Need help taking sky photos (unnatural colors)

[parrot5]

I've been trying to take photos of the sky during daytime but they all come out unnatural... It just doesn't match the real color. Any ideas/suggestions??
I was using a Canon S200, and getting a Minolta Dimage x20 soon.
And it's a great forum here!!! :!:

[bcoultry]

Could you post a few photos to show us what's happening?

[parrot5]

I can post some, but it won't show anything wrong because they do look like sky colors... the problem is that it's not the same color as the real sky is... usually a bit darker that what it really is...
I'll try to find a few of them to post here.

[Klaus DK]

Try turning up the EV by +0.5 to +1 i.e. This will make the sky brighter!

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by parrot5

I've been trying to take photos of the sky during daytime but they all come out unnatural... It just doesn't match the real color. Any ideas/suggestions??

If your camera has a bracketing facility, why not try it, or its manual equivalent? You take 3 or 5 images in rapid succession, with an adjustable exposure step of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 or 1 stop between them. When I take skyscapes, especially sunsets, I often find I get 5 completely different good shots. Probably none of them will look like what you saw, but you could choose the least unacceptable.

Then when you've got a decent image on your computer, try cheating a little by turning up the saturation - this works wonders, especially when printing.

[Klaus DK]

This is exactly why I love the RAW format - then you only has to shoot one single shot. Do the EV back home if you like!

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Klaus DK

This is exactly why I love the RAW format - then you only has to shoot one single shot. Do the EV back home if you like!

Klaus, not having RAW available on my camera, I am bemused by this. Surely shots at 1ms, 10, 100ms or 1000ms, all at the same aperture would give rather different RAW files? I thought the point about twiddling the exposure settings on the camera was to shift the whole range of tones recorded by the CCD up and down to match the subject brightness.

If you twiddle the RAW data from a badly overexposed and a badly underexposed shot, surely you'll get very different results, as you've only got a 1:255 brightness range to play with, and subject brightness ranges vary a lot more than that?

[bcoultry]

Alan, you are totally right when it comes to the extremes, but when it involves slightly over this or under that, RAW files make life a whole lot easier. Using RAW cannot substitute for an understanding of speed and aperture, but with that understanding, RAW files are a boon.

[Klaus DK]

Alan.

I think Bcoultry said it!

No need for discussing RAW files, if you havn't tried it yet.

[parrot5]

What about it is a different color?? Like when I see the sky it's dark orange, but the photo is purplish? (on LCD and on computer) I take the photo on my balcony, with no light whatsoever at home.