Help me fix my shots

[bucknoff]

I am on the brink of pure frustration. I want so much more out of my photography. I am fed up with processing over pics that should be discarded. I want CRISP BRIGHT pics SOOC! 80% of my pics are dull/hazy and soft. I always use a tripod and try to use my external flash on camera set to fill. I've tried manual focusing and the focus lock to no avail. I've spent countless hours rolling over every setting on my camera. Here is a typical pic SOOC not even cropped.

45mm
f10
1/160ss
ISO 200
Ap mode
Fill flash auto
Matrix meter
Sunny white balance[IMG][/IMG]

[dlambert]

It looks like the biggest factor you're fighting is lighting. From the harsh look of the light + the shadows (almost straight down), I'd guess this was shot pretty close to mid-day. It's really, really tough to get great results at that time of day. If you cruise around the forums here, you'll see some questions from really good pro photographers who *have* to do shoots at mid-day (for scheduling reasons) -- you might be able to pick up some ideas on how to manage this light from those threads, but if you have any control at all over the time of day you shoot, stick to "golden hour" times where you're not battling against the sun.

I see you shot at f/10 (thanks for posting EXIF info). At some point, you'll probably also want to play with opening up that aperture in order to start blurring the background -- this is very common in portraits because it helps isolate your subjects. The photo becomes more about them, and less about the background. Note: if it's bright out, opening your aperture is going to require you to shoot a really fast shutter speed, which is tough to manage if you're using any sort of fill flash -- one more reason to avoid mid-day.

It might also help if you scout around for suitable background locations, too. The background in this shot might be ok if you could really blur it a lot, but between the scrub trees and the standing water back there, it looks a little too swampy for my tastes. In addition, since this background includes the sky, you've got one more variable to fight when looking for a time to shoot -- a nice, clear blue sky looks great in the background, so if it's cloudy, your background isn't as nice. If you're lucky, you might find one or two locations that offer a fairly even, consistent background pattern with some shelter from the sunlight. A weathered barn exterior, a stone wall -- something like that -- maybe with shade trees above to break up the direct light a bit. If you can pose your subjects several feet in front of the background, it'll be easier to focus sharply on them while blurring the background.

The whole idea is to put *you* in control of the setting and lighting conditions, rather than try to chase whatever conditions you happen to find yourself in, if that makes any sense.

[MrJones]

why do you think that professional photographers get great shots SOC?
most if not all of the photos you see today have been edited in some way.
maybe it's cropping, maybe it's color balance and maybe it's exposure or contrast.. and I'm not even talking about skin cosmetics and eye processing.
and always keep in mind that what you see is what other people CHOSE to show you. people usually post 1-4 shots out of a photo shoot of at least 100-200 photos. that's much less than your 20%

now, having said that, what you SHOULD get SOC is a great base to start from.
like dlambert have said, you need to control your lightning, you need to minimize harsh shadows (unless those are intentional) and you shouldn't shoot when the sun is high in the sky. at least not now that you're just starting out.
try picking hours like around sunrise or sunset where the sun is coming at an angle. this way you can play with it for back lightning, front lightning or side lightning. you'll have much more options.
start reading about lightning and reflectors. you can't get from a beginner to a pro in one week. it takes years.
good luck!

[bucknoff]

I love those buttery backgrounds, but shy away from using my 50mm at around F2 for anything other than close ups do to out of focus eyes. And yes if I add fill at those apertures it is a complete white out. This was one of those shoots where a family member called Saturday morning and said "Can you take some pics of the kids for mother's day tomorrow?" So yes the time of day killed me here. I live in one of the least sunny spots in the USA so most of my shots are on dull drab days still leaving my pics also dull and drab.
More pics

50mm
f8
1/125ss
ap mode
iso800
external fill flash on cam
[IMG][/IMG]

[zona5101]

In this size image it's hard to tell the critical focus... it looks ok on screen but you'd know better looking at the full rez version. It's a tad underexposed (the faces) upping the exposure a bit will help make it look brighter - it will also take those points that are already overexposed and make them worse (like the lil one's leg and some of the rim lit areas.) I don't know Sony cameras but many cameras have several image process settings built in the camera like "portrait", landscape" "vivid" and these settings have various presets for color, contrast, saturation, vibrance. If your Sony has these you might want to try a "vibrance" or similar setting to get a little more pop sooc.

[bucknoff]

One photographer i adore says she tosses every photo that has soft eyes when zoomed to 100%. My close ups are good. It's these distant shots. I saved both of these in post, but still feel that's not good enough.

[edbayani]

the eyes a bit soft but can be sharpenned. you can also add a bit of contrast. about the bg, you can soften it a bit although there is a danger of looking artificial.
here is a sample of what i'm talking about.