Archive 2017 · Technique help: long sunrise exposure over the ocean

newjerseysurf
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Technique help: long sunrise exposure over the ocean

Attempted this today with much fail.

Had the camera set to shutter priority at 2 seconds, ISO 100 which had me at f/22.

Every photo was wayyyy over exposed even when using the manual exposure compensation and bracketing.

I don't have an ND filter. But otherwise, where was I going wrong?

Thanks!

Nov 18, 2017 at 03:00 PM

aFeinberg
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Technique help: long sunrise exposure over the ocean

Just adjust via the feedback. You need an ND. If youre maxed at aperture and iso the only thing left to adjust is shutter...

Good luck!

Nov 18, 2017 at 03:45 PM

xterra07
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Technique help: long sunrise exposure over the ocean

You are trusting the camera's decision making which often doesn't work.
Switch to Manual. Either use Live-View to see what the camera sees, or adjust with exposure indicator at 0 as a starting point.
If too bright, go down 2 stops. Usually the dial switches in 1/3 increments, so 6 clicks. Away from seconds and into second fractions.
Don't trust the camera when shooting into a light source. Get used to Manual mode.

Nov 18, 2017 at 04:01 PM

fishjump
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Technique help: long sunrise exposure over the ocean

I suspect that with having your setting on shutter priority, the camera could not close the lens past f22 (maximum lens aperture)? What was the histogram showing?

As suggested above, shoot in manual and adjust to the histogram. you probably need a ND filter though.

Nov 18, 2017 at 04:21 PM

newjerseysurf
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Technique help: long sunrise exposure over the ocean

xterra07 wrote:
You are trusting the camera's decision making which often doesn't work.
Switch to Manual. Either use Live-View to see what the camera sees, or adjust with exposure indicator at 0 as a starting point.
If too bright, go down 2 stops. Usually the dial switches in 1/3 increments, so 6 clicks. Away from seconds and into second fractions.
Don't trust the camera when shooting into a light source. Get used to Manual mode.

sorry for the naivety but what does live view help with here?

Nov 18, 2017 at 09:33 PM

JimKied
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Technique help: long sunrise exposure over the ocean

newjerseysurf wrote:
sorry for the naivety but what does live view help with here?

You don't mention the camera you have, but most cameras that use live view, when placed in manual mode, allow you to change ISO, SS, and Fstop and see the resultant impact of those changes in live view. You would then be able to see if the image is over- or underexposed and change accordingly before taking the picture.

A lot of cameras also show the histogram in live view. This also is very helpful in ensuring that you do not over or under expose a shot. Or you can intentionally over or underexpose a lot more accurately. With the histogram enabled and changing your preferred variable - say SS, you can see the histogram curve move in one direction or another. If you do not want to overexpose, make sure that all the information shown in the curve stays inside of the right side of the field. If any of the info moves into the right side, you have "clipped" the highlights. Similarly, if you do the same thing on the left side, you have "clipped" the darks, meaning that some parts of your image will be totally black with no information to bring out in post.

I hope all that makes sense. With practice it will definitely make sense and help you understand better how light impacts the scene you are trying to capture. I am still learning, so it will not be something you learn overnight.

Nov 19, 2017 at 07:53 AM

newjerseysurf
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Technique help: long sunrise exposure over the ocean

JimKied wrote:
You don't mention the camera you have, but most cameras that use live view, when placed in manual mode, allow you to change ISO, SS, and Fstop and see the resultant impact of those changes in live view. You would then be able to see if the image is over- or underexposed and change accordingly before taking the picture.

A lot of cameras also show the histogram in live view. This also is very helpful in ensuring that you do not over or under expose a shot. Or you can intentionally over or underexpose a lot more accurately. With the...Show more →

That makes a lot of sense. I had no idea. D7200 btw.

Nov 19, 2017 at 08:00 AM

xterra07
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Technique help: long sunrise exposure over the ocean

Live View shows you the exposure, how the picture will look after you take it. So you can see in your automated (Shutter priority) mode that it's too bright, so switch to Manual and change the exposure.

Nov 19, 2017 at 12:01 PM


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