Canon 20D help please - Photos are dark

[Cally P]

Hi all. I recently bought my first Digital SLR camera the canon 20D. I am needing help in getting my photos to be brighter and more true to life. When I view them on the camera, they look just right, but on the cumputer, they are are dark and need lightening in PS.

when I do lighten them in PS, they seem to lose their color dept as well.

What do i need to change my settings to, to have photos that are lighter? I have been reading the manual a bit and playing.

I dont have any other lenses, other than the 18-55mm that came with. So what would anyone recommend to buy for a zoom lense, or one that would be a good for portrait pics?

thanks in advance
Kathy

[NathanJK]

When you say that your photos are dark, are these raw files or jpg files? I know that photoshops raw defaults when they default to "auto" everything tend to make pictures a little wonky. I've found its best to just unclick auto on all of the sliders and then work with each one to get the photo how I want it (this is if you use raw). Also, what mode are you shooting in? You can dial in exposure compensation, I usually leave my 20D at +1/3 ev and in some situations, more can even be appropriate, it just depends on what your photographing. If it has a lot of white in it, you may very well need more exposure comp. to get back to the truly correct point. It'd be helpful if you posted a few sample images complete with exif data. If you dont know what exif data is then post an image anyway, it'll probably remain intact and be readable. You can access exif data by going to File then to File info, its all in there!

[digitaldooda]

You may want to calibrate your monitor.

Check the histogram to see if you have detail in the highlight and shadow areas and are not clipping on either end. If your histogram is good...then your exposure is OK. Digital is far less forgiving than negative film. It is sort of like shooting slides. You don't have much latitude. If you are under, the images are noisy and if you are over, the images are toast.

The photo labs do prefer the images a little on the dark side. Many users make the images look perfect on their monitor which often makes makes the skin tones too hot to print nicely. As you become more familiar with the medium, you will learn to color manage, but until you get comfortable with it, run a few of your dark images as test prints (4X6) to the lab with minimal adjustments and see how they print. This will help build confidence in your output. One lab I work with prefers the untouched image from the camera as they are experienced in working with the camera profiles. You can make a copy image with a quick levels adjustment to show online to your client and spend less time at the computer if shooting is your primary goal.

I love the computer and I teach Photoshop and color management and feel very possessive of my results, but not everyone likes my lifestyle. I have professional clients with large studios who leave this part of the workflow to the labs.

When you do decide to take that leap into color management, find a lab that will work with you to help test and give you feedback. Many will give you their profiles when they don't have to spend too much time explaining how to use them.

[Allen]

Did you shoot indoors or out?
What setting?
Have you tried to shoot in AUTO just to get a feel for it first?

My first dslr had me confused for quite some time. Once you get the hang of it you'll be happy with your purchase. The 18-55 is a good starter lens. I took many good shots with mine and still use it on occasion. As far as a good portrait lens, I'm partial to my 1.8 85mm. I also bought the 1.8 50mm for less than 100 bucks and couldn't be happier with it.

[gregt1310]

Kathy,

Can you post some samples to give us an idea what you are talking about?

[Alyson]

yeah, I agree that some examples and settings would really help us with advice... the LCD on the back is not really all that indicative of what the image quality is. You really can't judge your exposure based on the LCD screen- you need to use a more reliable means to determine your exposure. Either a handheld meter or using your histogram on the LCD.

Are you shooting in Aperture or shutter priority? I've found mine habitually underexposes a pinch so if I shoot in priority I usually put the default exposure up a 1/3 to 1/2 stop. (Hold the shutter half way down and spin the big wheel on the back to change where the exposure falls)

I use a hand held meter though for determining my exposure and I get the bext result doing this.

[Cally P]

Hi thanks for your reponses.

Firstly, I shoot in JPEG. I have noticed a few forums where ppl are shooting in RAW .... obviously this is better, but Im a bit scared of the unknown lol I have never played in a graphics programwith a raw image before either.

I have looked at my historgram a few times, and mostly it is either up one end of the other with a lump in the middle. Very rarely will i get a photo that is just right. But i can never remember what i did right to get it lol

Ok a few examples with what i shot it in as well.

ok number one. this one is unaltered in any way. It was late afternoon with the sun setting behind us. this was the best one out them all, color wise.
Here are the settings
Exposure 1/40sec
shutter 1/40 sec
exposure program - Aperture Priority
F-Stop f/5.6
Aperture value - f/5.6
ISO 400


number 2 - with in minutes, diff setting (forgive me i cant remember which i flicked to ect lol)
Here are the settings
Exposure 1/100sec
shutter 1/100 sec
exposure program - normal program
F-Stop f/5.6
Aperture value - f/5.6
ISO 400

so does that mean, the lower the apeture and shutter time the lighter the photo?

I also noticed on these photos, they arent as clear as i first expected, they arent as crisp at 100%.

thanks so much too for taking the time to help, I really appreciate it :)

[Duffy Pratt]

The aperture is the same in both of your pictures. The shutter speed moved from 1/40 to 1/100th of a second. This means that your second shot is stopped down 1.25, which makes it darker. The shutter was open less time, so less light hit the sensor. You would have gotten the same exposure (but a slightly different shot), if you had kept the shutter setting at 1/40 and moved the aperture to just over f/8 (Not sure what the quarter stop increment is there).

Almost every picture from the camera can use digital processing. Sharpening should be able to take care of the lack of crispness you see in these shots. I don't see anything you should be doing differently in the camera here.

