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Better pics straight from Camera help

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nikond2000

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I have owned my D3 for about 5 mo now and still struggeling at times to get great looking pics straight from cam without doing post work...Maybe this is the way its set up but would love to get it closer from the get go...I shoot in RAW but do some JPEG work also...In neutral the RAW files are just that Neutral without much to them..When people see the proofs they dont see past what it can be...Infact once showing them finished product with Cs3 they are amazed...So does it come down to how good a photoshop user you are?? The equipment helps grab the image ie FPS and then up to you in post??
 
Tell me about your neutral settings.

How do you have the picture control tweaked??

Give me all the numbers you use.

Sharpening
Contrast
Brightness
Saturation
Hue

--
Sam
http://www.samjsternphotography.com
 
Then don't shoot NEF at all, as that is the most minimally processed. Instead shoot in JPEG and tweak the sharpness, contrast, saturation, etc. until you find a result that works best for you.

Alternatively, shoot in NEF+JPEG, with a small JPEG size and you can send those JPEGs off as proofs while you work the NEF files.
--
No pixels were harmed in the writing of this post.

Equipment in profile.
Pleae view my gallery http://gallery.schappellphotographics.com/
 
I'm only learning, but I'm pretty sure I'll need better equipment before I can blow out highlights and make staircases grow out of the bride and groom's heads...
 
Matsu said:
I'm only learning, but I'm pretty sure I'll need better equipment
before I can blow out highlights and make staircases grow out of the
bride and groom's heads...
Click to expand...
While there are some whites at 100%, I'm pretty sure all the important detail is retained. so not sure that really matters.

I'm very interested, though, what settings Sam used to get the colors and tonality that pleasing - looks very good for OOC.

--
John Walker
http://jhwalker.smugmug.com/
 
better ask Matsu what to use since he can do it better.

I'll leave this post to others.
My suiggestions will serve others better other places.
Take care
--
Sam
http://www.samjsternphotography.com
 
samjstern said:
better ask Matsu what to use since he can do it better.

I'll leave this post to others.
My suiggestions will serve others better other places.
Take care
Click to expand...
So you're punishing me and others who'd truly like to learn for Matsu's remarks? :-(

I guess someone always has to ruin it for the rest - thanks, Matsu.

--
John Walker
http://jhwalker.smugmug.com/
 
WS Schappell said:
Then don't shoot NEF at all, as that is the most minimally processed.
Instead shoot in JPEG and tweak the sharpness, contrast, saturation,
etc. until you find a result that works best for you.
Click to expand...
Go ahead and shoot NEF and tweak in NX2 using only the picture control sliders until you like it. Save the picture control and upload to the camera. Do a good white balance, expose well, use the saved picure control, shoot JPEG and see what happens.
--
-Kent

Life is too short for slow glass.
http://www.pbase.com/kjoosten
 
It just looks like really harsh lighting to me. The faces look OK, but the rest is almost too hard to look at.

If composition counts for something, and this being a posed shot, not a candid, it has to, then what to make of the busy background, and distracting shadows?

It could be that there wasn't anywhere better to shoot and the photographer made the best possible use of the space and equipment, I don't know.

Let me dispel any notion that I could do better, I can't, but that doesn't make me a poor critic. I know what I like, I know what I'd buy if I were in the married couple's shoes...
 
I know pro photographers from the old days that shoot JPG or RAW. One guy said to me it is better to get everything in camera. I am sure if you had a production staff and a set with moocho equipment you could do well after awhile. Remember, a good OOC image is one where all the lighting is CONTROLED so the camera can capture everything. You have to consider the cameras dynamic range and fit everything into that dynamic range. Some use filters but controlling the lighting is key. If you are shooting in a studio this is much easier. You can use scrims, flags, strobes to create an effect.

If you are shooting out of studio and doing more of an off the cuff style then you have to always be considering your lighting on a moment by moment basis. Looking for the right natural light situations, knowing how to balance that lighting with a flash if necessary. That is one of the skills of a photographer. Recognizing good lighting situations. Now a PJ style has that in some situations when there is time but sometimes everything is moving way too fast and you just shoot the moment and get the lighting as close as possible. So there are different skills for different effects and reasons.

As for the in camera settings. I played around with it some but usually do my final editing in NX/Photoshop. I consider that in the old days of film, it was an art form to print an image. Capturing a good image via film/slide was only one part of the scenario. The easiest person to look at is Ansel Adams. His prints were not the same as his capture. There were many photographer who used master printers to get all of the image onto paper looking good. Or the photographer themselves were a master printer. So I look at PP as my printing work.

Perhaps you should buy Thom Hogans D3 guide. I know his guides have set me straight in the past. then you can tell us which setting you prefer. In the end it is all about experimenting and creating your own style.

David Myles
http://www.davidmylesphotography.com
 
Matsu - if the original poster had asked about composition or if the person who helpfully posted his image had recommended his photo as a good example of composition, then your remark might have been somewhat helpful, if a little clumsy. They didn't, so your comment came across as just rude!

I find smart asses to be the slowest learning photographers!!
 
Just a ditto

--
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.
Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.
 
A momentary lapse on my part. However, and I don't know if this is just the lighting or the photographic treatment in post, but it looks, for lack of a better word, harsh. Being too sharp maybe amplifying the effect?

There's a hardness about the rendering of the exposure that belies any neutrality, I feel like I've had my eyes dialated.

I don't want to impunge the photographer, judging by his site it seems to be a look he favours. I'm not convinced of its aesthetic value. However, I'm not in the marketfor his services. Those who are seem to be happy, so all power to him.
 
all others will cause damage to their camera if they read this.

I use this, see if it works for you.

Picture control of neutral:

sharpening ....5
contrast ......+1
Brightness......0
saturation......0
Hue..............-1 (helps skin tones, less green)

In custom menu in b6, fine tune optimal exposure

set it to - 1/6. This was determined by 3 camera bodies consistantly over exposing by 1/6 stop when measured with a Miinolta flashmeter IVF
--
Sam
http://www.samjsternphotography.com
 
Hey sam thanks to you and others for the comments and ego boost : > )

Im still learning alot with the D3 and get frustrated sometimes when getting my final prints back alond with other issues...Its not good for an OCD person to be a photographer that is for sure!! I seem to be my worse critic...

I shot this Senior session on Sunday and will have to play around with the RAW settings and use the suggestion above...My red channel still seems to be blow alot of times even when underexposing also..

Oh well still soooooo much to learn....

As a side note-----SAM is great when it comes to giving advice on the this forum and has some steller pics from weddings. I really like the settings on the one above Sam so no worries...

Good to hear from you!!
 
the D2x mode I setting is so so so close to the neutral that they are almost indistinguisable.

Great picture by the way. Great kiss shot.

--
Sam
http://www.samjsternphotography.com
 
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