pappleg

GHG CANON gave you the formula to correct. Here is why you are getting what you are getting. Entirely too much background sky. Even the best in camera metering want to "balance" (read average) the scene. Two small birds against 75-80% of your subject as relatively bright sky will always give you bland. Either get much closer to filling the frame with birds in flight (tough to do but there are folks here who do it) or adjust your exposure 1/2 to two or more stops and crop. The better solution is the former but takes much more practice and good gear to pull it off. Good luck. Pat

JeffDavidson Loc: Originally Detroit Now Los Angeles

Try adjusting you E/V.

Tex-s

Without getting 'geeky' and without trying to quantify something too much, just understand that ANY metering algorithm employed by your camera (be that algorithm 'average', 'center weighted' or 'partial') will be fooled by certain situations. A polar bear on snow is 95% to the White edge, but you camera's programming is based on a more balanced light/dark color balance, and all algorithm's short of spot metering will render this scene VERY underexposed at the zero mark. Conversely a black cat on a black rug will overexpose, unless spot metered. These two examples are low contrast and your example is HIGH contrast, so the issues can present in either direction.

As a photographer, you simply have to know these pitfalls. In your case, the sky is likely at least 4-5 stops brighter than the underside of the birds. Spot metering the sky gives silhouetted birds and spot metering the bird gives a sun-bright sky. This is simply a known limitation. The best you can do is to spot meter the sky and then add three stops of exposure and experiment to find an exposure that splits the difference, giving an overexposed sky AND underexposed birds. This way, hopefully, you can recover both with the greatest ease and least noise and lost detail.

If the sky is reading, say, 1/2500 for your chosen ISO, try 1/2500 times 2 times 2 times 2 for about 1/320 in manual, with that ISO selected. Otherwise, the auto ISO feature will default to one of the badly over/underexposed images. Yes the sky will be bright and the bird still dark, but you will at least be in between the two radical extremes. Because BIF images can't really be subjected to HDR bracketing, this 'split the difference' approach is about the best you can do.

irinaescoffery

Thank you all for your input. Truly, this community is the only place where I can learn from experienced photographers. It never disappointed me.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

Old trick from my days on the beach with a Nikon "F" - hold your hand up in front of yourself - angle it to the sun like your subject and get your meter reading from there. Focus on your subject and take the shot.

PeterBergh

If memory serves, the inside of a typical hand is about one stop lighter than a grey card.