Critiques please

I am brand new to the DSLR world! I recently purchased a Canon Rebel XSi. I am using a Canon Speedlight 430ex II flash. I'm still trying to learn settings with different lighting. Here are a few shots I took. What would you do differently? Please, professional comments only.

edge0627 said:

I am brand new to the DSLR world! I recently purchased a Canon Rebel XSi. I'm still trying to learn settings with different lighting. Here are a few shots I took. What would you do differently? Please, professional comments only.

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So, if I'm not a "pro" then I can't comment? ;-)

edge0627 said:

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Could benefit from some fill flash.

edge0627 said:

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On-camera flash is very harsh and produces a heavy shadow. Get an external flash and point it at the ceiling.

edge0627 said:

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Too bright.

edge0627 said:

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Too blue. Too tilted.

Good start!

--
Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700, Sony R1, Nikon D50, Nikon D300
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info
"Quantum Mechanics: The dreams that stuff is made of..."

OP is using external flash.

On the blue picture, how do I fix it from being too blue? Also, what do you mean by too tilted? I do use an external flash, so I will try tilting it up! Also, on the one that's too bright, what setting should I put it on to make it darker?

The first one is a nice composition, but I think you metered on the black jacket as her face is over exposed.

The second one has a weird crop in camera, probably should have backed up a touch. Also, the flash needs to be bounced off something as this is some harsh flash lighting.

Third one, again, looks like you metered for the dark jack and it's over exposed.

The last one doesn't do much for me and the white balance is off, something that can be fixed in post.

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How do you meter on her face so it's not over exposed?

I'm going to assume you are using center-weighted for your metering. When you are metering, but the AF point on the brightest part of your subject and you can lock that exposure. (Exposure Lock). This looks like an * on your camera body if you are using Canon.

Then you can recompose your shot. Or.. you can meter the brightest part, remember those settings and then use manual and dial that in.

This is just a quick breakdown but should get you on the right track.

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In your camera raw editor you'll need to adjust the white balance setting. Right now your camera is confused. Snow isn't the easiest to shoot and meter etc.. You could also do a custom white balance and use that. Before you start shooting you can shoot into a grey card and use that photo as your custom white balance.

Easiest would be to just alter it in post processing.

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Check out my photo galleries !!

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edge0627 said:

On the blue picture, how do I fix it from being too blue? Also, what do you mean by too tilted?

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That pic was very difficult to fix. Well, not the tilt (that was trivial), but the blue/cyan tint was pervasive. I am not sure what happened? But I made it better after lots of work. By tilted, I mean that the houses in the background have walls that don't go straight up and down...that's easy to fix by cropping and rotating...

edge0627 said:

I do use an external flash, so I will try tilting it up!

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Yes, that will make the lighting much "softer". Another approach is to point it to the side and bounce it off a big white screen (foam-core or cloth).

edge0627 said:

Also, on the one that's too bright, what setting should I put it on to make it darker?

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That question is impossible to answer. The knowledge that you need is not a specific setting but rather an approach. Every scene will be different, so you or the camera must be sensitive to the differences and make appropriate changes. Let's start with a Q: What Exposure Mode were you using?

I would suggest you try P-mode...it's a good, general-purpose place to start. Now, another Q: What Metering Mode were you using?

I would suggest for complicated, high-DR scenes (like those snow scenes) that you try Partial or Center-weighted Average. Then learn to put the center of the VF on the subject, half-press, and then compose by re-pointing (and leveling) the camera...finally fully-press the shutter button.

I also worked on two other pix:





They were easy to "fix"...although neither are perfect...the last one was badly overexposed. You should learn to "chimp"...look at the histogram after each shot (for a while) and if there are large amounts of the curve pushed up against the right side, try the pic again...and again, until it looks right.

--
Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700, Sony R1, Nikon D50, Nikon D300
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info
"Quantum Mechanics: The dreams that stuff is made of..."

2nd pic:

You could move the chair near a window (if the window has a sheer white curtain in front that would be nice) and allow some natural light to illuminate the scene then bounce some flash off the widow or ceiling for fill light).

ISO 100, p mode, portrait mode or aperture priority.

3rd pic:

Overexposed.
Try matrix/evaluative metering with + exposure comp up to 1.5 if need.
ISO 100, aperture priority 5.6 to 8.0

4th pic

Too blue, not sure what happened here. What white balance setting did you use?
ISO 100, F 5.8 to 8, aperture priority (may need some + exposure comp).

Third pic - were you shooting in Aperture Priority mode? When the flash is attached, the shutter speed can't be faster than 1/200th, so if you also fix the aperture by using Av mode then the camera is unable to darken the shot enough to stop the snow from blowing out. Use a smaller aperture, or if you didn't try P mode, give that a go.

lamah said:

Third pic - were you shooting in Aperture Priority mode? When the flash is attached, the shutter speed can't be faster than 1/200th, so if you also fix the aperture by using Av mode then the camera is unable to darken the shot enough to stop the snow from blowing out. Use a smaller aperture, or if you didn't try P mode, give that a go.

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You're right. That explains the overexposure. But I think pics 3 & 4 should have been taken without flash. If the OP was closer to the subject then yes.

Get closer. A lot closer.

Everything that doesn't add to an image, takes something away. In several images, the subjects fills no more than 25% of the frame. So 75% of your shot is just a distraction of what you want to express, and it burdens the photo.

Here are a few I just took! I know at least 1 is over exposed, but I think one is almost spot on. What do you think?

edge0627 said:

Here are a few I just took! I know at least 1 is over exposed, but I think one is almost spot on. What do you think?

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I think you are using apertures that are too small...don't go above f/11. This caused you to have to use a high sensitivity setting.

--
Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700, Sony R1, Nikon D50, Nikon D300
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info
"Quantum Mechanics: The dreams that stuff is made of..."

What settings would you recommend? Learning this is very frustrating LOL

The compostion of this scene makes it very difficult to get a good exposure. There just isn't a good setting for this scene.

After doing some reading on websites today about lighting, here's what I came up with. Also, in the editing, what would you do different if anything?

edge0627 said:

After doing some reading on websites today about lighting, here's what I came up with. Also, in the editing, what would you do different if anything?

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Not everything can/should be done in PP. Here is my list for the moment of image capture:

• I'd quit putting her in the center.
• I'd brush the hair out of her mouth.
• I'd put something dark for her to look at to eliminate the squint.
• I'd powder her nose to get rid of the redness?

There is great contrast in the scene...the white (snow?) background-left and the dark brown door-right. You did a good job with the exposure! It looks like you are having fun...play some more...don't get frustrated.

edge0627 said:

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Here is my version of this shot:



Here is what I did in editing:

1. Crop and rotate (to make the hinge straight)
2. Used Level tool...slid the white pointer down until her whitest tooth almost blew out
3. Corrected WB by making skin tone warmer
4. Whitened eyes
5. Reduced (but didn't remove) spots on face
6. Removed food? on L side of her mouth

--
Charlie Davis
Nikon 5700, Sony R1, Nikon D50, Nikon D300
HomePage: http://www.1derful.info
"Quantum Mechanics: The dreams that stuff is made of..."

Thank you so much! You have been so much help to me!! I normally don't like to center alot in pictures, but I was just playing with lighting in these. Your edit looks great! What software do you use?