What happened?

[casil403]

Hi again everyone...I was wondering if you could help me understand what I did incorrectly while trying to capture my dog playing frisbee. I was doing quite a bit of multi-taking here...photo taking, throwing frisbee, getting Chase in the shot etc. etc. but all the shots came back quite dark and not in focus very well. I did use a tripod for the shots and a cable release.
The first shot is the original, the second is a crop and some pp. Here's the exif data:
Shutter priority ...plus I had the shake reduction setting turned on.
ISO 200 - would ISO100 made a difference?
Sunny white balance
1/1000
F9.5 - should this have been larger or smaller? I let the camera pick it.
50mm focal length
Flash not used
spot metering (I know that was incorrect for sure..probably center weighted?)

Thanks ever so much for your input!

[jjeling]

Well there are a couple things I have noticed, starting with your equipment.
With as much light as you have to work with, you shutter speed was at 1/1000. The use of your tripod was probably hindering your ability to compose the picture with your dog. 1/1000 is enough to stop any action, even at 300mm you wouldnt really need a tripod.
I would try and manually set your white balance to the snow, instead of using sunny. The snow is generally caught at something like 52% grey or something like that. Unless you really set the white balance for it, the color of snow is usually off.
I dont think there is a problem with spot metering. You said the white balance was set for sunny, so I'm assuming there was little to no cloud cover. In this situation I might have shot in manual mode. Forgetting about the composition until I made sure the exposure was right. Once you figure out the correct exposure, then set the camera to braketing mode. This way you will take three pictures every time you press the shutter and will get three exposures, generally resulting in a good exposure in one of them. Just be prepared to use a LOT of memory this way.
The situation you presented is kind of tough, for any photographer really. With it being sunny, and plenty of snow cover on the ground, it is extremely bright, which is why you had a fast shutter speed. Along with that, you are trying to capture a very dark colored dog, and this is sending your camera for a whirlwind trying to figure out the exposure. This is the type of situation you would stop your camera from thinking and just do the thinking yourself.
Just remember, if your camera is having a hard time with the exposure, switch to manual mode and figure it out yourself.
At 50mm or less, I hardly ever use a tripod. Unless its getting dark out(this case it wasn't), there is enough light to produce a shutter speed over 1/300, fast enough to stop any camera shake at 300mm and taking away the necessity of a tripod for the most part unless your going for a special effect(deep dof). Just my .02, hopefully that helps some.

[casil403]

Thanks a bunch JJ. I always appreciate your input. I added a few extra bits of info after the fact if that helps....

[jjeling]

I think iso 200 is fine here. There is not much difference between 100 and 200. 200 just produces a fast shutter speed. I think you would have been ok going with either one here.
At 9.5 that is a pretty deep DOF for an action shot. Most action shots Ive dealt with have much less to isolate the subject and to keep the shutter speed up. Thats using much more than a 50mm lens though.
What mode were you using here? Manual, aperture or shutter priority, etc?

[casil403]

What mode were you using here? Manual, aperture or shutter priority, etc?

Shutter priority...I had shake reduction setting on also. Mostly I used the tripod and used a cable release so I could throw the frisbee (an extra set of hands almost)...I don't think I could have done it all without the tripod.

I have a "surf and snow" scene setting on the camera....would that in any way have helped or next time just slap it into Manual?
What would have been a better aperture setting than F9.5?

[tirediron]

Not really a WB issue IMO. Your camera's meter is designed to review the reflectivity of a middle-grey object (Neutral, or 18% grey). What happened here was that the camera saw the snow, assumed, as it's designed to, that it was middle grey and exposed appropriately. As has been mentioned, in situations like this, you can't [normally] use automatic modes successfully.

There are a couple of ways to deal with a situation like this. The best is to use incident metering; that is: using an incident meter which reads the light at the scene, rather than that which is reflected, but unless you have a separate light-meter, not really an option, OR the simple and easy method is to use the 'Sunny 16' rule. That is: You exposure for a bright, sunny day should be equivalent to f16 with the shutter speed the same as your ISO. In this case: F16 @ 1/200 second, or f11 @ 1/400, or f8 @ 1/800.

Like JJ said, tripod and release aren't really required here, even at 300mm (but don't forget to make sure that your shutter speed is at LEAST equal to FL if not higher when hand-holding long glass) and not using them will give you much greater freedom of composition.

[casil403]

Thanks Tirediron...So say if you were taking that photo ...or anyone else experienced/or not on here feel free to jump in as well.... what would you have done differently on your exif data, settings etc.? I really want to understand here how to change this for the better so are there some concrete settings I could try out next time?
Could you pretend we are out shooting together and you are coaching me...please tell me exactly what to do...if that's possible.
Also know that I really appreciate the advice given already.

[tirediron]

Thanks Tirediron...So say if you were taking that photo ...or anyone else experienced/or not on here feel free to jump in as well.... what would you have done differently on your exif data, settings etc.? I really want to understand here how to change this for the better so are there some concrete settings I could try out next time?
Could you pretend we are out shooting together and you are coaching me...please tell me exactly what to do...if that's possible.
Also know that I really appreciate the advice given already.

There aren't really any concrete settings, although the 'Sunny 16' rule is a very good guide. I usually tote my old Luna Pro around in my bag, but if I didn't have it there are one of two things, in addition to the 'Sunny 16' rule that could be used:

1. Set the camera to manual, meter the scene and open it up 1 1/2 - 2 stops, make the exposure and look at it on the cameras LCD screen; if you see nice, bright white snow with little or no clipping, you're good to go, if it's still got a grey cast, open up another half stop, if you see a lot of clipping (blown highlights) close down one third - one half stop.

2. Buy a grey card from your local camera store (< $20) and put that in an area of average brightness, set your meter mode to spot, and take the reading from the grey card. This gives the meter something with the reflectivity it expects to see. If you don't have or don't want to get a grey card, then you can use your built in one - again, set the camera to manual and the meter mode to spot, then meter the palm of your hand, and open up one full stop from there.

[jjeling]

TI got the 18% grey thing. He mentioned the Sunny 16 rule as well which is something Ive forgotten about. I would honestly forget about using the tripod and cable release. Just make sure you have your neck strap attached securely and use it appropriatly. Ive climbed trees and crossed rivers, and taken pictures of hockey games inside the rink with the camera around my neck. It helps to get used to the feeling. If your shutter speed is fast enough, then you should really only need one hand on your camera..

[casil403]

I just did a bunch of reading on Sunny f16 rule online...I think I vaguely remember it from photo class last year...waaaaaay cheaper than a light meter! Thanks