Tips please

[Mullins]

I know my lens is out of its league when it comes to shooting surfing, but I can try right? It was a VERY overcast/stormy day, windy, rainy, you name it. I tried to make the best of it and I don't beleive im getting the best results posible. I shot in JPEG and did not PP. Any tips will be appreciated as I am new to the D-SLR world. Most of the pictures are at a downward angle because of the angle of the beach, its very steep there. (I know, get a longer lens)



http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n35/SixPlyDream/EOS%2030d/2006_12_25/IMG_3445_2.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n35/SixPlyDream/EOS%2030d/2006_12_25/IMG_3514_2.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n35/SixPlyDream/EOS%2030d/2006_12_25/IMG_3694_2.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n35/SixPlyDream/EOS%2030d/2006_12_25/IMG_3840_2.jpg

[moshe3242]

pictures will look much better (I lkie the third one) after PP.
some curves and levels adjustments will bring the colors back into the pictures and give them a pop.

[Broncobear]

Hows this look?

[Mullins]

I've messed around with some PP, but I dont get any good results. When I take 100% cropps the pictures arnt very sharp, could that be because of the 2.8 aperature? I see people talking about softness when all the way open, should I strive to close down the aperature while still properly exposing? Or should I just leave it wide open?

[Broncobear]

I've messed around with some PP, but I dont get any good results. When I take 100% cropps the pictures arnt very sharp, could that be because of the 2.8 aperature? I see people talking about softness when all the way open, should I strive to close down the aperature while still properly exposing? Or should I just leave it wide open?

A general mistake that many make is shoot wide open because we can.

In a given situation like above, I would have never went with a 2.8 and whenever I involve water and sky I go with the general 8 to 11...

Remember a 2.8 minimizes your dof...think of the lens like an eyeball.

wide is less sharp...certain situations call for a a 2.8 but non of the above call for it. If you wanted to pinpoint a specific subject and work on blurring the rest, that might call for it.

[VFTT]

I've messed around with some PP, but I dont get any good results. When I take 100% cropps the pictures arnt very sharp, could that be because of the 2.8 aperature? I see people talking about softness when all the way open, should I strive to close down the aperature while still properly exposing? Or should I just leave it wide open?

I shoot surfing shots around 5.6 - 7.1. But I am shooting around 300 to 400mm. At 70mm you will have more DOF, but you should still stop down some. Try 4 or 5.6. If if the focus is spot on, every lens will not be it's sharpest wide open.

- d

[Danger Mouse]

The pics do seem kind of washed out in terms of color. I do like Bronco's edit. It brings back some life into pictures.

I like how the first 4 shots have one subject as the main focus. But, the last shot, I can't really tell who the main subject is.

[Mullins]

Its was very overcast and rainy, should I have uped the ISO and went with a smaller aperature? Would that be better? From reading these forums the one of the things I've seen is that people tend to keep the ISO down as much as possible in order to reduce noise, etc. f/8, I think, would have given me under-exposed pictures even at ISO 1600. Or maybe not, I'll try that next time.

The water down here is that brownish greyish color and the boards are also off white/yellowish color normally.

The last picture was a wider view of a sequence of shots, they guy at the bottom came running in and got into the frame so I had to pull back a little, the focus from the other shots was the guy on the wave.

Ok so next time, Stop down as much as possible while still keeping the picture exposed and get a bigger lens.

Q: Is there a rule of thumb when it comes to selecting aperature:ISO speed?

[Broncobear]

Its was very overcast and rainy, should I have uped the ISO and went with a smaller aperature? Would that be better? From reading these forums the one of the things I've seen is that people tend to keep the ISO down as much as possible in order to reduce noise, etc. f/8, I think, would have given me under-exposed pictures even at ISO 1600. Or maybe not, I'll try that next time.

The water down here is that brownish greyish color and the boards are also off white/yellowish color normally.

The last picture was a wider view of a sequence of shots, they guy at the bottom came running in and got into the frame so I had to pull back a little, the focus from the other shots was the guy on the wave.

Ok so next time, Stop down as much as possible while still keeping the picture exposed and get a bigger lens.

Q: Is there a rule of thumb when it comes to selecting aperature:ISO speed?


I'm not sure about a rule of thumb but you do have a 30D my friend and the noise on 800 - even 1600 is not bad at all.

I have a rebel Xt and have shot good pictures at 800. So don't be shy about trying differen't ISO on yoru camera.

with a grey day over cast day especially...

personally the way I should is Manual.

My ISO settings are as follows....100 for bright sunny cloudless days..

200-400 for overcast....800 for heavy overcast or indoor shots.

I don't do 1600 on my rebel but if i had a 30d i would.

then I adjust aperature......with the above I would have tried a 5.6

and I meter my shutter speed according to exposure need.

Now since your shooting water maybe I'd reverse that, if I wanted a fast water affect...I would have set the faster shutter and then metered the AV...

Alot of these things are trial and error once you get enough experience you can tell what a situation needs...

One thing to keep in mind is, as great as advice here is...(and I know there is great advice)..

Don't be afraid to push the envelope. In the end the shots need to work for you, not for some text book idealogy or opinion.

Photography is art and mathematics combined! :-)

[Mullins]

Okie dokie. I've been afraid to use higher ISO's as I had bad experiences early on with the 30d.

P.S.- Thanks alot for the pointers Bronco