Digital cameras 101

[shastanov6]

When I am faced with overcast, cloudy skies I find that my landscape shots have washed out skies...I use the P mode, and also use exposure compensation, but still the skies are completely overexposed...am trying to use bracketing now, but why cannot the automatic focus get the sky exposures right? I use Digicam Canon S60....also, when I use the landscape mode, I cannot use exposure compensation. Thanks.

[ShutterbugGail]

Hi shastanov6 and welcome to the Q&A Board!

Ah, yes, over exposed skies. That is such a common problem.  Photographing any scene or subject with a bright sky behind it is difficult, but you seem to have been doing a lot of the right things. Try these useful exposure techinques too:

Using the shutter-release button correctly to lock focus and/or exposure plays an important role in obtaining properly exposed and focused photos, particularly if you use your digital camera in an automatic mode such as P Mode (which I do). We have an illustrated tutorial about this important technique here.

http://www.digicamhelp.com/focus-exposure-lock/index.htm

Some cameras let you lock exposure first. After you lock exposure, recomposed to lock focus when you press the shutter button halfway. Some cameras let you also do the reverse. You prefocus or lock focus, then recompose to lock exposure.

I can't find an online manual for the S60 but did find one for the A70, which is an almost identical camera. Read the information about options the camera offers that can help in backlit situations: Manual focus, AF Lock and AE Lock.

http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/pss70/206-e.html#015

Of course, if nothing works and you're into photo editing, you can always add a sky later  

http://www.digicamhelp.com/learn/image-editing/adding-sky-to-a-photo.htm

[Deb]

Hi, another technique you can try is to shoot two shots. Expose one shot for the sky. Expose the second shot for the landscape elements. Then blend the two together. This way you maintain the authenticity of the original scene.