Problem with xt-3 or maybe with me?

Alex8686 said:

I sent you link on priv

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I appreciate it!



First of all, i love the image and i dont think theres anything wrong with it. Its plenty of sharp, nice rendition of the lens bokeh, nice composition. So perhaps what you are envying is just the color grading of photographers you see on 500px. If you do find the files not acceptable in terms of sharpness then perhaps a different lens, because as far as APSC goes the XT3 is as good as they come (im a canon user btw).

I ran your file past capture one and threw in 2 presets i've made. They are very similar but distinct enough (for me at least). Tell me what you think:













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Cordial Regards

thanks for your time. both photos look very nice but I would choose the first one. Can you share the settings and add it to google drive?

The only thing I still miss is this flash, the glow of a photo like a pro and I have no idea how to do it

data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABQAAAAUCAQAAAAngNWGAAAA/0lEQVR4AYXNMSiEcRyA4cfmGHQbCZIipkuxnJgMStlMNmeyD2dwmc8+sZgxYJd9ErIZFHUyYYD7fkr6l4/rnvmtl7+KitrqV/fq2Y5eLY3Z9S48eRLe7BmVZ9qhTLhQ0algzZWQOVKSsCF8OjAnwbxDTWFDUhPK/jMr1H6HE/IqRky2DyvCefuwItwZzodVoYRiLqMkVCXrwpJ9twZ+sgfDYEFYl8wIWxZ9uFf7zkallxlJh4YrLGsKjZRx7VGHhLqwgFUN45DGdb8MeXGpgB4ABZdeDcpZEY51A+hyLKz4S1W4MQWm3AibWtgWmk6dyISa1pSdyWTOlLXVp0+eL9D/ZPfBTNanAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC

Hmmm, since you modified the image as a raw with a "brightness" do you have a good memory of how things looked that day?

If so you may want to shoot using Kelvin as white balance and then you can get almost exactly what you remember.

Plus some of the other arguments to wide open etc.

How are you shooting "full auto", aperture priority, shutter priority?

Alex8686 said:

thanks for your time. both photos look very nice but I would choose the first one. Can you share the settings and add it to google drive?

The only thing I still miss is this flash, the glow of a photo like a pro and I have no idea how to do it

data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABQAAAAUCAQAAAAngNWGAAAA/0lEQVR4AYXNMSiEcRyA4cfmGHQbCZIipkuxnJgMStlMNmeyD2dwmc8+sZgxYJd9ErIZFHUyYYD7fkr6l4/rnvmtl7+KitrqV/fq2Y5eLY3Z9S48eRLe7BmVZ9qhTLhQ0algzZWQOVKSsCF8OjAnwbxDTWFDUhPK/jMr1H6HE/IqRky2DyvCefuwItwZzodVoYRiLqMkVCXrwpJ9twZ+sgfDYEFYl8wIWxZ9uFf7zkallxlJh4YrLGsKjZRx7VGHhLqwgFUN45DGdb8MeXGpgB4ABZdeDcpZEY51A+hyLKz4S1W4MQWm3AibWtgWmk6dyISa1pSdyWTOlLXVp0+eL9D/ZPfBTNanAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC

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Im afraid i dont know how to share a photo with its settings, but i uploaded a png file on your drive. Hope that does it.

Your workflow will vary and honestly takes a while until you find something you really love... that instagram you showed has beautiful images, but its clear that it has a very define style. I also believe its all natural light.

1 - Started off with the crop

2 - Did some global adjustments: Increase brightness, decrease whites, increase a bit of the dark tones on the level, a tiny bit of contrast, add some structure, remove some clarity (nasty for portraits).



3 - Went to the color tab, and pulled the midtones a bit to the orange/yellow. Increase the saturation gauge with moderation (this will help with that glowy look you see in wedding portraits). I also warmed it up a smudge:



4- Layers time! First one is a radial dial to add that bit of additional depth of field blur, which in turn removes that nasty twig in the left side of the frame. Use this tool with moderation as it will look bad when overdone. Once the dial is created, just remove clarity almost completely:



5 - Finally, the model itself. I added a small radial tool to brighten up her back, and added a tiny bit of contrast too:



Final product:



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Cordial Regards

Thank you. I think I have to invest in the full version of capture one because in the epress version some of these things I can't do...

Alex8686 said:

Thank you. I think I have to invest in the full version of capture one because in the epress version some of these things I can't do...

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Can you name them? Sometimes there may be multiple ways to get to the same results.

in the express version there are no tools as in your points 3,4,5. the curve is only RGB, color editing very limited to 5 main colors, no mask etc.

Alex8686 said:

in the express version there are no tools as in your points 3,4,5. the curve is only RGB, color editing very limited to 5 main colors, no mask etc.

