Family walk gone wrong

[Mumof7]

Recently our family went for a walk along the coast line (read: mud flats!). The walk had to be cut short because one daughter had been walking in the mud and cut her foot on an oyster shell. Then, shortly after, youngest son face-planted on the footpath and Dad checked that he was ok. Needless to say, we turned back to the van We'll try again next week. The photos I took were trying to tell the story of the injuries on a walk.

My questions: The colours seem really flat to me... are they? In the second photo, is that what you call overexposure? How's the composition on these?

Thanks in advance for your help...

This is the photo of the injured foot on the way back to the van: (look closely at the foot on the ground...)



Camera Sony DSC-W210
Exposure 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture f/5.8
Focal Length 21.4 mm
ISO Speed 125
Exposure Bias +0.3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire

This one is of the injured face and dad checking it out:




Camera Sony DSC-W210
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/5.0
Focal Length 17.9 mm
ISO Speed 125
Exposure Bias 0 EV

[Rentham]

I think the first shot is interesting because of the perspective, the second is a snapshot. Coming in tighter on dad checking the little guy's face could have been a nice moment, but going wide with lots of DOF brings makes the background distracting for this shot.

In terms of color and contrast, both look a bit flat. Depending on what software you use for post, you could fix that up in a few seconds with a set of curves or bringing up the black slider in Lightroom, for instance.

[Mumof7]

Thanks for your reply.

How could I avoid the flatness next time I am shooting? I am totally inexperienced with PP - but am starting to learn about it. How can I avoid having to improve the 'flatness' after taking the actual picture?

Thanks again

[Krusty79]

Are you shooting jpgs or RAW or both? Jpgs usually have more color initially because your camera adds a color scheme to the image. RAW files often have a flatter look because no processing has been done. The advantage of RAW is that you can use your RAW editor to increase the saturation/adjust curves on the RAW file itself before you convert it to a jpg. You can "push" the RAW files further than a jpg without getting the noise. Also, if you bracket your shots, you might find that the underexposed shot has more color. That's what I usually find on my sunset shots.

You can try this simple technique on your jpeg files if they still look flat:
Levels: Getting the Professional 'Pop'

[Rentham]

Good question. The lighting itself looks pretty flat, was it overcast that day? That may have contributed. I'm not familiar with your camera, but there may be some menu functions or picture modes that bake in some extra contrast or saturation.

[Krusty79]

That reminds me. I have a Canon DSLR. It has picture settings like Neutral, Landscape, Portrait, etc. You should see if your camera has those settings also. I deliberately use the Neutral setting because I would rather process the files the way I want instead of relying on the camera, but Neutral also gives the flatest colors.

[SusanH1970]

How are you saving your photos - is Adobe RGB or sRGB? If Adobe RGB that will contribute to the flatness. Converting to sRGB will help.

[Mumof7]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I appreciate the time taken to help me. I should have stated right at the beginning that I am a beginner! I am using a point and shoot camera - Sony DSC-W210. It has very limited manual controls.

Krusty: I'm not sure what I'm shooting in. Jpgs I think? I'll definitely have a look at the link you posted. I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean about bracketing my shots... My camera definitely has the 'portrait', 'landscape', etc settings and I'm starting to use them more purposefully - in fact I thought I was doing well the day these photos were shot! I can't remember what settings I used that day though...

Rentham: It WAS overcast that day - nice for no harsh shadows, but as you say, it is flat. When you talk about modes that bake in extra contrast, etc, would that be the 'vivid' setting that goes along with 'black and white', 'sepia' and normal?

Susan: I'm sorry, I just have no idea what I'm saving them as.

Sorry to not be more knowledgeable about all this - it must be frustrating to help someone who has really no idea what they are talking about! If any of you have the patience to continue, I'd be grateful.

[Rentham]

Yep, those are the modes that may give you a little extra color and contrast on a point and shoot. Ultimately, you'll want to start experimenting with post processing so you can control the final image instead of relying on a camera preset. If you on a PC, I think a program like GIMP is free and has some of the features you'd find in Photoshop.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Mumof7

Susan: I'm sorry, I just have no idea what I'm saving them as.

Sorry to not be more knowledgeable about all this - it must be frustrating to help someone who has really no idea what they are talking about! If any of you have the patience to continue, I'd be grateful.

If you go to the Flickr page of the photos and then click on "actions" and "view EXIF", look down the list and see what "color space" says. I'd look for you but they're set to private.

Don't apologize for not knowing...this is Digital Photography School and we're all here to learn from each other!