Newbie saying Hi and asking for a little help

[Amin87]

Hey everyone

Glad I found this site.

I recently took up photography as a hobby (as i am 27 and still havent found what im passionate about in life yet) so thought I'd try a different hobby every 2 months and see what sticks. I have a lot more appreciation for photography now that I looked deeper into it.

I signed up for a diploma course in photography and i am hoping this forum would give me an upper hand in completing the course and more importantly getting a lot better in photography!

I am having a bit of difficulty as a complete beginner! I barely know any terminology/slang photographers use (obviously found this sticky thread to be very helpful Camera Terms and Acronyms for Dummies | Photography Forum thanks to Jaszek and others who contributed for putting it together)

However i am still a newb in using these terms, The problem i am facing right now is getting the right exposure in a shot that involves various levels of light. For example taking a photo of my dark skinned friend under a halogon light. The shot either comes out over exposed or under exposed regardless of how many times i try to play around with the apreture/shutter speed or even ISO. I am wondering if there is a way to achieve a perfectly exposed photo in these scenarios? Another example is aiming the camera directly at a ceiling light at home and taking a photo. It is either over exposed (almost all white) or under exposed (dark surrounding just the light can be seen)

I read about HDR and gave it ago using Automatic Exposure Bracketing but the output came out really bad (could be the free software I used Luminance HDR) or the fact that I didnt have a tripod to keep the camera very still during the three shots).

I know this is probably child's talk for you but i am very very new and would appreciate any help!

Many Thanks

 

[dxqcanada]

Hi.

Obtaining perfect exposure is not the easiest thing to do by visually looking at the scene with your eyes ... it takes a long time to be able to mentally visualize the scene as the camera does.
You need to practice with your camera shooting a single subject ... like that light.

switch to manual exposure with a fixed ISO
expose to what the camera meter says
Then take more shots but with different exposure ... I mean under and over
View the images ... try to understand what is happening

 

[Light Guru]

The problem i am facing right now is getting the right exposure in a shot that involves various levels of light. For example taking a photo of my dark skinned friend under a halogon light. The shot either comes out over exposed or under exposed regardless of how many times i try to play around with the apreture/shutter speed or even ISO. I am wondering if there is a way to achieve a perfectly exposed photo in these scenarios? Another example is aiming the camera directly at a ceiling light at home and taking a photo. It is either over exposed (almost all white) or under exposed (dark surrounding just the light can be seen)

Are you using the cameras built in meeter? Because your post makes it sound like your not. It will take a long time to get a good exposure if your just "playing around" with different settings.

Start by taking a meeter reading and adjust the settings as needed.

Here is an article to help you understand how the cameras light meeter works.
Metering Modes and How Your Camera Meter Works

I also sagest you read up on the exposure triangle.

 

[weepete]

Welcome to the forums matey!

The picture of the light fitting won't turn out because the brightness difference between your subject (the light fitting) and the background is greater than your camera can record. The amount of brightness difference is called dynamic range and while your eyes can see around 24 stops your camera can only record 11 or 13 stops. What you need to do in these situations is learn to balance the difference in the lighting and that can be achieved by various means (hdr, post processing, filters or adding in light ie flash etc)

For people with darker skin tones you will sometimes need to use a little exposure compensation to correctly expose them against bright backgrounds though it would help if we could see an example shot.

Selecting the appropriate metering mode for the situation can make a big difference too, or if it is really tricky manually spot metering the scene and setting the exposure may give the best results.

From your description it does sound to me like an issue balancing the subject and background light though.

 

[soufiej]

Hey everyone

Glad I found this site.

I recently took up photography as a hobby (as i am 27 and still havent found what im passionate about in life yet) so thought I'd try a different hobby every 2 months and see what sticks. I have a lot more appreciation for photography now that I looked deeper into it.

I signed up for a diploma course in photography and i am hoping this forum would give me an upper hand in completing the course and more importantly getting a lot better in photography!

I am having a bit of difficulty as a complete beginner! I barely know any terminology/slang photographers use (obviously found this sticky thread to be very helpful Camera Terms and Acronyms for Dummies | Photography Forum thanks to Jaszek and others who contributed for putting it together)

However i am still a newb in using these terms, The problem i am facing right now is getting the right exposure in a shot that involves various levels of light. For example taking a photo of my dark skinned friend under a halogon light. The shot either comes out over exposed or under exposed regardless of how many times i try to play around with the apreture/shutter speed or even ISO. I am wondering if there is a way to achieve a perfectly exposed photo in these scenarios? Another example is aiming the camera directly at a ceiling light at home and taking a photo. It is either over exposed (almost all white) or under exposed (dark surrounding just the light can be seen)

I read about HDR and gave it ago using Automatic Exposure Bracketing but the output came out really bad (could be the free software I used Luminance HDR) or the fact that I didnt have a tripod to keep the camera very still during the three shots).

