Photo taken one second is good, the next frame I take is all red, flat, and blown out. Heeelp

[LAPhotog]

I take portraits. One second the shot has depth and contrast, and the next few frames it's flat, has no contrast, and the skin and eyes look totally reddish. Sometimes it goes away...sometimes it does not. I'm very confused. Attached to this post are examples of a good frame and a bad one.

Body: Canon 60D.

Lens: Canon 60MM 2.8

Light: Natural diffused, sometimes with Fluorescent Kinos daylight temp

Settings (give or take): Shutter - 200 or 250

ISO: 200-250ish

Stop - 2.8-3.5



Thanks ya'll!

 

[DB_Cro]

Fluorescent light flicker perhaps?

 

[KmH]

Which of the 4 light metering modes your camera has were you using?

 

[astroNikon]

Can you provide the EXACT exif data for both photos
being "give or take" on shutter, and ISO 200-250ish
could be the difference.

Also what metering mode were you using and how did you meter the person.
You can clearly see more light exposure in the 2nd photo.

 

[LAPhotog]

@DB_Cro actually 90% of the time it's natural light, as is the case here.

@KmH I am using the evaluative metering mode. Mistake? Thanks.!

@astroNikon Thanks:
CanonModelCanon EOS 60D
LensEF-S60mm
f/2.8 Macro
USMFocal length60mm
Shutter speed1/200 sec
Aperturef/4
ISO250

Same settings for both shots. It happens regardless of my settings sometimes. Then I'll go ahead and close up and crank the ISO to try to get the same image, it will stop for a second, then start back up again.

 

[astroNikon]

If you are using natural light,
and the same exact settings
maybe the sun got a little brighter or dimmer ?

 

[LAPhotog]

@astroNikon I wish! Unfortunately, it happens every few minutes. And when it does, I'll take about twenty frames one after the other in seconds. The sun doesn't have a chance to change. It is a matter of milliseconds.

 

[astroNikon]

The Evaluative Metering mode evaluates the entire scene ==> How to Choose an Exposure Metering Mode on a Canon EOS 60D - For Dummies

versus other modes which are more concise. When I do portraits I'm always using a more concise metering mode. I shot Nikon but I mostly use the Canon equivalent Partial or Spot.

Are you storing RAW file and then post processing?
or JPEG and maybe some other in-camera process is going on too.

I only use Matrix or Evaluative Metering for landscape.
I'm also not a pro portrait photog either and not familiar with Canon.

 

[480sparky]

......... The sun doesn't have a chance to change. ......

But the fluorescent lamps do.

 

[astroNikon]

per the Kino website ....
The Celeb operates at 50/60Hz at universal input. The Celeb is designed to be flicker-free in either a 50Hz or 60Hz environment at any shutter angle and any shutter speed. However, it is always advised to shoot a camera test first.


assuming they are operating correctly with all the appropriate equipment.

 

[LAPhotog]

@480sparky True. However the majority of my stuff is natural light. About 90%. So that wouldn't be the problem. However, it's good to know when I incorporate fluorescent stuff into my work.

@astroNikon Funny I just found that website seconds before you posted. Glad we're on the same page.

As per your comments, I'm going to switch my metering mode and go from there. I think I'll try them all out and see.

I shoot RAW and jpg at the same time. As for processing, I don't know exactly what is going on inside the camera...I don't know if some automatic processing is going on.

I did try switching lenses and it happens no matter what lens I use, so clearly it's the body.

Has anyone ever seen this before? It's as if all the contrast is just stripped from the shot. I'll shoot about ten frames back to back, the first five are screwed, the second half or two or three of the ten are fine. I haven't changed angle, light, settings, or distance.

Then I'll shoot for a clean five minutes and it's fine. Then it happens...

COULD it possibly be the shutter speed, ISO or Fstop? Maybe instead of shooting at F3.2 and ISO 200, I should should at like F8 and ISO 1000 or something?

 

[astroNikon]

If you compare closely you can easily see the right photo is a higher exposure across the entire image. Even the background has lost it's full blacks.

Thus it seemed like the light, or maybe metering mode if all else doesn't change .. at least from my knowledge.

 

[Derrel]

Shot 2904 looks "processed"...sharpened, tone curve applied, image looks snappy....shot 2903 looks "RAW"...dull in appearance, fairly flat low-contrast tone curve, and a low, un-sharpened appearance.

My guess is that the issue you are experiencing is not related to the light metering mode per se--but is instead, Tone Curve related.

Try this test: set the camera manually to one, specific Tone Curve value in the setup menu, so that each shot gets the same, exact Tone Curve applied to it by the camera processing software, and so that the As-Shot profile will match from frame to frame. See what happens.

 

[KmH]

I am using the evaluative metering mode. Mistake? Thanks.!

Use Center-weighted or spot metering for portraits.

The framing of the brighter shot is shifted enough to the camera right that using evaluative metering likely cause the camera to increase the exposure because there was more dark background in the frame.