Need help from Photographers

[Mazz]

I have never done much in the line of photography so my experience is low. I love to fly and have been having fun capturing great videos (some pictures too). My issue is that as good as the footage looks I can not help but feel like it could be better. Most days the automatic settings are just fine but today I went up in a snow storm. I had to do it. The snow was falling pretty fast and everything on the ground is white. The film came out pretty good but I would like to see more detail. Would anyone like to help me out and post a dummies guide to general camera settings? I have done some reading online but I would prefer direct information from fellow pilots who use the same camera. The shorter the better and as straight forward as possible. I know there are a lot of great photographers on this forum so I am hoping to get some good information. Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[Aurora]

I don't know about guides but something I learned a long time ago is taht regardless of the camera you own, if you cannot shoot raw video (a la Red's and Ari Alexxa's) the best thing is to turn your contrast and saturation settings down on your camera, and put it in log colour mode. The reason is that it preserves all the detail in your shot so that you can use curves/ colour grading later to make it look nice. The inspire has these settings in the look settings and I suggest trying them out. When I get home in a bit I can share the settings I have on mine and before/ after shots.

 

[AlexanderAF]

Did you use your NV filter that screws on over the lens? That is probably the best thing you can do to bring out the high contrast detail in bright shots. Also, do you mind posting your footage? That would be helpful.

 

[Aurora]

These are the the settings I have under a custom look, and then a before and after frame. I also had the ND filter on because of the broad daylight. Also remember with snow it's best to use manual settings since the auto exposure lock can get highly confused with something as bright as snow.
Last thing to remember is that your eye is the best tool to lock in your exposure. Your histogram may look all wrong but if your eyes say the image is properly exposed, then it is.

 

[lrwskyfilms]

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These are the the settings I have under a custom look, and then a before and after frame. I also had the ND filter on because of the broad daylight. Also remember with snow it's best to use manual settings since the auto exposure lock can get highly confused with something as bright as snow.
Last thing to remember is that your eye is the best tool to lock in your exposure. Your histogram may look all wrong but if your eyes say the image is properly exposed, then it is.

Great advice, thx for sharing.