Abstract What can I do better?

What can I do better? · 07:39 AM

Shot it without Tripod.
F16 1/30 ISO 100

I am not at all happy with the quality of the pictures (ignoring the subject at this point). Can anyone spot the obvious adjustments I need to do? For e.g. this shot is of the landscape, but when I zoom in to the trees, cannot see the details.

Sluggo · 12-03-2016, 10:48 AM

Originally posted by dinesh

...I am not at all happy with the quality of the pictures (ignoring the subject at this point)....

What camera and lens did you use?

This is a particularly difficult situation to shoot because of the extreme lighting difference between the sunlit background and the shaded foreground, and you've composed the frame so that it's roughly an even 50/50 split between those areas. The exposure seems to be a compromise that doesn't work for either part of the picture - what's in shade is underexposed, and what isn't is overexposed, and detail is lost everywhere.

Several possibilities come to mind.

1. Plan the shot for a different time of day when the contrast will be less.

2. Choose which part of this scene is more important to you; recompose the shot to make a split that favors the subject, and then expose for the subject. Sounds like the tree line is what you care about, so either move a little closer or point the camera down so the foreground fills more of the frame, and increase exposure so the trees have detail; in this case maybe the adjustment is to open the aperture to f/11 or f/8 leaving the rest the same.

3. Try an automatic HDR setting if your camera offers it. Personally I don't often like the effect because it ends up looking fake, but even in lighting like this it might give detail throughout the frame and color in the sky.

4. Long shot: if you took this in RAW and have photo editing experience, try "developing" the file twice at different exposure settings and blending those together using either a hand-drawn mask or a gradient line slightly above the horizon, or again, some kind of HDR plugin. Sometimes a RAW file has details that the straight-from-camera JPG lacks.

Honestly, I'd just start with #1. Some lighting situations are hostile to photography, and part of making satisfying pictures is just recognizing that and doing some planning.

Oh, and welcome to the forums!

JeffB · 12-03-2016, 11:08 AM

What are you hoping for in the final image? As Sluggo says above you picked a very difficult lighting situation. If your goal is to have both the shaded foreground and the sunlit background exposed equally than the short answer is you can't without doing some masking magic.

You have 2 options: #1 is as mentioned above using 2 separate images. #2 is using a graduated ND filter to reduce the brightness of the upper part of the image. That is the only way to get even exposure in a single image with such different EV levels in one scene.

I'd suggest using the spot meter on your camera to explore the brightness in the scene before shooting to see how much difference there between the high and low lit areas. Your reading assignment is Ansel Adams Zone System

Explore and have fun!

dinesh · 12-04-2016, 11:15 AM

Slugo/JeffB,

Thanks for the response. Actually, my bad. I was not trying (or even equipped yet) to explore the light differences. I probably need to take a different shot. My question was more wrt the fact that my photos seems to come grainier (when zoomed in and miss the details). Autofocus or manual does not matter. Let me get another shot and post it. BTW, I am using a Pentax K-Xw with the kit lens (18-55 DAL).

mcgregni · 12-04-2016, 07:15 PM

Actually the points made above by the other members here are the most important things you should worry about for now ..... don't get hung up on concerns about ultimate sharpness. Once your composition, framing, and working well with the light all comes together, then a lot else will follow easily.

However, the settings for this shot are not ideal ....F16 / 1/30th / ISO 100 and handheld. 1) F16, too small aperture (possibility of diffraction reducing sharpness) 2) 1/30th too long exposure (possibility of slight camera movement reducing sharpness) 3) ISO 100 Good for quality, but will affect the exposure time (making it slow), so may need some compromise .

This photo would probably have been a little sharper if the settings were F11 / 1/125 / ISO 200 ... (which I think (?) is an equivalent exposure value, the same overall brightness).

jk333 · 12-06-2016, 10:36 AM

This photo should have been metered off the background that is blown out (white or grey). It's white/grey because the camera tried to give the foreground (lawn) enough light to show color. And not be just black. This is due to to the contrast previous posters have referenced between the lawn and background.

