JayMesawitz Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 So Santa came through for me with Canon DSLR (older model Rebel XT 350D). I have a standard 18-55 lens. In the pic below I used a custom white balance that uses a snap of the background to set the camera. The camera is mounted on a tripod, the shot taken with remote capture, I slowed the shutter to 1/20, narrowed the aperture to 14 and increased the ISO to 800 in an effort to gain reasonable focus from the front of the subject to the back. At this point I would like to have some critical advice on the image produced. I'm sure there are details that I will have to train my eye to catch in order to improve my photography skills. I also need to confirm that this is good enough for review images either for print in the journal or on the web. Image size 1024 x 683 (216 KB) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesWalden Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Looks good to me. Nothing wrong that I can see. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Aldrich Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Jay, Having done one Journal review, that looks good. I know when I did my first series, they were worried about the flash causing so many highlights and shadows. I ended up taking mine outside. Yours looks fine. I am sure a couple of the Journal guys will be happy to point out any constructive comments. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David M. Knights Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 Looks good. A great effort. More than good enough for Journal or website. If you have a choice you might back down on the ISO a little, to 400 or 200 so that there is a little less "noise" in the photo, but that is being super picky. Great shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayMesawitz Posted December 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 lower ISO darkened the shot. Is the bright white the noise you refer to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David M. Knights Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 lower ISO darkened the shot. Is the bright white the noise you refer to? Noise is the "graininess" in the photo. The higher the ISO the more "graininess" you'll get. You can see a little of the "graininess" in the door between the molding and the bottom of the door. If you blow the photo up a little you may see black or dark dots. This is "noise" caused by a high ISO setting. Obviously it isn't a problem for display of your photos on the web, but if you were printing the photos or using them in a printed publication, the "graininess" might show up in the final printed product. You could lower the ISO to 400 and reduce your shutter speed to 1/15 or 1/10, or you could shoot the shot as before but with an ISO of 400 and then take the resulting photo and adjust the brightness and contrast in post-production photo editing software. I am no expert, but there are a number of guys here who do photography at a professional level. Best advice I've seen is that it is like airbrushing. Just practice. Take the same shot varying the different factors, ISO, shutter speed, app. setting, etc and see what you like. The nice thing about digital is that all you are doing is killing electrons and you can erase the test shots you don't like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted December 28, 2009 Report Share Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) Jay: the following is strictly non-professional advice. If you're using the "manual" settings for model pics: 1) set ISO to 100 and keep it there for still shots. 400 and higher is better for action and lower light environs 2) Set F stop to HIGHEST number on your camera. The higher the F stop, the GREATER the depth of field. 3) Use some low angle lighting to eliminate/subdue underside shadows 4) If possible, use enough lighting to eliminate use of flash 5) With a tripod and ability to "delay" snap (2-10secs), or with remote capture you should be able to experiment with shutter speeds from 1/15 down to 1/4 sec to get the brightness you want. This also increases depth of field. 6) If your camera has a "macro" setting (a small tulip flower thingy); turn it on! 7) You seem to have a better handle on the white balance/color balance thing than me so keep on doin' what yer doin' The only comment on your pic above is to watch for strange reflections in glass areas. There's "something" in the windshield like an arm with a wristwatch. Other than that distraction, everything is crisp, clear, well focused, brightly colored and well balanced! Hope this helps! GIL Edited December 28, 2009 by ghodges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayMesawitz Posted December 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Thank you all very much for the pointers and centering my attention on details I had not noticed. I should be able to improve from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTennant Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Jay, I agree with all that's been said so far. I'd also like to emphasize that using a lower ISO speed (100 or 200 is great) and the smallest aperture you can use (which equates to a higher f/stop....i.e. 11, 16 or 22) are the two most important settings for model photography. The lighting is good and you might want to play around with some white reflectors to bounce light onto your subject (especially to get light under wings, etc.). Small pieces of foamcore board covered with crinkled aluminum foil will do nicely.... Your color balance is good, as is your basic lighting setup. Good job. Keep experimenting. That's how you'll get better. Dennis Thank you all very much for the pointers and centering my attention on details I had not noticed. I should be able to improve from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Delano Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Jay - Out of curiosity, are you using the on-camera flash or a separate flash unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayMesawitz Posted December 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Mike, no flash. Ambient flourescent illumination Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWalrus Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 I would modify thi statement to say that diffuse and indirect flash works just fine. Benefit is that it is daylight corrected for correct color temperature. Also flash will eleiminate need for the slow shutter speeds required using ambient lighting and high magnification light loss (effective f-stop). Can be helpful if a tripod is not available because the flash duration gives an effective shutterspeed of the duration of the flash itself. Mike, no flash. Ambient flourescent illumination Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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