Studio Lighting...Help

[kozment]

Ok, I just got in my home studio lighting and I am having some issues. It seems that the shadows of all my pics are really grainy, if I zoom in with my Photoshop program they look like sand paper, I can fix it in Photoshop, but it takes a lot of work, anyone have any suggestions....Thanks

 

[photo1x1.com]

What are your specs? Do you have an example for us? Studio shots should't be grainy.

 

[tirediron]

Please post sample images and exposure details. A shot of the whole setup wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Braineack]

shoot at 100 iso.

 

[kozment]

I've already fixed this on but maybe it will give you some idea

 

[kozment]

Nikon D3400
f/5.6
1/100 sec
iso 4500
focal length 55mm

 

[Braineack]

Nikon D3400
f/5.6
1/100 sec
iso 4500
focal length 55mm

by studio lights did you mean a few small lightbulbs?

I've already fixed this on but maybe it will give you some idea

subjective. it looks like you wrapped her in saran wrap...

 

[tirediron]

Nikon D3400
f/5.6
1/100 sec
iso 4500
focal length 55mm

That'll be your problem right there. WHY are you at 4500ISO????

 

[Designer]

Nikon D3400
f/5.6
1/100 sec
iso 4500
focal length 55mm

Apparently your camera doesn't do ISO 4500 very well. Go down the scale quite a bit.

 

[Designer]

.. I just got in my home studio lighting ..

Please be specific. What lighting, exactly?

 

[kozment]

Well, to be honest, I don't know. I was using the aperture setting on the camera and that's where is set the iso. I guess I should have mentioned, this was the first time using this camera also. I'm learning, so what should the iso be for studio lighting?

 

[kozment]

I am a true beginner, so be patient..lol

 

[tirediron]

The ISO for studio work should be <200. First, are you actually using studio lighting (moonlight or pack & head strobes) or are you using some cheap 'Cowboy Studio' style MiC PoS continuous light source?

 

[adamhiram]

That'll be your problem right there. WHY are you at 4500ISO????

The D3400 can get perfectly usable images with minimal noise up to about ISO 1600, but as was previously mentioned you're much better off keeping your ISO around 100-400 if you're in a controlled studio environment. It sounds like you're probably using a continuous lighting setup that just isn't bright enough - even with the cheapest speed lights, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to shoot at ISO 100 at f/5.6. Your best bet might be to look into some inexpensive speed lights, such as Yongnuo YN-560 or similar.

 

[ronlane]

Well, to be honest, I don't know. I was using the aperture setting on the camera and that's where is set the iso. I guess I should have mentioned, this was the first time using this camera also. I'm learning, so what should the iso be for studio lighting?

So are you saying that you were using aperture priority and letting the camera do the rest? While I agree that you do want to be able to choose the aperture, but you also want to be able to keep the shutter speed up, which leaves the ISO as the variable but using off camera lighting, you should be able to keep that under ISO1000 as long as you have enough lighting.

To be able to have this kind of control, working in manual mode typically works best.