Train Park Pics C & C Please

linpelk · Apr 30, 2009

Ok, I don't actually have any pictures of the trains to post today (although, they are spectacular). I DO, however, have a couple of my daughters that I would love some help with.

#1. Ok, this one I wanted to have everything in focus so I went with f/22, but it made my shutter speed too slow for shooting a 2 yr old so I had to increase the ISO to 400 which only brought my shutter speed to 1/80 (which now I see was still too slow) I should know this since I was shooting at 105mm and I know that I should be using at least 1/100 (right??). Ok, so I'm a little frustrated because the more I crank the ISO, the more noise I will bring to my pic. Should I have cranked my ISO? Would it have helped this image? I don't know how to reduce noise in PP so I'm always afraid of it. Ok, Ok, I know she also has a tree growing out of her head.. What do you think I should have done?

#2 On this picture, I need to crank my exposure up a bit to brighten the girls, but then the sky gets blown out..see pic. Is it easy enough to explain to me how to fix this problem in photoshop? I have this problem often and I need to know how to salvage the blue sky, if possible. I have CS4 (and obviously, don't know how to use it). I tried to dodge the front child's face a bit..does this look patchy?

#3 I just liked this one and was just hoping for feedback.

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Clawed · Apr 30, 2009

#1 Actually, you may have been able to adjust the aperture a bit to make up for this, still would be pretty much in focus front to back. Kicking the ISO up probably wouldnt introduce too much noise and really if you are not planning to print more than 8x10 you would be okay. You know what would be cool, you should climb up into a tree or use a ladder and shoot down on her, with the yellow flowers all around her.

#2 I say, just use a bit of fill flash to brighten the girls, but not so much that you can tell flash was used (I like this shot a lot by the way)

Thank you for sharing!

William Petruzzo · Apr 30, 2009

I really like 2 and 3 a lot. Interesting composure and facial expressions in both. number 3 is a little soft, it looks like you might be focused just beyond her face. I think in number 1 I find the tree in the background a bit too distracting. I liked Clawed's idea to shoot down into all the flowers; then again, these are your pictures!

The blue sky in CS4 is easily saved--especially if you happened to have shot these images in Raw, in which case probably no one will be the wiser. You can use the spot adjustment tool in Camera Raw. In fact, you can use Camera Raw to open JPG files too. I think that's the easiest way to do it.

If it were me, I would probably bump up the saturation a little bit too. The colors in these seem to be a bit dull where they ought to be bright.

TelekinesisKeith · Apr 30, 2009

#1 - The colors look a little faded to me...But it's a great picture.

#2 - Is also my favorite, Great picture. The only thing that sort of distracts me from the subject is that sky.

#3 - Cute picture..Right side looks a little brighter than the left side.

linpelk · Apr 30, 2009

Clawed said:
#1 Actually, you may have been able to adjust the aperture a bit to make up for this, still would be pretty much in focus front to back. Kicking the ISO up probably wouldnt introduce too much noise and really if you are not planning to print more than 8x10 you would be okay. You know what would be cool, you should climb up into a tree or use a ladder and shoot down on her, with the yellow flowers all around her.

#2 I say, just use a bit of fill flash to brighten the girls, but not so much that you can tell flash was used (I like this shot a lot by the way)

Thank you for sharing!

I stood on a fence and shot down, but probably would have been cooler from that big tree..I didn't think of that! We go to this train park a lot..it is near our house so I will try that next time.

Funny you mention fill flash since I've been keeping close tabs on your thread about flash. I JUST got a flash last weekend and can't use it worth a darn. But the links are really helpful if I can find the time to read and absorb them.

linpelk · May 1, 2009

bpetruzzo said:
I really like 2 and 3 a lot. Interesting composure and facial expressions in both. number 3 is a little soft, it looks like you might be focused just beyond her face. I think in number 1 I find the tree in the background a bit too distracting. I liked Clawed's idea to shoot down into all the flowers; then again, these are your pictures!

The blue sky in CS4 is easily saved--especially if you happened to have shot these images in Raw, in which case probably no one will be the wiser. You can use the spot adjustment tool in Camera Raw. In fact, you can use Camera Raw to open JPG files too. I think that's the easiest way to do it.

If it were me, I would probably bump up the saturation a little bit too. The colors in these seem to be a bit dull where they ought to be bright.

Thanks for your input. I agree with the tree in the background. I took a lot of pictures in these flowers (some, fortunately, without the tree in the background). However, they are all lacking something. Maybe the lighting was too harsh (it WAS a bright sunny day), but I think I also screwed up with my settings. I am just kind of frustrated because I felt like the setting was really nice and if I were a REAL photographer, I could have done something great with this, but ALAS..I suck.

I tried to increase the saturation, but even the slightest increase made the flowers look funny (neon-like)

Thanks for the advice on fixing the blue sky in pic #2. I did shoot these in RAW so hopefully I can fix it.

Thanks again for your help