Need to 'brighten' all shots: Wondering... nearly every shot I take using either of two cameras needs to be 'brightened' in PP. Is that typical of digital or am I under exposing? If I...

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Wondering... nearly every shot I take using either of two cameras needs to be 'brightened' in PP. Is that typical of digital or am I under exposing? If I increase exposure, the highlights blow out.
Just curious. Using the 'Brighten' utility has become second nature for me. Just wondering....

kit_kit Loc: NYC

Papa Joe wrote:

Wondering... nearly every shot I take using either of two cameras needs to be 'brightened' in PP. Is that typical of digital or am I under exposing? If I increase exposure, the highlights blow out.
Just curious. Using the 'Brighten' utility has become second nature for me. Just wondering....

Not enough info.
What cameras? What were your settings? Were you shooting in jpg or raw?
Post some of the images and click "store original".

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

kit_kit wrote:

Papa Joe wrote:

Wondering... nearly every shot I take using either of two cameras needs to be 'brightened' in PP. Is that typical of digital or am I under exposing? If I increase exposure, the highlights blow out.
Just curious. Using the 'Brighten' utility has become second nature for me. Just wondering....

Not enough info.
What cameras? What were your settings? Were you shooting in jpg or raw?
Post some of the images and click "store original".

I'm using both NIkon D3100 and Canon P&S sd890. No specific shots, just most in general seem to need 'brightening'.

sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

how do they look when you print them? Have you tried a different monitor?

kit_kit Loc: NYC

Papa Joe wrote:

quote=kit_kit quote=Papa Joe Wondering... nearly... (show quote)

Sorry Joe. I'd like to offer some help but that's still not enough info.

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

Are you only viewing your pics on a monitor or printing them out or both?

Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana

I have a D3100 and have not had this problem. What shooting mode are you using? I'd check to be sure that you don't have negative exposure compensation set.

LLucas Loc: Upstate South Carolina, USA

This may be a case of personal preference. I have some favorite edits that I do to nearly all my photos, just because it appeals to me.

haroldross Loc: Walthill, Nebraska

Double post...

haroldross Loc: Walthill, Nebraska

Post a couple of examples. 'Brighten' can mean different things to different people. Pictures could be underexposed, could need the color saturation adjusted, or, brightness/contrast could need adjusted.

As has been suggested, it could be the monitor/printer is not calibrated to see the same as the camera. Do the look okay on the camera LCD? Are they okay on the monitor? Are they just printing dark on the printer?

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

haroldross wrote:

Post a couple of examples. 'Brighten' can mean different things to different people. Pictures could be underexposed, could need the color saturation adjusted, or, brightness/contrast could need adjusted.

As has been suggested, it could be the monitor/printer is not calibrated to see the same as the camera. Do the look okay on the camera LCD? Are they okay on the monitor? Are they just printing dark on the printer?

Almost every one needs Brightening. Sometimes doing a color adjustment does both brighten and adjust any color that needs to be done. I'm using Photoshop Elements and doing the adjustments from what I see on the monitor. When I print them, (after adjusting them), they look correct.. in other words, they match the monitor image when printed.

kit_kit Loc: NYC

Can you include the exif data?

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

You're in a difficult spot, Papa Joe. You're lucky that your prints match with your monitor image, so it may not be a good idea to alter that.
Your best solution may be to dial in a "plus" exposure compensation in your camera settings. Try a +.7 or +1.0 and see if that works for you!
I hope this is helpful.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Danilo wrote:

You're in a difficult spot, Papa Joe. You're lucky that your prints match with your monitor image, so it may not be a good idea to alter that.
Your best solution may be to dial in a "plus" exposure compensation in your camera settings. Try a +.7 or +1.0 and see if that works for you!
I hope this is helpful.

Thanks Danilo, that's the direction I've decided to go. Won't be shooting more (under similar conditions 'till later, but will give that a try). To the best of my recollection, this was shot at F.8 @200th sec, using 50mm on crop camera.

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

Papa Joe wrote:

Thanks Danilo, that's the direction I've decided to go. Won't be shooting more (under similar conditions 'till later, but will give that a try). To the best of my recollection, this was shot at F.8 @200th sec, using 50mm on crop camera.

I think that's the way to go. Since you're dealing with two cameras, I was going to suggest calibrating your monitor to a higher luminance, but then you'd be disappointed with your prints. So, in this case, I'd blame the monitor, but adjust the cameras instead, as a better choice. Good luck with your next bunch of photos!

:thumbup: