hariku821

I tend to shoot a lot of landscape and i'm just not getting the detail I would like out of the shots. It could be because of the camera, but I think their is something more I could do. Here are a few shots let me know what you guys think.

I'm using a Panasonic fz28 mega zoom. It has some manual controls that i'm trying to use as well as the auto focus. I try to shoot one shot in auto then a few with the manual.

I read that higher aperture would give greater detail in landscape shots so i tried that as you can see..

F/7.1 1/50s iso 100 ???mm


F/8 1/50s iso 100 24mm


F/8 1/60s iso 100 24mm


???


???

zzziippyyy

Hi Hariku? Were these shot in manual mode if you were shooting in manual mode with the light you had and the aperture you chose F8 in this case "aperture is the F stop if you dont know" you will need to increase your shutter speed to let a little less light in. The slow shutter speed in the light that you shot in is overexposing your frame it is allowing too much light into the camera sensor. You were getting there notice how your exposure is getting better and better as your shutter speed was increasing. About 1/320th to 1/500th would have been about right at f8 and iso100 for the light you were shooting in.

Try reading this page to understand what I am attempting to explain to you.

http://www.smccd.net/accounts/takaya...e/exposure.htm



Once you read it thru one go back and read it again and imagine yourself seeing a scene and manipulating the controls on your camera. Do it a few times than you will get the idea and be able to shoot better exposures.

Hope that helps you.
Dave

hariku821

While shooting I was going off the meter on camera to get the right exposure. The meter seems to give me mixed results though. While one picture will turn out under exposed the other over exposed , all while the meter shows the same numbers.. This seems to happen mostly when shooting large landscapes and not when I have a smaller subject.

e3opian

Your camera has different metering modes and each behave very differently. This is likely the reason for the mixed results. The sky is relatively bright compared to the trees and mountains. So a metering mode that uses the entire scene is going to be quite confused... See if you have a spot meter and meter for the sky, then meter for the trees and compare the results. Do it several times and you should see much more consistent results.

AssassinJN

Also if you have manual mode, then take a shot and check how it looks on the back of your camera. If it's very bright like the above shots, use a faster shutter speed and try again, then check again. Keep doing this and you will start to developer an idea of what settings you need for typical situations like this.

Also if you are worrying about "details" and sharpness of your photo, then a faster shutter speed will help get rid of unwanted blur from camera shake. Also most digital photos need to have a little editing done afterwards to really make them pop and look sharp.

imput1234

Your shutter is open too long. Try using the light meter when you shoot. Shoot in RAW, and then use lightroom to process. It helps a lot.

quick edit of your pic, hope you don't mind.

zzziippyyy

Take it one step further and learn the sunny 16 rule, once you have a good idea beforehand of what exposure you will need for certain lighting conditions you will find that you will spend a lot less time chimping "refer to quoted post above"and a lot more time productively shooting. In the old days you had to learn proper exposure and fast as it cost you a fortune in film if you did not. That is one thing I preach to any new shooters get it right in the camera and you shooting sessions will become more enjoyable and productive. I can almost nail my exposures first shot from the years of experience working with light and properly learning manual settings for them.

This in itself and compostion truly will solve and answer 80-90% of all the problems pepole encounter while doing photogrpahy. Its the other 10-20% that can be a real learning curve.

O yes what s the sunny 16 rule you ask

Here you go its simple but invaluable once mastered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunny_16_rule

FrostyWinters

What do you know? You learn something new everyday! First it was the Rule of the Thirds. Now it's the Sunny 16 Rule. I can't wait to find the next one!

Thanks Dave!

zzziippyyy

^ I got a few things in this old skull to share yet, but hey Norm and the rest of the gang here are just at smart Like I said some real good and smart shooters in this forum.

Treat em right and you will learn a ton.

Act like a know it all and cocky and you will get laughed at

Just a observation.

Glad to help you out frosty!