I know this is probably child's talk for you but i am very very new and would appreciate any help!

Many Thanks

Two months for each hobby, eh? You can burn through a lot of money in two months and not even begin to crack what is required to understand why someone gets involved long term in a hobby. I play guitar and in two months' time a student would possibly know what C-F-G Major chord shapes look like but probably couldn't play the progression very well. Just curious, how many hobbies have you gone through so far?

What camera are you using? What metering system? Are you familiar with the exposure triangle?

The shot of the light bulb is taken, why? You're setting yourself up for disappointment with such a shot IMO. Why not set that shot aside for, at least, say, three months into this hobby? Same with HDR for now. Get the basics of how to take a good photo in broad daylight into your head first before you try the more advanced techniques. If you don't have a tripod, buy one. For beginning shooters, nothing will make your shots look better than a steady camera. Once the camera is on the tripod, turn off any lens stabilizations systems so you don't damage your lens or screw up your shot.

If I might, possibly I'm seeing why you have yet to find "what sticks". Too many newbie guitarists buy an instrument thinking that in six weeks' time they will be playing just like their favorite guitar hero who has spent several years (at least) getting to the point they have a style of their own. When that doesn't prove to be a realistic goal for someone who will spend three months just learning the notes on all six strings up to the third fret, they get bored and drop the whole process.

Most hobbies are like that. I'm guessing your diploma course didn't set a project of shooting a light bulb. It's fine that you're interested but you have to realize the limitations of your equipment and your own skills at any point. What are you studying in the course right now?

 

[Bebulamar]

Hey everyone


However i am still a newb in using these terms, The problem i am facing right now is getting the right exposure in a shot that involves various levels of light. For example taking a photo of my dark skinned friend under a halogon light. The shot either comes out over exposed or under exposed regardless of how many times i try to play around with the apreture/shutter speed or even ISO. I am wondering if there is a way to achieve a perfectly exposed photo in these scenarios? Another example is aiming the camera directly at a ceiling light at home and taking a photo. It is either over exposed (almost all white) or under exposed (dark surrounding just the light can be seen)

I read about HDR and gave it ago using Automatic Exposure Bracketing but the output came out really bad (could be the free software I used Luminance HDR) or the fact that I didnt have a tripod to keep the camera very still during the three shots).

I know this is probably child's talk for you but i am very very new and would appreciate any help!

Many Thanks

You should first learn that there are many scene such as the one you described just can't be exposed to your liking. There is no correct or incorrect exposure just the ones you like and the ones you don't. Since you eyes can see with more dynamic range than the camera (or what can be displayed on the monitor) can captured so there are scenes that will not look like what you see.

 

[otherprof]

The problem i am facing right now is getting the right exposure in a shot that involves various levels of light. For example taking a photo of my dark skinned friend under a halogon light. The shot either comes out over exposed or under exposed regardless of how many times i try to play around with the apreture/shutter speed or even ISO. I am wondering if there is a way to achieve a perfectly exposed photo in these scenarios? Another example is aiming the camera directly at a ceiling light at home and taking a photo. It is either over exposed (almost all white) or under exposed (dark surrounding just the light can be seen)

Are you using the cameras built in meeter? Because your post makes it sound like your not. It will take a long time to get a good exposure if your just "playing around" with different settings.

Start by taking a meeter reading and adjust the settings as needed.

Here is an article to help you understand how the cameras light meeter works.
Metering Modes and How Your Camera Meter Works

I also sagest you read up on the exposure triangle.

I agree with Light Guru. You've got to understand what the light meter "thinks" is a good exposure. I would emphasize that to understand what the camera is trying to do, you have to understand the concept of 18% gray. That is what the meter assumes the world is in reality. A white wall will show a correct exposure by the meter when it will produce an 18% gray image. Someone with skin darker than 18% gray will be rendered 18% gray in the image, and therefore too light. Likewise, someone with skin lighter than 18% gray, will, when "correctly exposed" according to the meter, be rendered too dark.
When this clicks, you will have an "aha" moment, Grasshopper.
Also remember that most scenes have too wide a range of light and dark for all to be automatically captured in an image that looks like what you think you saw. You only get one combination of sensitivity (iso), opening (aperture) and speed per image. After that, you need post processing, e.g. moving a highlights slider in iPhoto or working in the complex world of Photoshop or Lightroom. Takeaway: Do a search for "18% gray." When you shout "Eureka" do a search for "Ansel Adams' Zone System."

