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Photography Question 

Heidi Dunlop 		 

Expected underexposure with D70?


 
  Sting Version 1
Sting Version 1

Heidi Dunlop

  
  Sting version 2
Sting version 2
lightened & added contrast

Heidi Dunlop

  
 
Nikon D70: See picture(s) of Sting. I shot this at f4.5 with available light coming from the window from the left and the exposure was 1/4 second. I thought it looked great on the LCD screen, but when I put it on a good computer screen it looked awfully dark. I used MS Photoeditor and lightened and added contrast and the photo looked much better. My question is: Is this to be expected--this underexposure? And should I just get used to it and fix it later. Issue is, if I add exposure compensation, will the whites get blown out. (I experienced the same thing shooting outdoors (people) with a SB600 on a bracket. While images looked ok on LCD they were way too dark on computer screen.)


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April 05, 2005

 

Michael H. Cothran 		  First, DO NOT use the LCD panel as an exposure indicator! If you must confirm exposure while shooting, then use your camera's histogram for that. If you don't know how to use it, read the manual, ask questions, etc. It's fairly straight forward.
As far as the particular image to which you are referring, you are correct in that if you had added "+" exposure compensation to the original image, you would have washed-out the whites in the brighter areas.
In essence, this image has a contrast range wider than your camera's sensors can handle. The only way around it would have been to EVEN OUT the lighting a little. Move the dog, or use a little fill flash, possibly set to
-1.5. Too much fill flash would have ruined the charm of the image, and moving the dog might have also ruined the shot. It's not your camera's fault. It's just a difficult image to shoot because of the contrast range.
Michael H. Cothran
www.mhcphoto.net


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April 05, 2005

 
- Gregory LaGrange

BetterPhoto Member
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Gregory LaGrange's Gallery 		  Could've increased exposure. Increasing too much is what would have washed out the whites. 2/3 a stop, somewhere in there. If you shot it on auto, you still have mostly white of the dog showing. Typical situation that leads to slighty under shots.
Besides, camera monitors have some latitude in them that is getting some people. You can be under and still see things clearly and people don't realize it's under exposed.


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April 05, 2005

 

Ed Marion 		  I noticed the same with my D70. All of my photos come out underexposed in auto. I clean them up in PS.


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April 19, 2005

 
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