Sunset Capture - Difference between Video and Photo

[Geekser]

I am new to flying Drones and a novice photographer - but am trying to learn - I purchased the Mavic Air 2 and have been enjoying piloting the drone around my home - the camera is awesome - better than I thought it would be - but I have a question and hope someone can offer some help -

I wanted to capture the sunset the other day - and took the MA2 up and captured some video and HDR images. I used auto settings for both - what struck me as odd was that the quality of the sunset (Colors) was very different when comparing the photos to the videos - and the only way I could get a single photo that captured the best colors from the sunset was by editing the video and capturing a single frame for a photo.

When I looked athe videos, the colors were good - but in the photos, there were absolutely no colors at all - so, my question is - what did I do wrong? Why were the photos lacking the colors I saw in the sky and in the videos I captured? See examples - the first image (Sunset phoito 1) was a photo taken with the drone = while the other image was a shot that I captured from inside a video I captured. I don't understand why the video capture has more color than the photo - they were taken a minute apart - what am I doing wrong ?

 

[Dave Maine]

The still image is very underexposed, probably 2stops at least. The drone image has normal exposure. The still camera settings were wrong for thelight you were trying to photograph under. Try setting the still picture settings to automatic unless you want to mess with the settings yourself.

 

[Meta4]

my question is - what did I do wrong? Why were the photos lacking the colors I saw in the sky

Apart from whatever exposure settings you used, your subject choice is a very difficult one.
You have a very bright sky with glaring sun on the horizon and you have very dark foreground.
The camera cannot expose both properly.
If you expose for the shadows in the foreground, the sky will be blown out.
If you properly expose the bright sky, the lower half of the image will be dead black.

 

[Dave Maine]

This is also a good case for using a raw image capture rather than JPEG, as raw allows for more recovery from the deep shadows. In this case, it probably isn't necessary, as the drone image captures both the highlights and shadows adequately.

The histogram in the drone image display is the best tool to use when setting correct exposure.

 

[coneslayer]

Can you give a little more detail on how you were shooting the still image? Based on the pixel dimensions, it looks like it might have been shot in 48 MP. The dynamic range will be very limited in that mode because of the small pixels, which is going to make it hard to get a good photo of this scene for the reasons Meta4 explained. I would suggest shooting in Smart mode, which basically does an in-camera HDR, or use AEB mode with 5 widely-bracketed exposures, and combine them to an HDR image in post-processing.

 

[Made2Phly]

First, I am not an expert. Second, I see looking back at prior posts, I have repeated much of the content. Sorry, but perhaps some of this will still be helpful.

Still photographs of sunsets are tough once you get proper exposure on the bright part of the image, i.e., that ball of fire, then much of the rest of the photo is under exposed. Alternatively, if you expose for the darker parts, then your highlights are blown out.

With RAW files you can usually correct exposure by 2 f-stops. Further, darker portions of RAW images can be corrected far easier than overexposed portions. So I always shoot in RAW.

I always use the histogram. To avoid the evil and intractable blown out high lights, one should keep the brighter light (right side of the histogram) within the vertical lines of the histogram as much as possible. To accomplish that, one needs to shoot in manual mode.

As noted by others, one way to deal with the huge difference between light and dark in sunsets, is to take at least 3, and preferably 5 or more bracketed shots, with one f-stop exposure difference in between each, then combine them with HDR software. Since you cannot change the aperture on MA2, you have to use the shutter speed to bracket the exposures. The display should you an "EV" value, and each increment is supposed to correspond to one f-stop. So, shoot EV at minus 2; then EV at minus 1, then at EV at 0; then +1 and then + 2.

I use Aurora HDR program. It is spendy. There are other less expensive programs, and some free ones.

Happy shooting.
ed

 

[Geekser]

The still image is very underexposed, probably 2stops at least. The drone image has normal exposure. The still camera settings were wrong for thelight you were trying to photograph under. Try setting the still picture settings to automatic unless you want to mess with the settings yourself.

Thank you - I appreciate your comments - I thought I was using AUTO but now, I can't recall if I was. I will see what I can do the next time we get a nice sunset/sunrise. Thanks again

 

[Geekser]

Apart from whatever exposure settings you used, your subject choice is a very difficult one.
You have a very bright sky with glaring sun on the horizon and you have very dark foreground.
The camera cannot expose both properly.
If you expose for the shadows in the foreground, the sky will be blown out.
If you properly expose the bright sky, the lower half of the image will be dead black.

Thank you - I appreciate your comments

 

[Geekser]

This is also a good case for using a raw image capture rather than JPEG, as raw allows for more recovery from the deep shadows. In this case, it probably isn't necessary, as the drone image captures both the highlights and shadows adequately.

The histogram in the drone image display is the best tool to use when setting correct exposure.

Thank you - I appreciate your comments - There is a lot I have to learn about using Histogram and even on setting up the right exposure settings. I am going to look for some classes either at a local photography store/camera store or maybe online or something.

 

[Geekser]

Can you give a little more detail on how you were shooting the still image? Based on the pixel dimensions, it looks like it might have been shot in 48 MP. The dynamic range will be very limited in that mode because of the small pixels, which is going to make it hard to get a good photo of this scene for the reasons Meta4 explained. I would suggest shooting in Smart mode, which basically does an in-camera HDR, or use AEB mode with 5 widely-bracketed exposures, and combine them to an HDR image in post-processing.

Thank you - I appreciate your comments - forgive me, I don't remember if I was using 48 MP mode but I beleive I was. I will try Smart Mode next time and also am going to look for some classes I can take to learn more about some of the technical stuff. Thank you very much

 

[Geekser]

First, I am not an expert. Second, I see looking back at prior posts, I have repeated much of the content. Sorry, but perhaps some of this will still be helpful.
....
As noted by others, one way to deal with the huge difference between light and dark in sunsets, is to take at least 3, and preferably 5 or more bracketed shots, with one f-stop exposure difference in between each, then combine them with HDR software. Since you cannot change the aperture on MA2, you have to use the shutter speed to bracket the exposures. The display should you an "EV" value, and each increment is supposed to correspond to one f-stop. So, shoot EV at minus 2; then EV at minus 1, then at EV at 0; then +1 and then + 2.

I use Aurora HDR program. It is spendy. There are other less expensive programs, and some free ones.

Happy shooting.
ed

Thank you - I appreciate your comments - I really appreciate the tips you offered and will try to put them to use the next time I get some opportunities for Sunset-Sunrise photos. Thanks again.

 

[Geekser]

Following the advise given by several who responded to my questions, I wanted to share a couple of Sun Set photos I captured the other day with my MA2 - much better than what I got the first time - thanks for the tips guys!


a little out of focus but the colors are amazing.