Posting screen shots

[Netnut]

How do I post a screen shot into this thread. I have a problem with some really dark photos and I want to post the screen shot to show the photo along with the histogram. Any help would be greatly appreiciated.

[Juergen D]

Garry,
Upload your image to Pixentral (http://www.pixentral.com/). Copy the URL and post it back here.

Juergen

[Netnut]

Juergen thank you for the information. Here is the screen shot I was talking about. All 85 photos I took last Sunday are too dark and all of the histograms look the same. I have taken several photos over the last couple of days, and all of them are the same. Any help would be greatly appriciated. The right side of the histograms show no color at all.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/10e6XLZUyuwcjKBaxwlDGlpIvlQ_thumb.jpg (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/%5BURL=http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=10e6XLZUyuwcjKBaxwlDGlpIvlQ%5D%5B IMG%5Dhttp://www.pixentral.com/hosted/10e6XLZUyuwcjKBaxwlDGlpIvlQ_thumb.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D)

[Juergen D]

Looks like the flash did not fire when it should have. Or do outdoor images look the same?

Juergen

[LeeOtsubo]

It's hard to determine anything from screen capture. If you could post the original jpg file, it would be easier to analyze.

What camera were you using and what mode were you shooting in (e.g. Auto, Scene, PASM)

[Tom K]

Just a simple guess ... do you have some sort of compensation dial in the wrong setting ......Tom :confused:

[Netnut]

Sorry for taking so long to get back with this. I'm retired but work part time in the afternoons and wouldn't ya know, today was one of the days. I hate it when work interupts my PSE.:(
Any way, I have a six months old Canon Digital Rebel XT and shot all of the photos in AUTO mode.

Here is the original photo::confused: You can see how dark it is.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1MvveJON7A1WHYp6TjgsUksH1dxRG1_thumb.jpg (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/%5BURL=http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1MvveJON7A1WHYp6TjgsUksH1dxRG1%5D %5BIMG%5Dhttp://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1MvveJON7A1WHYp6TjgsUksH1dxRG1_thumb.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D)

[LeeOtsubo]

If so, that command strips out the EXIF data so I can't tell what was happening when the shutter was released. The other possibility is that Pixentral strips out the EXIF. Either way, there's still no data about the file.

Display the EXIF data on your PSE screen, do a screen capture and post that. Be sure the all the EXIF is displayed. You might have to capture 2 screens. Or, email the entire original file to me via my Yahoo acct lee_otsubo-at-yahoo.com

[Andyd]

Garry,

I'm no expert by any means, but I'll go with the no flash as well. Sometimes it helps to come out of auto and set your own settings. You might be able to set "how much" flash etc...

Anyway I took the picture and did a down and dirty level adjust and a crop. It brought it up OK.

There are others here that can do and know more about this than I think I ever will. So I'm sure a good answer will be here soon.

Here is what I did...

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1Y9r49RaUNzXCSAvM3Q96gZrMhql_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Y9r49RaUNzXCSAvM3Q96gZrMhql)

P.S. What Lee said above me.. :)

[LeeOtsubo]

Andy did a pretty good job of adjusting levels BUT it's always easier to turn a good photo into a great photo than getting an OK photo out of a mediocre photo. Always try to get the photo correct in the camera. Otherwise, it's like trying to make up for getting lost by speeding. You might get away with it but the stress isn't worth the effort. [/Lecture Mode = OFF] :D

[Netnut]

Lee---You will have to excuse me for being so dumb,:o but where do I find the EXIF data and how do I display it?:confused:

Andy---Thank you for your effort and the photo looks good. I have gone through and fixed the photos but I am trying to learn what I did wrong or if there is something wrong with the camera because all of the photos inside and outside are the same.

[Juergen D]

Garry,
The EXIF data are embedded in the image file. All you have to do is to reduce the size of the image and use Save as.. (Jpeg), NOT Save for Web, which will strip that info out. Then post it here again.

Juergen

[Netnut]

Juergen---Here it is. Hope this is right.

I am off to bed now so will check this in the morning and thank you in advance for all of your help. Your kindness is greatly appreiciated.

[/URL][URL="http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1wZYGLgwYSYTcNSVJFA19Ctti3F"]http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1wZYGLgwYSYTcNSVJFA19Ctti3F_thumb.jpg (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/%5BURL=http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1wZYGLgwYSYTcNSVJFA19Ctti3F%5D%5B IMG%5Dhttp://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1wZYGLgwYSYTcNSVJFA19Ctti3F_thumb.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D)

[LeeOtsubo]

Garry,
You can see your EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) file by clicking File, File Info, Camera Data 1 with the photo open in PSE3.

