Problems with camera (Canon PowerShot S2 1S)

[morea]

My camera is a Canon PowerShot S2 1S 5.0 megapixel.

I like the camera because it has a lot of adaptability, but I do have some trouble with it particularly when I take a picture of something white (i.e. - flower, cat, etc).

When shooting something white, I can't get any detail or focus... I am pretty sure that this is a setting though, and since I've had the camera for only a few months I haven't got round to sorting this out.

It's hard to explain this in words, but I can post some sample images when I get home tonight.

[Tyger]

definitely post pics morea, but from what i've heard many digital cameras have trouble with white. Not particularly sure why, i'll see if i can dig up the link i saw recenlty about it. Does the camera have a custom white balance option? If so this may be a solution.

[steve-o]

yes. Please post a couple of (tasteful) images.

White is always difficult to expose for. If you focus on the white it usually comes out gray. If you focus on a darker color, the white gets completely blown out. Best to expose for a light grey (called 18% grey), or many photographers use the palm of their hand to get a correct exposure.

[morea]

aw, do they have to be tasteful? :p

[Tyger]

of course not :p

[morea]

lol.

ok, here are a few.

White rose:
http://thecreativeforum.com/photopost/data/500/647white-rose-med.gif

White rose, shadowed by my hand:
http://thecreativeforum.com/photopost/data/500/647white-rose-shadow-med.gif

[morea]

White mums:
http://thecreativeforum.com/photopost/data/500/647white-mums-med.gif

Red and white rose:
http://thecreativeforum.com/photopost/data/500/647red-and-white-rose-med.gif

^ more color, better detail

[steve-o]

ok. Here's my amateur opinion:

First of all what time of day is this? The worst time to take pictures like these is between 10am and 2pm, when the sun is at its brighest and harshest. Try taking pictures of flowers during sunset or sunrise. Also between 10-2 the sun is right over head providing direct lighting which tends to flatten images. During early morning and late afternoon, the light comes at the subject from better angles providing shadows that provide nice color tones.

The rose shadowed by your hand is underexposed (notice how the green stems are perfectly exposed) and the unshadowed rose is slightly overexposed in some areas. Even with the mums, some of the yellow centers are overexposed.

But I think it's really more of a lighting issue. With white especially, I think the light may be passing through the delicate petals and not providing enough variation in color for the camera to capture.

Also, you may want to try different camera angles. You seem to almost hit the white rose head on.

But white is very difficult to expose for because like I said, metering for white usually produces grey. White gives photograhers fits, whether it is photographing flowers, the snow, or white uniforms.

[morea]

I had some better examples, but unfortunately had already deleted them. I thought it could have something to do with lighting or with one of my settings, but I'm still trying to work out all the details.

Those shots were taken around 4pm, if I remember right. I'll keep at it and let you know if I can figure anything out. Thanks for the insight!

[Mynock]

Try playing around with the white balance function I'm sure your camera has. I think if I have to have a white peice of paper or something white to set you balance to reflect your light. So if you're indoors under neon lights your whites may be more yellow, where natural light is more white.

[fredrich]

The white balance has little to do with over/underexposure, it's the colour temperature of the picture. If you have a manual mode on your camera, try it out, f.ex. with the exposure correction (EV +/-). Try bracketing if your camera supports it, and see how it turns out. The main problem, as mentioned above, is the light. If it's too sharp and direct, white suddenly becomes a problem, the same with black which causes overexposure of the surrounding elements.

Sometimes the camera gets the wrong measure of light, and it can be caused by the measurement being done over the whole picture frame, and not spot or centerweighted. But then again, spot or centerweighted can cause underexposure. It's tricky, but the one thing to do is press buttons, take a bunch of pictures and see what happens. Sometimes, things turn out pretty neat.