catgirl Loc: las vegas

Thank you for this information I will try that

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

The third shot is an improvement, but a slightly faster shutter speed would help to darken the ambient. The dog itself, needs more flash!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Use average instead of evaluative in a situation like that!

tdekany Loc: Oregon

Cat - you have an excellent camera that comes with an amazing feature. An EVF, electronic view finder. Unlike old school DSLRS, you actually get to see what the camera is seeing so you always know what the exposure will look like. What do you see in the viewfinder when you take a shot like these above? Do you not see that you are underexposing? If the viewfinder is showing the same issue, adjust the exposure. This should be an easy fix. Also do you shoot raw or just JPEGs? Either way, you can lift those shadows in post.

dave.speeking Loc: Brooklyn OH

Assuming the dog is the subject, the background is what is in focus.
I'm not familiar with the camera, but that may be the problem.
Also assuming exposure and focus point are linked.

ronz Loc: Florida

Appears you have proper exposure on background. Use flash compensation to get the dog to appear where you want it to be. May even use TTL but will still need compensation. You can also adjust the background with the shutter speed but you must use flash with this shot for all to be exposed properly. Just like shooting a person in shaded area.

RickL Loc: Vail, Az

[quote=catgirl]Hi, I am sure there is a simple way for me to do this but I can never seem to get it to work for me, when I take the photo the background is light but the person or in this case pet is dark, I have tried using the flash but it seems to wash everything out I try to focus on the pet but he is still dark. I am sure there is something that I am missing (don't I always lol) Please can someone give me help posted a couple so you can see what I mean thank you in advance for any help, I only have the on camera flash for this camera an Olympus E M10mark 11 for the time being till I save for an off camera one[/quot

Get a light meter app for your phone. Get within a foot of your dog and take the reading from him directly. Set your ISO to 100. Set your camera to M and put in the F/stop and shutter. I.E. F/:8 -500. Your dogs features will appear and the background will overexpose

You can also bring out your dogs features in post processing with the same affect

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Your problem will be solved when you get a TTL compatible accessory flash. Your examples show that the exposure as set by the camera is affected by the ambient light and you can't change this with the popup flash. It does what it does. With a TTL flash, you should use Manual mode and set the ISO at 400, shutter at 1/200, and aperture at f4 for starters. The TTL flash controls the exposure, shutting off when the subject is properly lit. The shutter speed affects the amount of ambient light that's recorded. Very high shutter speeds can make the background go dark. ISO can be increased to give your flash range a bit more reach and aperture changed to affect DoF. There are dozens of YouTube videos that explain how to use TTL flash. You get the greatest flexibility by putting your camera in Manual mode and letting the flash control the exposure on the subject.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

This is an excellent video on using a TTL flash and controlling ambient light.

https://youtu.be/vEnAhkL0i38

PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Using evaluative metering with backgrounds that are much brighter than the foreground will almost always get you an underexposed foreground. My suggestion is to use spot metering and lock the exposure on the main subject. Then compose and shoot.

Another way is to derive the metering from spot metering and, rather than doing an exposure lock, switch to manual and use what the camera picked when you spot metered on the main subject.

You may need to bracket the shot and do some PP or HDR work if the exposure difference between the background and foreground is too wide. You have to be careful using fill flash too, depending on how far the background is from the foreground. If its too far, you can end up with the opposite of what you have now - a dark background and a correctly exposed foreground.

I know lots of people use it successfully but for me personally, I never use evaluative because it looks at the whole frame and I always end up with the most average part of the scene exposed properly with neither the light or dark areas acceptably exposed. I always expose for the highlights and PP for the shadows. (comes from my darkroom and film days).

catgirl Loc: las vegas

ok will try that thank you

catgirl Loc: las vegas

I was going to try spot?

catgirl Loc: las vegas

I just shoot jpeg as the photos are just for me maybe I will try raw I try to lighten so I can see the dog but then the background is too light so I darken it down again and turn on the flash, still trying to learn the camera but will get it I am sure eventually

catgirl Loc: las vegas

yes dog was supposed to be the subject I need to learn those focus points in the camera

catgirl Loc: las vegas

I am using the popup that is on the camera saving for an off camera flash I thought I had used the flash but after someone told me I hadn't I looked at the info and it didn't show that I had so perhaps that is part of my problem