Dull colors? Dull focus?

[MamaBear]

Camera: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

OK, I finally decided to get a "real" camera (as my dad calls it) and I am determined to make this work!!

It's been raining every day since the camera arrived, so it's been a little boring around here with the camera testing.

I did NOT use the flash on this - it was just at or barely after sunset. I was purposely trying to see how far I could go without the flash b/c one of the problems with the P&S I had was needing the flash too much. I feel like his skin is so bright already that a flash would have over-brightened the picture, but don't like the dull eyes. Should I have used the flash, or is there another adjustment that would have helped better?

I think I had this set to "P" with WB=cloudy and everything else on auto.

One thing I seem to be having trouble with regardless of focal length, f-stop, etc is getting a sharp focus. I have it set to single point AF but there are several AF points, and I can't seem to make it use the center one so I can lock the focus & then recompose the shot. Heading back to the manual to check on that, but would love some quick advice there!

I especially have trouble focusing the 50mm prime 1.8 that I got, but am enjoying playing with that one too. I just happened to have the kit lens back on since I'd been trying to get a landscape for the assignment!!

So, i am new here & very wordy, sorry! I have been taking pictures obsessively since 5 yrs old but never wanted to bother with the "technical" side. My last 3 cameras were the Canon S1, S2, and S3 -- the last two I burned the flash out on them after taking almost 50,000 pictures with each of those cameras!! So, goals: get usable pics out of the new pricey camera, perhaps use the flash less, and take decent pics of indoor activities at school.

And feel free to comment or advise on anything I forgot to ask about. I am trying super hard to set feelings aside so I can learn how to use this darn camera!!

THANKS Y'ALL!

PS - I made my Flickr acct forever ago, but have never used it until today. If I need to tweak some settings on there so you guys can see the pics properly, let me know! They show up in preview, so I'm hoping it works! *crosses fingers*

[Fotogreen]

Why is the ISO so high?
I think you could have used the natural light much better.

[v_roma]

I'm no expert, just sharing my experience. If you're using the 50mm wide open at 1.8, the focus gets tricky because of the very shallow depth of field. It's so shallow that part of the face may be in focus while others will not.

Also, setting the autofocus point should be fairly straight-forward. Let me know if you can't figure it out from the manual. I have a Rebel XT and I'm guessing it's similar to your camera.

[MamaBear]

Originally Posted by Fotogreen

Why is the ISO so high?

No idea? Yikes - I didn't even notice that when I posted it. Ugh! Maybe because it was getting dark....? I had it on auto ISO. Grr. That is another thing I am going to have to get used to -- checking all the numbers BEFORE I click to see if they make sense. I had it on program mode, so it was almost all auto, but when I do the half-press to focus, it does show me at the bottom what all the settings will be. I think I can mess around with things at that point before shooting it....

I *might* have had it in shutter priority mode to try to get it at 1/60 -- b/c it seems like it kept wanting to shoot at 1/25 or something slow that was definitely going to be blurry. Is there a way to tell from the miles-long EXIF info on Flickr which mode the camera was in?

Yikes, I am going to be a slow learner.....

Thanks!

[dishingthedivine]

I'm pretty sure i'm a half step ahead of you, which isn't far given that we both have miles to go. Some things that I'm learning:

shooting at 1.8 is great because you need so little light, but I find it often results in a soft picture for me. I love it and hate it at the same time. I am determined to learn to use this more effectively. I wonder if your picture doesn't have "dull focus" so much as it has a focus on the wrong spot. it seems I can count the strands of hair, but his face is more out of focus. Again, this has to do with the limited depth of field coming from using the 1.8.

there is a way to focus on just one point of the photo. My dad taught me this last week. My camera (a canon xti) has a small button on the top right that has a cross-pattern of squares next to it. If you click this and turn the dial, different red dots will light up. This tells the camera to focus in one particular spot as opposed to throughout the camera.

You also can change the way your camera reads the light sources coming in. For me, that's the left arrow button (evaluative metering, etc.). You may want to play with that to see if you like one type of lighting better than another for this picture.

I know nothing about photoshop (yet!) but I do know there would be a way to fix your son's eyes so that they are brighter. that's out of my league, though.

Overall, an excellent beginner's shot. Welcome to the DPS forum. glad to have other newbies here with me.

