T6I pictures dark

[ho350ci]

Sometimes my outdoor shots come out dark and with a blueish cast. Unsure why

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

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@ho350ci wrote:

Sometimes my outdoor shots come out dark and with a blueish cast. Unsure why

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A blue tint suggest that your White Balance setting was set incorrectly.  Set it to Auto if you shoot JPEGs.  If you shoot RAW, the WB can set in post processing, but not so easily with JPEGs.  I prefer to set my cameras to a manual setting, and worry by about any corrections at post processing time.

As for dark shots, what shooting mode are you using.  If you can have WB set incorrectly that tells me that you are not using Green {A] mode, but one of the Creative shooting modes.  If so, get in the habit of observing the exposure settings in the viewfinder, and learn what the exposure locked icon looks like.

I used to get the random under/over exposure.  I never really figured it out the reason for it.  I had a suspicion, and so I changed my shooting habits.  I suspected that my thumb was accidentally hitting exposure lock on occasion.  I changed the way I gripped the camera, actually I bought a battery grip.  I paid more attention to my thumb, and more attention to the viewfinder display.  

I never did see the exposure lock icon, but the occasional over/under exposure problem has gone away.  Most of the time I am shooting Manual mode with ISO set to AUTO.  I also go into the menus set an upper limit on the range of ISO automatic settings.  I suggest that you check these settings in your camera, too.

[ho350ci]

Thanks for the tips. I thought that the WB might be off. Based upon your suggestion I found that it was set wrong. I changed it to auto and will test it tomorrow. Thanks again.

[Mr_Fusion]

I have a similar issue. I understand the "bluish tint", which I agree is white balance. I leave the camera on AUTO WB unless it is near noon, a cloudless sky, and I'm shooting in the shade.

I'm doing a lot of outdoor youth sports. I usually leave the camera on burst mode in case I want to take several shots. That is where I see the problem pop up the most. The first shot is usually good, sometimes the second is too. But sometime the EV drops  1 1/2 to 2 stops. Once the EV drops, it stays that way for the rest of the burst. Although it does happen with single shots, I notice it much more with the burst. This doesn't happen every time and also happens on single shots. It isn't a killer, but it 

While I hadn't thought of the thumb accidently hitting the exposure button, the thumb doesn't move during burst shooting, just the index finger on the shutter button. 

I had the same problem with my XT and later with my T5. I'm currently using a T6i and the EV problem keeps popping up. While post editing can help correct it, sometimes it is impossible to achieve consistent results. If I take a burst of six shots of someone catching a pop-up fly, small differences in the EV are noticeable. Differences in shots seconds apart and of different action / subject don't matter as much.

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Looking at the EXIF information, with all things being the exact same (ISO 400, f 8.0, AP, 0 step, auto WB), the shutter jumped from 640 to 1200 while in burst mode. I have had the same thing happen in Shutter Priority as well.

[Waddizzle]

You didn't say exactly which shooting mode you are using.  

The Exposure Triangle consists of three legs: shutter speed, aperture value, and ISO value.  You can set the camera to any one, any two, or all three legs.  For the best control over your photos, do not let the camera control more than one leg at a time.  Like I said in an earlier post, I do most of my shooting in Manual mode   with ISO set to AUTO.

If you are using continuous drive mode, are you also using AI Servo?  There should be a setting in the menus that sets the priority [ focus or frame rate ] for the 1st shot, and another setting for the 2nd shot, which would also apply to all subsequent shots.  Setting it to "focus priority" allows the camera to update the exposure every frame because the camera re-acquires focus, but you need to be in AI Servo mode for this to work as advertised.

What metering mode are you using?

For all of my hand held shots, I use evaluative metering, which is the camera's default setting.  I have found little reason to use the other metering modes.  For back lit scenes, i use evaluative metering, and take 3 exposures with AEB enabled, and process the images in post as an HDR image.  I find little reason to use any of the other modes.  

So, try that for action shots.  Use manual mode with Auto ISO, Evaluative metering, AI Servo, and be sure to set Focus Priority in the menus for continuous shooting drive mode.

[StanNH]

Is exposure compensation set to zero, and is white balance set to auto?  Another setting to check is the metering, which should be set to evaluative for most shots.  You did not mention which shooting mode you are having the problem in, and if the problem occurs in all modes.

[TTMartin]

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@StanNH wrote:

Is exposure compensation set to zero, and is white balance set to auto?  Another setting to check is the metering, which should be set to evaluative for most shots.  You did not mention which shooting mode you are having the problem in, and if the problem occurs in all modes.

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Do you have a circular polarizing filter on the lens?

Do you have any filter on the lens?