Weird question regarding camera getting it very wrong

[Squidy]

Oh, and I wasn't watching the histogram, I still don't know how to read it properly

[Dave Throgmartin]

Oh, and I wasn't watching the histogram, I still don't know how to read it properly

re: histogram

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/...eras-histogram

I prefer center weighted because it is predictable. Evaluate uses an algorithm to try and predict what the proper exposure is. If what I'm getting doesn't match my expectations I dial in EV compensation or put in manual mode.

Dave

[Busted Knuckles]

So now begins the lessons in ETTR. Exposure to the right - in a set shot like this - take a moment, once you are practiced that moment will be about .5 seconds. .

Pick AV/TV and an ISO - you will be adjusting one against the other two.

The sky is what overwhelmed the AE. For landscapes, I am a fan of spot metering and spot metering only. I meter the most crucial element of the pic, double check the highlights ( brightest sky in this case). Set the exposure for just barely below the clipping point (this you have to double check your gear on). With the over exposure blinkies on, take a pick, there should be the very smallest portion dot of a blinky -- come down 1/3rd a stop from this. There are couple of ways to do this. Some version of manual - or some version of exposure compensation - with practice you will be able to see the difference between what you are metering and the clipping points in the scene. You can use ISO as your variable or I typically use shutter speed. I set a low ISO and then the aperture I want for the effect and fiddle w/ shutter speed 1st and then ISO second in the games of compromises.

What this exposure does is maximize the information to the sensor. It most likely ends up with something that looks overexposed, it is much easier to pull down the exposure in post than pull it up - there simply isn't any information in the shadows. Remember we set the scene with minimal if none blown highlights.

If the scene can't be overexposed using this method it is time for an HDR effort or know that you will have blown/clipped highlights.

Again, with a bit of practice - just sit somewhere on a morning you are lounging and take 10 minutes to play with this and compare the settings and highlights of the same scene - it doesn't take hours and hours, just a few moments of attention to the topic and it will become 2nd nature.

[Busted Knuckles]

A little update on the ETTR and blinkies - the blinkies are a jpg conversion of the raw, typically you can get a bit more out of the raw file than the jpg conversion.