Printing Photo Data

[Danudin]

Hi guys,

Had a quick look through FAQs but could not see how I can print a photo and if I need to also print the metadata of that photo. Another case of not knowing the terminology I guess.

For those who followed my search for a moon shot, ley me just add that you guys who started with FILM cameras, must have once been rich. The moon came out last night so off I went to experiment, trying to master "M" mode, (Which makes me appreciate the amount of film I would have wasted) Eventually the clouds came up and I got what was a good shot of the moon illuminating the clouds from behind. Only to find this morning that I had left the ISO on 800 (an experiment) Will post to my gallery!

Still an interesting shot, pity about the noise

Any help on printing metadat would be appreciated.

Ron

[ljameso1]

Cant help with the metadate, but you are right about film costs. I used to have a 900$/yr film and processing habit:eek:. Needless to say, my digitals have more than paid for themselves and their peripherals.:D

[Danudin]

Yes I was lucky to get into photography extra late in life and it is easy to dump digital, but if you hear of a way of printing or at least copying the meta data, please come back as I need to be able to see things to really learn them and at this rate I doubt I ever will understand exposure, ISO, Aperture and shutter speed well enough to take a really good shot in "M" mode which is as close to real photography as I will get.

No success so far but tons of fun and frustration. Thanks for the response I appreciate it.
Ron

[Not4wood]

If your up to that stage then you need to do it the old fashioned way.

Go to either a Garage Sale, Used Photo Dept or so on and buy yourself a small cheap external Light Meter.

You can use the Light Meter in your Camera

All you have to do is trust it and start shooting. Look around you, I ended up deep into the woods yesterday morning and I needed to set my ISO up a bit to about 800 to get some good high shutter speeds. Spotty Sun due to coming into the trees did make me crazy but what can you do and to add to that I was surrounded by very heavy green most from the trees but then add to this again and you have deep moss or green light bouncing around everywhere.

[Juergen D]

Ron,
IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com) (free) is a good option to view/print metadata.

Juergen

[Danudin]

Not4wood

"You can use the Light Meter in your Camera

All you have to do is trust it and start shooting. Look around you, I ended up deep into the woods yesterday morning and I needed to set my ISO up a bit to about 800 to get some good high shutter speeds. Spotty Sun due to coming into the trees did make me crazy but what can you do and to add to that I was surrounded by very heavy green most from the trees but then add to this again and you have deep moss or green light bouncing around everywhere."

Great advise, do you vary between the Matrix, Center Weighted and Spot meter mode or stick to just one, and if you change, based on what sort of criteria please?

Juergen, thanks mate looks okay from the web site, it is near midnight and the boss just said sleep so I will look at it tomorrow or Thursday, more to learn, but that is what I am here for.

Thanks all and to all a good night.
Ron

[Not4wood]

Truthfully, its not that difficult and there is no really wrong way if you just dont panic and think the situation thru in what your doing.

Depending on what I'm shooting, I will change all of the settings constantly from the:

ISO Speed and keep checking as I'm walking around.

WB settings because my surroundings are usually constantly changing like in the UK. Sundays walk was the same WB everywhere I went.

Aperature Settings and Shutter Speed to make sure I am within limits.

Metering: Spot, full Matrix depends on the situation. If I'm shooting a human subject like a bride I will want to make sure her eyes are in focus.
In a large group I will change it to Matrix to make sure everyone is in focus.

For example on Sunday, everywhere I had gone my head was doing a 360 to see any Landscapes/Sceneries/Flowers as well as Birds. Drove me nuts, I needed a lot of Coffee but it was fun and I was on a high from it..

I am including three shots of either mindset and you let me know what you will do in each situation. Only after you think about it, click them to enlarge the images and then go down under the shots to look for my EXIF Info to see what I had done.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/TIA2077/Great%20Britain/th_framed_EdinbourghChurch.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/TIA2077/Great%20Britain/framed_EdinbourghChurch.jpg)

Camera Model: NIKON D80Date/Time: 2008:07:25 10:06:38Resolution: 760 x 951Flash Used: NoFocal Length: 18.0mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm...Exposure Time: 0.033 s (1/30)Aperture: f/5.0ISO Equiv.: 1000Whitebalance: AutoMetering Mode: matrixExposure: ManualExposure Mode: ManualExposure Mode: Auto bracketing

_________
Now I'm curious because I know I had my Meter on Spot because I had just checked it at that time for this shot, maybe the light source was on Matrix on my D80.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/TIA2077/Birds%20and%20Small%20Animals/th_DSC_2959_BW_Warbler2_framed.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/TIA2077/Birds%20and%20Small%20Animals/DSC_2959_BW_Warbler2_framed.jpg)

Camera Model: NIKON D80Date/Time: 2008:09:07 09:13:32Resolution: 510 x 361Flash Used: NoFocal Length: 250.0mm (35mm equivalent: 375...Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250)Aperture: f/5.6ISO Equiv.: 800Whitebalance: ManualLight Source: Fine weatherMetering Mode: matrixExposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/TIA2077/Birds%20and%20Small%20Animals/th_DSC_2947_flying_Himmerframed.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/TIA2077/Birds%20and%20Small%20Animals/DSC_2947_flying_Himmerframed.jpg)

Camera Model: NIKON D80Date/Time: 2008:09:07 08:49:22Resolution: 1023 x 816Flash Used: NoFocal Length: 300.0mm (35mm equivalent: 450...Exposure Time: 0.0063 s (1/160)Aperture: f/5.6ISO Equiv.: 800Whitebalance: ManualLight Source: Fine weatherMetering Mode: matrixExposure: ManualExposure Mode: Manual

[Danudin]

Wow I asked for it and you gave it to me in spades.
Thanks a bunch!

