Metering?

A

appletart

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Name
Tim
Edit My Images
Yes
I think this is a metering question...


i have tried to create a panoramic picture, combining a few different pictures, but for some reason, some of them have come up darker than the one that is supposed to be next to it. How am i able to take photos that have the same shade?

not exactly sure how to phrase it to make any sense?
 
I was in Aperture mode... so If i shoot in manual, with manual focus, is there anything else i need to do other than making sure that the settings are not changed, or is the a manual metering mode too? Auto exposure seems to be the probelm, and is going to sound really daft, but is it a setting i can just switch off? or does it happen the moment i go in to manual?

I am using a 450d.

Thanks in advance
 
Take a reading and make a note of the suggested shutter speed and aperture. Put your camera in to manual mode and dial in the speed and aperture suggested.

Before taking all of your panorama shots, it might be advisable to take a test shot to make sure that the exposure you have dialled in is suitable. Once you are happy, leave the settings and just take all of your pictures.

If the light is changing fairly quickly, during a sunset for example, don't take too long between your first and last shots.
 
appletart said:
I was in Aperture mode... so If i shoot in manual, with manual focus, is there anything else i need to do other than making sure that the settings are not changed, or is the a manual metering mode too? Auto exposure seems to be the probelm, and is going to sound really daft, but is it a setting i can just switch off? or does it happen the moment i go in to manual?

I am using a 450d.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

In Aperture mode your camera adjusts shutter speed automatically to try and give correct exposure for the given light. This can cause a variation in exposure as you pan across to take the different shots.

In manual mode you have to set the shutter speed yourself, and you leave this constant across the scene. Try panning across the scene with metering on in manual mode to get a kind of average exposure then leave it set to that.

Here's one I prepared earlier ;)

P1090841Panorama.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2295/4514624646_fd4a60346f_o.jpg
 
Put the camera in manual, point it at the brightest part of the scene and line up the pointer with the 0 in the viewfinder and take a test shot. Check the histogram and the chart should be nearly touching the right hand side. If not adjust the exposure to get the histogram correct for the brightest part (assuming that the Sun is not in the frame).

Then keep that setting as you take your multiple shots.
 
@appletart:

just to clarify, when they say manual, they mean manual exposure, not manual focus. Your problem is that the auto metering is compensating for the change in lighting as you swing your camera across the view and your stitching software is struggling to cope. Photoshop's stitcher can cope with some change in exposure but best not to push it.
 
You need to knock out Auto White Blance (AWB) too. Select cloudy, or sunshine...or whatever the conditions are.

Shoot each shot in portrait and ensure at least a 1/3 of a frame overlap.

I usually shoot my left hand pointing right at the start of a series, and left hand pointing left (with my thumb...or it hurts) at the end of the series so I can tell on the computer afterwards, which ones were part of the series and which ones were test shots.

Good luck

Steve
 
took some pics, using some of info i read on here, and seems much better. one thing i see is people sayin 'take a reading'... how do i take a reading? do i just press the shutter 1/2 way? when i do, it doesnt suggest a shutter spead.. and if a point towards a window, it points towards a +2, which surely is the opposite to what want?
 
appletart said:
took some pics, using some of info i read on here, and seems much better. one thing i see is people sayin 'take a reading'... how do i take a reading? do i just press the shutter 1/2 way? when i do, it doesnt suggest a shutter spead.. and if a point towards a window, it points towards a +2, which surely is the opposite to what want?
Click to expand...

Put it in M Mode (manual exposure) and fiddle around with your shutterspeed and aperture (and ISO) settings until the little pointer in the bottom of your viewfinder moves into the centre (zero) - or where ever you want it.

Steve
 
Actually, I'm glad you asked about 'taking a reading' Tim, as I've never been sure what it meant, or rather how one did it. Turns out I was doing it all along (getting the needle in the middle)

However, something I'd like clarified is people say take a reading and see what aperture and shutter settings it gives. But, surely to get it in the middle you either have to adjust the aperture or shutter speed? For example if the aperture is on f2.8, and the dial shows I'll over expose then I adjust the shutter speed until the needle is in the middle.

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't you have to decide what aperture or shutter speed you want, then dial in the other until the exposure reading is correct?
 
For any one light reading, there are pairs of shutter speed/apertures that will give you the same "lightness" in your exposure - there's probably half a dozen (for the same ISO, and of course your ISO is the third leg to your tripod).

For same "lightness" you can have big apertures (to fuzz the background), small apertures (to have lots in focus), middling apertures (to get best contrast/colour from your lens), fast shutter speeds (for freezing action), slow shutter speeds on a tripod (having a frozen background but blurred moving objects), slow shutter speeds tracking a moving object (freezing the moving subject but blurring the background - panning).

...as an artist it is up to you to choose which is best for the story/emotion/mood you are trying to convey.

Of course added to this you can also darken or lighten, change white balance, use different lighting, shoot long/wide....it goes on forever.
 
Cheers buddy. That's pretty much what I thought. I knew about being able to get the same exposure using a variety of different apertures and shutter sppeds. I just wanted to make sure. I think sometimes I think things are more complicated than they are, or that there's more to it than I think
 
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