For some reason the sky does not come out blue on my photos like for example in this one HERE. This was taken with a 3.2 megapixel digital camera. I also have the same problem when using my mobiles 1.3 megapixel camera. The problem only seems to crop up when i am shooting a photo with an object partly obscuring the sky, like tree branches etc... can anyone tell me why this happens, and the solution to the problem!

thanks!

That happens if I use a different setting, like the Party/Indoor setting, or any that uses flash. I just switch to a sunset setting, and it works better. I have a Nikon Coolpix 3200 camera.

i am using a kodak cx7300 - which doesnt have those settings, it only allows you to turn the flash on/off/red eye, or on auto

it's to do with the exposure metering the camera is adjusting for itself i'd imagine - when you are getting ready to take a shot and focusing - focus on a bright area in the shot and then move the cam to the position you want before fully pressing the shutter release - give that a whirl and see how it pans out.

ok - but then the photo would blur, as the camera can ajust itself pretty quickly and i would have to move it and take the pics superfast?

dont you half press the shutter release to focus and then fully press it to take the shot? the cam will meter the shot when it focuses so you can move it whilst still focusing but then stop before pressing the shutter release fully.

no, my camera doesn't have that feature ;(

Are you sure you camera wont do that? It seems to be a standard feature these days. Read the manual, you might get a pleasant surprise.

I wonder if you are aiming into bright sky.this can wash the color out odf sky.and...I am sure you can press shuuter button half-waty down on subject which locks the focus on the object and you can recompose the photo on other area of scene without losing focus ability.

well .. the short answer is your camera is exposing for the shadows .. as you say, it happens when the sky is partly obscured .. your metering system is trying to maintain detail in the darker areas and therefore washing out the lighter sky zones

the human eye can see and balance a far greater range of tonal areas than can film .. or .. a digital sensor. That's why you remember the sky being bluer than that which was captured on film

THIS is your camera ...

and it has, possibly, an Exposure compensation of -2 EV to +2 EV in 0.5 steps ... if I read that correctly, that means you can alter how your camera meters a scene by telling it to UNDER expose by up to 2 stops (in half stop increments)

why don't you conduct some experiments .. find a scene close to home that gives you these results .. take notes .. and shoot the scene with various program modes and exposure compensation


(*humbly waits for the photographers to point out where he's wrong*)

Sunny 16 rule

you could also try a few shots this way .. an old standby method from the film days

What Keith said. I always underexpose my shots some since it's near impossible to save overexposed photos (that is something one usually gets when using auto settings), but slight underexposure is rather a plus since it often gives possibilities to get richer colors and better textures, with just a slight adjustment in the postprocessing needed.

I checked out some of your shots. Many look really nice but there is indeed a consistent overexposure of the sky. (Sometimes that gives a nice and rather desired effect though.) Besides the advice given above to play around with the exposure compensation I would recommend that you try out shooting in less tricky lighting settings.

The hard part about photography is to wait for the right time to shoot. The world is full of great subjects for good pictures but few actually capture these subjects in "their best light", both figuratively and literally speaking. The trick about taking a good shot is to wait for the right time to capture them. If you have manual control over the exposure there is more to tamper with though.

Clear sunshine is tricky to handle in photography. Try out to shoot when there is more equilibrium in the lighting. I.e. when there is not so big difference between the darker and ligher parts of the scene you want to shoot, and generally avoid shooting against the light. Over-clouded weather is great for shooting many things.

Above all, follow the tip above, to conduct experiments. And lots of it. With digital cameras there is no extra cost to shoot 20 extra shots of a scene. (Heck, even on a good day, I can shot 100 photos just to get 10 that are fairly good (and one great...) and I'm not that terribly bad really... I think that succes ratio is quite acceptable. ^_^

thanks guys! - i had another go at shooting a blue sky with some debri in the way, and i found that however i try and focus the camera, or tilt it, it never comes out with both the sky, and the objects in front of it...

I have the same problem with my camera when it comes to bright sunlight...they come out white in the middle and light blue around the edges. I am still experimenting with exposure compensation...more to be revealed as I play with the settings I guess.

If the sky alot brighter then the ground, something that happens alot when the ground is in shadows, then you will run into that problem of only being able to expose for one of the areas. Sometimes you can pick an exposure that is in the middle that will work with both being slightly off but ok, but often that doesn't work. Unfortunitly there arn't alot of options here. If you can attach a filter a gradulated filter apparently works (i've never used one). It allows the top light to be blocked more then the bottem light. Another solution is to wait a few hours for the sun to move and the lighting to become more constant at all locations.A third option takes alittle bit of photoshop skills, but it is very possible aswell. What you do is take 2 shots of the same thing, probably using a tripod so you can get two shots framed the same. One of these shots is exposed for the sky, the other for the shadows. Then you play around in photoshop, or another image editor, and put the two together using the properlly exposed sections of each shot.

Thank you so much Milo! Off I go to work on your suggestions! ;0)

not a bad idea...

(*sneaks in*)

(*hammers*)

Achieving an 8-10 stop Dynamic Range

(*sneaks out*)

I see, only one problem - i don't own photoshop lol! - but a good solution for those who do.

High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) tutorial .. by .. CSP

try this .. it uses a third party plug-in (trial version) that may run in whatever program you have

hey thanks, this actually looks quite useful - and you can download it as a standalone app - right up my street! - i'll give it a go and post the results soon... ;) ( i don't have a tripod, but hopefully it should still work!) and there seems to be a free version available of it too!

You could always use Photomatix Basic it’s a free program that does the blending for you without the need for Photoshop. You get it from hdrsoft.com.

thats the one i was reffering to above

hey guys - LOOK this program is INCREDIBLE!!! - tell me what you think

Looks great .. always nice to acquire new goodies that energize you and open up the thought process

now .. go into the woods and come back with a bear of a shot .. ;o)