Using High ISO's

[suefoley]

Hoping for some feedback on this shot.

It's my first after studying all day and finally completely using my manual settings. I reverted to high ISO as the light was so dim, and I didn't want to use a flash.

I thought the graininess of the shot worked best in black and white.

Is this a cheat's way? Or an OK way out of dim light if the final effect is quite raw?

I played around in photoshop, but ended up really just converting to grayscale and adding a border.

Any feedback appreciated...

Thanks all,
Sue

[Chewys Dad]

I personally like the Photo the way it is. You could have done many things, but the B & W work quite well for this one. a noise reducing soft ware might have removed some of the grainy look in the background, but the subject is very crisp. I'm not thrilled with the border, but that's a matter of taste.
Thanks for sharing this
Michael.

[suefoley]

with the border, i'm trying to create...and have no idea really how...that rough framed edge look (similar feel to Annie Leibovitz' book At Work). I'm not quite sure how to master. Thanks for the feedback Michael.

[wannabephotographer]

I like this shot, it's very captivating. The noise adds to the photo and I too do not like the borders. I'm not a huge border guy but that's just me, others may love it. The only thing I don't like is the background, is that a sofa? It doesn't add to your otherwise great shot.

[suefoley]

yep - guilty...it's the sofa! rained all day today, so i was sprawled out in the lounge covered in books and my camera bag. my poor daughter was the crash test dummy! my first real attempt at using all the manual settings. ISO settings have never entered into my equations before. but i do love the results...i'll keep experimenting with a less distracting background.

thanks so much for your comments.

[CaptainNH]

I love this stunning portrait Sue. Jasmine's right eye appears a little softer than her left, but not so much that it detracts from the image. You could try just a touch of sharpening to get them to match perfectly.

I think the amount of grain/noise in the image is spot on for a shot of a young girl with young smooth skin. If your subject was older, I think I might even look to add in even more grain with a b&w film emulating add-on for photoshop.

In the days when I shot film, I used to love the grain I got from Kodak Tmax 400 & Tmax p3200 films.
Grubbasoftware's TrueGrain Overview is a great way of emulating these films and, even better, it's only USD$50! Others are available, most with free trials, if you feel like experimenting.

[WooD]

I'm not a border person either, but I like this image.

I think it would have been great if shot on a solid black background.