Terribly washed out shots on Manual mode -- please advise

[batmura]

I am a beginner and shoot a D3100.

Yesterday I took my tripod for the first time and went to the seaside to take some manual shots. I metered off the sky and took a picture. It came out washed out although I had ajusted for the correct exposure. Then I took the same shot on Auto mode and it came out great. Any idea what I might have done wrong?

I did this around 6 p.m. by the seaside. Here is the auto shot:

And here is the one I took:

I did not change any metering settings unless I did unknowingly. What I did was point my camera to the sky (on a tripod), do the meter reading, leave me ISO at 100, and fiddle with the shutter speed until the meter read 0. Then I took the shot and it came out very washed out. Immediately after, I took the same shot on auto and it was much better.

Please advise.

 

[enzodm]

Read EXIF data from images (since they are not available in these ones), so that we have complete info on both shots.

 

[batmura]

Auto (Picture #1): f/7.1 | 1/40 seconds | ISO 400 | 20 mm.

Manual (Picture #2): f/13 | 2.5 seconds | ISO 100 | 20 mm .

 

[ann]

huge difference in time, also you must be in auto ISO as that changed as well.

 

[Solarflare]

Hmm weird.

Nope no idea what you did wrong but you definitely didnt metered correctly.

Auto (Picture #1): f/7.1 | 1/40 seconds | ISO 400 | 20 mm.

Manual (Picture #2): f/13 | 2.5 seconds | ISO 100 | 20 mm .

Thats no way the same metering.

Auto f/7.1 to Manual f/13 - thats 1 step more light for Auto
Auto 1/40s to Manual 2.5 sec - thats approx 7 step more light for Manual
Auto ISO 400 to Manual ISO 100 - thats 2 steps more light for Auto

So your manual exposure was about 4 steps higher. Did you by chance have exposure compensation at ca +4 EV ?

huge difference in time, also you must be in auto ISO as that changed as well.

He's talking about the green Auto Mode on the mode dial. Thats Auto ISO on any camera I know.

 

[SCraig]

From a strictly metering standpoint I'm not at all surprised that your manual shot turned out the way it did. When you metered on the sky the meter would have shifted the exposure that the dark sky that you see would be middle gray, or about 3 stops overexposed. You cannot trust a meter for shots like that, you have to compensate for what the meter thinks is necessary. If I shoot something like that, I meter the scene and underexpose 3 stops for my starting point, and then adjust from there.

The auto shot most likely used Nikon's built-in "Scene Library" and decided that it was a sunset shot and automatically compensated for it.

 

[Dao]

Which meter mode did you use?
How did you meter the sky and take the shot?

Technically, if you meter the sky and use that setting, the sky should look fine at least. The 2nd shot seemed to be metered the dark area such as the tree.

 

[batmura]

huge difference in time, also you must be in auto ISO as that changed as well.

I shot the picture in manual mode and set my ISO at 100. When I shot it in auto (landscape) mode, I did not play with ISO as the camera set its own settings.

Solarfare: My exposure compensation was at 3.0, I believe, though I did not change it. I don't even know how to use it and what exactly it does to my pictures. I did not set my auto to the green one but the landscape.

SCraig: How would I know I cannot trust a meter for shots like that? How would I know I'd have to underexpose 3 stops? I guess that comes with experience? But at the same time it makes it harder to shoot in manual. Interestingly, after it got dark, I was able to capture much better shots in manual mode.

Dao: I did not change any meter modes as I don't even know how. It must be the matrix mode, though. It's always been matrix so far. I mounted the camera on a tripod, pointed it to the sky and metered it. Then I framed my shot and took the picture. When it was underexposed, I simply changed to Auto landscape and took another picture, which was much better.

What did I do wrong?

 

[2WheelPhoto]

Excellent tutorials here: Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials & Learning Community

 

[SCraig]

Technically, if you meter the sky and use that setting, the sky should look fine at least. The 2nd shot seemed to be metered the dark area such as the tree.

A dark sky, such as is shown in the original photo, will NOT meter correctly. The meter is going to interpret that sky as being medium gray, which it obviously is not, and the exposure that it gives will be about three stops overexposed, which is exactly what he got in the "Manual" shot. Meters are not smart, they only know luminance information. When they average a scene they take that average value and assume that it is middle gray. If it was a pure night scene then middle gray is obviously wrong TO US but it is right to the METER because it knows no better.

SCraig: How would I know I cannot trust a meter for shots like that? How would I know I'd have to underexpose 3 stops? I guess that comes with experience? But at the same time it makes it harder to shoot in manual. Interestingly, after it got dark, I was able to capture much better shots in manual mode.

By understanding how a meter works. A meter looks at the luminance value of the entire scene (matrix metering) or a specific portion of the scene (center-weighted or spot) and calculates an exposure that will make the sampled area be middle gray. If you look at the scene with your eyes and it is dark, such as the sky in your shot, and you know that the meter is going to make that middle gray, then you will know that you are going to have to underexpose a good bit to get things back to where you want them. Same with a bright, white scene. The meter will convert that bright white to middle gray and underexpose the whole scene.

How much will vary with the scene. Dark skies such as that, probably 2 stops. Just a dark overcast day, one stop max or it might even meter right. Dark night shots, to keep the blacks black, probably 3 stops. Most of the time it's a guessing game. That's why you have an LCD monitor on your camera. LOOK at the shots. If they are underexposed or overexposed then adjust for it and shoot again.
If what you are metering is very dark then the meter

 

[unpopular]

Will your camera set EC for each mode, i.e. if the EC for auto mode is 0, it will stay at 0 if I change it to +3 in manual mode?

 

[Designer]

IMO, the "auto" setting did you no favors, as it looks underexposed to me.

How about a shot that is exposed somewhere between these two?

Or a simple "D-light" pair of exposures?

 

[SCraig]

Will your camera set EC for each mode, i.e. if the EC for auto mode is 0, it will stay at 0 if I change it to +3 in manual mode?

Yes, it will. However in manual mode all it does is bias the meter reading. If you have, for example, +3 EV set then in manual mode the meter will read 3 EV low so that when the meter is centered the resulting exposure will be 3 EV high.

 

[batmura]

Scraig:

I metered off the sky due to this video:

Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 44: Slow Shutter Magic - YouTube

Here, between 8.50 and 9.05 the photographer meters off the sky in pitch black darkness and then recomposes and frames a white building. The end result is stunning. How does he do it or rather what does he do differently?

unpopular: I'm not sure if you're directing this question to me, but when I shoot in manual and the EC is 3, it will stay there even if I switch the auto for another shot. The auto mode obviously changes it but the minute I'm back in manual it's where I left it at.

 

[Dao]

Technically, if you meter the sky and use that setting, the sky should look fine at least. The 2nd shot seemed to be metered the dark area such as the tree.

A dark sky, such as is shown in the original photo, will NOT meter correctly. The meter is going to interpret that sky as being medium gray, which it obviously is not, and the exposure that it gives will be about three stops overexposed, which is exactly what he got in the "Manual" shot. Meters are not smart, they only know luminance information. When they average a scene they take that average value and assume that it is middle gray. If it was a pure night scene then middle gray is obviously wrong TO US but it is right to the METER because it knows no better.

Meter the sky around sun set time should not blown the sky. Everything else can be too dark or too bright, but the sky should be medium gray.

I took this one around 9pm in July and metered the sky and the bring the shadow back during post.

The bottom line is, the sky should not blown like that if it is metered around that time. Of course, I could be wrong. But so far, it works for me.



I guess he is doing it wrong as well.