 

[Amin87]

Thanks all for the support and advice.

Hi.

Obtaining perfect exposure is not the easiest thing to do by visually looking at the scene with your eyes ... it takes a long time to be able to mentally visualize the scene as the camera does.
You need to practice with your camera shooting a single subject ... like that light.

switch to manual exposure with a fixed ISO
expose to what the camera meter says
Then take more shots but with different exposure ... I mean under and over
View the images ... try to understand what is happening

Thanks a lot mate I will definitely do that. I am shooting on manual mode all the time as I do think that is the only way to learn. I will play around with the apreture and shutter speed at fixed ISO's and study the photos carefully.

The problem i am facing right now is getting the right exposure in a shot that involves various levels of light. For example taking a photo of my dark skinned friend under a halogon light. The shot either comes out over exposed or under exposed regardless of how many times i try to play around with the apreture/shutter speed or even ISO. I am wondering if there is a way to achieve a perfectly exposed photo in these scenarios? Another example is aiming the camera directly at a ceiling light at home and taking a photo. It is either over exposed (almost all white) or under exposed (dark surrounding just the light can be seen)

Are you using the cameras built in meeter? Because your post makes it sound like your not. It will take a long time to get a good exposure if your just "playing around" with different settings.

Start by taking a meeter reading and adjust the settings as needed.

Here is an article to help you understand how the cameras light meeter works.
Metering Modes and How Your Camera Meter Works

I also sagest you read up on the exposure triangle.

Cheers Light Guru. I am paying attention to the exposure meter but it seems like the meter is only taking into consideration what i am pointing at and not the full shot? For example if i am pointing at a black piece of paper it will tell me i am way under exposed and if i then turn and point at a white piece of paper it will tell me i am over exposed. I must be using the wrong settings. Is there a setting on the camera that considers the overall shot exposure? Currently I am on evaluative metering? Thanks for your help.

Welcome to the forums matey!

The picture of the light fitting won't turn out because the brightness difference between your subject (the light fitting) and the background is greater than your camera can record. The amount of brightness difference is called dynamic range and while your eyes can see around 24 stops your camera can only record 11 or 13 stops. What you need to do in these situations is learn to balance the difference in the lighting and that can be achieved by various means (hdr, post processing, filters or adding in light ie flash etc)

For people with darker skin tones you will sometimes need to use a little exposure compensation to correctly expose them against bright backgrounds though it would help if we could see an example shot.

Selecting the appropriate metering mode for the situation can make a big difference too, or if it is really tricky manually spot metering the scene and setting the exposure may give the best results.

From your description it does sound to me like an issue balancing the subject and background light though.

Thanks for the warm welcome Weepete!
Yes my question was about finding the balance between the subject and the background light! The issue i tried to describe in an essay you summed up for me in one great sentence! lol. Thanks for the valuable advice. I think I may be trying to run before I learn how to crawl. As Soufiej said I may try to take photos in a good balanced environment before tacking a tricky situation like the light fitting one.

I attached a shot of the situation

Hey everyone

Glad I found this site.

I recently took up photography as a hobby (as i am 27 and still havent found what im passionate about in life yet) so thought I'd try a different hobby every 2 months and see what sticks. I have a lot more appreciation for photography now that I looked deeper into it.

I signed up for a diploma course in photography and i am hoping this forum would give me an upper hand in completing the course and more importantly getting a lot better in photography!

I am having a bit of difficulty as a complete beginner! I barely know any terminology/slang photographers use (obviously found this sticky thread to be very helpful Camera Terms and Acronyms for Dummies | Photography Forum thanks to Jaszek and others who contributed for putting it together)

However i am still a newb in using these terms, The problem i am facing right now is getting the right exposure in a shot that involves various levels of light. For example taking a photo of my dark skinned friend under a halogon light. The shot either comes out over exposed or under exposed regardless of how many times i try to play around with the apreture/shutter speed or even ISO. I am wondering if there is a way to achieve a perfectly exposed photo in these scenarios? Another example is aiming the camera directly at a ceiling light at home and taking a photo. It is either over exposed (almost all white) or under exposed (dark surrounding just the light can be seen)

I read about HDR and gave it ago using Automatic Exposure Bracketing but the output came out really bad (could be the free software I used Luminance HDR) or the fact that I didnt have a tripod to keep the camera very still during the three shots).