I don't think either of these shots look too dark. The sky appears to be blown out in both of them. And both could be improved, and made to "pop" by using levels or curves. Making those kind of post-processing adjustments is perfectly normal.

The best suggestion I could make on a shot like this would be to experiment with some fill flash. It might have been possible to keep some color in the sky and to light up the girl's face with some fill. The problem has to do with the dynamic range in the picture. The camera is capable of covering about 5 stops of dynamic range. Your eye can see contrast through around 11 stops. Thus, there are lots and lots of situations where your eyes can make out details, but the camera is selectively blind.

Hope this helps.

Duffy

[NoLight]

With the 20D in program mode look at the lcd panel is the exposure compensation set to 0 or a neg amount? It sounds like it is.. A good place to start!!!

[Hogleg 44]

FYI, If yout camera is new....
Something I noticed with my MkII. When I first got my camera I had the same issue with my pics. Believe it or not, after about a thousand or so pictures things seemed to change a bit...kind of like it took a 'break-in' period of sorts. My exposures at first seemed to always be to the 'left' so to speak, so I set up compensation to the right about 2/3 stop. Later on the exposures seemed to suddenly be to the right too much, so I had to set the compensation back to 0. Even using the flash, it was the same.
You might play around with the different exposure settings, or just compensate the exposure and wait and see...???

[Patti Edens]

Originally Posted by NoLight

With the 20D in program mode look at the lcd panel is the exposure compensation set to 0 or a neg amount? It sounds like it is.. A good place to start!!!

I used ViewEXIF and according to it, both shots were at +2/3 compensation, so it's set at a positive amount, not 0 or neg. And the mode is Program. edit...OOPs, no according to a different EXIF viewing program, the camera was in Aperture Priority. Hmmmm. Wonder which is right. Maybe I'm just not interpreting the Program Mode notation in ViewEXIF correctly.

Patti

PS: I think the shots look just fine, especially the first one, but I can understand your concern. I don't know why the camera chose 1/100 (the faster shutter speed) the second time. Doesn't make sense if all other things stayed the same. Not very consistent.

[billbunton]

Main difference I see is that the first one is zoomed a little tighter, so there's less of the sky to affect the metering. I'm not at all sure it's enough to explain a full stop difference, but if the camera is set for half stops it could be a enough to affect a border condition.

There was also fill flash used in the first; I can't tell if there was in the second since the EXIF has been stripped.

[Patti Edens]

Originally Posted by billbunton

Main difference I see is that the first one is zoomed a little tighter, so there's less of the sky to affect the metering. I'm not at all sure it's enough to explain a full stop difference, but if the camera is set for half stops it could be a enough to affect a border condition.

There was also fill flash used in the first; I can't tell if there was in the second since the EXIF has been stripped.

I couldn't see the EXIF on the second one either at least with ViewEXIF, but with Panda IEXIF 2 I can see some info. And the flash did fire - compulsory flash and red eye reduction mode. So that was the same. But you are probably right about the zoom. I didn't notice that.

p

[Cally P]

Again, thanks for all your replies... I am busily looking at all you have said and trying to take it on board.

Originally Posted by NoLight

With the 20D in program mode look at the lcd panel is the exposure compensation set to 0 or a neg amount? It sounds like it is.. A good place to start!!!

Ok i found this and it is set on 0, so what does this mean? Does it need to be higher for the image to be lighter.

I had comments that my first image posted is too light, over exposed a bit.
And the second one looks ok.

but to me the first one on the PC looks just right
and the second looks too dark
which leads me to think, maybe it is my screen that is the problem lol

Yes my camera is new, about a month old.

Can someone tell me what EXIF is please??

I went and checked the settings on the origionals, and it said the flash was fired for both photos.

the first one , my focal length was 55.0mm and the second was 50.omm.

[Patti Edens]

Originally Posted by Cally P

Again, thanks for all your replies... I am busily looking at all you have said and trying to take it on board.
...
Can someone tell me what EXIF is please??

It stands for EXchangeable Image Format and it is just the standard for the way the information about how the shot was taken is stored or embedded by the camera in the image file. It's info such as shutter speed, aperture, ISO, flash used or not, etc.

The info can be read by many image editing programs and there are also programs out there that can read it from an image file posted on the web. However, some software will pull the info out of the image and it cannot be read. If I use "Save for Web" in photoshop, it pulls the info out. So, I don't use that anymore. At least I think that was happening.

I use both ViewEXIF and the Panda software to look at the EXIF info on photos that I look at on the web. Sometimes it is easier to help someone troubleshoot a problem with a photo if you know all of the settings. For example, if it is blurry, I would look to see if the shutter speed was too slow. It is also nice to see if you are just wondering how someone took a photo that you might want to try yourself.

Sorry...probably more than you wanted to know.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot to answer your other question. Yes, if exposure compensation is set to a positive value, the shutter will stay open longer (in aperture preferred mode) and the photo will be brighter. If it is negative, just the opposite. That's interesting because the EXIF data that I looked at for your photos indicates that the exposure bias was + 2/3, which means that the meter was not centered (at zero) and instead was two thirds of the way between 0 and 1 to the right side.

I wonder if it changed or if the program I'm using is just picking up wrong data?

In any case, I think the second shot is about the best you can do exposure-wise. The sky and part of the water are already blown out, so you don't want to make it any brighter. But you can selectively brighten up the child and add a little saturation and sharpening in a photo editing program and it will be a very good photo...imho.

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