You say it isn't that difficult, but I have only dabbled with Auto for around two years, Joining this forum has convinced me that M Mode is what I want. However I have not any background in this and bit by bit I hope to pick the brains of old hands like you to lead me towards this type of understanding. You and your ilk are real treasure, (I said ILK not Elk) I promise to study your last post until I grok it!

Please keep helping us plodders.
Ron

PS Hope I haven't offended your Elk

[Not4wood]

Ron said:
"Please keep helping us plodders.
Ron
PS Hope I haven't offended your Elk"

I dont know about Elk but my Caribou is proud.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/TIA2077/Alaska/th_IMG_0083.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/TIA2077/Alaska/IMG_0083.jpg)

[genevh]

Metering: Spot, full Matrix depends on the situation. If I'm shooting a human subject like a bride I will want to make sure her eyes are in focus. In a large group I will change it to Matrix to make sure everyone is in focus.
Need to make a bit of a correction here, but metering in the camera has little to do with focusing. Your in-camera meter is a built in light meter, with many of the capabilities of a hand-held light meter.

The difference in how the camera's light meter evaluates a scene's exposure depends on how its set. Full Matrix metering utilizes the entire scene for a light reading and will give you an exposure setting based on that. This is best for fairly evenly lit scenes that don't have high degrees of difference from the lighter to darker elements within. This will give you an evenly balanced exposure of the entire scene and should result in the most natural results.

Center weighted metering again utilizes the entire scene to measure the light, but puts greater weight on the middle of the scene for its reading. For example, this would be the best for portraits where you want to ensure your subject is properly exposed without emphasizing background exposure.

Spot metering would be for situations with high contrast between your subject and the remaining parts of the scene. Let's say you want to take a picture that has a lot of sky in it, including the sun, but you want the primary exposure setting to get the best from the sky itself. You would spot meter directly from the sky off to the side of the sun, far enough away to not include the sun in the metering area, and set your shutter and f-stop accordingly. Likewise in a scene where you want the shadow detail revealed, you would meter directly from that part of the scene. In this scenario the spot meter will meter from where you obtain your primary focus in the scene.

For more information on how the D80 meters a scene, you can look in the User's Manual (http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nikonusa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=14051) starting on page 52.

HTH!

And I hope I don't offend anyone's ilk or elk....:D

[Danudin]

Not4wood said:
"I dont know about Elk but my Caribou is proud."

Just in case you don't think I'm a kidding ya!

I'm Echidna

2654

and genevh,

Thank you, and it all is technically great but the way I read your post is to rely on the metering when shooting albeit, with the criteria you specified, is that right? Will make it a bit easier if all I need to do is decide on what mode of metering I use.

Thanks, I am beginning to see through a lens "Darkly"
Ron

[ljameso1]

Hey Ron, Good start. Most digital cameras will also show a histogram on the screen. Try to get the right side as close to the edge without touching to avoid over-exposing highlights. Let the shadows fall where they may(kinda like exposing slide film). If the histogram isn't showing-check the manual to see how to get it to display. This will really help you learn exposure.
Here's a couple of metering tricks: Fill the frame or spot meter with something midtone such as green grass or blue sky(doesn"t need to be in focus), adjust the settings until the exposure arrow lines up with the middle of the display(in the viewfinder). Unless the lighting changes, you can stick with those settings. In winter use snow to meter, but get the exposure adjusted so that the arrow is lined up at the +1 1/2 mark(to the right). Snow is that much brighter than mid-tone. That's enough to get you started in manual.

[Danudin]

Thanks Linda,
This is the kinda stuff I'm after, and yes I refer to the Histogram on nearly every shot, but you said:
"adjust the settings until the exposure arrow lines up with the middle of the display(in the viewfinder)."
I'm not sure which settings you are referring to?

And We get as much snow here in Queensland as Southern Florida gets, I can't afford to fly to New Zealand just to adjust my camera settings.
Love the help thank you
Ron

[genevh]

Thank you, and it all is technically great but the way I read your post is to rely on the metering when shooting albeit, with the criteria you specified, is that right? Will make it a bit easier if all I need to do is decide on what mode of metering I use.Technically, what I said is correct in how I understand the way a light meter works. But I have also read that the meter is basically stupid. And what is meant by that is that it is built to see the world as gray. 18% gray, which is pretty much considered the center of the black and white color scale. And yes, your meter sees the world in black and white, not in color.

