i'm so sick of white skies

ilikemittens · 10-06-2005, 03:35 PM

sunday was the last straw -

i was asked to take pictures of the kids and stuff at my niece's birthday party. it was a really sunny day which is horrible for out door pictures for me but the damn sky was BLUE. BLUE BLUE BLUE. and in every single picture, it was completely burnt out. i've noticed this several times before... and it seems to be happening more and more when i take pictures.

i went hiking with my cousin last week and the same thing happened even when i focused on the damn blue sky. i tried turning my exposure compensation down and yeah, it made the sky more blue, but everything else really dark. i've tried different aperatures and shutters speeds, i just don't get it. the only thing i can think of that i didn't try is: would it have to do with my white balance? i know that fixes color issues.

i think someone mentioned before they found a site that says what to do about this. any ideas?

Exhibit A:

Cute baby, ugly burn out.

Exhibit B:

In person, the sky through the leaves was very blue.

Exhibit C:

So I snap a random shot out my window while I'm driving, not paying attention to exposure or any setting at all for that matter, and the fecking sky is mostly BLUE. I would totally settle for just a tiny little bit of burn out like this.

What's going on???

Capt. Insane · 10-06-2005, 03:45 PM

try the white balance thing you mentioned, that might help.

also, leave the camera in automatic mode; let everything be automatic (focus, shutter speed, etc) and see if that makes a difference. i keep mine in auto for all that stuff and ive not noticed problems like that

however, if the sun is in front of you (even if its above quite a bit), that's gonna wash out parts of the picture. i can tell from your last pic that the sun was in front of your car, but the picture was taken to the left

ilikemittens · 10-06-2005, 04:17 PM

actually i did take most of the pictures in automatic mode because i was afraid to mess up too many of them. i did try changing settings manually for a few but it made no difference.

the sun was above and to the right (like my passenger side) in that pic. in a lot of the burn out pictures, you'd think the sun was right behind the subjects because the burn out is so strong, but it wasn't at all.

Capt. Insane · 10-06-2005, 04:40 PM

where was the sun in the two above shots where the sky is washed out?

Varmit · 10-06-2005, 04:47 PM

Use matrix metering (meters the whole scene), dial in even more exposure compensation, watch what direction you are facing..try to shoot away from the sun... use a circular polarizing filter, use a graduated neutral density filter.... but you are still likely to blow the sky out when you are exposing for a subject in the shade and the sky is bright behind them...

{OF}Barney_B · 10-06-2005, 08:24 PM

Varmit's on it. Polarized filter should hook ya right up.

ilikemittens · 10-06-2005, 08:37 PM

Believe it or not, I almost always shoot away from the sun (unless I'm wanting that effect). I'll have to try matrix metering if my camera lets me, I haven't messed with metering in a while. I think I have Spot and Multi metering.

I've read that the polarized filter makes blue skies more blue, but I think my camera thinks that the sky is white. I'm not spending anymore money on this camera since I'm saving for the XT. So we'll see if I have that problem with the XT and if I do I'll invest in a Polarizing filter.

Oh... I have one of those, but when I bought it I didn't know what I was doing and the filter isn't meant for this camera, so the tube is really awkward and it looks like I'm shooting through a tunnel.

I'll just try the other techniques for now, thanks guys

Skidz · 10-06-2005, 10:17 PM

As a general rule I try to shoot 45 degrees left of the sun. I point at it with my finger and thumb in an L shape...whichever way my thumb is facing thats the optimum direction for outdoor lighting. A shot a polarizer on a trip to Ireland I took a few years ago. I loved the effect on all the greens over there and the skies are gorgeous. Just remember...take the damn thing off when you get inside

Capt. Insane · 10-06-2005, 10:25 PM

ive gotten best results shooting around 3 pm...though that's during the summer so since its fall slowly going to winter you'll have to recalculate for that

Varmit · 10-07-2005, 07:13 AM

You'll get white skies with any camera Laura. Even some of the pros who have spoken at meeting I've been out have problems with that. Some of them even talk about taking two exposures and blending them so you can expose one for the highlights and one for the shadows. Photoshop CS2 has an automated process to do that.