Grainy Balls

[PlasticSpanner]

Looking for an excuse to go back to the ball pool to re-shoot (and I suppose to improve my ability to take good photographs!:mrgreen: )

The balls haven't turned out as vivid as I wanted them to and in general this looks grainy and dull. Any critique and suggestions welcomed.

Taken with flash (45 deg up) @ F11/50mm on ISO 200 film. OTE

 

[Rob]

It's a great idea for a shot, but something there has let you down here. The grainyness I would say is the film not coping with the situation that the camera has put it in - possibly due to too little light or slightly iffy metering?

Perhaps try the shot again with a faster lens (if you've got one) and a brand new roll of 100 ISO film - Fuji works very well for me. Fresh batteries might help things as well for both the flash and the camera.

Also, with this kind of shot, you need a little something more compositionally (not to mention having the subject looking at you). We all know the "rule" about kids and animals, but it's a good idea and worth pursuing until you get that magic shot with catchlights in the eyes and a look of surprise/happiness/something on the subject's face. At the moment, the poor little chap looks a bit forlorn.

The colour saturation is a bit dodgy as well, it looks a bit like 1970's Polaroid Land Camera results. And while I'm here making a fuss, the focus looks a bit off as well!

I'd say, try the following:

Get some of this
Get new batteries
Give the camera a clean
Use f4 or so and focus manually on the eyes of the subject (ensuring there are catchlights)
Have a good look at examples of how not to do it here
Take something along which makes a startling or pleasing noise to attract the kid's attention.
Have a think about the rule of thirds

Good luck - look forward to seeing your results!

Rob

 

[PlasticSpanner]

Thanks Rob!

You've given me a lot to think about before I try it again. Would it be worth trying to not use a flash to eliminate the white spot on all the balls?

 

[Rob]

Indoors you're probably going to need a little fill flash, but it should only be enough to lighten the subject a touch and add catchlights - flash is not really intended for illuminating a dark room, just for giving a little extra zing.

Ideally in this situation, you'd like a couple of massive soft boxes and a white room with no tungsten lighting, however this probably isn't practical!!

Perhaps a better option would be an outdoor inflatable swimming pool with some balls??

Rob