EndlessFloydian

Member

• May 27, 2017

• #1

I've got a s7 edge, I've never been a pro photographer, I just want to take good pics of some storms--some video as well.

Everytime I take a pic of dark storm clouds, they end up looking light gray and washed out. Same for sunset pics--instead of being deep red, they end up a bright washed out pink.

What am I doing wrong? Thanks for any helpful tips!

 

Oppo

Member

• May 27, 2017

• #2

well you are using a phone, so it's gonna be tough. HDR maybe?

if you have something (an app) with manual settings, you want a low f-stop/aperture, and slowest exposure you can do handheld, which is typically 1/30 or 1/60 of a second.

anything with dynamic lighting like that, you are at the mercy of the physical size of your lens, which just can't absorb a lot of light. as my pro photog buddy likes to say, there's only so many photons you can cram through a bee's asshole.

video - you get what you get, even less maneuverability there.

 

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions

• May 27, 2017

• #3

For good dark clouds, use a aperture of like, f.16

Shutter 125

Iso 100-200

Try that, and play around with settings around those levels

 

D

DBT85

Member

• May 27, 2017

• #4

Use a longer exposure and let the flash of the lightning do the work. Have a look on flickr and you'll see loads of amazing lightning shots and most are not short exposures where the tog got very lucky, but longer exposures where you set up and just let it go, when the bolt hits you'll get your photo.

This below was my only attempt at it from the back garden of the villa I stayed in in Murcia, Spain. 1s exposure. Just rested the camera on the railing to steady it up.

Click to expand...

 

Z

Zoc

Member

• May 27, 2017

• #5

Download a camera app with "exposure compensation" and use that to darken the image. Also be sure the app can produce RAW files, because those let you alter the exposure after you take the picture.

The camera calculates the exposure based on a constant average. It doesn't know whether what you are looking at is supposed to be dark, like a storm, or bright, like a snowfield. It evens out the darkness of the storm to be too bright, and the brightness of the snow to be too dark. Exposure compensation is the easiest way to get around that.