Railfan Technology > Digital photography help needed!

Hello,I have been having trouble getting proper exposure on images taken at last light.This image was taken with a Nikon D200,ISO100,F5.6,Priorty Mode.Too me it seems under exposure is the problem,I have no problems with anything else,just as the sun is real low on the horizon.I have attached an example,any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Mike Mautner

Mike Mautner
Maryland Hts., MO

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Mike: The exposure on that image looks good from where I'm sitting..doesn't look underexposed at all to me.

That said, as an overall guide, you may want to open the apeture a bit when the sun gets close to the horizon, expecially if it's a hazy day, as the sun just isn't as bright as if it would be at say 2PM, partially because of the angle and partially because of all the particulate matter & dust in the atmosphere.

I usually shoot 1/500 @ f5.6 100ASA for my standard daylight shots, 1/500 @ f6.7 if there is something I MUST shoot in higher sun, and may open up to f4.5 or f4 in late or early light situations as necessary. As a rule of thumb, I've also learned that I'd rather err by underexposing a shot as it's much easier to correct this in photoshop if necessary. The good news is you are shooting digital, so don't be afraid to bracket your exposures and experiment..it's not like you are wasting film..just remember there's no set formula, just personal preference.

Doesn't look that bad, though slightly brighter than what I'd expect. What metering mode are you using? I'm not a Nikon guy, but assume you have the standard evaluative, center-weighted, and spot metering that us Canon guys have.

You might also just have to dial in some exposure compensation near the ends of the day. I find my 20D tries desperately to not drop detail into the shadows when in full-frame evaluative metering, but during very contrasty conditions (like sunrise/sunset), this doesn't yield the desired effect. Typically I wind up bumping the exposure down 1/3-2/3s of a stop. I'd suspect your Nikon is doing something similar.

(For that matter, my usual settings are shutter priority at 1/320th and ISO 200, though I'll juggle those around a bit to stay near f/8.)

Mike,

Exposure looks pretty good to me, although the color appears a bit oversaturated and a bit on the flat side (in some respects, thats a bit contradictory). If you remove some of the saturation, then punch up the contrast a little, it should be fine. Best thing to do is check your histogram on the original file and see what it looks like. Also, contact me off-list here sometime, I've got a couple of questions for you. You can use my TO private mail, or I'm on the St. Louis Railroad Info Yahoo list.

Rick

You didn't give us shutter speed. Doesn't look underexposed to me. Good detail in the shadows. Personally I like the end of the day shots to show the light is fading. I don't like to look like mid day. If anything you have to be careful you camera doesn't try to expose it like mid day. Definately try bracketing. very easy on D200 and like was said doesn't cost extra.

One of my favorite shots I have ever seen was a set of Erie f's with the sun fading at a tower in the east, TJ Donahue, i think. ASA10, long shadows and you can feel the tension.
In 10 minutes the shot will be gone. Photo has all the look and feel of the that last light.

Bob jordan

What did you do to process it? Looks like you might have used the shadow tool or something but Im not sure.

Take Care,
Alex Ramos

I probably messed up this image in Photoshop,probably over using the shadow tool and over saturating.

Mike Mautner
Maryland Hts., MO

Mautner Wrote:
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> I probably messed up this image in
> Photoshop,

>shadow tool

There's your problem, stay away from the shadow tool. Other than that, nice shot.

Take Care,
Alex Ramos

alex14ramos Wrote:

> There's your problem, stay away from the shadow
> tool. Other than that, nice shot.

Excuse me? The Shadow tool can be very useful - sure, you can overuse it like any other tool, but to NEVER use it seems a little over-the-top to me.

Yes, the shadow tool does an amazing job. Just don't overuse it, 1-3% usually does the trick to bring out those dark areas.

-Justin

or just use the magic wand and then select your shadowy area, bringing up the brightness as needed..

Chico
http://www.heartlandrails.com

I think the shadow tool is evil. It has a very obvious look to it, that once you notice it you'll always notice it.

Better to get good at levels and curves, and better still to shoot RAW. (If you're a JPG person, that's fine provided you can get it right the first time ;)

-Alex

jalang Wrote:
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> I think the shadow tool is evil. It has a very
> obvious look to it, that once you notice it you'll
> always notice it.

OK, compared to what - what is your standard for "reality"? No camera image is "real", it's just a technical representation of reality. Photographers, whether film or digital, interpret that technical data in various ways. Do you think any scene photographed by Ansel Adams (just one handy example) ever actually looked like the final print in real life? Of course not. Different photographers interpret the data differently. Within reasonable bounds, I don't see that using any tools handy to create the vision personally desired is an issue, only a strict parochial view of the "correct" reality is an issue.