Your EXIF shows shutter speed was 1/60 sec, aperture set to f5.6 and Flash fired. Another, more extensive EXIF reader, shows your EC (Exposure Compensation) was set to 0 so that's not the problem. The clue is in your ISO (400) and Focal Length (54mm). On page 81 of your manual, the table shows the range of the built-in flash at the above settings is 2.3'-15.1'. Based on the height of the lady in the photo, I'm guessing you were about 20' away. You were out of flash range.

The pop-up flash is anemic at best. If you want to take photos like this on a regular basis, you should either get closer (memorize the table on pp81) or buy an external flash. I recommend the Canon 430EX. When using an external flash, it's best to shoot in Manual mode if you want some degree of control over the photo. The easiest way to shoot flash is in Auto Mode but that usually results in a "deer in the headlights" look.

As for the outdoor photos, I believe that's a different issue. Post one of those using the Juergen's instructions and we'll look at those.

[Wendy]

Hi Garry ...

I just took a look at your image and my guess is that the light from the otherside of the door fooled the camera auto.

It has taken that as the lightest point so everything else is dark :) Just check it out using the eyedroppers in levels.

Wendy

[LeeOtsubo]

Hi Wendy,
The light coming through the windows in the door is a very small percentage of the scene. With Canon's Evaluative Metering Mode, that should have been ignored. The fact that the windows are "blown" shows the camera did, in fact, ignore those hot spots. I also considered the white wall in the background but that's dark as well and the flash would never have reached it in any case. The other possibility is that FEC has been dialed down. But, in flash mode, I believe FEC is reported in place of EC, which in this case is reported as 0 bias. The final possibility is that Garry took a number of photos in quick succession and the flash didn't have time to recycle. Since he reports all his photos were dark, that seemed unlikely as well.

Bottom line, I think the simplest explanation is that Garry was out of flash range. Of course, HL Mencken said, "For every human problem, there is an easy, direct answer that is simple, plausible and... wrong." The Canon flash system can be a mystery to many people including me.

[LeeOtsubo]

Wendy might be right. I looked up the specs for the Digital Rebel/300D and it uses E-TTL (evaluative through the lens) for flash metering. In E-TTL, the metering algorithm was not smart enough to fully compensate for reflective areas. The bright light of the windows might have caused the camera to think it had more light than it really had. Combined with the anemic GN13 of the pop-up flash, the camera may have underexposed. Newer Canon EOS bodies use E-TTL II which is supposed to fix the shortcomings of E-TTL.

However, there's an EXIF entry under Flash that reports, "No strobe return detection." That's one of those mystery elements of Canon flash. I think it means the camera did not detect a reflection of the preflash. That would indicate the subject was too far from the flash.

When taking flash photos, the camera is actually capturing 2 photos. The foreground subject is illuminated by the flash (except in fill flash mode). The camera preflashes and measures the light reflected off the subject just before it fires. This ensures the main subject is correctly exposed. The background is exposed by the shutter speed based on ambient light as measured by the same meter but previous to the preflash. This system helps avoid flash photos with the subject surrounded by a black hole. But, it isn't foolproof.

Since I never use the pop-up flash, there may be oddities associated with it that aren't obvious. My solution is to get closer or use an external flash like a Canon 430EX or 580EX. The definitive work on Canon EOS Flash System can be found here (http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/index.html). Warning - Reading this article in its entirety can result in brain melt-down and severe gastrointestinal distress. :D

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Try using it this way it works a lot better ...

Move off auto and set it to P (that is sort of like auto but lets you change things once it has automatically worked out the settings)
Pop the flash up (you have to do that as its not automatic when you use P)
Then use the FE Lock to lock the correct flash exposure for your image (Its the little button on the back with the * over it).

Have a look at the instruction book under FE Lock that will help you ..

Just experiment with it and you should get a much better result ...

Wendy

[Netnut]

Lee-----Thank you very much for all of your help and suggestions. After thinking about what you said, I think you are right, I must invest in an external flash. Maybe Santa will help with that. He already knows that I would like PSE5. I have experimented here in the house at different focal lengths and I can see what you mean by being too far away. Practice-Practice-Practice.
Again the people in this forum come to the aid with answers and suggestions.

[Netnut]

Wendy---Thank you for your response and suggestions. I will definately try them this Sunday at the family Thanksgiving dinner. I will have to study the manual and get better at trying different settings. I am kindof nervous about getting out of Auto but I know I need to. Like I said to Lee, Practice-Practice-practice.

This forum is so great when it comes to helping everyone. Maybe someday I will be able to answer a question.

[Wendy]

Hi Gary ...

Using P is a good way to start ... basically all the setting are set for you (just as they are in Auto) but you then get the chance to vary them if you wish too.


Wendy

[Netnut]

Wendy---Again thank you for all your help. I will try your suggestion the next time out. As I said earlier, I am leery of trying new stuff like this. I really don't have any self confidence but am trying to get over it. In my case, it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.