Set your camera to a center point so that it meters off of the one point you focus it on. In this case, that would be the area that is white. Then you can always move it to recompose without metering/focusing.

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12-03-2016, 10:48 AM	#2
Sluggo Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Ames, Iowa Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 774	Originally posted by dinesh ...I am not at all happy with the quality of the pictures (ignoring the subject at this point).... What camera and lens did you use? This is a particularly difficult situation to shoot because of the extreme lighting difference between the sunlit background and the shaded foreground, and you've composed the frame so that it's roughly an even 50/50 split between those areas. The exposure seems to be a compromise that doesn't work for either part of the picture - what's in shade is underexposed, and what isn't is overexposed, and detail is lost everywhere. Several possibilities come to mind. 1. Plan the shot for a different time of day when the contrast will be less. 2. Choose which part of this scene is more important to you; recompose the shot to make a split that favors the subject, and then expose for the subject. Sounds like the tree line is what you care about, so either move a little closer or point the camera down so the foreground fills more of the frame, and increase exposure so the trees have detail; in this case maybe the adjustment is to open the aperture to f/11 or f/8 leaving the rest the same. 3. Try an automatic HDR setting if your camera offers it. Personally I don't often like the effect because it ends up looking fake, but even in lighting like this it might give detail throughout the frame and color in the sky. 4. Long shot: if you took this in RAW and have photo editing experience, try "developing" the file twice at different exposure settings and blending those together using either a hand-drawn mask or a gradient line slightly above the horizon, or again, some kind of HDR plugin. Sometimes a RAW file has details that the straight-from-camera JPG lacks. Honestly, I'd just start with #1. Some lighting situations are hostile to photography, and part of making satisfying pictures is just recognizing that and doing some planning. Oh, and welcome to the forums!

12-03-2016, 11:08 AM	#3
JeffB Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: 'Merica! Posts: 209	What are you hoping for in the final image? As Sluggo says above you picked a very difficult lighting situation. If your goal is to have both the shaded foreground and the sunlit background exposed equally than the short answer is you can't without doing some masking magic. You have 2 options: #1 is as mentioned above using 2 separate images. #2 is using a graduated ND filter to reduce the brightness of the upper part of the image. That is the only way to get even exposure in a single image with such different EV levels in one scene. I'd suggest using the spot meter on your camera to explore the brightness in the scene before shooting to see how much difference there between the high and low lit areas. Your reading assignment is Ansel Adams Zone System Explore and have fun!

12-04-2016, 11:15 AM	#4
dinesh New Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Posts: 2 Original Poster	Slugo/JeffB, Thanks for the response. Actually, my bad. I was not trying (or even equipped yet) to explore the light differences. I probably need to take a different shot. My question was more wrt the fact that my photos seems to come grainier (when zoomed in and miss the details). Autofocus or manual does not matter. Let me get another shot and post it. BTW, I am using a Pentax K-Xw with the kit lens (18-55 DAL).

12-04-2016, 07:15 PM	#5
mcgregni Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Surrey, England Posts: 2,603	Actually the points made above by the other members here are the most important things you should worry about for now ..... don't get hung up on concerns about ultimate sharpness. Once your composition, framing, and working well with the light all comes together, then a lot else will follow easily. However, the settings for this shot are not ideal ....F16 / 1/30th / ISO 100 and handheld. 1) F16, too small aperture (possibility of diffraction reducing sharpness) 2) 1/30th too long exposure (possibility of slight camera movement reducing sharpness) 3) ISO 100 Good for quality, but will affect the exposure time (making it slow), so may need some compromise . This photo would probably have been a little sharper if the settings were F11 / 1/125 / ISO 200 ... (which I think (?) is an equivalent exposure value, the same overall brightness).

12-06-2016, 10:36 AM	#6
jk333 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: bev Posts: 181	This photo should have been metered off the background that is blown out (white or grey). It's white/grey because the camera tried to give the foreground (lawn) enough light to show color. And not be just black. This is due to to the contrast previous posters have referenced between the lawn and background. Set your camera to a center point so that it meters off of the one point you focus it on. In this case, that would be the area that is white. Then you can always move it to recompose without metering/focusing.