Well this is disappointing

[Trevor Harris]

I was flicking through the photos of my trip to PEI and came across a couple disappointments. I was taking HDR's of some windmills. In doing so I wanted some with a long exposure to get some motion blur so I used an ND8 filter. I took the shots in aperture priority mode from -2ev to +2ev in 1ev intervals. I've done this type of shot before with the exact same gear and filter and didn't have a problem.


I didn't bother to check the images so I just packed up the tripod. Anyway, the photos came out really super dark. I'm not sure what happened. Below is a photo of the +2 ev bracket. The meta data for this shot is:


I know it's a lost cause a this point, but I really would like to know what might have happened to prevent it in the future.


ISO 100
EV bias, +2
f/22
ss 0.8s
program: aperture priority
Metering mode: pattern


Camera:
Nikon D200
Lens:
Tamron 17-50mm, f/2.8

 

[Chris R]

It seems like just doing some "auto contrast" in Photoshop would fix it... Looks like you have quite a bit of dirt on your lens or sensor though.

 

[joealcantar]

Was your exposure compensation at 0 ?

 

[Compaq]

It seems like just doing some "auto contrast" in Photoshop would fix it... Looks like you have quite a bit of dirt on your lens or sensor though.

That's not a fix in my personal opinion.

Could be something wrong with your metering system?

 

[Overread]

Outside of a failed meter ( which would show itself constantly or at least more than once) I would suspect that it was simply a case that your metered a spot which was abnormally bright for a fraction of a second, the result being a suddenly greatly underexposed photo.

 

[Vtec44]

I set my camera to the same settings and the pictures came out almost black. I raised the aperture to about 5.6 and the pictures came out fine.

 

[Overread]

Vtec - aye, however you were using manual mode; the original photo in this thread was taken in aperture priority mode with a +2 exposure compensation. If anything it should have been 2 stops overexposed when the camera metered and adjusted the shutter speed itself. It's the fact that this hasn't happened and that the photo is closer to 2 stops underexposed that is confusing the issue.

 

[480sparky]

Was the previous image fine? Maybe Auto Exposure Bracket was turned on.

 

[Vtec44]

Vtec - aye, however you were using manual mode; the original photo in this thread was taken in aperture priority mode with a +2 exposure compensation. If anything it should have been 2 stops overexposed when the camera metered and adjusted the shutter speed itself. It's the fact that this hasn't happened and that the photo is closer to 2 stops underexposed that is confusing the issue.

I some how missed the aperture priority part in the post. doh! Go on, there's nothing to see here... lol

 

[Railphotog]

Didn't recall any windmills on Prince Edward Island, so I was curious. I see now you mean wind generators. Windmills are like they have in Holland, attached to structures.

 

[Trevor Harris]

@ Chris R: This would introduce a lot of noise which I'm not prepared to accept. I've called the photos a lost cause, what I'm really interested in is what exactly went wrong in the first place as to prevent it in the future.

@ joealcantar: No, it was at +2. The 5th and final shot of a 5 exposure HDR from -2 to +2.

@ Compq: Agreed. Not sure if there is anything wrong with the meter system or not. I've since taken hundreds of photos without a problem. I saw this on the side of the road, flicked the camera on and all the shots are underexposed. The next time I turned the camera on the photos from this point on are all fine.

@ Overread: Perhaps. Could have been a passing plane that directed the sunlight right at me for a split second. Perhaps I should have bought a lottery ticket the same day

@ Vtech44: What? I didn't see anything.

@ 480sparky: Photos from the trip before and after this "stop" are all fine. Auto exposure bracket was indeed on and the image shown is at +2 EV. But it certainly does not look like it.

@ Railphotog: Really? Didn't know they were referred to as two different things. My bad.