Yellow photos...need help please.?

Question

I have a Sony Ericsson phone with a 3.2 mega pixels cybershot camera. The thing is my pictures come out very randomly and I just cannot get the colour sussed on it. If I am in a darkish room, the pictures either are too dark despite the flash, or they come out very grainy and yellow.

I really don't know how to improve my picture taking as sometimes the pictures are perfect (mostly outside).

Any advice please?

Answer 1

Try using the White Balance settings... not sure if you are using Auto, if so try setting it to Tungsten for normal room lighting and Fluorescent if the place you are shooting uses kitchen-style tube lights.

If the pictures are too dark despite the flash try increasing the ISO setting (from say 100 to 400).

If they are coming out dark or grainy you need to increase the exposure / open the aperture or lengthen the shutter speed and, as I am not familiar with your camera, I don't know if this is possible.

I'd also suggest you learn about metering and exposure, which will help you to spot 'difficult' situations and teach you the techniques to overcome them - some situations fool the meter!

Answer 2

This is what is called a "white balance" issue. With a real camera, you would have a setting to adjust for photographing under tungsten lighting, which is what light bulbs are. They put out a very yellow light. With a camera phone, you probably do not have that adjustment available. In case you do, look for "white balance" and set it to "tungsten" or "incandescent" for shooting under these conditions.

Answer 3

Don't know your phone, but it seems like you are taking pictures under light bulbs when your camera is daylight balanced. Is there a setting for incandescent lighting?

Answer 4

you got to lower your expectations, its a phone