Is This a style of processing?

[LVR]

Hello All

I was wondering if I could get some help from you all to increase my level of finished photography please?

I am a self taught photoshop user, and amateur photographer. I do my own photography for our properties and have then used Creative Suite (now have CS4) for post processing.

Recently I have noticed a trend in photography/post processing that has a very high level of sharpness and almost a 'dark' layer over it?

I am predominantly shooting in low light situations, although of late have noticed my photos are low detail and have a lot of light spots in them.

I am using a Canon EOS 20D with a Canon wide angle lens EF-S 10-22mm 1:3.5-4.5, and a Hoya 77mm Clear UV filter.

I shoot in RAW with medium JPEG, and each shot I have the camera set on manual, with exposure bracketing of -1, correct and +1. When taking the shot I use a tripod with remote trigger, I let the meter set and then adjust with the manual dial to match the readings.

Post production I don't do any sharpening, although I do correct colours by using 'levels'. I then blend each of the layers by masking and erasing sections that are over or underexposed to get the example that I want.

I cannot however, get anywhere near the level of sharp and crisp finish that I have seen in the examples below.

I would be obliged if anyone could show me how to do this or what i am missing...

Here is an image that I did recently.... and is the best I can do... and it has spots....


These are a selection of images of the level that I would like to achieve, that show the style that I am seeing..



Can anyone offer some opinions / advice?

Cheers


John

[Parry]

the later ones kinda look HDR-ish to me...

[JeffSmith]

The quality of light is inseparable from the quality of the photograph you wish to produce.

Your shot is illuminated by 8 low-voltage halogen bulbs, which is great for living in. The example shots have lights all over, not great for living in, but great for photography. Also the blue skies have been "enhanced" to create a nice colour contrast and atmosphere. Your shot is high in detail, but low in contrast; it's an empty room with no atmosphere. I don't think you can reasonably compare them.

Your shot is perfect for what it is, although the 10-22mm is not the sharpest or crispest of lenses because of the super wide angle of view. I owned one of these myself and sold it because I was disappointed with the lack of sharpness.

However, If you want to "upgrade" your shots, it's about adding atmosphere, making it look "lived in" and that's probably not a viable proposition for you because of the time involved?

As you do bracketing, you could look up HDR processing (High Dynamic Range). This is where all three of your images are combined to take the different dynamic ranges from each shot; it could be that's what you are referring to when you say "a very high level of sharpness and almost a 'dark' layer over it"

Good luck,

Jeff

[teaking]

Have you tried shooting at a higher ISO for example 400 and also using flash set at minimum to try to lift the light using flash, obviously this would be better in daylight as you wouldn't have the problem with mixed light.

Other than that the usual dipping down to take the shot so it doesnt look like someone standin a room snapping a picture. And also most photo's need some level of sharpening if only to correct for the camera softening the image.

[gnownad]

I agree with JeffSmith, the lights aren't doing you any favours, nor are the lens! Most indoor photography doesn't really need wide angle lenses anyway- so ditch that, and settle for something else perhaps! Also, given that you do use a tripod, going HDR isn't such a bad idea either, as you can get very cool results if you do. Plus you already shoot in RAW

Have fun!

[JLRenegade]

What ISO are you shooting at? The noise looks similar to that of my photos when I was testing higher values like 1600. If you have a tripod, you can easily knock the ISO down to 100-400 with longer exposures making a much crisper image.

I think the other guys answered the color thing.

I could be totally wrong on the ISO but I dont think you mentioned it!

[abchip]

Originally Posted by LVR

These are a selection of images of the level that I would like to achieve, that show the style that I am seeing..



Can anyone offer some opinions / advice?

Cheers

John

These are HDR (high dynamic range) photos.

[i speak in math]

Originally Posted by LVR

Hello All

I was wondering if I could get some help from you all to increase my level of finished photography please?

I am a self taught photoshop user, and amateur photographer. I do my own photography for our properties and have then used Creative Suite (now have CS4) for post processing.

Recently I have noticed a trend in photography/post processing that has a very high level of sharpness and almost a 'dark' layer over it?

I am predominantly shooting in low light situations, although of late have noticed my photos are low detail and have a lot of light spots in them.

I am using a Canon EOS 20D with a Canon wide angle lens EF-S 10-22mm 1:3.5-4.5, and a Hoya 77mm Clear UV filter.

I shoot in RAW with medium JPEG, and each shot I have the camera set on manual, with exposure bracketing of -1, correct and +1. When taking the shot I use a tripod with remote trigger, I let the meter set and then adjust with the manual dial to match the readings.

Post production I don't do any sharpening, although I do correct colours by using 'levels'. I then blend each of the layers by masking and erasing sections that are over or underexposed to get the example that I want.

I cannot however, get anywhere near the level of sharp and crisp finish that I have seen in the examples below.

I would be obliged if anyone could show me how to do this or what i am missing...

Here is an image that I did recently.... and is the best I can do... and it has spots....

These are a selection of images of the level that I would like to achieve, that show the style that I am seeing..

Can anyone offer some opinions / advice?

Cheers

John

Please link back to the photographer who you have stolen these images from. Give credit where credit is due.

Joel Barbitta
http://www.dmaxphotography.com.au/index.html

Additionally, since you found these images that you want to replicate, why don't use ask the photographer who took them how they did it?

The blog welcomes posts and questions
http://dmaxphotography.blogspot.com/