taking pics with SLR - info on settings etc

Morning all,

I'm off to Cham for a few days and have my first ever SLR to take with me,
Canon EOS 300d.

Now I've read various things about the snow looking grey etc unless I get
my settings right.

Can anyone recommend some basic aperture/shutter speeds to start off with?

It looks like I cannot manually over/under expose using the EOS 300d in
manual mode, but it does have auto exposure bracketing.

cheers,

Greg

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 13:07:28 -0600, Greg Hilton wrote:

Morning all,

I'm off to Cham for a few days and have my first ever SLR to take with me,
Canon EOS 300d.

Now I've read various things about the snow looking grey etc unless I get
my settings right.

Can anyone recommend some basic aperture/shutter speeds to start off with?

It looks like I cannot manually over/under expose using the EOS 300d in
manual mode, but it does have auto exposure bracketing.

Read the camera's manual, as this is a common concern with brightly
lit backgrounds or sky in the shot. Backlighting might be the term
used.

The "Partial" option for the metering would help. Also look at
"exposure compensation".


Bracketing will likely do the trick, but use a lot more film.

Digital will work differently than film, but some basics apply.

The light meter will try to make the average exposure so that the
"average" color or tone in the scene is gray. This works fine when the
tones do average out to gray.

In a very bright scene, the white snow in the background will affect
the average, and cause the meter to UNDER expose, and you end up with
gray snow, and little detail for faces, etc.

Options include:

Meter off something with an average tone to set your exposure. A gray
card is the official answer, but the back of a caucasian person's hand
is close.

You could also meter from close to the person, and use that exposure
when you back away to get the full shot.

Knowing that you want to expose it for 1.5 stops, maybe 2 on a really
sunny day, you can deliberately change sutter or aperture settings
from what the meter tells you. Another way is to "tell" the camera a
different ISO setting.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

Greg Hilton wrote:
Morning all,

I'm off to Cham for a few days and have my first ever SLR to take with me,
Canon EOS 300d.

Now I've read various things about the snow looking grey etc unless I get
my settings right.

Can anyone recommend some basic aperture/shutter speeds to start off with?

It looks like I cannot manually over/under expose using the EOS 300d in
manual mode, but it does have auto exposure bracketing.

cheers,

Greg


Generally speaking, take an exposure reading of the scene you want to
shoot and then open the aperature 1.5 stops.

I've never used a 300d but my old Canon AE-1 has a small silver button
beside the lens mount to automate the process. I'd be surprised if the
300d doesn't have some similar feature. I had an EOS II-E for a short
while several years ago and if I remember correctly you could adjust the
auto-exposure by holding the shutter release half way down and turing
the settings dial.


--
To reply by email remove "_nospam"

Greg Hilton wrote:
Morning all,

I'm off to Cham for a few days and have my first ever SLR to take with me,
Canon EOS 300d.

Now I've read various things about the snow looking grey etc unless I get
my settings right.

Can anyone recommend some basic aperture/shutter speeds to start off with?

It looks like I cannot manually over/under expose using the EOS 300d in
manual mode, but it does have auto exposure bracketing.

In manual mode take a reading on your palm - euro human skin turns out
to be approximately a standard neutral grey. Set the camera to expose
your palm correctly in whatever ambient light there is, and shoot away.
The skier and trees, etc will be properly exposed, and the snow will be
suitably white.

AstroPax wrote:
....
5. Overcast or in the shade, might punch in a +.3 to a +1 EV exposure
step.

6. Sunny, I don't touch the exposure comp because it seems like I end
up blowing highlights.
....


Same experience here. This is just the opposite from what the experts
recommend. Might be unique to Nikon. I find that if the snow is less that
50% of the field of view in a sunny day, it gets blown out and should have
had about -1EV or more.

Cheers,

Mike...

--
Littleton, Colorado (reply to msaemisch at yahoo dot com)
See my ski photography at: http://PowderDay.us
Carpe powder-diem

In article ,
"Let Mikey Ski It!" writes:
AstroPax wrote:
...
5. Overcast or in the shade, might punch in a +.3 to a +1 EV exposure
step.

6. Sunny, I don't touch the exposure comp because it seems like I end
up blowing highlights.
...


Same experience here. This is just the opposite from what the experts
recommend. Might be unique to Nikon.

That's pretty much what this guy is saying:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/snow.htm

Makes sense to me.

bruno.