This is where you need to learn to interpret what the meter is trying to tell you so that you can adjust accordingly. That is where the advice of ljames comes in. Your meter, if you set it in the center the way it would want you too, will turn white snow into gray snow as it will want to underexpose it to match the 18% gray the meter is set to.

Likewise, if your scene is primarily black, the meter will want to overexpose to make the black again appear to be gray. In this case, you would need to expose so the needle is in the - side of the metering range.

Getting it right takes practice and knowing how your meter is reading the scene. My camera tends to underexpose at the meter's center, so I have to compensate for that. But once I figured that out, it got easier. The rest is just practice. Take a few shots exposed the way the meter tells you to, then expose on both sides of that setting and compare the results. You will learn how to interpret your meter for various lighting conditions.

And this changing your exposure settings to either side of center, is also called "bracketing". This is essentially what that term means and will give you a better chance of getting the correct exposure, or once you get more into it, getting the "creatively correct" exposure. :D

For a more thorough discussion of that topic, pick up a copy of Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs With a Film or Digital Camera". Well worth the asking price.

[Danudin]

This is why I joined the village to meet people like you Gene, talk about being able to clear muddy waters, you must have been an instructor in a past/current life. I understand/understood about the practice and am doing all I can to learn from the examples I (Me Myself) create. and I know with time the reward will come. But with what you have given us here is wonderful, and so clear and concise.

Now I understand why it has always been a cooperative struggle between me and the meter, now I think you have given me a toehold that I can use, and maybe win a few tussles, with knowledge not just luck.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, oh and did I say,
Thank You,
Ron

[ljameso1]

Thanks Linda,
This is the kinda stuff I'm after, and yes I refer to the Histogram on nearly every shot, but you said:
"adjust the settings until the exposure arrow lines up with the middle of the display(in the viewfinder)."
I'm not sure which settings you are referring to?


While looking through the view finder, partially depress the shutter button and look at the bottom edge of the view finder. You should see your current aperture and shutter speed as well as a scale that goes from -2 to +2. The shield mark in the middle represents 18% gray(mid-tone). There will be an arrow under the scale that tells you how far your current settings deviate from mid-tone. Just change either shutter speed or aperture to move the arrow where you want it.

And We get as much snow here in Queensland as Southern Florida gets, I can't afford to fly to New Zealand just to adjust my camera settings.
Love the help thank you
Ron
Sorry, Didn't look to see where you are located:o. The same applies to white sand, white birds, white rocks....:D

[Danudin]

Sorry Linda, I try to insert my brand of humour into things, and sometimes toe the line, was only Chiding.
Do you like the slogan above, a Queensland ad trying to entice those from the Southern states up into the sun.
If you are interested I have posted a number of shots in my gallery which depict winter in Queensland well. including "A winters day in Queensland" the Jet ski race and the Lorikeet feeding, all taken in the last month or so.

I really appreciate your input it is valuable, don't let my flippancy put you off.

Ron

[genevh]

Ron:

You are very welcome. Just hope it all helps. But I don't really believe in the past life thing, and have never been an instructor, although in my job I have had to learn to be as clear and precise as possible when I am working with a customer. And our customers are scattered all over the globe, so it can get rather interesting at times. :eek:

[ljameso1]

Sorry Linda, I try to insert my brand of humour into things, and sometimes toe the line, was only Chiding.
Do you like the slogan above, a Queensland ad trying to entice those from the Southern states up into the sun.
If you are interested I have posted a number of shots in my gallery which depict winter in Queensland well. including "A winters day in Queensland" the Jet ski race and the Lorikeet feeding, all taken in the last month or so.

I really appreciate your input it is valuable, don't let my flippancy put you off.

Ron

Don't worry, I didn't take offense. Your gallery looks great. Did you notice my answer to your other question somehow wound up in the middle of the part that was quoted?

[Danudin]

Sorry Linda, went out shooting the Glasshouse mountains yesterday, and had reason to use the advice you gave re the viewfinder. I was just rechecking what you said and realized that I had not replied, hence this post.

Still learning though and yesterdays big lesson was "Think about what you ARE doing!" Had been taking some bracketing shots that I hope to use in a small HDR project later, then had the great idea of a panoramic shot, but forgot to turn off the bracketing, should be interesting as I don't plan ditching the shots, as they might still be good as a first panorama exercise.

Please excuse my rudeness in not responding sooner.
Ron

[ljameso1]

No problem. Now you have a great opportunity to do an hdr pano. Stitch the shadow,midtone, and highlight panos separately then merge the 3 as hdr. I used that technique to make a welcome pano for my church.

[Danudin]

The D70s requires individual shutter presses for the bracketing, but I only clicked once then moved so view and exposures won't match, it will be a great exercise though to see if I got the shooting right and I can stitch it all together, if so its back out to the Glasshouse mountains (Hopefully on a no smog day) and I will try my hardest to HDR it almost convinced myself to buy Photomatix and if it works I will.
Thanks again
Ron