Need photo quality control tips!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Antonow on November 1, 2008 at 9:57pm

It would be easier to help you if we just could see some of your photos.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LorettaW on November 2, 2008 at 12:50am

Okay, here they are. Thanks.

I see only image icons below. I've uploaded them to "My Photos" where I can see the actual pictures. Please tell me if you can see them.

Attachments:

• IMG_2598.JPG, 6.1 MB
• IMG_2769.JPG, 3.9 MB

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Daniel Cossack on November 2, 2008 at 4:25am

Yes, those are blurry. Especially the horse. It seems your camera focused on the closest object and not necessarily the object you were intended to photograph. LEARN TO USE YOUR MANUAL SETTINGS. When you are taking landscapes such as these, you want to use a very wide depth of field. So your aperture needs to be as small as possible. If the shutter needs to be slow to get proper exposure, use a tripod.

Stock sites are very picky. Get your exposure right when taking the shot and don't mess with it by changing levels in gimp.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LorettaW on November 2, 2008 at 7:44am

Unfortunately, I was up at that stable for a riding lessson; it wouldn't have been possible to bring along a tripod on the subway and bus, or set it up where I was standing. Are you saying that in auto settings, if I take care to be sure the electronic focal points are on my subject (as I did not with the horse here) I may still end up with blurry photos, since auto may not choose the correct aperture? Not to beat this to death, but in the park photo, what ought my focal point have been?

As I go along I hope to become facile with my maual settings; in the interim I need to avoid screwing up in auto. I'll take better care to make sure the focal points are where they need to be.

Levels was a different issue. I didn't upload that photo for comment. It wasn't blurry, it was slightly underexposed. Levels sharpened it a bit. Usually I don't rely on photo editing except for cropping.

Thanks for your feedback.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LorettaW on November 2, 2008 at 8:06am

P.S. I just read a Canon Rebel XSI article on line to familiarize myself a bit more with the manual settings. To my dismay, this reviewer claims that some of the XSI's producer an unusual number of out of focus shots and if you find this is the case you may need to swap it. I got mine at B&H a couple of months ago, I don't know if it's possible to swap at this stage. Being a new photog I don't know yet if it's me or the camera; I'll assume it's me.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Daniel Cossack on November 2, 2008 at 2:31pm

You are probably right that it is most likely your focusing technique, but of course there is always the small possibility it is the camera. If you eventually suspect that it is the camera, and you are patient enough, there is a way to determine definitively. Go and read this web site.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Daniel Cossack on November 2, 2008 at 8:10am

In the park picture everything needs to be in focus, you are almost focusing at infinity. To do that right your aperture needs to be around 16 or 22. On a cloudy day that could be a problem. If you use automatic, use aperture priority mode and take note of the shutter speed before you shoot it. If the shutter speed is too low, you can increase the ISO setting until the the shutter speed is where it should be. If you increase ISO too much you're going to have a grainy picture, then your only alternative is to use a tripod and slower shutter speed.

A good practice for you is to bracket your exposures if you can. Take three pictures of the same scene. One at automatic exposure, one slightly overexposed and one slightly underexposed. Your camera even has a menu setting that will allow you to have the camera take the 3 brackets for you automatically. You can adjust how much over and underexposure you want. 1/2 stop, 1 stop, etc.

When you get home, take a look at the 3 shots. You will begin to learn how your camera does at automatic exposures and learn when and when not to compensate the exposure depending on the scene.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by LorettaW on November 2, 2008 at 8:20am

Okay, that is EXTREMELY helpful advice. Thank you. I'm pretty sure I can do that. I apprecate it.

▶ Reply to This