[Gonzo13]

Welcome to DPS. You had it at f/5.6 so the eyes being "dull" shouldn't be from the depth of field. I think that they look like that because they are kind of shadowed. I think that having him turn a little toward the light would have made them look better, maybe just tilting his head up a little would have brought more light into his eyes. You could have also used flash on this but dialed it down to a -1 or -2 using FEV. It's kind of like a dimmer switch for the flash. Remember flash is neither bad nor good it is just a tool.

In regards to the 50mm 1.8 you do have to be careful with the depth of field. I recall using a 50mm 2.5 and got the depth of field down to a few millimeters. It was macro though, and the closer you are to the subject the smaller you can make the DOF.

It's a decent shot overall. Just needs some tweaks. Oh and your flickr is set to private.

[Swisstony10]

I really like the composition of the shot, and I don't think that the "dullness" is anything that couldn't be dealt with fairly easily in PP - wind up the brightness and contrast a little (it shouldn't need much - a trick I sometimes use in this case is to increase the brightness by about twice as much as I increase the contrast by, to start with) and a little unsharp mask would probably help too.

The only thing I would've done differently, if you want to keep the picture free of any flash, would be to use a reflector, or just a piece of white card, out of shot, to bounce a bit of light onto his face. Not enough to completely lose the shadows, because in my opinion they contribute nicely to the image, but just enough to bring his eyes out a little. Also, having a catchlight in his eyes (which you could easily get from using a reflector or white card) would make the whole picture seem a tiny bit more "sparkly"..

Looks like you're off to a pretty good start though.

Russ.

[Benji]

There are several reasons this image is lacking.

1. No catchlights in the eyes making them appear dull and lifeless. Had his nose been pointed to the 7 o'clock position rather than the 5 o'clock position, the lighting on this image would have been wonderful. This also would have taken care of his "raccoon eyes" I believe.

2. He is posed square to the camera. Things square to the camera are usually boring.

A couple of refinements. You amputated his fingers and his shirt is all rumpled up.

Plus features. Exposure is excellent. Quality of light is wonderful. Expression is good. Good bokeh.

Benji

[irishmuth]

I was able to lighten up the shadows and his eyes using the dodge tool in Photoshop. That seemed to work, but I'm not sure about the color of his eyes. The blueish color of his eyes was what came through with the dodge tool, (I didn't add any color) but I'm not sure if that is an accurate portrayal of his eyes (I was surprised they weren't brown).

Let me know what you think. I can also take this down if you prefer.

[MamaBear]

Originally Posted by dishingthedivine

My camera (a canon xti) has a small button on the top right that has a cross-pattern of squares next to it. If you click this and turn the dial, different red dots will light up. This tells the camera to focus in one particular spot as opposed to throughout the camera.

Thanks! I knew I *read* about that button in the manual, but couldn't remember WHICH button once I was out & about... that should make it much easier for me to find. :-)

Remember flash is neither bad nor good it is just a tool.

I totally agree. I have a sister & cousin who think the flash was made by Satan. Personally I don't like my pics solid black, so I tend to over-use the flash. So I am trying to learn to use it less, but won't abandon it all-together for sure!! I did try to lower the FEV on a few shots, but I think I lowered the EV and not the flash power...? Back to the manual for that, too.... (I swear I read the WHOLE thing before I even ordered the camera!!)

use a reflector, or just a piece of white card, out of shot, to bounce a bit of light onto his face.

Where does the 'bounced' light come from? Don't groan too loud, I can use Google if it's not a simple answer.... :-)

The blueish color of his eyes was what came through with the dodge tool, (I didn't add any color) but I'm not sure if that is an accurate portrayal of his eyes (I was surprised they weren't brown).

Surprise! Yes they are blue, and I would love, love, LOVE to get a picture that shows that nicely!! I did try to mess with it a little bit in Paint Shop Pro (is that a bad word around here?) but it was coming out fake-looking so I gave up & decided I needed advice on how to do it right to begin with anyway. :-) Your edit does look nice, thanks!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for everyone's great advice!! It was much easier & less painful than I thought to post something here -- guess I should have done it a few years ago instead of lurking around for so long!

Looks like the rain is holding off for now, so hopefully I'll be able to talk the kids into another round of test shots outside.... yay!