Camera settings

[Joan Breckwoldt]

I have been using my digital camera to take photos of my children. There is something going on that I don't understand, I took the first photo below and then I wanted to reshoot my daughter without such a big smile. I put her in the same exact place just 20 minutes after the first shot and look how much darker it came out. I used the exact same settings.

My camera is a Canon PowerShot s30. I just learned about the 'white balance' so I had set that. I also set the speed at 1/30 and the Fstop at 5.0. The sun was out in both shots, I used the same light inside.

The camera must be setting something automatically but I can't figure out what is left to set? This isn't the first time this has happened, hopefully somebody can tell me how I can correct this?

Thank you,

Joan

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Oh, actually I can see that she's not in the exact same place, she's on a different step. I was going to put her into a different photo with my son, but I think the difference in these photos is sufficient to illustrate my question.

Joan

[Julie Deane]

Joan-

I have a Canon PowerShot Pro90 and I noticed the same thing the other day. Part of it was the time of day - the sun was in the process of setting and I didn't realize how much darker it was getting. But the other thing is that it seems my camera (and maybe yours) must have some way of re-setting itself to "normal" specs if I leave it a while. It also has an annoying way of getting reset to different specifications if my fingers brush against one knob.

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Originally Posted by Julie Deane

But the other thing is that it seems my camera (and maybe yours) must have some way of re-setting itself to "normal" specs if I leave it a while.

Hmm, you may have something there. I don't think it should be doing that but maybe it does. I suppose it could be resetting itself. But, on my samples above I started fresh with the second batch when I needed just a photo of my daughter. I turned the camera on and that's what I got. Maybe it's when the camera is turned off it resets, but other times I've gotten some nice photos then after a short break they're darker.

I think there must be something else that needs to be set manually, I just don't know what it is. Do you set an Fstop?

Originally Posted by Julie Deane

It also has an annoying way of getting reset to different specifications if my fingers brush against one knob.

I need to know about that knob!

Thanks,

Joan