help people.. need some advice!

with_brokenwings · 26th July 2006

okay.. im a newbie and i was trying to take a picture of this sunset outside my home.. and everything turned out okay except for the foreground. everything below the horizon [which was supposed to the this patch of grass with shrubs] was almost black.. what should i do??? i want a picture with both sunset and foreground..

any advice would be much appreciated!

FredrikF · 28th July 2006

All camera sensors (and film) have a limited range in recording contrasty scenes. It will never see the same things as your eyes. This is the reason why we have to change the exposure at all. If you are exposing for something very bright, like the sun in a sunset, the foreground will turn out very dark, like you experienced. If you expose for the foreground, your sky will probably turn white, due to over-exposure. Try to take your picture much later, when the sun has almost set and is not too bright (use a tripod and small aperture). If you cannot take the picture later, for some reason. Take advantage of the strong, colorful light to shoot beautiful silhouettes instead.

pai · 28th July 2006

try using graduated ND filter

26th July 2006	#1
with_brokenwings Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: the 15th Posts: 288	help people.. need some advice! okay.. im a newbie and i was trying to take a picture of this sunset outside my home.. and everything turned out okay except for the foreground. everything below the horizon [which was supposed to the this patch of grass with shrubs] was almost black.. what should i do??? i want a picture with both sunset and foreground.. any advice would be much appreciated!

28th July 2006	#2
FredrikF New Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 34	Re: help people.. need some advice! All camera sensors (and film) have a limited range in recording contrasty scenes. It will never see the same things as your eyes. This is the reason why we have to change the exposure at all. If you are exposing for something very bright, like the sun in a sunset, the foreground will turn out very dark, like you experienced. If you expose for the foreground, your sky will probably turn white, due to over-exposure. Try to take your picture much later, when the sun has almost set and is not too bright (use a tripod and small aperture). If you cannot take the picture later, for some reason. Take advantage of the strong, colorful light to shoot beautiful silhouettes instead.

28th July 2006	#3
pai Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Lala Land Posts: 1,664	Re: help people.. need some advice! try using graduated ND filter __________________ Black lens, white Lens, can take picture is a Good lens