If you don't have a softbox don't use flash

Tips on perfecting exposure? Shoot manual only and use spot meter on your camera which is this symbol iirc [ * ]

Pick your aperture, expose for the highlights. Push your shutter 1/3, 1/2 stop to a full stop until you are satisfied with the detail presented to you. Don't be afraid to push your iso to 800/1000. And check your histograms by pressing Info in preview mode.

Are you comfortable with reading histograms?

Yep, i learned about histograms when i was learning photoshop couple years back.

And by exposing for the highlights then push the shutter, do you mean by exposing for the highlights and increasing shutter speed to darken the midtones etc?

Also i thought i read somewhere that we shouldn't be using any 1/3 ISO stops. Only use ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 etc.. not 125, 1000 because they reduce image quality.. is that true?

This post was edited by Eek on Mar 21 2010 06:31pm

Pushing means pushing your exposure (Over exposing). By exposing for the highlights it will give you 100% detail in the highlight area. But more often than not, when doing this in a contrasted scene (which window light usually isn't) it will make shadows clip. That's why you should push the highlights a little to gain shadow detail. Your sensor will be able to handle to the pushing of the highlights to reel back the shadow detail. Just check your histograms or preview to see accurate skin tones.

Push the exposure in shutter stops... not ISO stops. I've also heard your claim about ISO 1/3rds reducing quality but I'm not too sure about accuracy of the claim, I haven't read much into it :/

Geez, digital photography has made it too easy haha

Thanks for the advice peoples.. I have to say i'm quite satisfied with today's results. They're obviously not "pro".. well because i'm not But i do like the outcome.

No post processing at all


(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)


On a side note... i need to find a different uploader.. I can clearly see compression and detail loss on this version compared to what i see in Lightroom.

They don't look very sharp mate :/

The last one is quite cute. The stuff on the right is quite distracting though

I know It was my fault. Obviously my manual lens calibration skill sucks.. I just got a good deal on a 50D, got that and sold my Xsi.. been playing with microadjustments fixing focus.. It's slightly off.

#5 and #2 are probably the worst.. but the rest are somewhat acceptable? hopefully? :[



Thanks, i debated for long and hard whether to crop that part out or not. I decided to keep it for some "colors". Thanks for the comments though!

This post was edited by Eek on Mar 23 2010 12:19pm

Cool mate, the 50D is a nice camera and should be a big improvement over the Xsi. Much more ergonomic!

I don't think it's the focus at fault here. Looks like shutter speed is the issue :/



Are you using Auto white balance?

When I suggested window light, i'll post something up of what I mean.

This post was edited by lithfkn on Mar 23 2010 04:28pm

Yep, I didn't have much light to work with, yesterday was a very gloomy day and even with all the blinds open. His living room was extremely dark. We had to turn the lights on. >_> With mixed lighting.. i don't know what to do so i set it on auto >_<

It's adjusted in LR afterwards :[

A gloomy day is perfect This is what I mean by using window light.



In order to utilise the soft, beautiful light that trickles through a window, the subject must be standing next to the window

You can see a couple of examples in the horrible picture I drew in paint. You have side, profile lighting. Backlit stuff. And some fill with a reflector. There is plenty of light there available to comfortably shoot at ~400iso with a fast enough shutter speeds.

This post was edited by lithfkn on Mar 23 2010 04:33pm