Grainy Shade Shots

[littkerl]

Ok, I know I'm probably using the wrong lens, Sigma 17-35mm D, but its all I have at the moment. But sometimes I can get some great shots from this and sometimes UGH! I was wondering if anyone could tell me what went wrong in this group of Photos here

Specifically, they are grainy and blurry, and they have "no pop" that I can bring attention this the two subject children. I bring them into photoshop to adjust them and it pretty hopeless, I'm going out to get a new lense today.


Picasa Web Albums - carolinavideotour - CheerSchoolShots

The EXIF file info is on the right of each photo under "more info".

All feedback is greatly appreciated

[Digidave]

A few things come to mind right off the bat.

1) ISO setting of 262? Must have your camera set to Auto-ISO.

2) There is one shot where all the grass is gray. I don't know what the heck happened there.

3) When you underexpose an area, it is more prone to be noisy. You have a nice blue sky but your foreground is underexposed.

4) Every shot seems to lack that pop factor. Probably because of your settings in your camera's menu.

5) File sizes seem a little small.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things to try:

1) Turn that off & set your ISO to a constant 100 rating. Only turn it up if you have to.

2) I have no clue on this one.

3) Set your metering mode to "Spot Metering"

4) In post-production turn up your Color, Vivacity, Brilliance, or Contrast. You'll just have to play around with each of these controls. Either one, all, or a combination of them.

5) Try saving your files after post-production at a higher quality.

Keep in mind that this is just a start. There could be other problems. That one shot where all the greens are gray has me perplexed & may be a sign of something bigger. Hope this gets you going in the right direction.

[littkerl]

Thanks for the feedback, the files I put in Picasa are actually NEF files and about 8.5 MB each, I guess I set them to reduce when I uploaded them to the online album, I just noticed the gray, and realized that file got saved when I was playing with the focal BW feature in Picasa. I will certainly try the ISO and Spot metering tips thanks again.