Nikon D600 blown-out skies

[catchlights]

did you see the distinct shadow of the plants cast by sun light?

don't need camera meter I also can tell the exposure is somewhere between f11-f13, 1/125s, ISO 100, but what setting are you shooting at?

 

[TWmilkteaTW]

DSC_0079 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

In this photo, such a thing shouldn't even happen with a D600 right? :/

Erm Why not. Such thing can happen on all camera.
Its the setting. I guess you need to do some read up on exposure. And yes. Dont use the M mode if you arent sure. Try the semi auto mode like AV/TV. If not full auto. Then slowly learn from there.

 

[jfxberns]

My first suggestion is to take off the +4/3 ev exposure adjustment, that will screw you up in all exposure modes. That's the +/- button next to the shutter. Set it to 0.

For me, I usually use A (aperture) or S (shutter) priority exposure depending on which exposure variable I want to control; A for depth of field, S. If I want freeze frame or motion blur.

I almost never use Auto ISO. I prefer control the ISO myself so I know how much noise (grain) the image will have.

It's also worthwhile to just take an hour, set the camera up in different lighting situations and shoot a bunch of photos at different settings. The great thing about digital is you see the results instantly and that gives you immediate feedback.

Have fun. Play. Make mistakes. Ask questions. That's how you learn!

 

[jfxberns]

ohmygawd. this is stupid. ok i'll play around with it and get my facts right before posting stupid stuffs. :/ Thanks guys for the helpful pointers. really appreciated that.

There are no stupid questions, just stupid answers.

 

[NikF601]

You may want to go library and borrow some books from Bryan Peterson, learn and understand basic settings of photography.

After understood the basic concept of aperture, shutter speed and ISO relationship.... "YOU KEEP SHOOTING " quoted fm Bryan Peterson. All the best.

 

[silvermoon1407]

Or shoot with live view, because what you see in the optical viewfinder is not what you are going to get.

 

[Edwin Francis]

Or just go to the Stickies at the top of the Newbies Corner. There is a detailed tutorial there on exposure basics, and a lot of other useful stuff.

 

[flame angel]

It is also a good idea to read the camera menu inside out when you've just acquired a new camera.

 

[holyxiaoxin]

actually i already knew stuffs about aperture ISO and shutter speed. Just that i've not much experience in them. And also i accidently left the +4/3EV there after a shot. :/ i prefer to shoot at manual because most of the time i want to control both the aperture and shutter speed. The reason why i left ISO to be auto is because anything >=6400 ISO is usable in the D600. i got slightly better with my settings and dials after playing around with it for awhile. now i need to learn how to take better preprocessed photos in high contrast environment. i don't understand how other people's photo turns out to be very evenly exposed in high contrast environment. Yup, i should take a look at ND filters too. ><

 

[eleveninth]

actually i already knew stuffs about aperture ISO and shutter speed. Just that i've not much experience in them. And also i accidently left the +4/3EV there after a shot. :/ i prefer to shoot at manual because most of the time i want to control both the aperture and shutter speed. The reason why i left ISO to be auto is because anything >=6400 ISO is usable in the D600. i got slightly better with my settings and dials after playing around with it for awhile. now i need to learn how to take better preprocessed photos in high contrast environment. i don't understand how other people's photo turns out to be very evenly exposed in high contrast environment. Yup, i should take a look at ND filters too. ><

hmmmmmmmm

ok.

 

[daredevil123]

actually i already knew stuffs about aperture ISO and shutter speed. Just that i've not much experience in them. And also i accidently left the +4/3EV there after a shot. :/ i prefer to shoot at manual because most of the time i want to control both the aperture and shutter speed. The reason why i left ISO to be auto is because anything >=6400 ISO is usable in the D600. i got slightly better with my settings and dials after playing around with it for awhile. now i need to learn how to take better preprocessed photos in high contrast environment. i don't understand how other people's photo turns out to be very evenly exposed in high contrast environment. Yup, i should take a look at ND filters too. ><

For the plants/flower picture, there are 2 problems.

1) +4/3 EV bias.
2) On a bright sunny day, using 1/250s and F1.8 manual, the camera will try to lower the ISO to attain the exposure required. But the lowest ISO in auto ISO by default is 100. So it lowered till ISO100 but cannot lower anymore. So it just fired off at ISO100, F1.8 and 1/250s which is too much exposure for that scene.

If you want to learn manual exposure, please read up on sunny-16. It says that: on a sunny day, at F16, the shutter speed should be 1/ISO. Your ISO here is 100. So the proper exposure here should be ISO100, 1/100s, F16. If you want to use 1/200s, you need to open up your aperture to F11. And here you are using F1.8. Which is why you get a super overexposed picture.

