I think the camera is fooled by the bright light source...camera metering typically assumes the scene is neutral so when it detects that things are way to bright, it compensates by making the exposure faster (faster shutter speed)..

So if you see a situation such as this, you can either compensate in the camera to force it to have a longer exposure...or if your camera has the capability, take a meter reading of something that is neutral...then swing the camera back to the scene you want to shoot at, and take the shot with the previous meter reading you took..

Forgetting what I just mentioned btw, I usually only include direct on sun like that when I am trying to do a silhouette shot...harsh overhead lighting and/or strong backlighting doesn't make for pleasent shadows..

Pak K So'Enjoy your life, guy'.

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Http://www.trustedreviews.com/...Digital-Camera-Tutorial-Exposure-Metering/p1.

Pak K So'Enjoy your life, guy'.

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Hi Steven,.

As general basic rule, it is advised to shot a photo in a sunny day, keeping the sun at the photographers back. RgdsEduardo..

Steve:.

You have picked a very difficult photographic subject, especially for a P&S camera. I will try to keep my response very simple..

A digital camera meters the scene that you give it. The meter assumes that the predominant "color" is neutral gray (this is a simplification) and adjusts lighter and darker colors accordingly. In your photo, the predominant "color" is very bright, so everything else is metered as nearly black. Again, this is an extreme simplification..

The problem with P&S cameras is that they do everything in an "average" way to produce "average" photos. They cannot deal with metering problems like this unless you are really proficient and know how to get around the problem..

With a dslr, you can easily meter on something other than what you eventually photograph. Then you simply recompose your scene and take the picture. However, this kind of picture still will tend to be blown out unless you really know what you are doing..

Incidentally, UV filters are essentially useless. The only kind of filter that I use is a circular polarizing filter, and I use it only in selected circumstances..

I probably have not been very helpful. If I were you, I would select less difficult subjects to photograph. Good shooting..

Jerryhttp://jchoate.zenfolio.com/..

The other posters have done a good job explaining the "why," but there are various ways to deal with this situation of high dynamic range, meaning that the scene has extremes of brightness or shadow, or both..

1. as mentioned above, leave the sun out of the shot, as it is not a sunset or sunrise, and the sun is not that interesting..

2. Use a graduated neutral density filter of strength ND4 (at least), with the dark part covering the sun..

3. Take a bracketed shot, and combine the three shots in a HDR program..

4. Use Spot metering, and point the spot at a part of your scene that yields an exposure you like..

5. Shoot as you originally did, but use exposure compensation of EV+1 or more..

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The same with P&S. The photographer is the problem not the camera. Both dSLR and compact cameras meter the scene the same way.Usually the skills of a user of dSLR are higher than those of a P&S user.VictorBucuresti, Romaniahttp://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m268/victor_petcu/..

OK... what has happened here is that the camera's meter has taken an average reading of the light available in the scene, and adjusted the shutter speed/aperture to suit. Because of the bright sun in the frame, the meter reads that there is plenty of light, which there is. What it doesn't know (because it's not intelligent or psychic) is that you actully want to expose for what's in the foreground, not for the big bright light in the sky. Hence, the whole thing gets underexposed and looks too dark..

Here's how to fix this situation. If the camera has the ability, set the meter to Spot (read the manual) and then Spot meter for the area you want correctly exposed. That should fix the problem, with the understanding that if the foreground is correctly exposed, the sky will be way too bright (overexposed, or 'blown out' in photospeak.) The way to get them both exposed correctly is to use a graduated Neutral Density filter (but that's really an SLR thing)..

A much easier way is to just not shoot into the sun - but sometimes you just gotta, either for effect or due to the situation. Play around with the camera, learn what it can and can't do, and read lots! As for the UV filter, no, it won't remove the problem. And a polariser won't fix it either..

Rob.

Everyone, everywhere, has to do everything for a first time. There is no failure in failure, only in failing to learn...

It's an interesting picture. The problem is that the range of brightness values in the scene exceeds what a camera can capture. If you download a simple photo editor and explore the sun, it will be found to have a "color" of 255, 255, 255. The reflections of the sun on the object in the right-foreground are also "blown out". This is the whitest white that can be captured by your camera. Then explore the black foreground values and you will find they have a "color" of 0, 0, 0.

Only the sky is not either totally white or black. Your camera thought that was what you wanted the picture to look like!.

As others have told you, if you were to expose on the foreground with some form of "spot" exposure, the sky would have been "blown out"...by that I mean that EVERYTHING other than the things that are now totally black would have been totally white. But the foreground objects would have been rendered as "normal" and would have been "colors" (conbinations of red, green, and blue other than 255, 255, 255 and 0, 0, 0). This picture would not be very attractive, as these foreground objects are STILL backlit, so the sides facing you are in the shade. Probably best to follow the #1 Rule: Put the sun at your back..

However, sometimes you can make interesting pix out of these "failures":.

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I used PSE5 and processed your original pic on 3 layers (set on Difference)...each layer had a different "treatment"...one was solarized, one was posterized, and one was reticulated..

I kinda like your pic!.

Charlie DavisNikon 5700 & Sony R1HomePage: http://www.1derful.infoBridge Blog: http://www.here-ugo.com/BridgeBlog/..

Thanks again for the help, looking forward to learning more.Steven.

Http://www.flickr.com/photos/steven-paintball/sets/..