[LaRee]

I am just SICK about this shoot I did today. The first time I had someone come over for some portraits and I BLEW IT! A mom called me and asked if I would take some photos of her 17 year old daughter. I said sure, I'd be happy to. I told her I just wanted a sign model release and I wouldn't charge her anything for the shoot. I'd upload the photos for her to pick what she wanted and she could order them right through Zenfolio.

Before they got here I had everything set up and I was checking the lighting etc. Everything was set but I wanted to check dof and I threw the k10d into iso 1600 for the tests because I wasn't having the flashes fire and I wanted to hand hold.

STUPID me didn't set the iso back down!!!! I shot the whole stinkin' session on iso 1600! ACK and double ACK. The lighting looks good, the poses are pretty good, the girl pretty....and I totally blow it with using iso 1600!

I just had to come and cry to someone who would understand. I guess I may have to pony up for the paid version of some noise reduction software. I'm not sure pspx2 is up for this job, but I'm not sure yet as I haven't explored it.

I'm just crying in my soup.

[OniFactor]

film effect + B&W to the rescue!

Any chance that you can post them, someone here might be able to help you rescue them and it would certainly be helpful to some of us novices.
I went for a walk in the woods the other day and (I usually shoot in Tav) when I got home I realized I'd left the camera in Manual. Luckily quite a few of my shots worked out ok but it was a good lesson.

[borno]

Sorry to hear that, Neat Image has a free download and works pretty good. I usually pick remove half of weaker noise for more detail and if the lighting was good it might save quite a few. Good luck with them

[rmtagg]

OH what a nightmare! I understand just how you feel I am glad you posted about this because I am going to checkout some of the software listed here. See if she will let you shoot again????

[devs66]

Call a redo, do over, It is not like the girl aged in the last 24 hours, nor did you waste ten rolls of film, at least that is what I would do.

DEVS

[LaRee]

film effect + B&W to the rescue!

That is an idea. We'll see...

Any chance that you can post them, someone here might be able to help you rescue them and it would certainly be helpful to some of us novices.
I went for a walk in the woods the other day and (I usually shoot in Tav) when I got home I realized I'd left the camera in Manual. Luckily quite a few of my shots worked out ok but it was a good lesson.

Thank you for understanding and not just calling me a complete bone-head. That is what I feel like right now. Here is one I processed quickly through Lightroom, using about 50% nr and I had to increase exposure 1/2 stop.

Sorry to hear that, Neat Image has a free download and works pretty good. I usually pick remove half of weaker noise for more detail and if the lighting was good it might save quite a few. Good luck with them

Seems to me the free download of Neat Image places a restriction on the size of the file you can process. At least that is what I recall with the plugin for pspx2

OH what a nightmare! I understand just how you feel I am glad you posted about this because I am going to checkout some of the software listed here. See if she will let you shoot again????

I will do that but it will have to wait. Unfortunately this is a very busy time of year. She is a senior, as is my middle son. My oldest son is graduating college and getting married all in June. I'm shooting a sports series for some folks that hired me. But I will request another chance!

Call a redo, do over, It is not like the girl aged in the last 24 hours, nor did you waste ten rolls of film, at least that is what I would do.

DEVS

Good advice.

[MJB DIGITAL]

dude

at the risk of condescending, which i do not want to do at all....

its probably ok because this wasnt a paying client. yeah, they signed a release, but they didnt pay anything.
it sounds like you dont want to use the photos anyway.

soooooo
chalk it up to a learning experience. and if you want to do some more learning, play with those files and see what you get.

sometimes i pull out my ole ist*D and crank it to 3200...during jobs where im making over $100/hr.

or
sometimes i ADD noise to a photo
here is an example


you will be ok...even probably better off. you seem to care about your quality and are eager to get it right.

tip: set your iso warning to 320 or something like that. i do.
(because regardless of the uses of high iso or how much i like them, it is smart to know when to shoot low iso)

good luck, and pm if you want that pic down.

mitch

[Lance B]

I am just SICK about this shoot I did today. The first time I had someone come over for some portraits and I BLEW IT! A mom called me and asked if I would take some photos of her 17 year old daughter. I said sure, I'd be happy to. I told her I just wanted a sign model release and I wouldn't charge her anything for the shoot. I'd upload the photos for her to pick what she wanted and she could order them right through Zenfolio.

Before they got here I had everything set up and I was checking the lighting etc. Everything was set but I wanted to check dof and I threw the k10d into iso 1600 for the tests because I wasn't having the flashes fire and I wanted to hand hold.

STUPID me didn't set the iso back down!!!! I shot the whole stinkin' session on iso 1600! ACK and double ACK. The lighting looks good, the poses are pretty good, the girl pretty....and I totally blow it with using iso 1600!

I just had to come and cry to someone who would understand. I guess I may have to pony up for the paid version of some noise reduction software. I'm not sure pspx2 is up for this job, but I'm not sure yet as I haven't explored it.

I'm just crying in my soup.

I feel your pain, LaRee.

This is why I now have the ISO showing in the VF all the time as I have fallen for this mistake many a time and it was driving me to distraction.