 

[silvermoon1407]

i don't understand how other people's photo turns out to be very evenly exposed in high contrast environment. Yup, i should take a look at ND filters too. ><

Your FF sensor should have much better dynamic range compared to smaller sensors. By evenly exposed, I assume you mean highlights not so blown and shadows not so dark. It's done by using in-camera HDR, exposure bracketing then manual HDR post process, or just shoot raw and tweak highlights/shadows in lightroom or other softwares. Or in those well-defined contrast scenes e.g. sunset, the use of grad ND...

 

[catchlights]

actually i already knew stuffs about aperture ISO and shutter speed. Just that i've not much experience in them. And also i accidently left the +4/3EV there after a shot. :/ i prefer to shoot at manual because most of the time i want to control both the aperture and shutter speed. The reason why i left ISO to be auto is because anything >=6400 ISO is usable in the D600. i got slightly better with my settings and dials after playing around with it for awhile. now i need to learn how to take better preprocessed photos in high contrast environment. i don't understand how other people's photo turns out to be very evenly exposed in high contrast environment. Yup, i should take a look at ND filters too. ><

you want to use manual mode does not mean you don't need to take reference from your camera exposure meter reading, especially you have no ideal of what the exposure value of the scene like.

when you want override the camera meter, is only when you know better then what your camera meter does, before you reach this stage, it is better go back to the books to build your foundation on basic photography.

 

[jfxberns]

The reason why i left ISO to be auto is because anything >=6400 ISO is usable in the D600.

There's a huge difference between the noise at ISO 100 and ISO 6400. For me, 3200 is the max in most cases and I find the noise distracting at 1600 and above. I prefer to avoid 1600++ when I can.

 

[ricohflex]

........ I shoot in manual setting, auto ISO, average/center exposure metering(these 2 doesn't really make much difference), and i control only my aperture and shutter speed.

Your camera is not in manual mode if it is in "auto ISO" mode.

To cut a long story short, just go and buy a good hand held exposure meter and take ambient light readings of outdoor shots on sunny days.

 

[catchlights]

Your camera is not in manual mode if it is in "auto ISO" mode.

To cut a long story short, just go and buy a good hand held exposure meter and take ambient light readings of outdoor shots on sunny days (with the white dome).

not a bad idea of using a hand held meter, it makes you look very pros,
I remember Ortega and I shared a joke of using hand held meter many years ago,
"when we go on assignments, can pretend pretend using light meter taking meter reading here and there in front of clients, than go to camera.......... switch to P mode,
the photos sure come out swee swee, just need to remember to delete the exif meta before deliver the photos to client can liao.

 

[jfxberns]

not a bad idea of using a hand held meter, it makes you look very pros,
I remember Ortega and I shared a joke of using hand held meter many years ago,
"when we go on assignments, can pretend pretend using light meter taking meter reading here and there in front of clients, than go to camera.......... switch to P mode,
the photos sure come out swee swee, just need to remember to delete the exif meta before deliver the photos to client can liao.

Don't forget the photographer's vest with a lot of pockets...

 

[holyxiaoxin]

So, in this photo, do you suggest me using a CPL,ND or soft GND filter? :/

Expecting: bluer skies, less "reflection" on buildings, more defined looking clouds, and a "not so harsh" sky.

Or do you think that i just should just reduce my EV to 1/3-2/3 stop?

Does changing EV affect the data in the RAW files? Or, I could add/reduce exposure in lightroom during post-processing, which would give me the same result if I do it before taking the shot. But if, in this case, tweaking EV before a shot is useless right, since it could be done during post-processing?

 

[SkyStrike]

So, in this photo, do you suggest me using a CPL,ND or soft GND filter? :/

Expecting: bluer skies, less "reflection" on buildings, more defined looking clouds, and a "not so harsh" sky.

Or do you think that i just should just reduce my EV to 1/3-2/3 stop?

Does changing EV affect the data in the RAW files? Or, I could add/reduce exposure in lightroom during post-processing, which would give me the same result if I do it before taking the shot. But if, in this case, tweaking EV before a shot is useless right, since it could be done during post-processing?

First, you need to understand your equipment limitations and not just buy additional accessories unnecessarily.

If this was shot with the exif posted above, I think you probably should try to explore changing the exposure setting.

How much ev to add or reduce depends on the situation. No fixed rules.

 

[catchlights]

So, in this photo, do you suggest me using a CPL,ND or soft GND filter? :/

Expecting: bluer skies, less "reflection" on buildings, more defined looking clouds, and a "not so harsh" sky.

Or do you think that i just should just reduce my EV to 1/3-2/3 stop?

Does changing EV affect the data in the RAW files? Or, I could add/reduce exposure in lightroom during post-processing, which would give me the same result if I do it before taking the shot. But if, in this case, tweaking EV before a shot is useless right, since it could be done during post-processing?

you are facing the sun, the sky is hazy, no filters can turn this into good lighting...

you can photoshop the sun away, photoshop a blue sky in, but isn't better to spend the time and efforts to learn what is good lighting?

go and read Bryan Peterson's books.