Frustrated and Concerned. This is the best my camera can do?

[bumpylemon]

im starting a word document with all the advice ive gotten...print it out and carry it with me. i got the sb-600 today and the pics look the same indoors as with the regular flash. how can that be?

 

[white]

Light is light is light.

Just imagine little rays. Pointed directly at the subject will flatten it out, kind of like the sun at noon. Directly overhead. It also causes well-defined shadows. Bounce the light by reflecting it off a white ceiling scatters those rays, and suddenly the room becomes a light source. The shadows are softer, the light more diffuse. Some of those rays have lightened the shadows.

Same principle behind reflectors. Just bouncing rays.

 

[bumpylemon]

ill post a few pics and tell me about the light and what should be done. i seem to have the best looking pictures so far directly at the person or thing im shooting. ill just post random shots...please dont say well the tilt is off or its not in thirds...just for reference hahah

 

[bumpylemon]

looks washed out

 

[bumpylemon]

i edited the second pic...is this much more improved than the original?

 

[PhotoMama22]

You're getting better & better!! I love the pictures of the guy wearing the blue jays hat (maybe I'm being biased tho because I'm canadian lol)
I think you did an awesome job!! Better then the first pics you posted in this thread!! Keep up the great work & keep shooting!!

 

[New Hampshire]

I will just add some points to consider/remember when it comes to composition...

Remember the rule of thirds:

Rule of thirds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It will add much to your composition. Also when you have a common subject that has a front end and a back end (animal, car, boat, etc.) always set up your rule of thirds so that the subjects front is pointing into the open space in front of it. For example, if your taking a picture of a car compose the shot so that it is either on the right or left third of the picture with the front end facing to the opposite side of the frame. This will give the feeling of the car "moving" into the photo. Exceptions are, like already mentioned with the first photo in this thread, if the turkey's head had been swiveled around to be "looking" back into the open space of the photo. I know you said it is all a lot to remember when your doing something on the spur of the moment. And you are right. That is why trying your best to beat all the advice given into your mind and doing a lot of shooting will build up to the point where you do it automatically without thinking.

Good luck!

Brian

 

[pgriz]

Light is light… is true, but if yin is light, then yang is the shadow. The two work together to create highlights and gradations and shadows… Highlights show the high points, shadows show the low points, and the smooth (or not so smooth) gradation of light from one to the other shows the contour.

Flat light has almost no shadow detail, which is why it is often not very interesting. The opposite, a picture with strong shadows is dramatic, but also not interesting. In between the two, is the place where the right amount of light and the right amount of shadow work together, as intimate dancers in a tango, to give us the full palette of tones, which communicate texture and contour, shape and volume.

So the challenge is not to have enough light (any damnfool bulb or flash can give you that), but to position the light(s) so that the highlights are in the right place, and the shadows are there in just enough detail to give us the third-dimension. We talk about lighting, but it really is the art of shadow-making.

Have a look at this link: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/06/09/beautiful-black-and-white-photography/

Pay special attention to the shadows. Strong, harsh shadows are almost always created with a single, small light source (bare flash or sun). Softer shadows are created with a wide (ie, large area) light source (open sky, light box, beauty dish, etc.). Shadows that show detail are usually the result of at least two light sources – the primary one which creates the shadow, and a fill light that fills in some of the shadow. Very even, textured shadows are created with an array of lights, properly balanced in intensity and also area.

Look at any interesting photograph you come across, and ask yourself where the light was coming from, whether there was one or more sources, and whether it was small or wide. If you think you’ve got it figured out, try to replicate it. That’s when you will find out whether the lessons are sinking in.

 

[Edsport]

Here's my go at it. I used curves to bring some contrast. Brightened the eyes a bit. Softened the harsh lines under the eye and down along the face. A little sharpening and removed some overall redness. Before and after...

 

[nonamexx]

In portraits, it's better to be softer and thus smooth out the skin imperfections.

Too sharp and you bring out all the imperfections of their features.

Increasing contrast makes the skin look very rugged and the face looks older. Yes, you bring out the shadow contrast, but also bring out the skin imperfections. Not good.

 

[Edsport]

Yes i know that but it wasn't my intentions to soften the skin...

 

[djacobox372]

First, don't shoot at iso 100, increase it to 200 or 400 and you'll double/quadruple your shutter speed, no need for VR.

Then it's all about nailing focus. f5.6 is actually pretty narrow at 200mm, you might want to increase the aperture to f8 or f11, until you become more proficient with focusing.

The last shot is in focus and very crisp, just slightly underexposed--caused by taking a photo against the sky with auto-exposure, either expose manually, or switch to spot meter mode so only the foreground subject is considered.

Shooting in bright/snowy conditions usually requires a lot of fiddling with exposure, there is just too much contrast for the camera to sort out automatically.

 

[Edsport]

In portraits, it's better to be softer and thus smooth out the skin imperfections.

Too sharp and you bring out all the imperfections of their features.

Increasing contrast makes the skin look very rugged and the face looks older. Yes, you bring out the shadow contrast, but also bring out the skin imperfections. Not good.

As you can see i mentioned about skin softening in post #45...

 

[bumpylemon]

i definitely have gotten better since i first had my camera. The main thing I am having trouble with is focusing. and thats all on me. practice. in these pics i am not looking to be a professional photographer. just maybe for friends and family for fun and maybe some friends at a cheap price in the future when I learn more. i am experimenting with some effects to be different i suppose. because pics of models i see on like MM are so glamorous that can only be from Photoshop.

1

2

3

4 something about this picture captured raw emotion. i love it.

5

6 maybe to much saturation in the eyes. i was going for a white out look with dark eyes

 

[Edsport]

You wished the skyline was lined up with this photo. Easy done with Photoshop using transform warp...