vendredi 2 janvier 2009

Bad light day! POTD January 3

Hello all! I've been reading Bryan Paterson (Understanding Exposure) these last day, carry it around as a bible actually ;-) and somehow he makes it look easy! But I discovered yesterday that is isn't!!! After the WB problem, I struggled yesterday with... light! I went outside to take my pictures (I prefer outdoor lighting!! or so I though), took my son and my camera to town and started playing tourist! Technically spoken I am a tourist around here, so I might as well act like one too ;-) We had beautiful weather, the temperatures were OK but the sun was totally saying "spring!). So I discovered that too much sun is, well, too much. In the afternoon my son had a little friend over at our house, they played in the garden but I don't have any good photos of it, because they turn either their back at me (often) or the sun is just too much (shadows in the faces). Here are the two better pictures (not perfect!) that I picked for POTD (I'm not gonna show you all my failures!!):
That is my son in the playground, climbing. I cut out the slides itself, ugly colors (you can still see a little yellow!). As you can see, the lighting is not correct (the exposure) but it is one of the best from yesterday...

Next one doesn't show a face, only (dirty) shoes. I wanted to show you some history of my town, these are my sons shoes on the Rosetta stone, a copy obviously (he's standing on the hieroglyphs part), that is on the most famous little square in town. It is terrible to take pictures of because it is a tiny square surrounded on 4 sides by building totally blocking the light!! When I took the photo I didn't actually realise the floor was that dirty :-) Disappointment there too!!
And to show you another one anyway, this is my son running on that same square and I am disappointed with this picture because my son is not at all well exposed and it could have been a really cute photo.
Well what I can I say? Any CC would be welcome! Oh, and don't worry, I'm not giving up on this, I'll get there!!!
**edit: I shot my pictures either in A mode or S mode, no full manual today!**

12 commentaires:

janett a dit…

Shooting into the sun can be a very tricky thing to master so don't beat yourself up about it. Just keep at it and you'll be fine. The dirty floor doesn't bother me at all in the second, it's an accurate representation. How are you shooting? As in manual, etc? When I was first learning I used AV mode and then watched how it affected the shutter speed, etc. Good luck!

Anonyme a dit…

It is very hard to get pics in harsh sun. Maybe you could try turning down the onboard flash by -1 and using it as a fill flash. I just figured out how to do that yesterday :)

Gypsy Girl(Brenda) a dit…

It really is hard to master pic's in the sun. He looks like he was enjoying.

Jamie a dit…

I really like the one of the stone. How cool! I think it's great. I find shooting in the sun to be a curse and a blessing. If only I could know ahead of time which it's going to be. Enjoy your reading!

Mandy a dit…

Harsh sun is my nemesis. I either overexpose or underexpose. Either way, shooting in raw does help with the minor issues. It really did help me when I switched to using manual. I think its great that you bought that book. It is still my #1 recommend to anyone.

Jason a dit…

Like the others asked how are you shooting? If we have a shoot I really try and book it for early morning or later afternoon early evening. But that doesn't help when you want to go take pics at noon :o) During the sunny hours I have to think way to hard and visualize way too much. I am always looking at where the sun is and how the sun is laying on their faces and try to position myself to get a good shot. As for the one with the shoes that does not bother me at all either. TFS!

pat a dit…

I always try to figure out where the sun is, and position myself accordingly, if possible. I LOVE the shoe shot--very cool!

Jess a dit…

These look great to me- this is a hard time of year to shoot in!

Becca a dit…

You've already gotten comments about shooting in the sun...so I'll just say, Keep it up! You'll get there! And don't be too disappointed...every new photo, you learn something.

CindyTykie a dit…

I don't have any CC as I have the same problem with shooting outdoors in the sun. Keep trying and we'll both get the hang of it

Becky a dit…

Mid-day sun is so hard. I try to find some open shade when I can.

Nnairda's a dit…

I like the show shot also. I agree with Becky, I try to find some open shade when it's too sunny out. I find that it helps.

I'm learning a lot about my camera as well reading your comments. This is a cool thing!

My due date is April 10. A spring baby!

Adriann