Scott wrote:
SD> 1. I took (am still relatively new to photography) some pictures of a family
SD> member in the family room here at home in the afternoon with bright sunlight
SD> directly behind him through four windows (only a few feet behind him
SD> actually) and the pictures turned up quite dark. I was about five feet in
SD> front of him. I used a Pentax ZX-7 in autofocus-program mode (auto picture).
SD> I believe that the camera under-exposed (metered) the light in the
SD> background (parts of the window were well-lit) and left the subject (my
SD> uncle) in the dark. Should I have overexposed the pic a few stops to
SD> accomodate this type of picture.
Scott, one side of the problem might be printing on a high-contrast
paper - it happens frequently as most labs seem to use them
exclusively nowadays. Take a look at the negative. If you see
details in the shadow then it's the lab. Ask for a reprint with 1-2
stops of overexposure, preferably on a normal contrast paper.
The other might be the too high contrast of the scene that the film
was unable to render. You can fight this with a mild emulsion like
Fuji Reala / Agfa Portrait, or use the built in flash (in program
mode) to open the shadows without destroying the backlit effect.
Servus, Alin
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