Washed Out Colors

<p>I was in Romania last week, I took several landscape shots, in the day (with strong light). The result of my picture is very very disappointing, (Canon 7D). The colors are washed out, no contrast etc ... I same picture taken with a 100 USD camera give much better results ;-). What is the problem.</p><div></div>

<p>It's just overexposed (and, like you said, in the midday sun). The reason your cheap p&s gave you something that looked a lot better is that it's probably programmed to output pics with greater contrast. I did minimal changes to the levels, brightness, and contrast and ended up with this. I'm no ps expert, so I'm sure it could be even better. Definitely not as hazy, yes?</p><div></div>

<p>I understand what you did, I did the same at home, and the result is so so ... specially the colors ... I do not want to have to rework my pictures all the time ... would for example a ND filter help in such situation (you can not always visit a place early morning or late afternoon which is more optimal for light), if so which type would you recommend?</p><div></div>

<p>poor/bad light = poor pictures<br>

graduated ND filter helps a little, as would a polarizing filter; the fact that the light is poor remains though</p>

<p>Pierre -</p>

<p>Your camera has a very good histogram display. Are you using it?<br>

The curves should tell you quite clearly when you are over-exposing. Do not merely rely on the 'picture' on the LCD when out in bright daylight, but rely on the histogram curve.</p>

<p>Adding a neutral density filter (not a graduated) will do nothing to improve the situation. If you find the camera over-exposes for your taste and needs, simply dial in some EV correction. Check your manual for that. Check the internet (including this site's learning area) for learning how to read and use a histogram and your problems will evaporate.</p>

<p>Jim M.</p>

<p>Even if overexposed, the contrast is still quite lacking. Midday sun isn't ideal, but I find the examples to be a bit far off. Especially the first one has some weird veiling in the far away areas... Did you have a filter on the lens you were using? To me, looks a bit like the work of a mediocre UV filter, to be honest.</p>

<p>Also, looking at exif data contained in your image -<br>

154 mm, F 5.6 (while wide open is 4.9), @ 1/250th second.</p>

<p>So you have a moderate 'telephoto' compression of distance that enhances 'haze" <strong>AND</strong> you are shooting nearly wide open which is likely to give a softer look and possibly more flare that will veil the contrast.</p>

<p>Aso, considering this to be noon, from looking at the shadows, you shot ISO 125 at 1/250th second and F 5.6. This is about 2 stops of over exposure. (sunny 16 rule)</p>

<p>So, the enemies have united ... moderate tele shot, wide open aperture and over exposure.</p>

<p>Therein lies the answer to your woes, I think. At least stop down 2 or 3 stops from wide open and deal with the over exposure with either EV correction or mind what you are metering.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Jim</p>

<p>Did you have the camera in matrix metering mode?</p>

<p>Next time, try the spot (large...?) meter. Measure the light off of your camera bag (gray is good here,) then use one f-stop smaller. And you may consider taking a couple of exposures, varying the shutter speed.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>But I had a polarizing filter .... Hoya PL CIR, I was using default settings, why is the contrast so poor, why is picture over-exposed, why are the colors so pale ? Here is another example (without polarizing filter) made today.</p><div></div>

<p>"...why are the colors so pale?"</p>

<p>The colors (in the bottom area) are not pale. The haze out in the distance is captured as the camera "sees" it. You have a miracle of Mother Nature in your eyes: no lens can match what you see, nor can any camera record all the variety of light you can see. If you want more 'punch' in your colors, you can set your camera to Vivid (perhaps?)</p>

<p>Time of day & time of year are both very important when battling haze.<br>

While some haze is related to man's presence a lot is generated by plants and various atmospheric conditions.</p>

<p>Below are two snapshots. They were taken on - June 10, 2008 (hazy) and on October 1, 2006. (clear one) They locations are about 1/4 mile apart, it's the same farm. The hazy one was almost Summer just after sunrise, the clear one in Fall at 5PM. Sometimes you have to deal with what you have. I've had mixed luck vacationing in Maine; the gamut from dense fog to rain to bright sunny days. Artists might call this mood or ambiance, I just sigh and come back another day.</p>

<p>Jim</p><div></div>

<p>Shooting Raw? or Jpegs? If shooting jpegs just adjust the incamera contrast presets or slider settings. You'll be sort of calibrating your incamera settings to the brightest possible daylight shot attainable.</p>

<p>You may need to do several tests choosing different settings while adjusting exposure.</p>

<p>Obviously Raw shots will work this way only if using Canon's Raw converter which can give you the same rendering as the jpeg, but third party converters will require more work.</p>