D800 create dark photos.

[millen_s.]

<p>Hello,<br>

I am using Nikon D800 and I am introduced what effect the Aperture, Speed and ISO do.<br>

Can not work out one thing that is happening while i am making photos.<br>

Lets say i am making photo on a very sunny day at the beach...<br>

Want to snap a stone in front of me, the sand, the water, and the mountain on the left side of the beach...<br>

Therefor on Aperture Mode I set to F11 or F16, Auto speed (comes to 1/250) and ISO 125, to get all the details in the photo.<br>

but the photo is coming very dark, however everything is focus good.<br>

If i put the F4.5 or lower, the photo become very nice colors and white balance but due F4.5 half the details on the picture are blur...lets say the stone in front of me is good focus but everything else not.<br>

I am using tripod and remote for this shot, yet can not work it out how to make bigger f-stop with good colorful picture.<br>

What do you think i do wrong?</p>

 

[john_wheeler6]

<p>Hi Millen<br>

If this is happending on all of your images I would check page 130 of the user manual for the D800 on exposure compensation. The D800 can compensate/alter/change what you auto-exposure by +/- 5 EV which would easily make the image brighter or darker.<br>

Not sure this is your issue yet thought it was worth mentioning.</p>

[millen_s.]

<p>Hi John, thanks for reply,<br>

it happens on all the shots, and also same with my both lens. 50mm-1.8 and 24-85mm<br>

Exposure was set on 0, Aperture Mode, Auto White Balance.<br>

I also make photos in raw, however when increase the exposure after that in Capture-NXD the colors do not look like real...<br>

funny how on the small F4.5 the photo is perfect, but not focus...<br>

Every time now when i make photo, i push the mode button to preview, and if is high stop like F9 and more, the preview mode button shows dark photo. so I have to back down...<br>

Can not work this out, i want to make photos on F11 and more in Aperture Mode. then the speed has to get slower but the photo to come good balance and colors...<br>

I am missing something for sure.</p>

<p> </p>

[millen_s.]

<p>Attached picture, from D800<br>

Link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55621514/DSC2039.jpg<br>

F14, 1/160s, Aperture Priority, Exposure:0EV, ISO:125, WiteBalace:Auto, Matrix, AF-S, 24mm<br>

Tripod with remote.<br>

The colors of the photo are so dark, yet there is plenty light from the sun...<br>

<img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55621514/DSC2039.jpg" alt="" /></p>

[millen_s.]

<p>Bellow, very nice colors and whitebalance but had to snap it in F4.5 to achieve that.<br>

F4.5, ISO:100, 1/1250S, Aperture Priority, WhiteBalance:Auto, Exposure: 0EV, Matrix, 31mm <br>

Photo made same day as above photo, but different beach...<br>

<img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55621514/_DSC2189-a.jpg" alt="" /><br>

If i try to put the F to 11 or more the photo will come like the above one...dark like Vader..</p>

<p> </p>

[NetR]

<p>The D800 meter is sensitive to the item under the focussing point.<br>

It is possible the meter in the first picture is on the light gray boat and is reducing the exposure to make the light gray boat a middle gray (18% gray). Try using the Bracket feature to take a series of shots at different exposures at the same time. Then see which exposure looks right to you.<br>

Also, are you sure that your monitor is set up correctly?</p>

[frode]

<p>Hi<br /> Using matrix mode in your light meeter might seem intuitively wise, but the problem is that you don't know how the camera is "thinking" (evaluating the scene from the measurements), so the result will be somewhat unpredictable. In my experience it is much more predictable to set the camera to use only the center point for measuring light, and do the thinking yourself. You will then have to compensate for the measurement based on what you measured (where on the "gray scale" it should be placed). Or you can just use the histogram to evaluate the exposure. The latter might be a bit more tricky in some situations since there might be scenes where you will have to clip some of the highlight, but it is not easy the see in the histogram which highlights will be clipped and which will not. If your camera has highlight warning in the preview that might help.<br>

<br /> Getting a correct exposure will need practicing and gaining experience with your camera.<br>

<br /> By the way: If you are taking exact the same picture and the brightness in the two images look different, there might be a problem with your camera (the camera must not be moved, so your camera on a tripod and in aperture priority mode, only varying the aperture setting, and the scene must be unchanged as well).</p>

<p>Hope this might be of some help.<br>

Best wishes,<br /> Frode Langset</p>

[millen_s.]

<p>"<a href="/photodb/user?user_id=170096">Ross Marks</a>"<br>

"Also, are you sure that your monitor is set up correctly?"<br>

Ross, it was the monitor, You was right.....<br>

what happened is that i was editing and viewing the photos from one cheap Acer Laptop,<br>

I also publish this post with the same laptop....<br>

I just checked the same photos from my desktop PC and the photos look very good.<br>

It was the monitor....the cheap acer shows dark photo, and on top of that, i was editing the raw photo to get more light...<br>

i just look in the photo in my desktop and all the photos are real colors... <br>

Writing from my desktop pc the top picture great colors, the bottom to much light....<br>

Thank you very much Ross.....<br>

<br>

</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>If you don't have a calibration tool, <a href="http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/"><strong>this website</strong></a> offers a step by step process that can help adjust a laptop monitor to be reasonably close for viewing and casual photo editing.</p>

<p>Regarding the exposure errors, some situations do present challenges that can defy even the best camera's smart metering: beaches, snow scenes, dark foregrounds against whited out overcast skies.</p>

 

[dan_south]

<p>When a camera meters something that is light in color, such as dry sand on a sunny day, it will underexpose the scene. The camera does not understand that the sand was supposed to be bright.</p>

<p>This will happen at any aperture. I doesn't matter if you're shooting at f/4 or f/16. The same problem will occur.</p>

<p>When shooting a bright scene in Aperture Priority Mode, add +1.0 stop of exposure compensation. That should get you closer to the proper exposure.</p>

<p>An alternative (safer) is to bracket three stops at -1,0,+1. One of the three bracketed photos will be close to the exposure that you need.</p>

<p>You can switch to Manual exposure mode, but you'll have to turn off auto ISO for it to work properly. For now, try exposure compensation in A mode as described above.</p>

[chrisnielsen]

<p>Looks fine on my screen considering a lot of dark sand, dark trees, deep blue sky. There are lighter objects if you look closely and they are white but not blown out. If the camera had increased exposure they might be blown out.</p>