Looking for C&C on photos with new camera

[mikoh4792]

Just got my d7100 in the mail yesterday. These are all straight out of camera. I plan to learn how to post process in the near future.

I think it's cool that just the eyes are in focus, but I would have liked to increased the DOF so that his whole head was included. Did I need to raise the F/stop? How would i compensate?(lower shutterspeed, increase iso...etc?)

 

[JacaRanda]

They are a bit flat. Increase the exposure a bit and add some contrast? Slight S in the tone curve? Probably could use some flash or simply more light.

What software do you have?

 

[mikoh4792]

What do you mean by flat? How do I add contrast? Can these be taken care of before I take the picture?(Meaning...can I achieve these without any post processing?)

I took these all with flash. Should I make the flash stronger?

I have no software right now. I'm not sure of which to go with. Is Nikon's software good?

 

[Ysarex]

You have your edit tag set to NOT OK to edit. Change it and I'll adjust a couple for you so you can see the difference.

Joe

 

[ronlane]

I agree with the above but I also think that the white balance is all over the place too.

 

[mikoh4792]

I used auto while balance/flash white balance. How would I improve it?

I enabled my pictures to "Okay to edit"

 

[ronlane]

What program are you using to edit the files with?

To change the edit, you need to go to your profile and change it.

 

[Ysarex]

I used auto while balance/flash white balance. How would I improve it?

I enabled my pictures to "Okay to edit"

I'm going to assume this is OK then.

I got no clue what color your snake is so I just assume industrial beige carpet.

I normalized the tone response. What that means is I adjusted the brightness/contrast of the photo to get a histogram that extended over the full tone range. You'll want to look up histogram in Google.

The top histogram is your original -- bottom is the adjusted photo I posted.

If you take a photo with flash you should get reasonably good color. Without flash the auto white balance setting will be erratic. Your camera doesn't know what color your snake is either. White balance can be custom set -- refer to your camera manual.

You mentioned you wanted to next get into post processing. Here's your reason.

Before you spend any money investigate software trials. Ask on the forums what's best for your needs. You can get help learning here (TPF) along with here: Cambridge in Colour - Photography Tutorials & Learning Community

Joe

 

[mikoh4792]

What program are you using to edit the files with?

To change the edit, you need to go to your profile and change it.

These are straight out of camera. I have no experience with editing programs...but I plan to learn in the near future.

 

[mikoh4792]

Thanks ysarex. I would say the accurate color tone is between my photo and your edited version. Looking back, my photo is actually pretty dark.

As for editing programs, what do you recommend for me? I'll just be needing to edit sharpness, contrast, brightness.etc. nothing crazy.

 

[ronlane]

LR would be my suggestion.

 

[WesternGuy]

I would second Ron's suggestion of Lightroom. I know that you want to "edit sharpness, contrast, brightness, etc." I suspect you will also want to keep track of your images. The Library Module in Lightroom gives you this capability. You may not have a lot of images now, but in a few years, who knows and you will be happy that you have some way of finding your images, rather than searching through a bunch of images to find the right one. I do believe that you can download it and use it for 30 days before you have to pay for it - Download a free trial or buy Adobe products | Adobe downloads

WesternGuy

 

[mikoh4792]

Thanks for the suggestions and tips.

Does anyone have any advice regarding my question on DOF?(4rth picture posted in 1st post)

 

[JacaRanda]

Depth of Field Simplified

Yes, a higher f number (smaller aperture) would help if all other things are kept equal. There are two other factors - referenced and explained in the link above.

 

[Ysarex]

Depth of Field Simplified

Yes, a higher f number (smaller aperture) would help if all other things are kept equal. There are two other factors - referenced and explained in the link above.

That is a really bad article full of flat-out misinformation. It should be burned immediately before more ignorance is spread around the Internet.

Joe