Until you learn to get off Automatic, try getting the object you are shooting in focus and exposed properly. Looking through the viewfinder watch for the focus points to light up on it. The camera wants to equalize everything. You need to get the exposure on the dark stuff right, otherwise the camera will try to balance it all, and the white stuff will overpower the dark.
Use Center Weighted Metering, you’ll have to place your subject in the center of the frame, press the shutter button half-way so the camera can focus and meter on the subject, then change the view to include all the subject, while holding the shutter button halfway down, then press it all the way down.
