(Click on image or link to view full size image)

undertree_olyD580.jpg

This picture shows the under side of a large tree taken using the Olympus D580. It was taken under the canopy of the tree with rays of sunlight piercing through the gaps between the leaves. No flash was used when taking this picture and the aperture size is f8.7, shuttle speed is 1/125 sec, and ISO rating is 70. Since the exposure time was set quite long, the camera was able to capture the details under the tree canopy cleary, even though it was quite dark there. However, the camera was unable to capture the rays of sunlight shining through the leaves very well. If you look at the region marked by the red rectangle in the above image, you will find that there is loss of details there and everything is obscured by the patch of sunlight. However, when I was taking the picture, the details of the leaves in that region could be seen clearly. This happens because the camera was unable to capture the large range of light available in that region, thus causing all the pixels in that region to be pushed to a uniform bright white color. This caused the picture to look unnatural due to loss of details.

This picutre taken using the D580 actually has better quality compared to the same picture taken using DigiCam ES3310 digital camera. In the ES3310 picture, the details of the leaves in dim light under the canopy are not visible while those in the brightly lit areas become washed out.