C&C on my first RAW edits, thanks :)

[MommyOf4]

Hi, All! I'm a newbie, I think I've only posted once before. But, If you wuldnt mind giving me a quick C&C on a couple of pictures I took of my son today. Up til now I've shot JPEG but, decided to give RAW a go. These are my first attempts at RAW edits so i know i still have a lot of learning to do. My pictures just seem so noisy in the RAW form?

 

[Hickeydog]

Make #1 a lot more warmer.

 

[MommyOf4]

Is this better? Does it look a little blown out?

 

[dustin0479]

#1 Has extremely shallow DOF, try to avoid shooting f1.8. Looks like you have good focus on the eyes but hard to tell from the Ipad. Perhaps a bit tight, I would like it better if you had the rest of his hair and too the shot in the lower to his collar of the shirt. This way you would not be breaking skin on the edge of the image.

 

[dustin0479]

Somewhere just between the two...

Is this better? Does it look a little blown out?

 

[MommyOf4]

As I said, I am still very much a beginner and still have A LOT to learn so if you'll bear with my noobie questions. One thing I'm struggling a little with is finding the right DOF for the image. I mainly like to shoot portraits and have gotten into the habit of almost always shooting at f1.8 then just adjusting my ISO and SS accordingly. I need advice BAD in this area :/

 

[MTVision]

Hi, All! I'm a newbie, I think I've only posted once before. But, If you wuldnt mind giving me a quick C&C on a couple of pictures I took of my son today. Up til now I've shot JPEG but, decided to give RAW a go. These are my first attempts at RAW edits so i know i still have a lot of learning to do. My pictures just seem so noisy in the RAW form?

I'm on my phone so I can't see what your settings were. what ISO were these taken at? I don't think RAW files will make your pictures look noisy. They may look a little drab compared to JPEGS since JPEGS are processed in camera whereas RAW are not.

 

[MommyOf4]

ISO 400 on a Canon T3i, usually looks pretty good at 400.

 

[dustin0479]

50mm f1.8 ISO400

 

[dustin0479]

While you hone your editing skills try shooting in RAW+Fine, this way you can cheat by looking at how the camera THINKS the image should have been processed. Probably not the best way to start but often times it is a help.

 

[MommyOf4]

Thanks, Everyone!

 

[KmH]

Prime lenses need to be 'stopped down' a minimum of a couple of full stops to achieve their sharpest focus.

In the case of an f/1.8 lens, 2 stops down is f/3.5. I tend to use f/4 to f/8.

You also have to be aware that the plane of focus (depth-of-field or DOF) is pretty much parallel to your image sensor. If the camera is pointing dead straight ahead then that plane of focus is perpendicular to the ground and is straight up and down.

When you tilt the camera up or down the plane of focus tilts up and down with it, and is no longer perpendicular to the ground.

Also note that DOF is affected by 4 factors:

1. Lens focal length
2. Focus point distance
3. Lens aperture
4. Focus point to background distance

 

[MommyOf4]

Prime lenses need to be 'stopped down' a minimum of a couple of full stops to achieve their sharpest focus.

In the case of an f/1.8 lens, 2 stops down is f/3.5. I tend to use f/4 to f/8.

You also have to be aware that the plane of focus (depth-of-field or DOF) is pretty much parallel to your image sensor. If the camera is pointing dead straight ahead then that plane of focus is perpendicular to the ground and is straight up and down.

When you tilt the camera up or down the plane of focus tilts up and down with it, and is no longer perpendicular to the ground.

Also note that DOF is affected by 4 factors:

1. Lens focal length
2. Focus point distance
3. Lens aperture
4. Focus point to background distance

Thank you for the break down. See, I think I need to refer back to the book I read a few a months ago (Understanding Exposure). I need a refresher in DOF I pretty much have the gist of it down pact but, there are parts of it I'm still at a loss with. Like also taking the focal point and distance into consideration. I really appreciate the advice, I'm sure some of you with more experience get tired of repeating yourselves over and over and over lol. It helps a lot!

 

[KmH]

There are a bunch of great digital photography technical tutorials here: Digital Photography Tutorials

DOF is so important it's their 4th tutporial - Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

 

[MommyOf4]

There are a bunch of great digital photography technical tutorials here: Digital Photography Tutorials

DOF is so important it's their 4th tutporial - Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

You. Are. AWESOME.