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04-15-2010, 06:23 PM   #1
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New DSLR 1st pics please critique

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Got my K-M today.
Pics taken in all Manual mode.
I decided to start with manual to better lean aperture and exposure.
Lens Quantaray 70-300

Zero photo shop
Cropped on camera
Cherry Blossom:
I think it looks kinda fake where it's green. Looks like I tried to fill it with green but it's my grass.

Lots of noise in the pic. can someone help me with that?

F/8 1/320sec ISO1600



This is my son in the living room
F/4 1/500sec
"softened" and B&W on camera.


04-15-2010, 06:37 PM   #2
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In case you were in the middle of reading my response, just properly read your post.. I'm not seeing a particular lot of noise in your photo. Nothing entirely obvious anyway. Both pictures definitely have focus problems. Perhaps not a bad thing but...



Last edited by JeffJS; 04-15-2010 at 06:43 PM.
04-15-2010, 07:01 PM   #3
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Well the black and white one was intentionally blurred.
the The original pic in color looks much more crisp.

I guess I see more noise with the larger pics on my 24" monitor.
Looking at this post on my laptop is does not show as much.

Like I said today was my first day shooting I took about 300 pics and liked these 2 the best. I still have a lot to learn.
04-15-2010, 07:15 PM   #4
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The noise looks a little bit bad on the first one, but you can easily clean that up in post processing. Otherwise these look very nice. Did you use some kind of soft focus effect on the black and white photo? If you did then it doesn't really work for that situation, its supposed to really be used for dreamy kinds of photos, not a kid who is terribly excited at something.

They're not bad though, and considering that you're posting this in the beginners corner I'm assuming that you are new to this, so I'd say you are pretty good at it.

04-15-2010, 07:22 PM   #5
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Yes I did use a soft effect.

and today is my first day shooting DSLR
04-15-2010, 07:28 PM   #6
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For first efforts, I'd say you did well. You could try running the first shot through a noise program like Neat Image etc to help with the noise. Generally at high ISO's it's better to slightly overexpose a shot a little and it will come out cleaner. But I think you could have shot this one at 800 and a slower shutter speed as there's not much motion (unless it was windy) It's only one stop between 800 and 1600.

The kid shot is interesting but I agree with Cosy. the softening effect is usually done to moody shots and not so much with excited ones. But that being said, we should always break the 'rules' to find new ways to create new 'looks'.
04-15-2010, 07:31 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by ckusnierek Quote
Well the black and white one was intentionally blurred.
the The original pic in color looks much more crisp.

I guess I see more noise with the larger pics on my 24" monitor.
Looking at this post on my laptop is does not show as much.

Like I said today was my first day shooting I took about 300 pics and liked these 2 the best. I still have a lot to learn.
Could also be that I'm quite tired right now and my eyes are a little messed up (not much though)..

The B&W doesn't work for me because his eyes look like he's wearing those contacts people wear in movies to make their eyes look crazy. I think you may have gone a little overboard with the blurring if you were going after a soft portrait look (that's an assumption on my part). Some PP using selective masking to leave some areas, like the eyes and teeth more in focus might work better. The way it is, it just looks out of focus.

We never learn to Do, if we never Try. Keep it up



04-15-2010, 07:45 PM   #8
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My problem with manual focusing is historically all the film SLR cameras I have used have had a slip focus screen. This one does not.
04-15-2010, 07:59 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by ckusnierek Quote
My problem with manual focusing is historically all the film SLR cameras I have used have had a slip focus screen. This one does not.
Do you mean a Split Screen??

pentax k2000 split screen, Camera Accessories. Great deals on eBay!

Not too difficult to change it..

04-15-2010, 08:25 PM   #10
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Noise in your first image is due to high iso, shooting at f/8 & a shutter speed of 320 for static objects gives you a bit of leeway.

Lower the ISO to 400 lower aperture setting to say f/4 & your shutter speed to 1/120 this should get rid of the noise.

Nice composition by the way.
04-15-2010, 09:20 PM   #11
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I think the shots are excellent for first shots, certainly better than my first ones. I applaud your decision and reasoning to shoot in manual mode. Peter & Cabstar's advice to shoot lower ISO, if wind was not an issue, is excellent. So too was th advice to use 2rd party software for noise reduction.

You may want to put in a split prism (so may of us here have) especially if you miss the ones in your film cameras. Best of luck as you grow into DSLR.
04-16-2010, 03:56 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by JeffJS Quote
Do you mean a Split Screen??

pentax k2000 split screen, Camera Accessories. Great deals on eBay!

Not too difficult to change it..

Yes SPLIT SCREEN.
How hard are they to change?
04-16-2010, 03:59 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by cabstar Quote
Noise in your first image is due to high iso, shooting at f/8 & a shutter speed of 320 for static objects gives you a bit of leeway.

Lower the ISO to 400 lower aperture setting to say f/4 & your shutter speed to 1/120 this should get rid of the noise.

Nice composition by the way.
After looking at the camera I thought I was shooting at 400 but hte camera was set to 1600


I think when I went from auto to manual it defaulted to 1600 and I did not catch it.
04-16-2010, 04:18 AM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by ckusnierek Quote
Got my K-M today.
.....
Lots of noise in the pic. can someone help me with that?

F/8 1/320sec ISO1600
It's the ISO 1600 as indicated in other replies.
You will need to go to ISO 800 or even ISO 400.

When you cannot avoid high ISO, you could use other techniques, like:
* Applying ETTR (Exposure To The Right). See: Expose Right
* Applying PP Noise reduction. See: Imagenomic - Imagination at Shutter Speed, try the free community release.

- Bert
04-16-2010, 04:38 AM   #15
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Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I have a K-x and it's not nearly as easy to change screens as a K10/K20D. The clip it clearly visible on those bodies. But on the K-x, it's not easy to open, in fact I can't figure mine out, although I didn't try too hard. I am under the impression that the KM and K-x are the same body with just different electronics and sensors. If the prism's are the same, then I would say it's not that easy to do.
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