Took this on Saturday. Had the thing set on auto mode. Canon G3.



I thought the camera was smart enough to know what to do?

On an overcast day, take her inside, stuff it in her pooper while taking pictures and post pictures here.

Now I think that is a great pic!  What don't you like about it?

it is a good pic, but it's not "crisp" enough.


SGatr15

I dunno how the G3 works, but try:

Point the camera towards the shoreline.  Hold the button 1/2 way down, then re-frame your shot and shoot.  Hopefully, the camera will meter off the shore, brighten up the water and clouds a bit and show more detail in the dark sections.  

AFARR

Set your own shutter speeds and appitures (sp?) in Tv (Shutter Speed) and Av (Appitures (F-Stop: Lower the F-Stop the faster the shutter speed will be and the focus will be in the forground, higher the F-Stop the slower the shutter speed but everything will be in focus. )). Or use Manual or get a DSLR or SLR.

Take it off Auto .

What happens is that the Camera is meetering the white balance and exposure against the lighter sky .

Your G3 should have a manual mode and AE/AF focus mode that will allow you to bracket the balance and exp  by partially depressing the shutter while pointing it at the darker foreground. . Then without releasing the button reframe the shot and depress the shutter button all the way .  

Most Digitals also give you the option of bumping up the simulated film speed . One setting up will compensate somewhat for limited aperture found on most Point & Shoot cameras in situations like this ,
but remember that 400 and above will be grainy .

The best bet is to shoot several shots using the different preset modes and a few more
while playing with the manual settings .  Another advantage that digitals offer over film .
Shoot a bunch and dump what you don’t like .

Bright overcast days are the best there are for outdoor photography .. softens the shadows and the light.  Your day looked a little too dark though.  (Look especially for opportunities in the morning or evening, with light to the side!)

You can try dialing in 1 or 2 stops of overexposure.  Or, since digitals don't waste film, if you've got a bracket mode, you can always turn it on, to give you a better shot at the image you want.  (or use photoshop or your favorite image program to adjust the levels)

With the scene you had, you didn't have a whole lot of light or contrast to work with, so your camera probably did the best it could.

If you get a hazy effect in brighter light, you might want to pick up a UV or skylight filter.  But before you go picking up any gear, see what you can get when opportunity presents a scene with good light.

The only thing good about that pic is that I don't live there!  Filthy cess-pool

Other than thta, it's an ok photo

Good God Paul, that is amazing!  I hope you do that for a living.

In the situation in that picture I would try the "Backlight" setting.  The other film speed (ASA or ISO) or even shutter speed suggetions might work, but looking at the lighter horizon backlight might be better in this instance.

That is about it, you can't get any better than this. In the old days B&W film days, you could probably a red filter or green filter in front of the lens to improve things.

spent more time on this than i should have. time to get back to studying.

I thought the pic was too dark and washed out, especially the shoreline below. It was a crappy, dreary day, but it wasn't as bad as the pic makes it look.

I'll have to play with that metering stuff, thanks. That auto mode is too hit or miss.

I have an S50 and I have to tweak when I use the auto function. Like they said above, you need to set the exposure on a particular spot then snap the pic. Here is what I see from this pic...



I can tell you what I did to it if you like. I did use PS CS.

ByteTheBullet  (-:

Cameras only do what you tell them or allow them to do.  If you let them take whatever picture they want, then you might not be pleased with the results.  Most cameras are designed to base their exposures on the average amount of light coming in through the lens.  Some newer cameras allow you to select an area of the picture to base the light reading off of.  Looks like you could have gone down 1/2 an Fstop and made the picture a little brighter (you could have also allowed the shutter to stay open a little longer, but 1/2 an Fstop is not usually as much as a whole shutter speed.  

Also, the lens will affect color quality and contrast.  On an overcast day, such as the one you shot on, this is a crucial thing.  Also, a good quality lens will have the ability to more effeciently gather the light available and make colors more vibrant (you won't get that grey look)

All said and done, it was an overcast day.  There's nothing you can do to make it look like it wasn't an overcast day.  Cameras are designed to reflect reality.  However, the steps mentioned above will help to make the picture look better.  

Chuck the G3 and buy a Canon 10D.

Nice pic, the last time I was in San Fran. when I was kid back in 89

Quoted: Also, the lens will affect color quality and contrast.

It's been a while since I've had my AE-1 -- is Canon still making the best lenses in the world?