Am I exposing correctly? CC needed

C

ChrisM

New member
I finally got my 35mm 1.8 and got a chance to play with it a bit. I took these photos of my daughter taking a bubble bath the other night. They were taken in my kids bathroom where the light is crappy. I hate my on board flash (speedlight on my wishlist) so I didn't use it, just upped my ISO.

I'm just wondering if i'm exposing correctly? These are unedited other than a little cropping and resizing. Settings are posted under each photo.

_dsc2163_copy.jpg


ISO:1600
1/160
f/1.8

_dsc2158_copy.jpg


ISO:1600
1/200
f/1.8

_dsc2152_copy.jpg


ISO:1600
1/200
f/1.8

_dsc2157_copy.jpg


ISO:1600
1/200
f/1.8

Edit: Sorry for breaking the rules and posting more than one image, but I wanted feedback on whether or not I was exposing correctly and consistently so it would be kind of hard to judge that by one image.
 
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Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
I think you might be a just tiny bit on the under side. Now before you blame the camera, remember that when it measures what you are shooting, it THINKS IT'S 18% GREY.
So, as a rule, if something is pale as in white bathtub, pale skin, you could overexpose by about 1/3 of a stop.

But in this case, you still have all the details and a little bit of post processing can easily take care of it.
Here is what it could look like after adding light.
_dsc2158_copy copy.jpg

Hope this helps,

Marcel
 
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J

Joseph Bautsch

New member
The exposures look fine. You may need a little more contrast but as you said the light was crappy. A little tweaking in post processing should take care of it. More often than not flat or lack of contrast is a problem in low light situations.
 
C

ChrisM

New member
Thanks Marcel! I'd never blame the camera, I know it's always me, lol! I was metering off her face so that would explain it (she has rather pale skin). Thanks for the feedback.
 
C

ChrisM

New member
Joseph Bautsch said:
The exposures look fine. You may need a little more contrast but as you said the light was crappy. A little tweaking in post processing should take care of it. More often than not flat or lack of contrast is a problem in low light situations.
Click to expand...

Thanks Joseph ... that means a ton coming from you! I'm trying to improve as much as possible and do less post process work. But tweaking contrast is not a big deal.
 
Browncoat

Browncoat

Senior Member
Marcel Carey said:
I think you might be a just tiny bit on the under side. Now before you blame the camera, remember that when it measures what you are shooting, it THINKS IT'S 18% GREY. So, as a rule, if something is pale as in white bathtub, pale skin, you could overexpose by about 1/3 of a stop.
Click to expand...

I agree.

These appear to be about 1/3 to 1/2 stop underexposed, and this is just one of those situations where the fudge factor comes into play and it's difficult to even tell at all. Different eyes will judge these differently, so you're in the gray area for lack of a better term. As a general rule, it is easier to edit images that are overexposed than under because it is difficult to pull detail out of shadows. When in doubt, overexpose.
 
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