Not enough food

[cristen]

Taken while waiting for lunch at Pizza Hut. I was curious about manual mode so I tried this one without flash. Maybe too under-exposed. I also don't like the white fleck in the eyes. I am not into processing but I wish I could remove that. I just cropped the pic. Criticisms are welcome and suggestions on manual mode settings will be appreciated.
Gear: Canon EOS 500D
F-stop: 1/8
Exposure: 1/8 sec
Speed: ISO 100

[dandellion]

It is underexposed. Now when you're starting with manual is perfect time to start shooting RAW, That way you could correct the exposure and even add a bit more contrast.

There's nothing wrong with the reflections in the eyes. without them, faces look dead.

[cristen]

Originally Posted by dandellion

It is underexposed. Now when you're starting with manual is perfect time to start shooting RAW, That way you could correct the exposure and even add a bit more contrast.

There's nothing wrong with the reflections in the eyes. without them, faces look dead.

Thank you, dandelion. I used ambient light, but afraid to use RAW. (It eats up the memory card space :P). What aperture opening, shutter speed and other settings would have been best for the situation? Criticize the construction as well, please. I have much to learn, you know.

[fernampo]

Cristen, I'd try the following settings:

F-stop: 1/5.6 to 1/6.4
Shutter speed: 1/30 sec (don't know your focal length...).
ISO 400

This would overexposure to 1/2 to 1 EV. Of course you would loss a little of DOF (try focusing in his eyes). By the way, what was you Focal Length?


Hugs from Brazil!!
Fernando

[cristen]

Hi, Fernando. The focal length is 35 mm; aperture is 6. I will try your recommended settings. But, hey, you still didn't comment about the picture itself. I felt the glasses are so far apart and how could I have made use of the rule of thirds?

[fernampo]

Hi Cristen! It's hard trying to re-compose someone's picture, but considering it's title, I would try something like the person looking to the food and not hide after the food this way. I wouldn't use the glass with pasta (?) in the middle of the frame. Maybe if you group both glasses and moved the bread+glasses more to the right would look better.


Hugs!
Fernando

[cristen]

I thought the same way, too, Fernando. Hope you could also critique my other photos here. Thanks for the input. I appreciate it.