UKC

Hi I'm wondering if anyone can help me please?

I know absolutely nothing about photography and a complete novice.

I recently bought a new point and click camera a Sony dsc-hx10v and over all been very happy with its performance apart from one thing. The clouds and sky or anything very light comes out too light / white

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethlynn/9182626220

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethlynn/9115014907

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garethlynn/9182629792

I have it set to easy / intelligent where it does everything for you.

Am I asking too much from this camera or can anyone point me in the right direction / is there a setting I can change somewhere.

Thanks in advance for any help

Gaz

In reply to Gazlynn:

The problem is the high levels of contrast. While you can see everything fine with your eyes, normally achieving the same effect in a camera requires the blending of several photos.

The "intelligent" setting is exposing for the person in the frame, assuming that they're the main focus of the picture. Unfortunately, as you've found out, metering for the person will often blow out the sky, leaving it too bright.

If you're able to use manual settings on that camera then have a play with them. You might be more pleased with the results when you get used to them. Otherwise, think about using other backgrounds with less of a contrast difference.

Hope that helped a little

In reply to Caspar:

Thanks I suppose it's having confidence to mess about with some settings.

I will take it off easy and have a play. It has lots of settings I don't understand but at least it has a slider bar

cheers


Gaz

In reply to Gazlynn: there's a relatively simple way to get some control over this: learn how to lock the exposure, and then choose where you meter from. The camera will choose the 'best' exposure as you move it around, depending on what it's pointing at. There should be some way to tell it to lock the exposure at its current value - in your third shot, for example, I'd have locked the exposure on the path in front of the subject, then recomposed the shot. It'll drop the overall exposure, so everything will appear a bit darker.

So long as the darkest areas don't completely block out, you can regain everything in your image processing software of choice by fiddling with the contrast.

Sometimes, though, there's just too much contrast - so retaining some detail in the darkest shadows means losing the highlights or vice versa.

In reply to Jamie Wakeham:

Thanks for you reply.

I think there are some settings I can change.

I think there might be some trial and error though lol

cheers

Gaz

In reply to Gazlynn:

Your camera appears to have 'Exposure Compensation', if so, this might be just what you need.
To use it, take a photo and look at in review mode. If vital areas are too light (over exposed), dial in some Negative Exposure Compensation and if too dark, dial in some positive.
There's obviously a bit more to it than that, but fear not, it's quite simple once you understand the concept and have used it a few times.

In reply to Gazlynn:

The guys above have explained it all. On my camera phone - it has a HDR mode - what it does is take two photos very quickly, one at a high exposure level, one at a low exposure, then combines them.

So you get the foreground exposed nicely, with the sky exposed nicely, and generally a good mix - which is what it sounds like you are after.

The only issue, is that if you move while taking a photo - you get ghosting.

Had a look on-line, at it appears your camera has a similar option. Give it a go! But remember, you have to be very steady.

In reply to MJ & DynamoCL:

Thanks a lot for the replies and advise.

cheers

Gaz

In reply to Gazlynn: Try using the flash, it may not be powerful enough but would be worth a try