Capturing the sun

[lelavadee]

Hi everyone,

a couple of weeks ago I went to take pictures of a model with a friend of mine. We both took pictures of the model. I have a Nikon D800 and she has a cheaper camera.
We were shooting at the end of the day so the sun was really yellow and warm. Now what happened is that in every picture she took, she captured that warm yellow light and on my camera, all I saw was a white sky. I tried different settings and so did she, but it didn't change.
Can anyone tell me what it is that I am doing wrong or should be doing instead?

 

[nerwin]

Sounds like different white balance or exposure settings. If you shoot in RAW, you should be able to bring back that warm glow.

 

[480sparky]

Probably due to the differences the cameras were using to meter the scene.

 

[khakoo]

If the sky came out as a featureless white then it sounds as though it was simply overexposed. A landscape shot can be evened up with a grey grad filter, or by shooting two or more frames at different exposure settings and making a composite. Since you were shooting a person the solution in this case is to expose for the sky and use flash and / or reflectors to illuminate the model to match. I often carry some coloured gels for modifying flash colour temperature towards that of the available light. It's also possible your friend shot using more favourable orientation to the sun. It's important to take control of all settings, or at least know what decisions the camera is making. Set ISO, shutter and aperture manually while you experiment. You should also use a consistent White Balance. This can be altered later if you shoot RAW but for reviewing at the time you don't want any settings to change without your knowledge.

If you can post one of your images, or a link to one, we can judge with more certainty and give specific suggestions. Ideally include all EXIF data and if possible one of your friend's pictures too - with her permission of course.

 

[tirediron]

It sounds like while she may have had a "cheaper" camera, she had for experience. As others have mentioned, this comes down to knowing your gear and understanding metering and exposure.

 

[TCampbell]

I'm surprised your shots with the sun were coming out over-exposed... I would have expected the sun might have influenced the camera to meter for a faster exposure.

Anyway, the sun pumps out a LOT of light. Almost no matter what you do, the sun will be over-exposed. To get a good meter reading, point the camera at the sky but away from the sun (so the sun won't be in the frame and therefore won't throw the exposure.) Dial-in or lock-in those settings, then compose for the sunset shot and take the shot.