DSLR newbie, need some tips/criticism

[LifeIsOnTheWire]

Hey everyone. I haven't done any photography (at least with an SLR) in years. I used to shoot with a Pentax K1000 when I was a teenager. My wife just got me a Nikon D3100, and I've been mucking around with it for a week. Its been really grey and gloomy here for a few days, and I've been waiting for a good photo day. But I decided to go out and have at it anyway.

I need some tips shooting subjects infront of bright backgrounds. This background wasn't extremely bright, it was a grey sky. I find that I am underexposing the subject if I want any tone/detail from the sky.

In the first picture, to get any of the tone from the sky, I ended up underexposing the sign and building behind it.
In the 2nd picture, the sky came out a little overexposed. I managed to get another shot with some sky detail, but the side of the bridge turned out a little too dark for my likings.

I'm also hoping for some tips to have gotten a little more colour out of the 2nd pic. The side of the bridge was a little more copper/rust colour than it came out.

In all my excitement, I forgot to try a range of ISO settings. Was I wrong to choose ISO 200 for lighting like this?

Exposure:

Manual exposure, [SUP]1[/SUP]/50 sec, f/9, ISO 200

Exposure:

Manual exposure, [SUP]1[/SUP]/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

 

[KmH]

The bigger a light source appears, the softer and more homogenous the light it produces, because no well defined shadows are produced.
An overcast sky is a huge light source that produces very flat light that produces shadows that are so diffuse as to be invisible.

Shadows are what give a photo definition and a sense of depth. Managing shadow density, diffusion, and placement is a large part of what professional photography is all about.
Using strobed light (flash) is often necessary on overcast days, regardless what you are wanting to photograph. Overcast days are often good for staying inside and expanding your photography knowledge or image editing knowledge.

There are some things that can be done post process, but it is always desirable to get it as close to right in the camera. Like making one exposure for the sky, a second exposure for the foreground elements, and then combining the 2 photos.

What time of day were the images made? At or near the 'golden hours'? Or mid-day? Many cityscape and landscape images are made in the morning or in the evening.

 

[runnah]

Welcome to November in Canada. I am in the same boat here. Flat gray and dark.

Look for high contrast things and shoot black and white. Gloomy days are great for this.

 

[gardy]

on the first photo i think the lamp pole sort of distracts from what the obvious subject was, being the street sign. maybe try a different angle. i would also bump the apeture open a bit to get a little less depth of field to separate the subject from the background a bit.

 

[LifeIsOnTheWire]

thanks for the reply. i think your suggestion about taking 2 images and combining them will suit my purposes best. I don't see myself spending any money on a better flash.

the pictures were taken around late afternoon, maybe if I try to take more overcast outdoor shots I will try early morning, and see if the lighting is more favourable.

 

[Larryphoto]

Since it looks like you are shooting mostly static objects, you might try your hand at HDR photography. You can find tons of videos on YouTube about it. I think the bridge shot would be a good prospect for that type of photography.
As KmH mentioned, it all comes down to the light, but sometimes you can add some impact to a dull subject with HDR.

 

[Designer]

What runnah said! You don't have to shoot in monochrome, but "think monochrome" when scouting for subjects. Forget any modeling light because it isn't there, unless you take it with you in the form of a speedlight.

 

[rambler]

On gloomy grey sky days, just avoid the sky in your compositions.. At the second scene you probably saw more blue in the sky that showed in the image.
To bring out the sky color, lower the exposure a good two stops (-2EV), but this will darken the foreground too much. So, after EV 0, take another shot at +2 EV which will overexpose the sky, but lighten the foreground. Combine the three images. Read about HDR (High Dynamic Range) and consider Photomatix for software.

Basically, our eyes can see into shadowed areas for detail, but cameras can't. That is why you have to lighten up shadows by overexposing them. Higher ISOs will help, but "noise" starts to creep in.

A quick composition tip: Avoid cutting off background objects with your foreground subjects. Note how the street sign cuts through one of the lamp bulbs. Giving space between them helps in depth perception. A classic example would be a person in the foreground directly in front of a water fountain, so that the water appears to be coming out of the person's head. Just moving a foot or two either direction can make a difference. The fountain would appear clearly to be in the background.

Here is a feature you should try. This will adjust the ISO for you and setting a limit on shutter speed will help you avoid blur when holding the camera in your hand. I will not let you take a shot too slow.
Try 1/125 and ISO maybe 1600, or one where noise does not get in.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-control-iso-with-a-nikon-d3100.html

Get some HDR tips here:

http://digital-photography-school.com/pro-photographer-editing-workflow-tips

 

[Tareq935]

Agree with rambler.

 

[Dao]

It is quite busy in the first photo. The subject (I assume it is the street sign) is not stand out from the busy background. I believe when viewers looking at the photo, their attention often draw to other objects right away.

May need to shoot with different angle.