dione961

My 1st post to this section; using a D7200; Nikkor 18-140, but pretty much a rookie.

I recently attended the Iditarod; 1st day, sunny but with dirty snow & a lot of shade on the road; sun coming over right shoulder. 2nd day overcast / snowing; ground = 100% snow.

Shot in Manual but set ISO & WB to Auto. Shot mostly wider apertures to try to de-focus background signs & crowd; the shot here used shutter speed of 1/200s to try to show some movement of the dogs. I think the wide aperture may have cost me some focus on the dogs - its seems to mostly be on the musher (used centre point metering) - but the overall exposure seems dark even though I always use the exposure meter & often shoot 1 stop over-exposed when there is a lot of snow about. I shoot RAW + JPEG Fine but am only processing JPEGs right now - not confident in pp skills yet to do too much.

Most shots, like this one, were dark & suffered super saturated or unrealistic colours & inky blacks & dark blues. This has happened before as well - usually when the scene is bright (bright sky & snow).

Seeking opinion on reason for darkness of image & especially, the colour & blacks saturation (is this the same as too-high contrast?) and how to correct this in similar circumstances.

Thanks in advance. Dione.

(Download)

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Metering mode and choice of focus points are two separate issues - perhaps you could clarify.

The people (who are standing in shadow) are wearing predominantly dark clothing which in reality is going to be much darker than the snow and the sunlit parts of the buildings, so it's only to be expected that they would come out dark. To get anything else would involve significant over-exposing and/or significant post processing.

The unrealistic colours that you mention could be a WB problem. Darkening colours strengthens them, which could explain why they are stronger than you were expecting.

(PS - The Photo Analysis section is the best place for photos that have specific issues. The Critique section is for photos that are considered to be successfully finished).

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Try the post processing forum. Did you read the purpose of this section?

aflundi Loc: Albuquerque, NM

I suggest that since you are shooting manual exposure mode, take a few trial shots before hand to set the exposure where you want it and then leave it there until the light changes. You can use the histogram to help. I wouldn't use Auto-ISO in a situation like this as there's no need to give the camera that opportunity to fail you. You may want to check though that your Auto-ISO high limit is set as high as possible when you are in Manual exposure mode so that is has room to make changes in case you are using Auto-ISO.

For contrast and saturation, you can go into the picture control and adjust both the contrast and saturation down to taste.

The EXIF says you used AF-A focus mode and Auto-area for the focus area mode. That pretty much let the camera choose to focus where ever it wanted. You may want to choose a focus and focus area mode that give you control over where you want it to try to focus.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

I really don't see too much wrong with this picture. On my monitor (everyone's is different) I see a slight overall red cast that could be easily corrected. Focus and exposure looks good ..., looks like you were panning as the background people are blurry but the main subject looks sharp. With that wide of a lens you could easily meter and focus on someone 15-20 feet away (no snow in the scene, snow throws everything off) and use those settings as a start. Good job!

dione961

Thanks to all; yes, I read the rules - just didn't realise there was a separate section. Apologies.

dione961

Hi R.G, I was trying to say I knew focus was off on the left, but that overall, exposure was dark or contrast was way off. Thanks for your suggestions - sorry this is in the wrong section. Have a great Sunday. D.

dione961

Hi Alfundi - thanks for the tips. I set up upper ISO limit of 3200 but I can see I shouldn't have left it to the camera at all. I'm studying up on the focus system now - I didn't have a handle on it by the time this shoot came around - a mistake for sure. Thanks for helping out - much appreciated. D

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Not a problem. Glad I could help. I would recommend the Photo Analysis section for getting info on the problem itself and the Post Processing section for getting info on how to sort your posted image.

dione961

Hi & thanks - pretty kind comments for a pretty ordinary shot! I tried dialling down the red but actually got blacker blacks & blues (zero pp skills at this stage). I was trying to use a wider aperture to keep the background out of focus enough to bring out the dog team. Thanks for the suggestions. D.

Nightski

This is simple. Shoot RAW files. No matter what your camera settings are when you shoot RAW, your camera will pick up all the data that you need to make a correction in Lightroom. When you shoot jpeg, the camera processes the pictures that you take with the settings you have chosen. Extra data (that you may need to make adjustments) is thrown away.

You are shooting an image with bright white and black. Your camera may not have enough dynamic range to capture all the brightness levels in that photograph. If that is the case you have a choice to make. Perhaps let some unimportant areas blow out to capture the detail in others.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

To give better comments on the camera and lens equipment, we'd need to see an JPEG straight from the camera with no edits. The EXIF of this attachment includes reference to some level of editing:

Processing Software : Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384

So, it's hard to comment on the colors / saturation of this version.

A more sophisticated editor (or better use of the Windows Photo Editor) might also be all that's needed. Some minor, additional adjustments to the white balance, exposure, and blacks & whites can achieve a better balance of the saturated & neon colors with blues and whites of the winter street scene.