Need help with these shots...

[Amnesia180]

Hi All...

I'm not expecting C&C on these, but more like some advice.

I'm unable to get the light balance right. I've shot them all on Av... adjusting the aperture as needed. Usually between f/2.8 and f/5.6. I've managed to experiment a little and notice that when I change the exposure level indicator that I can brighten/darken the image.

However, if I try brightening it... the picture starts to blur a little.

Just wondering how I can get a good balance.

Thanks,
Amnesia

p.s: photos are - www.dan-taylor.co.uk/forumgallery/

[Amnesia180]

Okay, I realise that may be a little hard to understand as I'm not using proper terms.

I have always been in the understanding that in natural light to use around an ISO 200 (which I have done). Then I chose a large aperture of between f/2.8 and occasionally f.5.6 to allow as much light in as possible and to keep the DOF shallow (as you can probably guess by my photos I was trying to keep certain objects in focus).
I was using Av mode so all I had to adjust was the f/-value and the camera was chosing the shutter speed.

Even still, the photos (as you've seen) are coming out under exposed. So I started to use the Exposure Level Indicator and increase it a little... trying to balance it out - but then, it just went over exposed... or blurred the picture a little.

I think the only photo that can out half decent was - http://www.dan-taylor.co.uk/forumgallery/IMG_2277.JPG. However, the image isn't anywhere near sharp enough!

I was using hand held for all these shots.

[rpstewart]

I've only had a look at a random handful so comments are going to be limited to those. The first couple of the branch are dark because of the camera metering taking into account the brighter sky behind the branch. It's not going to be possible to get both the sky and the branch correctly exposed, the camera's dynamic range just isn't big enough. To get the branch exposed correctly you either need to use spot metering (if available) or go fully manual and experiment.

The indoor shots of the flower arrangements are suffering from camera shake, they've been taken with a 1/8s shutter which is just too slow for hand holding. The rule of thumb is to always shoot faster than 1/focal length so with a 50mm lens try and shoot faster than 1/50s.

[Amnesia180]

Thanks Rpstewart.

The last photo on there is probably the "best" shot I took. However, the picture just isn't sharp enough.

The camera was chosing the shutter speeds for me... Sometimes when I try changing the shutter speed they don't actually let me go any faster. Is there a way I can overcome this? Maybe put a flash on? or is just down to available light.

Thanks again.
Amnesia

[rpstewart]

You have to deal with the amount of light which is available to you whether it be natural light of from artificial sources (flash, studio lights etc), there's no way round that. Before you take the shot have a think about what you're trying to achieve then look at the settings that the camera is going to use for the shot. Is the aperture going to give you the depth of field you want? Can it be opened up to give more latitude to the other parameters? Is the shutter speed fast enough to handhold or is a tripod needed? Can the ISO be changed to allow a faster shutter at the expense of noise or can it be reduced for less noise while still maintaining a sensible aperture and shutter speed?

Again the last shot in the directory is suffering from camera shake, although less than the others. The depth of field isn't huge either which makes the image seem a bit softer, especially towards the back of the arrangement. The EXIF data says f/4.5, 1/20s and ISO 200, now the actual exposure is reasonable, maybe a touch under so what could you change? The shutter speed needs to be faster but the aperture needs to stay the same for the moment so up the ISO, 800 will give you a two stop increase in exposure which means you need a two stop reduction elsewhere to compensate so the shutter goes to 1/80s. This is plenty to hand hold at the sort of focal length used for the shot. There is also the option to use 1/60s instead and brighten the photo as a whole.

You could go down the flash route but then you need to be careful about harsh shadows etc from a direct flash, bouncing it off the ceiling is a better idea. The nice thing about Canon flash photography is that you just stick the camera in manual mode, dial in the aperture that gives the DoF you want, pick a sensible shutter speed and ISO and just let the flash adjust its power to suit. Unless you're in a very dark or very large space it's really easy to get a decent exposure.

[Amnesia180]

Excellent rpstewart!

Thank you so much... you have even explained it to me in "novice terms" - This has helped me lots.

I didn't even think to change the ISO... so by increasing the ISO two stops, the camera (using Av mode) will change the shutter speed automatically? Or by using M I would need to compensate with two stops (like you've said) elsewhere.

I'm going to go home and practice. I'm also going to try using a tripod for these sort of arrangements.

Thanks again!
Amnesia

[rpstewart]

If you change the ISO in Av the camera will adjust the shutter speed to suit.

Remember with the tripod that you'll need to use a remote release cord or the self timer to get decent results, even pressing the shutter button can induce sufficient movement to blur a tripod mounted shot.