Harvest Dance

[BambiP]

My daughter before her first semi formal dance of her freshman year in high school.



I am not sure what I am doing wrong, but a lot of the time I get pictures that look like they are not clear. Too much noise I think. I wanted to get a good picture to get printed. What could I have done here to make it better.

Camera Model Name Canon PowerShot SX130 IS
Shooting Mode Auto
Tv (Shutter Speed) 1/8
Av (Aperture Value) 4.5
Light Metering Evaluative
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 800(Auto)
Lens 5.0 - 60.0 mm
Focal Length 12.7 mm
IS Mode On
Flash Off
White Balance Auto
AF Mode Continuous AF
Drive Mode Single-frame shooting


Here is one with my flash on but then I have the shadowing on the side.



Shooting Mode Auto
Tv (Shutter Speed) 1/15
Av (Aperture Value) 4.5
ISO Speed 400(Auto)
Lens 5.0 - 60.0 mm
Focal Length 12.7 mm
IS Mode On
Flash On
Flash Type Built-In Flash
Flash Exposure Compensation 0
Shutter curtain sync 1st-curtain
White Balance Auto
AF Mode Continuous AF

[Doug Sundseth]

In the first picture you were shooting at 1/8 of a second. For most people, hand-held shots at slower than about 1/60 second are going to be hit or miss at best. (Your hand is likely to shake noticeably at those shutter speeds.)

Unfortunately, you're also at ISO 800 on a small-sensor camera, which usually results in quite a bit of sensor noise (though I don't know that particular camera's performance).

You're almost certainly going to need to add quite a bit of light. At a guess, you'll need about five stops better light (about 32 times as much light).

The good news is that it looks like you were shooting indoors in a shadowed area, so more light is pretty easy. If possible, you could shoot this sort of portrait on the shadowed sided of a building during daylight, or bring in a couple of nice, bright halogen lamps to increase the internal illumination. I wouldn't recommend using the pop-up flash, though; the results are seldom good when you do that.

BTW, this is a fairly huge subject, so I'll just leave it at that right now. If you want tips on lighting, ask away, though.

[BambiP]

Originally Posted by Doug Sundseth

In the first picture you were shooting at 1/8 of a second. For most people, hand-held shots at slower than about 1/60 second are going to be hit or miss at best. (Your hand is likely to shake noticeably at those shutter speeds.)

Unfortunately, you're also at ISO 800 on a small-sensor camera, which usually results in quite a bit of sensor noise (though I don't know that particular camera's performance).

You're almost certainly going to need to add quite a bit of light. At a guess, you'll need about five stops better light (about 32 times as much light).

The good news is that it looks like you were shooting indoors in a shadowed area, so more light is pretty easy. If possible, you could shoot this sort of portrait on the shadowed sided of a building during daylight, or bring in a couple of nice, bright halogen lamps to increase the internal illumination. I wouldn't recommend using the pop-up flash, though; the results are seldom good when you do that.

BTW, this is a fairly huge subject, so I'll just leave it at that right now. If you want tips on lighting, ask away, though.

Okay, so faster shutter speed? I am still learning all the shutter speeds and ISO settings that are right. This I had on Auto on my camera because I figured maybe I wouldn't go wrong and would get a good picture to be able to print.

Yes I was shooting inside my apartment. She was actually standing on the stairway for these pictures. So I should use external lighting instead of the flash? Should I have had lighting on the other side of her? I am very new at this and this is a new apartment so I am still figuring out my natural lighting here as well. Any tips you have are more than welcomed. I really want to get better.

What do you mean by...this is a fairly huge subject?

Thanks so much for your input

[Doug Sundseth]

Originally Posted by BambiP

Okay, so faster shutter speed?

Yes, and probably a lower ISO as well. You might be able to get better stuff using a tripod if you can't add light, since at least you won't have to worry about moving the camera, just about your subject moving.

Originally Posted by BambiP

I am still learning all the shutter speeds and ISO settings that are right. This I had on Auto on my camera because I figured maybe I wouldn't go wrong and would get a good picture to be able to print.

In some circumstances, Auto works great. This was not one of those circumstance. The farther you get from shooting sunlit landscapes, the less likely you are to get great photos in Auto.

Originally Posted by BambiP

Yes I was shooting inside my apartment. She was actually standing on the stairway for these pictures.

It looks like there was more light up around the corner of the staircase. To some extent, this probably hurt your shot a bit, since it gave you a background that was brighter than your subject. Since your camera can't really tell what was subject and what was background, it exposed for the scene as a whole rather than the actual subject.

Originally Posted by BambiP

So I should use external lighting instead of the flash? Should I have had lighting on the other side of her? I am very new at this and this is a new apartment so I am still figuring out my natural lighting here as well. Any tips you have are more than welcomed. I really want to get better.

A flash off of the camera can work quite well (it's what most portrait photographers use in studio), so it's not "flash" but rather "flash on the camera" that's the problem. Pop-up flash comes essentially directly from the lens. As a result, it will destroy the shadows that help to define the shape of the subject, and it's quite unflattering when used as the main light in a scene (as demonstrated by the flash photo you showed here).

In general, you want directional lighting, and for beauty shots you usually want a limited range between the highlight and shadow areas.

The simplest way to get more flattering lighting in a situation like this is to bounce a nice bright light (strobe or continuous) off of the wall to the left or right of the subject. The wall (assuming it's a neutral color) will give a relatively flattering light without much work.

Originally Posted by BambiP

What do you mean by...this is a fairly huge subject?

Lighting can be very complex. You need to decide and control the number of sources and the intensity, distance, color, and quality of each source. Even small changes can make very large differences in the impact of the photo.

That said, lighting is all built up from a few fairly simple principles. If you're serious about getting better with lighting, I'd recommend starting with Zack Arias's One Light Workshop, or David Hobby's Lighting 101. (There are uncountable other places to find information as well.)

Originally Posted by BambiP

Thanks so much for your input

Hope it helps. There's enough to photography to keep you interested and learning for a very long time.

[BambiP]

Thank you so much. Lots to learn about lighting.