Theater Faces

[cmboya]

I am new to the DSLR world and use to have a Canon Powershot that I just used all the auto functions. I have branched out and have a Canon Rebel T2i and am only using Manual to learn the affects of iso, shutter speed, apeture on pics

I like this picture of my two boys. I like the composition, but it appears to be a bit "muddy" and assuming it is because it was dark and I jacked up the iso. Also, should Iet the camera mode be monochrome or adjust to b/w in editing. If I come to this precious scene again I would like to shoot it properly.






Canon Rebel T2i
EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS (came with the camera)
Manual Mode
Iso - 6400
Shutter 1/60
Aperture 5.6
No flash
Set camera to monochrome

[tyasa81]

Hi cmboya... welcome to dps... that's a precious shot of your two kids... please do note that my critique is not meant to be negative or trying to dissuade you... hopefully it will help..

i'm not sure about your canon rebel high iso abilities as i never used it myself... i know the latest dslr are great at high iso... but 6400 is really pushing the bounderies of noise... as in your case i see that you use max aperture opening so i guess there's a reason why for such a high iso to maintain being able to shoot handheld... in the future if possible you might want to adjust the light level in the room... i'm guessing you're not interested in flash photography yet... you can shoot earlier in the day when there's more light in the room... move the bed/couch closer to the window (assuming day time)... or add more lights(lamps or such) into the room... so you can lower your iso... if you are interested in flash photography try to bounce it on one corner of the room... that way you can lower your iso

i dont know what you meant by "muddy" ... you mentioned something that it's because of the low level of light and you jacking up the iso helps with the "muddiness", i'm guessing it's because of camera shake blur and motion blur due to shooting kids at slow shutter speed... to increase your speed the above mentioned methods should help you get a faster shutter... in photography it's always the light that matter btw...

another reason for "muddy" might also be using your lens at its weakest (your shot at nearly max zoom at max opening) always give you a slightly softer (unsharp) image compared to when stopped down a couple stops... but make sure you take care of the lighting problem first before you think of stopping down because with the current situation at the photo there's no way you can stop down while maintaining shutter speed...

b&w conversion is preference... there's pro and minus point... let it do in camera and you can preview a b&w immediately... with colour you need to get to the computer before you can see the result...however with colour, you get more options when you are converting in computer (try playing with the digital filter when you are converting to see what i mean... drastic differences)... personally i always do it in computer (at post work)... as i find that i like to keep both colour and b&w options handy...

hope that helps... keep shooting... lovely kids!

[cmboya]

Thank you for your comments and you did not dissuade me at all! That was one of the first photos I took with the new camera and honestly had no idea the impact iso had on photos. I have recently purchased a swivel flash and that has helped my pictures tremendously because I really do not like the direct flash look.

Thank you so much for your critique I appreciate it!