Colours never bright enough in woodland shots

[badgerwatcher]

What am I doing wrong? When I take photos in woodlands, the colours are always paler than the rich colours my eye sees. I do just have it on the automatic scenery setting, because I don't know what I need to change it to, for the effects I'm aiming for.
The light is less and yet my shots seem over exposed.

[camo]

Hi B

Choosing any of the automatic settings means that you are deciding on an average perspective. In your case the Scenary shot will allow for a metering the light across the whole scene which in a wood is going to be dark, therefore the bird which is more colourful and brighter will be overexposed. The opposite to this is when you photograph a bird in a tree against a light sky (got to be the hardest shot!) in which automatic settings will underexpose the bird.

The solution involves taking more control of the shot however this will depend on the type of camera you have. My routine for such a shot using a DSLR would be to choose the ISO probably 500 - 1,000 in a wood, importantly choose a spot metering which selects its light requirements based on the bird only, then select an aperature valuation setting (AV). As a final setting I would adjust the aperature to give me a speed of at least 1/150.

The best advice I have ever been given on photographing wildlife is to go through a routine which for me is ISO, AV, look for 1/150. Roy

[PMG]

Good advice from camo - I nearly always use AV too - tho for dificult shots light against dark and vice versa I switch to manual and take full control. Most of the time tho even a difficult subject will be handled by AV setting and spot metering - not spot averaging - if your camera has these options. In bright sunlight its usual to underpose a little bit and and in dull settings like a woodland shot overexpose. But its when you get your images downloaded you can 'tdiy' up and 'tweak' the colours to what your eye really saw - eyes are really accurate and you willl be able with a bit of practice to saturate the colours to what they should be without making anything look false!

Pauline

[Hobjob]

In post-processing try taking down the shadows a touch
and increase the saturation (thugh in automatic mode
the camera will put that up anyway).

[badgerwatcher]

Thank you all, that's fabulous. I'll go and have a play.

[Geoff F]

It all depends on what you are trying to photograph and your camera type. A woodland landscape will work reasonably well using Evaluative metering but wildlife will probably come out better using Spot metering.

With a bit of care and experience you can spot meter around a landscape and work out your own average setting.

Don't forget to experiment with Exposure Compensation especially when using Evaluative metering. Try the recommended setting then take the same shot with, say for example, +1 compensation and then -1. See what works best.

I usually set up my camera in the following manner. Select Av then consider the required depth of field (area in focus) let's say F8 or F11, but this will depend on the lens. Then think about shutter speed, to prevent camera shake when handholding (a setting equivalent to the lens size is a good guide; ie 1/200 sec for a 200mm lens). Then set a suitable ISO to give those conditions. Finally meter around the scene to check for 'hotspots' or deep shadows.

By this time, your subject will have moved away or the light has changed; so start again. The quick basic method is Auto ISO and the Semi Auto setting but watch out for excessively low shutter speed or very shallow DOF. Check the result and give a bit of Exposure Compensation then keep shooting and varying the compensation until it looks correct.

The camera scenery mode probably just adjusts the Av mode to give an average depth of field F number setting, but with experience you can do better manually.

I would recommend having a read of this Tutorial, and all of the other tutorials on that site Understanding Camera Metering and Exposure

That should keep you busy for a week or so. But there is a lot of useful information there and I still refer back to it from time to time.

Hope this helps a bit.

Geoff.

[Hookit]

If I have to take a shot up as in taking a shot of a bird I take a lower reading keep the shutter release button half way pressed hold it on the subject then fire. You could also go to manual take a lower reading that does not include the sky and take your shot of the bird.
In photoshop you can increase colour saturation in Hue and Saturation.
I take most of my shots on manual I feel I get far better results than on auto.

[badgerwatcher]

Fab. I'm copying all this so I can keep trying. Thank you.

[Maccattack1]

There are lots of dark bits in the woods and your camera is overexposing to make them lighter. Try to avoid the contrasty areas (take some pics with no sky - even patchy areas of sky in the tree canopy can mess up your exposure) .
Worth trying a polariser and a tripod.
Compact cameras may not have ability to take filters but you can use your sunglasses as a polariser , can be worth experimenting .

Malcolm

[Geoff F]

Show us some failures, with all the camera settings, and we will we probably be able to be more specific. Including some editing tips.

I learn more from my many failures than from my few successes!