[steven.g.sellars]

I'm kinda new to photography ish I mean it's the first time I've used DSLR, I can get good light covering in doors but outdoors is another issue, I'm trying not to use the auto setting but more to use manually but I can seem to get the bal right between the aperture and shutter speed.
Can any body help or point towards a good handy aid

Cheers Steve

[alamo5000]

The hard part isn't getting the right light on the subject, its getting the right light across the frame.

For example if I take a picture of a person they might be lit fairly decently, but the background or other things might be completely blown out.

Finding that balance is the key.

As for general stuff though it all depends on how your camera is set up for metering. I use the center spot and I will move the camera around to see if other stuff is over or under exposed.

I shoot only in manual mode though. If you use the modes it can actually make things more complicated.
Check your camera and see what kind of metering mode you are in. Also depending on the camera you have...I know I've had a few Pentax cameras and all of them have a built in light meter.

[enoeske]

I'm kinda new to photography ish I mean it's the first time I've used DSLR, I can get good light covering in doors but outdoors is another issue, I'm trying not to use the auto setting but more to use manually but I can seem to get the bal right between the aperture and shutter speed.
Can any body help or point towards a good handy aid

Cheers Steve

What is the actual problem you are having? What do you mean you can't get the "balance" right?

[steven.g.sellars]

It's always comes out over exposed like a bright Amber in colour

[jrpower10]

An example would help

[alamo5000]

sounds like three problems. White balance is off. Your metering mode is auto selecting a spot, but its leaving everything else unmetered or whatever, and finally it sounds like you are using some auto exposure mode...

That's precisely why I don't use those modes.

[enoeske]

It's always comes out over exposed like a bright Amber in colour

Over exposed means you either need a faster shutter time, lower ISO, or smaller aperture.

Amber color means your white balance is off. Try using Auto WB (not multi-auto wb)

[Canada_Rockies]

Select the green square on the mode dial. Set the meter to the green multi area setting. Try a few shots, then decide where you are going from there. Spot metering is an art form, and not for quick and dirty shooting. I only use spot metering in very tricky situations, and then I use the system to retain detail in either the bright or the dark areas of the picture, spot metering and then adding (when metering brightest area) or subtracting (when metering the darkest area) 2 stops. I always shoot RAW, sometimes RAW+, so I leave the camera on AWB. I can always tweak the image later.

[steven.g.sellars]

Don't have a green square

[Adam]

In your case it's a green bar Select Auto Pict.

[micromacro]

Don't have a green square

Let's start from the beginning.
Did you buy used camera? Go to menu and restore default settings. When I received my first used Pentax, everything was blue, so I changed all settings the previous owner set.
Then open the manual and read it. Everything basic you need is there. If you don't have the manual, you can download it online.
That's the start if you are very new to DSLR.
Don't worry, it seems confusing first.

[Na Horuk]

So you have a K100D? That's a fairly old camera, hope you got it for a really low price. The K-50 is a much newer camera and can be found for under $300 (think its a generally better camera and a great camera for beginners)
Anyway, you can use the Auto Pict mode, which should do everything for you. You can use P mode, which is fairly automatic, but you still get some choices.
The problem you mention can be caused by one of the following.
a) EV +/-. This is Exposure compensation and tell the camera to make photos brighter or darker than it normally would. Reset this to 0, in case you have any other value
b) Exposure bracketing. This is an option that automatically adds EV+/-, so that you take three photos and they are bright, normal, dark (or other order of those three). This can be selected in the Drive mode menu
c) Metering mode. You can choose spot, center weighted, or matrix. For daylight, you probably want the one with the widest area, matrix or center weighted. Spot metering can be useful, but you have to really know how to use it.
d) You might have a damaged lens. If the aperture blades on the lens don't move as they should, this can cause odd exposures. This can be checked if you have more than one lens or camera.
e) Jpeg mode: Some cameras allow Digital filters and Jpeg mode, like "Black and white" or "Vibrant" or "Film reversal". Some of these can add effects and brighten or darken some parts of the photo. I suggest you disable any Digital Filters and choose a simple Jpeg mode like Bright or Vibrant or even Film Reversal.

Its probably a or c. Anyway, Micromacro has a good idea - reset the settings. Then Auto Pict or P mode should give you pretty good photos straight up.

Oh, and the "amber" cast is probably caused by WB, white balance. To change this you press the WB button and choose the best white balance for your scene, or Auto. Auto is pretty good, but its not foolproof. I prefer to manually select Daylight for Daylight, Tungsten for indoors, and so on. If camera has CTE WB, you can try that one for sunsets and such (this WB option emphasizes the current light colour, rather than neutralizing it)

Edit: Oh, and welcome to the forums

[SpecialK]

Use P rather than auto for starters. At least you can change the settings in P, which you can not do in auto. Then, take a look at the exposure information of images you take. It will show the settings. Adjust from there. Learn where the EV button is and how to use it. Do not use spot meter. There is nothing wrong with "modes" if you understand what they are doing.