I HATE HATE HATE all of these

[Teresa]

I dont know what was wrong with me, my camera, my lights or what was wrong period. I tried to move the lights and I tried different settings here and there and they all still turned out like crap and I can't figure out why. AND I used two cameras. One is an Olympus E-330 and the other is a Sony Cybershot p&s.
I just hate looking at these...they want to make me cry.

1.

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I would show you more but I am sure you guys are already crying like me!

 

[Teresa]

sorry they are so big...i dont know how to resize them without losing res or quality in them

 

[That One Guy]

Hi Teresa!

They aren't that bad. what don't you like about them?

 

[Teresa]

oh my gosh...dont you need your eyes checked..they are noisy like it has a high ISO (but it was only at 100) and they are out of focus or have wrong focal points or just dark

 

[That One Guy]

yes but some of that can be corrected in PS.

some suggestions....

the ones that are too dark: try getting more light into the scene. this may also help with the noise. if i take a pic with my wife's p&s i get alot of noise in low light situations. or try lowering your iso to 400 in low light conditions.

the ones that are "yellowish": maybe a white balance issue. just balance to the lights that you are using.

soft focus: this can also be due to low light.

when i take a pic of a person i put a focal point right between their eyes so the eyes are sharp. the rest of the face can shoot soft which can help with some skin blems they may have. but this is the technique i use. other ppl may have different suggestions for you.

are you able to select focal points with your camera(s)?

 

[Teresa]

it is a new camera and i have to play around with the focal points a bit more and that is why i brought my other camera to shoot with as well but that too didnt give me good shots

 

[dpolston]

Look at this (post #9) This shows my setup and how I did it. It might help.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106851

Or this: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107497 (same basic setup with no hair light or background light.)

 

[Teresa]

i dont have a reflector or a hair light or gels

 

[dpolston]

Reflector = white poster board (mine is white foamboard - I might have paid 8 dollars for the rigid stuff) 3 bucks!

Hair light = hardware store clip on light (I have one in a light kit... but you can improvise) 6 bucks!

Gel = forget the gels (but you can get them in a local pro music [band equipment - not CD store]/lighting store) 3-5 bucks each!

The tools are the knowledge. Not necessarily the equipment.

 

[Teresa]

oh okay thanks

 

[.Serenity.]

Im sorry you dont like them, but there are lots of things that can be done in post processing to improve on the images. I think shes a doll though.

 

[Parkerman]

The lack of light is probably what got you all the noise in the pictures. Use to happen to me and my P&S alot.

 

[oldnavy170]

Did you use your on camera flash? The lighting is off but I do think you can save a few of these with some post editing work.