I know this is probably child's talk for you but i am very very new and would appreciate any help!

Many Thanks

Two months for each hobby, eh? You can burn through a lot of money in two months and not even begin to crack what is required to understand why someone gets involved long term in a hobby. I play guitar and in two months' time a student would possibly know what C-F-G Major chord shapes look like but probably couldn't play the progression very well. Just curious, how many hobbies have you gone through so far?

What camera are you using? What metering system? Are you familiar with the exposure triangle?

The shot of the light bulb is taken, why? You're setting yourself up for disappointment with such a shot IMO. Why not set that shot aside for, at least, say, three months into this hobby? Same with HDR for now. Get the basics of how to take a good photo in broad daylight into your head first before you try the more advanced techniques. If you don't have a tripod, buy one. For beginning shooters, nothing will make your shots look better than a steady camera. Once the camera is on the tripod, turn off any lens stabilizations systems so you don't damage your lens or screw up your shot.

If I might, possibly I'm seeing why you have yet to find "what sticks". Too many newbie guitarists buy an instrument thinking that in six weeks' time they will be playing just like their favorite guitar hero who has spent several years (at least) getting to the point they have a style of their own. When that doesn't prove to be a realistic goal for someone who will spend three months just learning the notes on all six strings up to the third fret, they get bored and drop the whole process.

Most hobbies are like that. I'm guessing your diploma course didn't set a project of shooting a light bulb. It's fine that you're interested but you have to realize the limitations of your equipment and your own skills at any point. What are you studying in the course right now?

Thanks Soufiej. You're right it can become expensive this is only the third hobby I've tried and I dont buy the gear straight away. Ive been playing around with my friends canon 550d for the last month or so. I just purchased a canon 70d last week as I needed a camera to enrol into my course.

The course hasnt started yet but I have been doing some night time reading on photography purely out of interest. You are right and I dont expect to become a pro over night. I guess that is what makes it interesting for me the challenge to learn and struggle always bring satisfaction at the end!

The reason I took the shot of the light bulb is I thought would help me understand the basics of exposure levels as it is quite a basic shot (the subject being the high level light (the light bulb) and the background being the surrounding ceiling is the low level light). Thanks for the advice though I will park it up for now and shoot in more consistent lighting for now until i get better.

Hey everyone

You should first learn that there are many scene such as the one you described just can't be exposed to your liking. There is no correct or incorrect exposure just the ones you like and the ones you don't. Since you eyes can see with more dynamic range than the camera (or what can be displayed on the monitor) can captured so there are scenes that will not look like what you see.

Thanks Bebulamar! I didnt really think of it this way until now.

The problem i am facing right now is getting the right exposure in a shot that involves various levels of light. For example taking a photo of my dark skinned friend under a halogon light. The shot either comes out over exposed or under exposed regardless of how many times i try to play around with the apreture/shutter speed or even ISO. I am wondering if there is a way to achieve a perfectly exposed photo in these scenarios? Another example is aiming the camera directly at a ceiling light at home and taking a photo. It is either over exposed (almost all white) or under exposed (dark surrounding just the light can be seen)

Are you using the cameras built in meeter? Because your post makes it sound like your not. It will take a long time to get a good exposure if your just "playing around" with different settings.

Start by taking a meeter reading and adjust the settings as needed.

Here is an article to help you understand how the cameras light meeter works.
Metering Modes and How Your Camera Meter Works

I also sagest you read up on the exposure triangle.

I agree with Light Guru. You've got to understand what the light meter "thinks" is a good exposure. I would emphasize that to understand what the camera is trying to do, you have to understand the concept of 18% gray. That is what the meter assumes the world is in reality. A white wall will show a correct exposure by the meter when it will produce an 18% gray image. Someone with skin darker than 18% gray will be rendered 18% gray in the image, and therefore too light. Likewise, someone with skin lighter than 18% gray, will, when "correctly exposed" according to the meter, be rendered too dark.
When this clicks, you will have an "aha" moment, Grasshopper.
Also remember that most scenes have too wide a range of light and dark for all to be automatically captured in an image that looks like what you think you saw. You only get one combination of sensitivity (iso), opening (aperture) and speed per image. After that, you need post processing, e.g. moving a highlights slider in iPhoto or working in the complex world of Photoshop or Lightroom. Takeaway: Do a search for "18% gray." When you shout "Eureka" do a search for "Ansel Adams' Zone System."

Cheers otherprof will definietly read up on the 18% gray


Thanks everyone for your time! any other advice is also welcome. Learnt so much in a little under a day. great forum