Looking at your example photo, it actually looks excellent and more than presentable. Nice shot.

[LaRee]

dude

at the risk of condescending, which i do not want to do at all....

its probably ok because this wasnt a paying client. yeah, they signed a release, but they didnt pay anything.
it sounds like you dont want to use the photos anyway.

soooooo
chalk it up to a learning experience. and if you want to do some more learning, play with those files and see what you get.

sometimes i pull out my ole ist*D and crank it to 3200...during jobs where im making over $100/hr.

or
sometimes i ADD noise to a photo


you will be ok...even probably better off. you seem to care about your quality and are eager to get it right.

tip: set your iso warning to 320 or something like that. i do.
(because regardless of the uses of high iso or how much i like them, it is smart to know when to shoot low iso)

good luck, and pm if you want that pic down.

mitch

I did a bit of playing with the files tonight. The problem I'm having is that most things I try I feel fall short of this beautiful young woman. I really do just need to suck it up and ask for a reshoot. I'm also sure that they will like some of the shots, noisy or not. They thought it was fun that I had a fan set up to get some hair blowing in the wind shots. lol The thing that drew this woman to ask me to take photos of her daughter were from the photos I took of the drama troupe. I was shooting at iso 1600 for that performance and the photos were underexposed and pushed in pp, and well, in my eyes way under ideal. But the parents loved them. It is easy to become popular with parents.
Thank you for sharing your image. It does bring home your point. I wouldn't dream of asking you to remove it and I appreciate you sharing it here.

Now, if I ever make $100.00 an hour for photographing I figure by then I'd be able to shoot whatever I feel like and call it artistic license. ;-) You've earned that!

[LaRee]

I feel your pain, LaRee.

This is why I now have the ISO showing in the VF all the time as I have fallen for this mistake many a time and it was driving me to distraction.

Looking at your example photo, it actually looks excellent and more than presentable. Nice shot.

I guess that is how I am going to have to set up too Lance. I am usually very conscious of what iso I am using, but I've been stuffed before. Not on a whole dang shoot though. Sigh. I did get some good shots, I just keep kicking myself knowing they could be soooo much better. And here I was worried about lighting. HA! I could have probably shot the whole shoot with no flash at iso 1600. Instead I was shooting at iso 1600 and had three strobes set up to boot.
I appreciate the understanding Lance.

[benjikan]

I am just SICK about this shoot I did today. The first time I had someone come over for some portraits and I BLEW IT! A mom called me and asked if I would take some photos of her 17 year old daughter. I said sure, I'd be happy to. I told her I just wanted a sign model release and I wouldn't charge her anything for the shoot. I'd upload the photos for her to pick what she wanted and she could order them right through Zenfolio.

Before they got here I had everything set up and I was checking the lighting etc. Everything was set but I wanted to check dof and I threw the k10d into iso 1600 for the tests because I wasn't having the flashes fire and I wanted to hand hold.

STUPID me didn't set the iso back down!!!! I shot the whole stinkin' session on iso 1600! ACK and double ACK. The lighting looks good, the poses are pretty good, the girl pretty....and I totally blow it with using iso 1600!

I just had to come and cry to someone who would understand. I guess I may have to pony up for the paid version of some noise reduction software. I'm not sure pspx2 is up for this job, but I'm not sure yet as I haven't explored it.

I'm just crying in my soup.

I once did something similar when I was cross processing. I should have checked the "Batch Number" of the film and assumed it would be OK. It was for an "Ad Campaign" in Paris. The whole image came out in purple hues. I went berserk. It could have turned in to a major fiasco.

BUT.

I called the client and Ad Agency and started raving about how cool the images were and being a large Music Store chain said "these are so KOOOOLLLLLL"

Planting that paradigm in to their mind set, when they saw the images they went "Wow, so creative and different, we love it..."

Whew....That saved my ass and about 6000€.

Ben

[benjikan]

That is an idea. We'll see...


Thank you for understanding and not just calling me a complete bone-head. That is what I feel like right now. Here is one I processed quickly through Lightroom, using about 50% nr and I had to increase exposure 1/2 stop.



Seems to me the free download of Neat Image places a restriction on the size of the file you can process. At least that is what I recall with the plugin for pspx2


I will do that but it will have to wait. Unfortunately this is a very busy time of year. She is a senior, as is my middle son. My oldest son is graduating college and getting married all in June. I'm shooting a sports series for some folks that hired me. But I will request another chance!



Good advice.

Looks Great, really!

PS...Played around a bit.
Ben

[christinelandon]

Another approach to using "botched" (ahem! ) files that sometimes works for me is to go deep into the "painterly effects" filtration or full-on painting programs. If you've got a good handle on these tools, you can sometimes take a file that really disappoints you and make a finished print that will really thrill your client/recipient.

[barondla]

Don't think they look bad at all. There is nothing wrong with GRAIN/NOISE. Shoot the DS at 3200 a fair amount and the K20D at 3200-6400. Use more noise reduction - that will smooth the facial features even more. Sometimes photographers get too caught up in little things that the subject could care less about. Subject is usually more worried about how they look not the craft quality.
thanks
barondla
Now I want to try adding noise like MJB DIGITAL.