Results from my first photography job

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6

07/15/2006 10:06:51 PM · #1

Well, I learned a LOT on this one... 670 RAW images filled up a 4GB card and a 1GB card once and almost a second time on the 1GB.

The lighting was very tricky and there was no flash allowed, so I did the best I could... I also felt like I was wrestling with my 50mm f/1.8 lens a lot of the time as it couldn't keep up with the pace of what I was trying to do. I'm seriously considering upgrading to the 50mm f/1.4 in a couple of months after I move closer to the Canon factory. I hear that it handles much faster and focuses much more accurately.

A lot of the shots were dead dull because of the nature of the show, and most of the smaller kids were just so stunned that they had little expression in their performances (an audience of a few hundred), but the performances got some very fun pics from the bigger kids.

If you want to, you can feel free to browse the bunch of them
here or you can just look below once I finish organizing...

I do have one pic that I feel could really use some more work.

I think it needs something to break up the softness in his face (growls at the 50mm lens). Maybe a grunge type scratches filter... It's actually the only shot of the bunch that I actually coached.

Any of you guys who are good at grunge stuff got any tips?

Feel free to play with it a bit...

Some highlights from the ceremony part:

They also put on some performances and plays... There was a play about Snow white called The Bad Snow White, where the mirror tells Snow White that she's the most Beautiful, but adds a little bit about the second most beautiful... She gets enraged and decides to kill her... things don't quite go as planned...

Another show was about the rematch between the tortoise and the hare's famous race...

A couple of others were a bit harder to follow and I didn't quite get the story... (see the tin man)

I really wish that I had a shorter range zoom lens (still waiting for the Tokina 16-50 f/2.8... HURRY UP GUYS!), but I wasn't getting paid enough for the job to justify getting a lens that I don't know if I will want or not for it.... and the kit lens was just not fast enough for the light.

I ended up missing a lot of shots... Please also note that I was not shooting the plays themselves, but was shooting with a view of getting shots of the kids in the plays, so the stories were ignored. Once I got a decent shot of a kid, I tried to move on... Tough to do with two or three principal actors only...

Here are some further highlights from the plays and performances:

Enjoy!

Feel free to give me criticism and tips!!!

Obviously tips on perspective and changing my angle might not really be pertinent to these shots as I was only allowed to stand at the front below the stage and at the sides of the auditorium. A number of shots would have been improved if I had the Wide Angle zoom though...

Message edited by author 2006-07-15 22:40:27.

kteach

Nikon D50

07/15/2006 10:12:00 PM · #2

There are some cute shots and priceless expressions in that bunch of shots! :)

jpochard

Canon EOS-40D

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Nikon

07/15/2006 10:16:22 PM · #3

What cute kids! Looks like you did a great job. I really like 405...my favorite by far. I also like 558 and 495.

khdoss

Nikon D300

07/15/2006 10:20:30 PM · #4

Nice shots, great colors.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/15/2006 10:38:47 PM · #5

Hi. Due to an accident involving a mouse, this thread appears to have been duplicated.

I will edit this post and request the other thread locked.

klstover

Panasonic DMC-FZ8

07/15/2006 10:39:22 PM · #6

I love the colors and expressions... really great.

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

07/15/2006 11:35:08 PM · #7

Keiran, these are positively delightful! You did a fantastic job with the available light. I normally don't like off-angle shots, but the ones you did this with work very well - in part probably do to the vibrant colors and the tight crops. You caught some great expressions, too. Really well done!

Lorene

Canon EOS-550D Rebel T2i

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

07/16/2006 10:06:19 AM · #8

These are great! I also don't usually like off-angle shots, but these are an exception.

one of my favorites from this collection.
Congratulations!

Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

07/16/2006 10:42:01 AM · #9

Thanks for the posts folks!

Once again, my eye misleads me... I thought that the three dancers was the worst pic of the lot... I almost didn't include it in the upload... in fact, I only added it as an afterthought when I was checking to make sure that I hadn't accidentally deleted any good pics and left them lurking in the recycle bin...

I had a great time learning about actions and layers...

Some of the tricks I picked up include:

#1 For pics that need a bit more sharpening, create a new layer, hit it with a fairly strong sharpening, then change the layer to darken.

Then create another layer and do sharpening as normal. You will have a significant increase in sharpness without as much of an increase in noise...

#2 To change the mood of the pic with flesh tones, add a bit of sepia tones this way: Create new layer. In hue/saturation, pull the reds channel lightness to black and the yellow channel lightness to white.

This should increase the contrast a lot in the face. Watch out for faces with blue veining. Even if they are hard to see normally, you might find that they suddenly show up.

Then again in hue/saturation, play with the master saturation.

Change the top layer to 60-70% opacity.

Then, on the bottom layer, in hue/sat, increase saturation in the reds (to bring out the lips most specifically). You have a lot of room to move here, +60 or more should be fine.

Then play with the contrast on each layer until you get what you like.

This is my favorite toy lately...

#3 One of the most difficult things to correct quickly is having multiple light temperatures in the same pictue in different critical areas. Even worse is when the temperatures happen to be opposites (cyan/red green/magenta blue/yellow). The stage lighting guys liked to use the Magenta and Green spotlights at the same time... I actually created a thread in the RANT section just to grumble about them... :)

Dealing with this can be accomplished by getting what you like from the curves, then going into selective color and in specific color channels, removing the color casts...

I don't have the pics that I did this most on in this set, but I did actually get some rather decent results on some pics...

I used rather simple tools to accomplish what I wanted because of the large number of pics and the deadline. I had to do all of the editing in my spare time and ended up delivering 276 hand edited images... oy.

jellyoooo

Canon EOS-60D

07/16/2006 10:43:38 AM · #10

Exellent... looks very professional

07/16/2006 10:51:44 AM · #11

Really? Thanks! That's actually been a huge worry for me... Do the pictures actually look like they are worth spending money on or are they just a bunch of hokey snapshots...

Can you tell that my confidence is fairly low? :)