My pictures doesn't look right

[hamlet]

My only thought is that there is some sort of camera processing going on. Either noise reduction, or some sort of smoothing. Check to make sure all those little "helpers" are turned off.

Noise reduction is on. Could that be it? Its turned off now.

 

[runnah]

My only thought is that there is some sort of camera processing going on. Either noise reduction, or some sort of smoothing. Check to make sure all those little "helpers" are turned off.

Noise reduction is on. Could that be it? Its turned off now.

Could help.

 

[hamlet]

Thank you Runnah.

 

[PixelRabbit]

Hey Hamlet, I've been reading a lot of your threads for a while now and you really seem to be beating your head against the wall here trying to find technical and gear shortcomings as the sole reasons for the shortcomings in your images.

Your gear is fine, it is time to use it to figure out the rest of the puzzle.

The image you posted here is a little grainy and mushy zoomed in for many reasons, as Braineack said higher ISO and lower shutter speed contribute, gear may contribute a little bit but the biggest culprit is the light you shot this in (which dictated your ISO and SS).

Honestly given the flat lighting conditions (flat even lighting, I'm guessing a heavy overcast kind of day perhaps even around noon) this is about the best you can expect, a flat image that becomes mushy when you zoom right in on it, take this shot in a early or late day light or use flash to create highlights and shadows and your sharpness will increase, you can up your shutter speed and there will be light and shadow to enhance details.

Give your gear some love and start to focus your efforts on learning light and composition, learning those two things will improve your photography 1000x's more than nitpicking your gear's shortcomings.

 

[hamlet]

Hey Hamlet, I've been reading a lot of your threads for a while now and you really seem to be beating your head against the wall here trying to find technical and gear shortcomings as the sole reasons for the shortcomings in your images.

Your gear is fine, it is time to use it to figure out the rest of the puzzle.

The image you posted here is a little grainy and mushy zoomed in for many reasons, as Braineack said higher ISO and lower shutter speed contribute, gear may contribute a little bit but the biggest culprit is the light you shot this in (which dictated your ISO and SS).

Honestly given the flat lighting conditions (flat even lighting, I'm guessing a heavy overcast kind of day perhaps even around noon) this is about the best you can expect, a flat image that becomes mushy when you zoom right in on it, take this shot in a early or late day light or use flash to create highlights and shadows and your sharpness will increase, you can up your shutter speed and there will be light and shadow to enhance details.

Give your gear some love and start to focus your efforts on learning light and composition, learning those two things will improve your photography 1000x's more than nitpicking your gear's shortcomings.

Yes, thank you. I've done portrait shots inside with proper lighting and bounce flash, but i get this same image quality. I've throw everything at this problem. Maybe the noise reduction was causing this? I don't know.

 

[amolitor]

hamlet, you haven't GOT a problem. That's why throwing things at it isn't fixing it.

 

[hamlet]

hamlet, you haven't GOT a problem. That's why throwing things at it isn't fixing it.

Yes, sorry. Maybe i'm being too stubborn.

 

[Braineack]

humbling.

 

[kundalini]

I agree with Ms Rabbit that lighting, or rather lack of, is a culprit on the shot you posted. In all of your iterations, did you try using the built-in flash?

The histogram shows that much of the data is in the shadow side of the scale. You will find that slightly overexposing (look up Expose To The Right or ETTR) will capture much more data. You can then bring the exposure down in post processing.


EDIT:
I see that you have external flash. Make use of them.

 

[The_Traveler]

And also on the point of focusing on making more pleasing pictures: I have a very hard time to get started. I cant take amazing pictures that draw my audience in, i have a writers block.

No, what you have come up against is that fact that there is great experience and surprising skill involved in making 'amazing pictures.'

You might get one good image by chance but you want to buy some magic gear or learn some magic trick to make great pictures.
You are acting like a teenager or adolescent who believes that they can do anything by learning a trick.

Not going to happen.

 

[astroNikon]

And also on the point of focusing on making more pleasing pictures: I have a very hard time to get started. I cant take amazing pictures that draw my audience in, i have a writers block.

No, what you have come up against is that fact that there is great experience and surprising skill involved in making 'amazing pictures.'

You might get one good image by chance but you want to buy some magic gear or learn some magic trick to make great pictures.
You are acting like a teenager or adolescent who believes that they can do anything by learning a trick.

Not going to happen.

Amen

I'd say "practice", but I think I've said that before.

take some more practice pictures and repost. use your flash this time.

 

[coastalconn]

Do you have a filter on your lens?

 

[Derrel]

Looking at that extreme plant crop, I see a few things. 1)shallow depth of field, but then, that's obvious 2) a very slight doubling of the "lines" on the small parts of the plant. The "lines" are not distinct, but very subtle, like those caused by movement of either the plant, or the camera. Using VR when on a tripod can cause a feedback loop in the VR system, and can cause a similar type of movement. However, photographing plants outdoors at slowish speeds like 1/80 second, also sets you up for failure on things like what is called subject motion blur. One of the bigger issues with high-resolution images, and 24 megapixels on APS-C is definitely high-resolution, is that slower speeds WILL SHOW the slightest movement of the subject, or the camera, or the combined movement of the camera and the subject. The old idea that 1/focal length is a "safe" hand-holding speed is not true at high-resolution image levels, and it also totally neglects to factor in any kind of movement of the subject.

If "all of your pictures" are shot at slow speeds, it's likely that there will be subject movement visible when you zoom way in. I shot some photos of people who were just,literally, standing around outdoors, talking. I used a 70-300 VR lens at 1/320 second on a 24 MP camera...and guess what...when I zoomed in all the way, I could literally SEE MOVEMENT on 1/320 second shots. Hair blowing in the wind. Faint jagged edges on the arms and legs and ears--from the subjects' own movement!

Start thinking about using higher ISO levels, in order to get to 3x the focal length if you really want to start shooting for poster-sized images. You cannot sharply capture a lot of things at slowish speeds like 1/80 second, reliably. In fact, at speeds like that, it's often best to take 10 to 12 frames, and when you start looking through them, you will begin to see the very slight effects of less-than-perfect technique and less-than-perfect focusing, camera work, and so on.

 

[hamlet]

And also on the point of focusing on making more pleasing pictures: I have a very hard time to get started. I cant take amazing pictures that draw my audience in, i have a writers block.

No, what you have come up against is that fact that there is great experience and surprising skill involved in making 'amazing pictures.'

You might get one good image by chance but you want to buy some magic gear or learn some magic trick to make great pictures.
You are acting like a teenager or adolescent who believes that they can do anything by learning a trick.

Not going to happen.

Things have moved on since last we talked Lew. I know now that in my pursuit to look for pro gear, i got that mixed up with being able to take interesting shots. I acknowledge that now. But this thread was never made with the intent of learning how to be creative. That is a whole other can of worms i have to figure out for myself.

 

[hamlet]

Do you have a filter on your lens?

No, i had no filters on my lens. I'm sorry, i should have outlined everything in my OP.