Getting the sky colour right.

[sthomas048]

Hello All,

I joined this forum last September and have only lurked since, i joined mainly to learn the basics of photography and now i have a simple question i need help with. I was out and about today and i noticed in almost all my images the sky comes out "white" even though the sky itself is a lovely blue with clouds etc;

I think this is a silly question ! But i hope someone will be kind enough to help. Im at very very early days with my photography. :wacko:

Thanks.

Stephen.

[Jim Haydock]

Sounds like you're exposing for the foreground which, if darker than the sky (which it usually is) will overexpose the sky.

What camera are you using and in what mode, and what metering are you using ? i.e. matrix, centre weighted, spot etc.

JH

[sthomas048]

Hello Jim,

Im using a Fuji Finepix S5700. In manual mode. I think it might have been me setting the shutter speed far too low. Because my ISO was set to 100, my aperture to max - F13.6 (taking pics of landscape) but my shutter speed only on 60 ! Looking at the settings i cant believe i didnt spot that. There is a thing on the camera called "white balance" is that what you mean by metering ? Ive got it set on auto, but you can custom it or use one of the presets like "fine" or "shade" or "Incandescent".

Thanks.

Stephen

[george.monaghan]

Hi,

The auto white balance copes with most situations so is probably best left at that setting until you learn about colour temps etc.

The exposure in a very bright and dark scene - bright sunshine but with shade on the ground can be recorded easily enough with your eyes but digital sensors do not have the same "dynamic range" as your eyesight. Details on the sensor will either be lost in the bright parts, or shaded areas will record almost black in places. Changing the time of the exposure and the aperture will change how the scene records light or dark areas. You can read up on this on the net.

Normal trick is to "expose" for the bright areas of the picture and let the dark areas fall as they will. You could always use a filter called a graduated grey on the top half (the sky area) of your lens and this would reduce the amount of difference between light and dark in the scene before you. Another way to do it, normally using a tipod, is to take at least two pictures of the same scene and make one exposure for the bright area and then another so the dark area turns out ok. You would then blend them together in a software package.

White balance is not the same as exposure. Google it and you will get a full explanation about the colour of light.

[canonman]

Hello All,

I joined this forum last September and have only lurked since, i joined mainly to learn the basics of photography and now i have a simple question i need help with. I was out and about today and i noticed in almost all my images the sky comes out "white" even though the sky itself is a lovely blue with clouds etc;

I think this is a silly question ! But i hope someone will be kind enough to help. Im at very very early days with my photography. :wacko:

Thanks.

Stephen.

Yours is by no means a silly question, it is a very common problem which you will very easily combat by understanding exactly why it is happening. I will explain very briefly, but I suggest that you take on board what I'm saying, then go read as much about it as possible until you understand exactly what is happening. Once you completely grasp the problem, it will be history!

Your camera light meter reads light that is "reflected" (bouncing off the subject), and because different things reflect different amounts of light, it then tries to "average" the reading. "Subject failure" is a name often used to describe the often un-desireable outcome of this. Any scene which contains large areas of extremes will fool the light meter unless you "compensate" accordingly.

Whilst this problem is at the forefront of your mind, it is also worth finding out about the difference between "reflected" meter readings (as per your camera), and "incident" readings measured with a separate hand held meter.

Sorry if this sounds complex, it isn't really if you take an hour or so to read up and understand fully!

[sthomas048]

Right. Thanks guys.

Would you believe ive taken in the region of 170 odd photos over the last two days ! Worn out my first set of batteries too. Im enjoying using my new Fuji. Canonman, George and Jim you have been very helpful, thanks. Thanks to you all i think ive solved the problem with sky, i was out yesterday (again) and the results of my images you can see an improvement. One thing i learnt yesterday is that different images have different light and then exposure to deal with, in shadows, in bright sunshine - it all requires a different approach.

Stephen.