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The curves that i use is RBG as well. But you don't have to do that, simply adjust the blacks a bit. You see, when you add contrast it increases both the blacks and the whites. So for portraits i prefer to do them separately.

Look, i love Capture one 20, its as close to perfect as a software has gotten for me... but it's pricey. if you have the money go for it, if not try to work with what you have. You can also try Lightroom for a month which is relatively cheap.

I hope that at least you feel you have good equipment in your hands.

Here's my take with Lightroom. I can't help you with specific details as you're a Capture One user, but the basic idea is the same, even if the tools are different. I backed off on the exposure a bit and touched up some nearly blown highlights on the hat and sleeve with the adjustment brush and added a big fat tone curve to open up the shadows and mid tones and tame the contrast without pushing the highlights back up too much. I tried for more of a high key sun-blasted vintage look more in line with your target samples with a custom profile based on the Classic Negative look, but not as extreme and without the pinkish midtones. The field was a bit greenish so I brushed a bit of magenta tint to bring it back towards neutral and brought down the sharpness as well to minimize the noise and keep the bokeh smooth in the background. I also warmed up the shadows and midtones a tad with some split toning too. It's OK if you hate it, but it's pretty much what I would have done if I'd shot it. I think it's rather a nice image.

I tried to match the style from that Instagram account.

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www.darngoodphotos.com

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Cordial Regards

[No message]

What you are describing is that it is all about the photographer, not the equipment. Our cameras are far more capable than we are. The examples you link to bring together lighting, settings and post processing. They could have been shot on a far lower spec camera than yours. These are skills you can learn. Manufacturers want to make us believe it is all about the gear. It isn’t otherwise eg Adams, Cartier-Bressen and Eisenstadt would already be long forgotten. It is similar to why Tiger Woods can drive a shot off the tee further with his putter than I can with my Big Bertha....

All I did for mine was take the original JPG, use a VSCO preset on my phone, and increase the saturation and clarity a little on her body.

Nothing wrong with these pictures at all. If they were mine i would be happy with them.

SamfromAL said:

Hmmm, since you modified the image as a raw with a "brightness" do you have a good memory of how things looked that day?

If so you may want to shoot using Kelvin as white balance and then you can get almost exactly what you remember.

Plus some of the other arguments to wide open etc.

How are you shooting "full auto", aperture priority, shutter priority?

Click to expand...

I did in full manual mode of course looking at the histogram. now I will try to leave ISO and the exposure time for the car by setting the minimum exposure time to 1/250 and the maximum ISO to 3200. I will focus on the manual aperture but I have the first observations with e.g. Viltrox 85 at f4 is much sharper than f1.8

Alex8686 said:

SamfromAL said:

Hmmm, since you modified the image as a raw with a "brightness" do you have a good memory of how things looked that day?

If so you may want to shoot using Kelvin as white balance and then you can get almost exactly what you remember.

Plus some of the other arguments to wide open etc.

How are you shooting "full auto", aperture priority, shutter priority?

Click to expand...

I did in full manual mode of course looking at the histogram. now I will try to leave ISO and the exposure time for the car by setting the minimum exposure time to 1/250 and the maximum ISO to 3200. I will focus on the manual aperture but I have the first observations with e.g. Viltrox 85 at f4 is much sharper than f1.8

Click to expand...

You will find that most lenses are sharper when not used wide open.

Hi, your pics are very good, with time, the cam and the post-processing software will become an extension of your body, things will get much more intuitive.

• First of all, Capture one has deals all the time, I recommend checking Fujirumors , as they always highlight any Fuji related deals, including C1's.
• Second of all, Phase one has created dozens of hour-long tutorials , which delve into some the basic operation of most C1 tools. It's great for starters, once you get familiar with the tools, you'll be able to use them in a really creative way. You can find the most recent ones here , although you should also check the ones made for the past versions of C1.
• You could also check out the retouching forum on here for tips and tricks, as some folks on there are masters of C1.

Hope this helps!

yayatosorus said:

Hi, your pics are very good, with time, the cam and the post-processing software will become an extension of your body, things will get much more intuitive.

• First of all, Capture one has deals all the time, I recommend checking Fujirumors , as they always highlight any Fuji related deals, including C1's.
• Second of all, Phase one has created dozens of hour-long tutorials , which delve into some the basic operation of most C1 tools. It's great for starters, once you get familiar with the tools, you'll be able to use them in a really creative way. You can find the most recent ones here , although you should also check the ones made for the past versions of C1.
• You could also check out the retouching forum on here for tips and tricks, as some folks on there are masters of C1.

Hope this helps!

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Yeah, honestly im In love with what they have created. Its a joy to just sit and watch those videos, kinda like a posdcast.

Yes, you feel like you really get your money's worth with C1.