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10/20/2006 06:05:10 AM · #1 |
Apologies for such a broad question. I've read read read, done as much research as time allows, but I feel like I am still struggling to expose photos properly. Take this recent example, from Turtle Island in Taiwan.
On my RebelXT LCD the shot looked fine, as did the histogram. I took this at ISO100, f10, 1/2500, -1.0EV; sunlight was overhead from behind me.
When I got home, I initially felt the photo was pretty OK, just needed some touching up in PS. But then I looked at a companion's photo, shot in auto mode with a Canon P&S, and saw a tremendous difference. I suddenly got all depressed about the 650 photos I took over the weekend.
The right part of the shot more accurately reflects the color of both the sky and water, based on my memory and my friend's photo. I did add a few notches of saturation, so the colors are slightly brighter than they appeared. Anyway, my point is that there is quite a difference btw the two.
Is this much post-processing unavoidable? Or am I not exposing properly? It should be said that I frequently encounter this when shooting landscapes or wide-open outdoor shots - single, well-lit subjects tend to come out fine.
Anyway, I would appreciate any advice. I just feel like what comes out of the box should be a LOT better than this. |
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10/20/2006 06:09:02 AM · #2 |
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10/20/2006 06:20:56 AM · #3 |
were you using a filter? it does look surprisingly flat...
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10/20/2006 06:37:09 AM · #4 |
DSLRs do require more editing that P&S cameras so that you can have much more control over the final product. You could try changing your setting in-camera to boost contrast, saturation and sharpening if you want to.
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10/20/2006 06:51:02 AM · #5 |
christopher i dont think theres anything wrong with your
shot, better to be dark, if you take in raw easier to
remedy.
Message edited by author 2006-10-20 08:34:05. |
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10/20/2006 07:31:19 AM · #6 |
Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it too much. My 30D needs even more adjustment than that! But the point is that the image can support the adjustment.
Try to put anywhere near that amount of adjustment on a P&S pic and you start running into troubles really quickly. Even a gentle USM will usually oversharpen.
The pic looks a tiny bit low, but it's fine.
I probably would have looked for a polarizer and possibly a lens hood under those circumstances though... You can lose a lot of contrast from the bigger glass catching oblique light. |
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10/20/2006 07:49:21 AM · #7 |
The rebel XT LCD is too bright with the default setting. it doesn't reflect the capture accurately. I personnally turn the brightness down a little. If you want to make sure the exposure is appropriate, make sure to check the histogram once you've shot. you should always overexpose a bit rather than underexpose in order to get more punch and brightness but be cautious not to blast highlights. This should give you good advice in order to get the best exposure to work with in photoshop to get the best results.
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10/20/2006 09:26:30 AM · #8 |
Wow, thanks for the tips, I appreciate it.
I shot in JPG mode ... we were dolphin watching - XT's cont drive in RAW is way too slow.
Just a UV protector on front. And I did have the flower petal hood on my sigma 17-70.
I really was just wondering if so much post processing is necessary. I mean, I always post process anyway, I was just curious whether my out-of-the-box results should be closer to the finished product than this.
And interesting! I read (and subsequently followed all this time) that you should always err to the side of underexposure, since it's easier to save than overexposure. I'll shall read up and learn.
Here are some dolphin shots (they need some PS work):
image 1
image 2
Message edited by ursula - large images - changed to links. |
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10/21/2006 04:31:14 PM · #9 |
| Hope to see some more shots from Taiwan. You have a great location for social photography as well as good nature photography. Think of the DSLR as a tool, something like what a fine carpenter uses. It can make you anything from a fine cabinet to a Mona Lisa. The point and shoot is akin to a Polaroid - it is a wonderful "visual notebook," but not a professional tool for making anything. You might find that until you are more familiar with your DSLR that shooting in one of the auto modes will produce better results than shooting in manual. Keep up the good work. |
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10/21/2006 05:00:44 PM · #10 |
Personal preference:
Shoot and expose as you did, as viewed in the left half. -1EV
Point & shoots pre-post process per the software engineers thoughts and may not be what I want. I would rather have the data, untouched, slightly under-exposed, in RAW or JPEG and do it the way I want. The idea of the P&S images coming out looking better was be able to print them straight off the camera or card.
Canon's new picture styles tweaks is shifting to a similar pp in camera. |
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10/23/2006 12:12:15 AM · #11 |
Am I doing something wrong then? if I underexpose by 1 stop then there is more noise in the shadows, but if I overexpose by 1 stop then bring it back down in camera raw then there is less noise and more detail.
So how do you underexpose and not have to run USM on every image?
Bob |
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10/23/2006 12:27:01 AM · #12 |
| Expose for the brightest spot in the picture, that's it. You always need to hit it with a bit of USM, but that's not a function of exposure. There's a filter in front of the sensor on dslr's that a touch of USM negates in post processing. |
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10/28/2006 07:54:32 PM · #13 |
I get the same flatness of picture with my camera (same as yours). Just have to make sure the histogram is good. I tend to disagree with an earlier comment that says dark in RAW is better. There is a general tactic out there to 'expose to the right' as there are more lines of colour towards white than towards black. So moving the images left (darker) is better, as doing the opposite ther will not be as much data to generate the image.
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