Dark Images using F30

[georges.ays]

I just got my F30 and have been trying to take as many photos as possible in different situations.

The pictures are very nice, the only complaint is that they need brightening. I am not a professional photographer and not very experienced with manual seetings, but would like know what I can do to brighten up the images. For example, I take an image when it is very sunny, but still some parts are very dark, so I use photoshop elements to lighten shadows. Is there anything I can do to better results without using photoshop elements. Is increasing the exposure, for example, to +1/3 or +2/3 a solution? Same applies to night shots when I use the night mode (without long exposure).

Are there any settings that are standard for example for daylight or night or in-house (sound very beginner ;))?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

[sjseto]

Hi Georges,

I've found quite the opposite, actually - that is, my F30 photos taken outdoors in bright sunlight tend towards slight overexposure, or being too bright.

Perhaps, in the photos where you're noticing this problem, the subject is backlit? For example, you're taking a picture of a person when the sun is behind him/her. In this case, the camera might be be trying to expose for the highlights (e.g. the bright background), leaving the subject too dark. If this is the case, there are a few things (that don't involve an image editor) that you can try.

The first is what you suggested: take additional photos at +1/3 or even +2/3 EV. Unfortunately this doesn't work in Night Mode because you don't have access to exposure compensation in this mode. Don't worry, though, because you do have access to exposure compensation in Shutter Priority mode, which you can use instead of Night Mode for exposures up to 3 seconds.

A second method is to change the light metering method from Multi to Spot. The camera will then expose for the center of the frame, once you half-press the shutter button. Then you can simply re-compose the shot and press the button all the way to take the picture.

A third method is to use fill flash; that is, use the Forced Flash setting. This will illuminate and brighten your subject but will still leave the background properly exposed. Note that this will only work if your subject is small enough (e.g. you can't illuminate the outside of a building) and within flash range.

Yet another method is to simply change positions. Take the photograph from a different angle, with the sun behind you instead of behind the subject. You might even need to take the photo at a different time of day.

As for standard settings, there are a few occasions when I want to use Shutter or Aperture Priority, but as a default setting, I usually keep the mode dial turned to M, the flash turned to OFF, and simply try to use the lowest ISO possible in any situation, which means I always have to set it manually.

But if you find constantly changing the ISO to be too much trouble, I would suggest that you use Auto 400 for outdoor daytime shooting and indoor shooting with flash. This will limit to 400 the maximum ISO that the camera chooses, and will minimize the amount of noise in your photos. For outdoor shooting I would prefer to keep -1/3 EV as a standard setting, but since you're finding your photos too dark, you might not want to do this.

If you're shooting without flash in dim light, outdoors or indoors, try Auto 1600 ISO. This is assuming that you are not using a tripod. This will give you the ability to take hand-held shots with minimal risk of blur due to camera shake.

As you get more comfortable with the camera and experimenting with the settings, you might find that you'll be relying on "standard" settings less and less.

Stephanie