Editing Help for NOOB

haleypapa · Aug 3, 2012

okay guys so i am new to this forum and i consider myself a very average photographer with good knowledge in shutter/iso and aperture. However I do not posses proper skills in editing. I am not asking for direct help here but all i really want is for someone with good editing skills to edit my picture so i can really see how best it can come out. I will then try on my own to do such in the best way i can. My picture is raw but i do not know how to post raw images on this forum so i will post a jpeg and i can email the raw i guess if anyone chooses to assist. so here goes

Shutter - 30.0sec
Aperture - f4.5
ISO - 1250
Body - canon MKii 5D
Glass - EF 16-35 f/2.8 ii USM
Flash - 58EXii

Picture was shot in complete darkness using second curtain sync ETTLii

MLeeK · Aug 3, 2012

You can upload the raw to a mediafire (free) account and post the link for us to download. What are you wanting to achieve in editing? Tell us what you envision here.

haleypapa · Aug 3, 2012

thank you for your response.. here is the link IMG_0054.CR2

i was thinking if it would have been possible to get it like this image IMG_0063-2.jpg

lol @ image.. its my wife and yes she will kill me!!!!!...note that we were just dicking around with the cam..we were really just trying to get the light to make the sk design...that was pretty kool but the image quality is very poor...

MLeeK · Aug 3, 2012

There really isn't much difference in the two images. The second one is better exposed and a bit more contrasty, that's about it. What are you using to edit?

MLeeK · Aug 3, 2012

This is adobe camera raw CS6 only.
Increased exposure +.65
reduced highlights -20
increased shadows +20
whites -5
Clarity +10
There was a TON of noise in it so I cranked up both the luminant noise removal and the color to +35
Sharpening I left at your default.
The Parametric curve
+10
+22
+19
-5
The point curve I set to medium contrast.
That's it.

haleypapa · Aug 3, 2012

Wow. That came out really well. I wished I composed it better..... I use Lightroom 3.4 I will do the best I can and post it up. I just wanted to see how best it can look so I won't have to settle with a lame image that I think is awesome. Thank you for all of your time. I do appreciate it

MTVision · Aug 3, 2012

haleypapa said:
Wow. That came out really well. I wished I composed it better..... I use Lightroom 3.4 I will do the best I can and post it up. I just wanted to see how best it can look so I won't have to settle with a lame image that I think is awesome. Thank you for all of your time. I do appreciate it

Lightrooms develop module and photoshops adobe camera raw are basically the same thing so you should be able to do all the things MLeek did

MLeeK · Aug 3, 2012

haleypapa said:
Wow. That came out really well. I wished I composed it better..... I use Lightroom 3.4 I will do the best I can and post it up. I just wanted to see how best it can look so I won't have to settle with a lame image that I think is awesome. Thank you for all of your time. I do appreciate it

Just use the same settings I gave you in LR. It's the same engine, just a different hood.

haleypapa · Aug 3, 2012

anything above iso1000 on my mkii produces tons of noise..pretty lame. have a look at this image fro another photographer.. how u assume they got this shot

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...77895869.72691.179731785395790&type=1&theater

MLeeK · Aug 3, 2012

You need to learn to expose properly. The 5d2 is totally useable through it's highest ISO's if you expose the image properly or slightly over exposed. If you underexpose in the slightest it's going to be garbage. The second you increase exposure in post it increases noise. Combine proper exposure with the amazing noise removal in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom and you can use your camera all of the way to it's max.

MLeeK · Aug 3, 2012

haleypapa said:
anything above iso1000 on my mkii produces tons of noise..pretty lame. have a look at this image fro another photographer.. how u assume they got this shot

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...77895869.72691.179731785395790&type=1&theater

That's flash plain and simple. Looks to be maybe snooted to prevent it from lighting up the whole scene.

haleypapa · Aug 3, 2012

MLeeK said:
You need to learn to expose properly. The 5d2 is totally useable through it's highest ISO's if you expose the image properly or slightly over exposed. If you underexpose in the slightest it's going to be garbage. The second you increase exposure in post it increases noise. Combine proper exposure with the amazing noise removal in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom and you can use your camera all of the way to it's max.

Thank you. My technique for proper exposure is as follows.
When shooting in shutter priority I choose my shutter speed and it chooses an apertures based on that. I then look at the aperture through the view finder and ensure that it is not blinking. If it is blinking I adjust my shutter higher or lower until it stops. And until I get the proper aperture I see fit. I do the same in aperture priority mode aswell. However when shooting in manual( which is my preferred mode I adjust the shutter/aperture/ISo until the exposure bar sits in the middle. Note that the picture taken pitch dark. And shot in full manual mode. And the exposure bar was at the middle. I knew I could have opened up aperture a little more which would have given me a lower ISo but I wanted somewhere around f4.

Do you think I have proper exposure down a bit or u recommend I read more?

Again I consider myself pretty knowledgeable in photography but I have no one to talk to it about where I'm from and I do appreciate the time taken to respond to my threads. I also recently started getting into it

MTVision · Aug 3, 2012

haleypapa said:
Thank you. My technique for proper exposure is as follows.
When shooting in shutter priority I choose my shutter speed and it chooses an apertures based on that. I then look at the aperture through the view finder and ensure that it is not blinking. If it is blinking I adjust my shutter higher or lower until it stops. And until I get the proper aperture I see fit. I do the same in aperture priority mode aswell. However when shooting in manual( which is my preferred mode I adjust the shutter/aperture/ISo until the exposure bar sits in the middle. Note that the picture taken pitch dark. And shot in full manual mode. And the exposure bar was at the middle. I knew I could have opened up aperture a little more which would have given me a lower ISo but I wanted somewhere around f4.

Do you think I have proper exposure down a bit or u recommend I read more?

Again I consider myself pretty knowledgeable in photography but I have no one to talk to it about where I'm from and I do appreciate the time taken to respond to my threads. I also recently started getting into it

Metering to 0 (which is what I'm assuming "exposure bar at middle"means) will not always give you the best exposure. MLeek can probably help you out here more then I can but maybe do some research on how your cameras light meter works as well as the different metering modes.

http://godigitalslr.com/simplified-introduction-dslrs-light-meter/

http://godigitalslr.com/introduction-metering-modes-dslr-photography/

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-metering.htm

haleypapa · Aug 4, 2012

I just finished watching a bunch of videos about exposure and light metering. Pretty simple stuff. My image was simply poor in quality I just did another shot with my 85mm. I'll post tomorrow though. I decided to go the way in using my histogram and shoot to the right. I saw a DIY snoot I'm going to try in the meanwhile. I think I'm addicted to this forum