Daytime pics-what did I do wrong?

[Michele]

I feel like I am getting worse at this photography stuff than better...how could I mess up pictures on a beautiful sunny day?

I used Program mode, set the ISO up just a bit to 200 because the kids were moving (playing games, Homecoming Pep Rally) I had it set on spot metering and I am wondering if that is the problem. They all seem underexposed, yet overexposed at the same time, if that is possible. The dark areas too dark and the white areas blown out. HELP!!


These 2 examples in particular, I was using continuous shooting mode, taken a mere second or less apart, why such a difference on exposure?

f8 ISO 200 1/250

f10 ISO 200 1/400


a couple more examples

f11 ISO 200 1/400

f8 ISO 200 1/200

f10 ISO 200 1/250

f11 ISO 200 1/400

 

[wenrob]

Let me preface by saying I'm still learning myself so I'm sure someone more experienced will come along.
You have such a huge range of light and color that spot metering isn't going to do it for you. Spot metering only focuses on one specific area so with moving subjects it's not ideal. I believe what you want to be using in circumstances like this is Matrix metering which takes in the whole scene. Of course some parts of your pic will get blown out or under exposed because bright sunlight sucks for picture taking, lol. But you'll get better results and have better luck w/matrix.

 

[zackiedawg]

Good analysis, Wen...sounds like you're getting it!

Wen's right - the spot meter was the factor here. The big problem is that your subjects have extremely contrasting shades on them - bright, white letters on the dark blue jerseys. Spot meters will meter the entire scene based on ONLY what is sitting in the little crosshairs in the center of the frame - just a handful of pixels square. As you follow your subjects around the field, the spot meter is alternately metering off the white letters or the dark blue shirt. In all of your samples above, you can see how the dark and light points in the jerseys are right near the center of your shots...right where the meter is measuring from.

Using either 'center weighted' or 'matrix/multipoint' metering will give you better overall results when shooting subjects like this, with lots of busy light & dark patterns and moving subjects.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Well this makes me happy.

I must be getting it too because I was also thinking spot metering was the problem.

Here's one of Mark's threads on Metering. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1635348

 

[handicap18]

I would concur. Spot metering on a bright sunny day in the middle of the afternoon is not the metering to use. Especially with all the different colored shirts and shadows. I would use Center-Weight though on day like that Evaluative mode might be even better.

On the 40D Spot Metering uses only 3.8% at center for metering where as Evaluative would use a combination of 35 zones through out the entire view finder.

You also didn't necessarily need to go up to ISO400. You focal length is listed at around 60mm and your slowest shutter speed is 1/200th so you could have gotten away with ISO 200 and still gotten fast enough shutter speeds to stop the action.

 

[JimbobJimbo]

I have to agree that spot mettering is the problem. In the bright photos the camera's light meter was metering off a dark area, taking the picture so that area wouldn't be underexposed while overexposing the bright areas. In the dark photos it was metering off a brighter area, keeping the highlights from being overexposed while under exposing the dark areas. Evaluative/ Matrix metering would have probably been a better choice.

 

[Michele]

Ok, thanks for all the replies. I was confusing spot metering with setting the AF point in the center 'spot' of the viewfinder.

I will check out Mark's thread about metering.

 

[GrillMouster]

I'm perplexed by your rationalle for increasing the ISO to 200. You said that it was because the subjects were moving. If your goal was to stop motion, you should have increased the shutter speed, not the ISO.

 

[Michele]

I'm perplexed by your rationalle for increasing the ISO to 200. You said that it was because the subjects were moving. If your goal was to stop motion, you should have increased the shutter speed, not the ISO.

Truthfully, I'm not sure I checked what the ISO was set on that day. It may have been left on 200 from something else. That's something else I need to work on, resting my camera with any special settings turned off.

 

[zackiedawg]

I'm perplexed by your rationalle for increasing the ISO to 200. You said that it was because the subjects were moving. If your goal was to stop motion, you should have increased the shutter speed, not the ISO.

The OP was in Program mode, so the shutter speed wasn't being directly controlled. For those who feel more comfortable with many of the automatic features in P mode, one way to get the camera to opt for faster shutter speeds is to raise the ISO, therefore increasing light sensitivity and prompting faster overall shutter speeds. The camera will still elect the shutter and aperture combo for you, but the slowest shutter speed will be higher than if shooting at a lower ISO. Each increase in ISO raises the 'floor' so to speak for the automatic shutter selection by the camera.

It's a good option for P mode users who don't want to go into manual modes, and are scared to use S priority because they would have to commit to a single shutter speed, rather than the camera choosing from a range of shutter speeds. For folks who aren't yet as familiar with cameras, P mode is a little less intimidating, but still allows some manual manipulation.