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Birds and exposure issues HELP please
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Jan 9, 2019 19:32:03   #
IDguy Loc: Idaho
 
CindyHouk wrote:
See....I miss understand the rule for shutter speed...so when on a tripod I don't need the shutter that high! duh...I should have thought of that!


You didn’t misunderstand the rule. For APS-C cameras (including D500) twice the lens mm is a good rule. But yes, that is for handheld.

Since birds are usually moving you don’t want to go below 1/500...even on a tripod.

VR does not help on subject movement. You need to check your lens manual to see if they recommend using VR on a tripod. Most recent lenses do.

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Jan 9, 2019 19:45:58   #
mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA
 
IDguy wrote:
Actually it can make a huge difference if you are in the sun and subject in the shade, or vice versa. That was the case for many of the images in the link I posted above.

Respectfully disagree.
Sure looks to me like the two shots of the birds are out on the water. They may appear to be in the shade, because using matrix metering, the camera is fooled into closing the iris down and producing a dark picture. Same situation for the two landscapes, as the sky is doing the same causing a dark foreground.
If she exposes on her hand or the bird using spot metering and Manual setting so the camera does not change an exposure, the bird will be properly exposed.
The sky or water may get blown out, but the subject will be fine.

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Jan 9, 2019 20:18:36   #
CindyHouk Loc: Nw MT
 
Thomas902 wrote:
Cindy please consider investing some quality time with Nikon's User Manual for the D500.
It offers a very elegant and simple solution for the challenges you experienced.

Cindy turn to page 146 in your D500 Manual and review Bracketing which suggests AE Bracketing might be germane for this scenario... Press the BKT Button on the left side of the D500 and choose the number of shots and bracketing interval (page 147)

Also set your Release Mode to CH (Continuous High Speed). In your back-lit images I would suggest a 1 stop Bracket and a burst of 3 albeit you could choose 0.7 stop Bracket and a burst of 5.

So simple... so elegant... so effective... in under one second you are virtual guarantied of at least one ideal exposure... No learning curve involved... please try it, k?

Cindy I'm a commercial photographer and use this all the time with dynamic action scenarios (events) that don't afford the luxury of test shots, etc.

btw, you have to disable Bracketing by resetting the number of bracket shots to zero (0) after your photo session. It does not automatically reset by turning the D500 off... Experience is a very brutal teacher here... I only made this mistake once... lol

Hope this helps Cindy...
I wish you well on your journey...
Cindy please consider investing some quality time ... (show quote)


Thomas...thank you so much for the info and I just read the manual and tested this in my living room...awesome! I stopped on my way home last night because there were 3 eagles on an elk that got hit...I was not successful in getting any shots in low light. This will help setting will help!

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Jan 9, 2019 20:43:24   #
CindyHouk Loc: Nw MT
 
mikeroetex wrote:
Respectfully disagree.
Sure looks to me like the two shots of the birds are out on the water. They may appear to be in the shade, because using matrix metering, the camera is fooled into closing the iris down and producing a dark picture. Same situation for the two landscapes, as the sky is doing the same causing a dark foreground.
If she exposes on her hand or the bird using spot metering and Manual setting so the camera does not change an exposure, the bird will be properly exposed.
The sky or water may get blown out, but the subject will be fine.
Respectfully disagree. br Sure looks to me like th... (show quote)


Yes the birds were out on the water not in the shade.

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Jan 9, 2019 20:48:11   #
IDguy Loc: Idaho
 
mikeroetex wrote:
Respectfully disagree.
Sure looks to me like the two shots of the birds are out on the water. They may appear to be in the shade, because using matrix metering, the camera is fooled into closing the iris down and producing a dark picture. Same situation for the two landscapes, as the sky is doing the same causing a dark foreground.
If she exposes on her hand or the bird using spot metering and Manual setting so the camera does not change an exposure, the bird will be properly exposed.
The sky or water may get blown out, but the subject will be fine.
Respectfully disagree. br Sure looks to me like th... (show quote)


Not disagreeing on her shots. But you made general claim. It wouldn’t work at all for the ones I posted a link to.

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Jan 9, 2019 21:58:16   #
Einreb92 Loc: Philadelphia
 
IDguy wrote:
False. EC adjusts the actual exposure in A,S, and P modes. It adjusts the meter in M mode. So in M mode you can leave EC alone and just as well meter to the EC you want.

You might be confusing white balance.


I am not. My limited understanding and from thinking deeply about the information in the manual, when I am in manual, I control which variants I choose to affect exposure. In each of the semi-auto modes, the choices are baked in and chosen by the camera’s software.

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Jan 10, 2019 00:48:12   #
IDguy Loc: Idaho
 
Einreb92 wrote:
I am not. My limited understanding and from thinking deeply about the information in the manual, when I am in manual, I control which variants I choose to affect exposure. In each of the semi-auto modes, the choices are baked in and chosen by the camera’s software.


Your previous post, to which I was replying, addressed RAW image files. That has nothing to do with exposure mode.

Other than Auto mode you have choices that affect exposure such as metering mode and EC.

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Jan 10, 2019 02:33:43   #
Einreb92 Loc: Philadelphia
 
IDguy wrote:
Your previous post, to which I was replying, addressed RAW image files. That has nothing to do with exposure mode.

Other than Auto mode you have choices that affect exposure such as metering mode and EC.


You, my friend, are correct. I misspoke and meant to say manual. Thanks!

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Jan 22, 2019 16:04:26   #
DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca
 
Spot meter on the darker background. Your camera is metering off the water reflection thus underexposing your image. Or shoot in Manual mode and meter off the background then recompose. Even if your trying to spot meter off the bird itself it is too small of a sample particularly with a big zoom.
CindyHouk wrote:
I went out to practice on birds. There is a pond by my house that normally has swans, ducks, geese, blue herons and eagles...so I thought this would be a good spot. BUT it was really overcast and I was not able to get the exposure correct and I am hoping you all can tell me what I was doing wrong. Plus there were not many birds around either...so that didn't help!

Nikon D500, Tamron 150-600, on tripod. Manual Mode, BBF set, Shutter button set to AE-L at half press, AF-C, played with Single Focus point, group and Auto, and also switched between Spot Meter and Center Weight Meter.

I was told that you should have your shutter speed a little over double your focal length...so at 600mm I would want my shutter at or over 1200, but doing that...I was not able to figure out how to get the ap/iso set so that the exposure was correct...it was driving me nuts! I played with the metering as well and just could never find the correct combination. Everything was turning out way to dark

The first pic shows how dark all the pics turned out...I even played with the exposure compensation but still nothing turned out. Just converted the raw to jpg in lightroom....no other edits made
The second pic is at a way lower shutter speed but as you can see, the duck is blurry and still too dark
The lasts 2 pics show my location, I changed my lens to the Tamron 16-150 for these

What would you have done in this situation? What settings should I have tried and what would your settings have been? I will go back and practice with everyone's suggestions.

Thanks
Cindy
I went out to practice on birds. There is a pond b... (show quote)

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