Sunlight?

[96 GTS]

Originally Posted by Lizmo

I need help. I'm using the manual setting. ISO 100. White balance is auto. f/5 and a shutter speed of 125.

But if the sun is behind me or I'm shooting into the sun, this happens. . .



Yet, if I change the settins to portrait mode this happens, same. . .sun behind me.



Like it's WAY over exposed?

As others have said, your photo is way way overexposed, up your shutter speed close down the aperture, or both. Your light meter is definitely your friend, too, it'll tell you whether your photo is over or underexposed, and by how much. Any digital camera with manual settings will have one, and likely a good one, built in.

Also, if you're shooting action, I would suggest shooting in shutter priority mode. Set the shutter speed to what you want for the desired amount of blur, and the camera will adjust the aperture to take a well exposed photo. This especially helpful while panning a moving subject, where each frame is likely to have a different amount of light.

Program or automatic modes are not crutches, they are tools, nor does shooting in manual mode make you a "hardcore" photographer. All the different modes have their uses, and you're limiting yourself if you only use one.