First request for feedback

[melt1109]

I took this picture on a tripod on a windy cold day and barely survived the brief stop. The histogram shows some problems but just a look shows many more. At a minimum it is crooked. I think the use of 'direct sunlight' was probably inappropriate and that even on a tripod I didn't have enough set to stop the action of the foundain. Here's the settings:

Nikon D50
2006/02/04 04:15:28:4
JPEG (8bit)Basic
Image Size Large (3008x2000)
Lens 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Focal length 55mm
Exposure mode:Manual
Metering mode: Multi-pattern
1/320 sec - F/5.6
Exposure Comp: 0EV
Sensitivity ISO 200
Optimize Image:Normal
White Balance: Direct sunlight
AF Mode: Manual
Flash Sync Mode: Not attached
Color Mode: Mode iiia (sRGB)
Tone Comp. Auto
Saturation Normal
Sharpenting Auto
Long Exposure NR Off

[VAtechtigger]

1 - if you shoot in raw then it doesnt matter what white balance you set. You can change that later in software. Or if you have a raw + jpeg mode that makes it easy either way, but slow so not good for burst mode.

2- what happened to your tripod that this is so crooked an easy fix in an editor though.

3- things you can do to get a faster exposure Zoom out to a shorter focal length will allow a faster apeture of 3.x that your lens has. Or if you need the zoom, you can bump up your ISO. 400 and 800 are pretty good on the nikons from what I have seen

4- using the self timer helps with camera shake as well even even on a tripod as your not moving anything to snap the shot.

[melt1109]

Thanks for the feedback. Any idea what would be required to 'freeze' that waterfall?

Thanks,

M

[VAtechtigger]

In order to freeze motion, you need the fastest shutter you can obtain that will give you a properly exposed photo. So like I mentined above, you can zoom out to a more wide angle which will give you a better apeture for letting light in with the lens you have. You can boost your ISO up to 400, 800, 1600. (note that this will give you a grainier shot with each increase) You shot this photo with 1/320 sec shutter which is decently fast. So try the above techniques and get the shutter to 1/500 and above to see if this yields results you are looking for.

[klfatcj]

Another note about the tripod - the tripod allows you to shoot slower than hand holding will, ie your exposures can be longer - this won't freeze action, but blur or smooth the effects of moving water.

If that is what you were trying to achieve, ie a curtain of water, you do want a tripod and the slower speeds, but at midday, theremay be too much light to allow very slow shutter speeds without significant overexposure. Again, if you are trying to achieve this, close down the aperature - the highest f-stop you can and this will give you slower shutter speeds.

With the 55mm lens, you don't need a tripod if you are shooting at speeds greater than 1/60 sec. The general rule is that the shutter speed shoud be 1/focal length or faster. I suppose you can debate whether one needs toconsider then crop factor on digitals, but I don't think that should change this rule.

Kevin

[Africa]

1. You already know about the poor lighing, it's near midday and flat (direct is not the problem) and the horizon - an easy fix.

2. Poor composition, you needed a longer lens. The house is distracting.

3. Not sharp, although that could be a result of preparing it for the web.

4. It's too light.

5. I downloaded it and found it horribly pixilated?

6. On a personal basis I don't find the subject very interesting, but that is a personal choice.

I must disagree with the idea of zooming to a wider angle which would allow for a larger aperture and resulting higher SS but the composition would have gotten worse.

Too freeze the water, as has been indicated, an increase to 400 ISO would have doubled your SS to 640 and since it is overexposed shooting at 1/800 would have helped.

As klfatcj said a slower SS might have been an interesting comparison to a high speed 'stop motion'.

Keep shootin'

Africa

[melt1109]

Thanks all for your feedback and helpful suggestions. Thanks Africa for making my otherwise abysmal picture look better.

I will print out your suggestions and on the next opportunity (probably Sunday) try it again.

I was trying to 'freeze' the water fountain so that it did not appear a blur but instead have more distinctive features such as I can see with my eye. You of course would have no way of know it but I did manage a small miracle in getting the spray to be 'even' because it was a windy day and at any given moment the spray could be hard left or right.

I am wrestling with resizing the pictures for posting here and quite frankly didn't dare crop the house out and then resize it being afraid that it would create a loss of 'quality'. Clearly, I have boatloads to learn. I am grateful to all of you for taking the time to give me feedback so I can grow. I have no doubt that the original picture posted was horribly grainy, but it is probably a function of my reducing the size to under 250k for posting - just doing it incorrectly. I will go back to the how to post a picture posts and pull down some of the free software instead of trying to jury-rig it in PS6.

Though the picture is not 'interesting' in its own right, it is one of several places around my parents subdivision that has a winding pond and ducks, etc. and of course the fountain. I have had in the back of my mind to catch the ducks, the crane, some of the water and the fountain fora collection to frame and give them since it really adds so much to living there. So, on its own, no it probably doesn't appear interesting, but for the purposes intended, it is a fitting scene to go in the collection.

About the blown highlights and overexposure, I shot this at about an hour before sunset with the sun behind me. Would shooting at Noonish be better? Would shooting on a less sunny day be better. I didn't think that shooting at say 9 am with the sun ahead of me would have been a good idea.

Thanks for your helpful kind and gentle remarks.

M

[kenmck15]

yea faster shutter will stop your motion but like everyone has said higher iso (usually resulting in higher noise) or lower fstop 2.8. but then you are reducing ur dof.

I lke the edit tht africa has done. to me the image appeard very flat and is in need of a boost in saturation, contrast and levels.



cheers

Ken