Newbie looking for help :)

[EPPhoto]

ok thanks! Is there a way that I can fix the exposure of her arm and chest in photoshop that you know of?

By using the reflector as he mentioned would brighten things up allowing you to use a faster shutter speed, thus properly exposing the arm/chest.

Sent from Erics iPhone! (2) Nikon D300 50mm 1.4, 17-55 2.8, 70-200 2.8VRII, 24-70 2.8, 85mm 1.4, (2) SB900

 

[sanderso]

ok thanks! Is there a way that I can fix the exposure of her arm and chest in photoshop that you know of?

By using the reflector as he mentioned would brighten things up allowing you to use a faster shutter speed, thus properly exposing the arm/chest.

Sent from Erics iPhone! (2) Nikon D300 50mm 1.4, 17-55 2.8, 70-200 2.8VRII, 24-70 2.8, 85mm 1.4, (2) SB900

Agreed....the 1/25 shutter speed in #1 and #4 is very slow for a moving subject.

 

[EPPhoto]

Oh I also thought of something else... can you tell me the different uses for the white umbrellas and black umbrellas? when should you use which?

White is more versatile: some of the light passes through and reflects off surfaces [wall, ceiling] behind the umbrella, bouncing forward onto the subject again. You can also place the flash behind the umbrella for an even more diffuse light.

The black backed are more specific, giving a large but single source light since none of the light passes through and bounces forward again.

Sent from Erics iPhone! (2) Nikon D300 50mm 1.4, 17-55 2.8, 70-200 2.8VRII, 24-70 2.8, 85mm 1.4, (2) SB900

 

[iolair]

The umbrellas are a kind of light modifier ... they change the light coming off from a flash gun, or studio strobe (or any other light you can attach to one, really).

The white ones you can either reflect the flash off from the inside, or fire the flash through them. You lose quite a lot of light, but firing the flash through gives a nice soft light that tends to be quite flattering.

The black ones have silvered insides, and you bounce the flash from the inside. This loses less light, and tends to give more dramatic results

If you're seriously on a budget, learning to use natural light and reflectors well is a great start though. (Reflectors can be home-made, or bought fairly cheaply).

By the way, I really like the trampoline/underwater photo. Good work.

 

[VirtualPhotographyStudio]

Try and stop thinking about correcting in Adobe Photoshop and obtain a correctly exposed image. Quality of light is the key to great photography. Keeping your subject within a 3-4 stop exposure range should eliminate the muddy or underexposed image. On the window light image, if you were to back your subject away from the window, the light would even out. Also, I know they are popular now to have lens flair images, try and keep the light to your back when shooting and this should help your quality of light. Once you have the basics down, then experiment with the light and how it falls on the subject.

 

[amandalee]

Thanks for the help! I will try some reflectors on my next go round! and completely understand what youre saying about relying on photoshop. I have a friend that also is just getting into photography and I spend so much more time compared to her on the pictures in the editing process!

How do I get the clean images of eyes and close ups? I feel like mine have so much noise compared to others when I try and sharpen the images...

Like this picture I took of my niece...

 

[KmH]

I would suggest concentrating on learning how to use your camera/lens(s) and light effectively, rather than relying on image editing tricks.

Be careful of what is in the background of a photo and check a lot of other details befor you release the shutter,

Get a good understanding of depth-of-field and how to get sharp focus.

Black umbrellas are white or silver inside and used to reflect the light pointed at them. The black part is removeable so the umbrella can be used in shoot-through mode, instead of reflected mode.

Shoot-through is used so the umbrella can be placed closer to the subject.

 

[ryan_caldero]

Thanks for the help! I will try some reflectors on my next go round! and completely understand what youre saying about relying on photoshop. I have a friend that also is just getting into photography and I spend so much more time compared to her on the pictures in the editing process!

How do I get the clean images of eyes and close ups? I feel like mine have so much noise compared to others when I try and sharpen the images...

Like this picture I took of my niece...

Are you letting the camera choose your focus point? Do you have a single focus point enabled? Might be a combination of slow shutter speed with missing the focus point. Is this picture modified? Cropped? Is this the image right off the camera?

 

[amandalee]

[/QUOTE]
Are you letting the camera choose your focus point? Do you have a single focus point enabled? Might be a combination of slow shutter speed with missing the focus point. Is this picture modified? Cropped? Is this the image right off the camera?[/QUOTE]

The image isn't cropped but the colors are saturated... that was the only thing that I did to it. I think what I'm getting is I need to shoot in Manual more and increase the shutter speed? Lol That seems to be the popular thing... I'm gonna try some now