4 for C&C

[Ratman667]

I planned on going to the zoo later in the day, but it is supposed to rain, so I woke up early to catch the sunrise. These are my "best" out of the set. Yes, I know they are a bit grainy, I reduced the noise as mush as I could without losing too much detail. I was wanting to use a low ISO, large aperture and slow shutter just to see what I got. After the first few shots, I noticed that wasn't working, so I sped up the shutter speed so I wouldn't get overexposed images.

1.

2.

3. I know it is really blue. I wanted it to come out that way.

4. Missed the focus on this one... Had to back up with the tide coming in and forgot to refocus.

I also had a stupid question about why the ISO wasn't were I set it, but I had Auto ISO Sensitivity on. Note to self: drink coffee before early morning sessions.

 

[bigtwinky]

The slow shutter speed is a very good idea when doing water... it gives it a nice effect.

But when you are slowing your shutter speed, you need a tripod for crisp images.
The first two images dont seem sharp at all. I like the composition of the second, but the blurryness kills it for me. They are grainy, even though you said you used a low ISO...odd. I dont have an EXIF viewer at work, so what were the settings for the shot?

The last, like you said, you missed the focus. Well, the focus point is further back, and due to the wider aperture, the front is blurry.

Seriously consider redoing all of this with a tripod. Keep the ISO as low as possible, set your aperture to smaller so you have more in focus (f/11 or so) and let the camera decide on the shutter.

 

[Ratman667]

The slow shutter speed is a very good idea when doing water... it gives it a nice effect.

But when you are slowing your shutter speed, you need a tripod for crisp images.
The first two images dont seem sharp at all. I like the composition of the second, but the blurryness kills it for me. They are grainy, even though you said you used a low ISO...odd. I dont have an EXIF viewer at work, so what were the settings for the shot?

The last, like you said, you missed the focus. Well, the focus point is further back, and due to the wider aperture, the front is blurry.

Seriously consider redoing all of this with a tripod. Keep the ISO as low as possible, set your aperture to smaller so you have more in focus (f/11 or so) and let the camera decide on the shutter.

I used a tripod with a wireless release for the first three. The blurryness could be a combination of slightly missed focus and noise reduction. I was going for hyperfocus on the first three as well and could have been off on my measurement from the camera to the water.

EXIF is:

1:
Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D3000
Lens: 50.0 mm f/1.8
Image Date: 2010-09-06 05:50:53 -0400
Focal Length: 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm)
Focus Distance: 4294967295.00m
Aperture: f/2.0
Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
ISO equiv: 3200
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Light Source: Fine Weather
Flash Fired: No

2:
Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D3000
Lens: 50.0 mm f/1.8
Image Date: 2010-09-06 05:51:01 -0400
Focal Length: 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm)
Focus Distance: 4294967295.00m
Aperture: f/2.0
Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
ISO equiv: 2200
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Light Source: Fine Weather
Flash Fired: No

3.
Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D3000
Lens: 50.0 mm f/1.8
Image Date: 2010-09-06 05:57:02 -0400
Focal Length: 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm)
Focus Distance: 4294967295.00m
Aperture: f/2.0
Exposure Time: 0.0063 s (1/160)
ISO equiv: 500
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Light Source: Fine Weather
Flash Fired: No

4:
Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D3000
Lens: 50.0 mm f/1.8
Image Date: 2010-09-06 06:07:00 -0400
Focal Length: 50.0mm (35mm equivalent: 75mm)
Focus Distance: 4294967295.00m
Aperture: f/2.0
Exposure Time: 0.0063 s (1/160)
ISO equiv: 360
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
White Balance: Manual
Light Source: Fine Weather
Flash Fired: No

I did set it to ISO200, but the settings I had allowed the camera to override it if it thought the iso was too low.

I will try again tomorrow if it isn't raining. I will also use a smaller aperture too. Today, I was pretty much shooting wide open. Mostly just messing around to see what I got.

 

[bigtwinky]

Aperture: f/2.0
Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320)
ISO equiv: 3200

There is no reason at all to shoot on a tripod when you are shooting with settings like this. And if there is, I dont know. I'm thinking you could of dropped that ISO to 200 (4 stops) and upped that aperture to f/11 (5 stops) and then the shutter would of been slowed by 9 stops...so somewhere around the 5 second mark.

Tripods for me are slow shutter speeds. I dont know many landscape shots that work with an aperture of f/2.0. Its cool to mess around and learn from what. I do that often as well.

But you need to learn, not just try.

Next time you go out, put your camera in aperture priority and on a tripod. Set ISO to 100 or 200. Set the aperture to f/11. Check the shutter it gives you. Use the remote to set off the shutter for a long exposure.

f/11 = not much depth of field, so more things are focused
100 ISO = little to no grain / noise