes with a large area of sky are always a bit tricky, especially if the sky has a lot of thin cloud. It makes the dynamic range of the scene more than you can comfortably capture so you either get detail in the sky and the land is too dark, or detail in the land and the sky is blown out.
    Realising this gives you a number of options:
    Expose for the land and live with white, featureless skies.
    Use a grad filter to darken the sky (I find grad filters a bit tacky but if you want to use one, then go ahead).
    Wait until you have clear blue sky (with maybe a few cute clouds) and use a polarising filter.
    Take you pictures early morning or late evening when the sky is darker because the sun is lower.

    The only way to find out which one works for you is to try playing around with them all (maybe even combining them) to see which effect you like.

    The haze you have to learn to live with. Water vapour and dust always get into the air to make distances look misty (reducing the contrast as you get nearer the horizon) and over bodies of water this can be a real problem.
    Haze is never quite so bad after rain or when it is windy.
    UV filters tend to have little or no effect on haze but you can always try one.

    Some hints:
    Shoot at the lowest ISO setting you can get away with. ISO 100 is always my choice. Only use a higher one if you need to.
    Use the smallest aperture you can get away with - although f11 is a good one to pick.
    Meter for the lightest area (the sky usually) and then increase exposure by 3 stops (three and a half if you don't mind losing detail in the whitest bits) and then assess your exposure from that (making sure the exposure compensation is 0).

    Best of luck.


  • Is there much point of me even playing with full manual at the moment (own level of knowledge)?


    Sure, but you have to pay attention to your light meter in the camera. Play with aperture and shutterspeed until the lightmeter indicates an OK exposure. You can of course deviate from that suggested exposure (the camera does not know, how exactly you want the scene exposed).


    What would be the best to being out more 'crispness' in the greenery? Some shots seem good like the one below.
    Sometimes lack of crispness in the green stems from reflections from the leafs' surface which prevent a saturated green. Sometimes a polarizer can help here.


  • Stew - Might I also add that it would be wise to study up about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and how they all work together and the purpose/causes of each. A good book is "Understanding Exposure". Though plenty of information can be found in forums and tutorials as well.

    Once you learn those basics, then you can shoot in full manual watching your light meter and you'll actually understand what the changes are doing and why those things change the picture.


    Here.......I found you a link with a bunch of tutorials to explain all the above plus composition and much more.

    http://photography.about.com/od/takingpictures/u/BasicsPath.htm#s1


    .


  • No reason to fight about a post I have made.

    Since I only have things to tell which anyone with eyes could see and anyone with a brain could figure out by himself ... I should probably stop posting altogether. :lmao:

    I never told anyone on here anything beyond what he could have figured out by himself ;) Honestly!



    stewart.a please ignore the silly fighting in your thread ... it just happens sometimes ;)


  • GOOD CALL!


  • I SEE THE PROBLEM!! It's in your Exif data.

    You are shooting in full manual mode and clearly don't understand how to read the camera's meter. Put it in Aperture Priority at around F8-F12 and I'd be willing to bet that all of your problems are solved.


  • yeah well my opinion is grass is green. ground breaking. the guy already knows somethings wrong with his pictures, otherwise he wouldnt be asking for help. oh yeah i forgot youre the leader of the censoring committee around here. im so sorry ive offended your superior intellect :hail:

    All he did was state what was wrong (i.e. overexposed). Obviously the OP didn't know this or he wouldn't have asked. Hey....at least Alex B isn't telling him to use a flash on a scenery that's miles away with a picture that is already overexposed.


  • using photoshop probably isnt a good way to fix the problem, no use in a band aid fix. not to mention the details that got blown out wont come back by screwing with the curves.

    try this out, i took a couple outdoor pics using this setup:
    f/11
    iso 100
    1/160

    your iso is too high and the exposure compensation shouldnt be at +1. also dont be afraid to use the flash, it helps cut down on ugly shadows outdoors.

    hope this helps


  • I think for one thing, the ISO might do better at 100 as opposed to 400. The higher the rating, the faster light is captured by the sensor and the grainier the picture turns out. Also, when it says exp. +1, I think that means it is overexposed by one stop..







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