Advice, help, requested

[Alorien]

Im not sure if this is the right forum but is there anyway I can save these pictures?

They look out of focus and the light has blown out like half his face.

Also I know theres not much I can do about the noise in these pictures, but any suggestions on how to minimize the noise in this lighting would be appreciated, I was shooting on ISO 100 and they still look like they have a ton of noise to me....


Thanks for ANY input, it is greatly appreciated.. I know I still have a ton to learn..


http://alorien.smugmug.com/photos/412639710_UC5Hk-XL.jpg

http://alorien.smugmug.com/photos/412641920_s473U-XL.jpg

[Flo]

If he were moving in that swing , the ISO should be higher.try it at 400. Your focus on the second was on his right side of the swing, that part is sharp.
Shooting in full sun makes all look harsh,and tough to recapture or fix.
I don;t have firefox to see your EXIF( the settings on this particular photo) Do you have them?

[Alorien]

1/2500, f/2.5 (I dont know why it did 2.5 I must have changed it without realizing :|)
iso 100


Edit: the second photo is 1/2000

I have other photos from the shoot that came out nicely, except baby wasnt looking at me.. he was looking at his mama

[cryforashadow]

Very shallow DOF you got there. So you need to focus properly. And I don't see any noise?

[Alorien]

Maybe its just me... When I look at the image full sized it looks like their is noise.

[Flo]

Those are high settings.and yes.the 2.5 is a little low!:eek:

Try ISO 400
F will change, but maybe set it at 5.6

Set the stop at maybe 180-200? Manual focus.not auto,.it changes up on you and you will lose your focal point if there is the slightest movement.

[Alorien]

Thanks :)

I'm so sad the swing pics didnt come out, it was his first time in a swing and I think* his mom took pictures with her camera but im not sure

[Flo]

there is always another day! You may get giggles and smiles the second time:D

[Walczak Photo]

Well, as far as the noise goes, I'm not really seeing any...at least not at this size. Either way if it's something you feel very strongly about, I'd recommend Noise Ninja...it does a wonderful job.

Now as to the sharpness issues, I'm not really sure there's much that can be done with that first shot. The focus was simply in the wrong spot...if you look at the child's shirt towards the bottom of the image, you can see it's actually sharper than the child's face. This is the problem with such a limited DOF in that you have to choose you focus point very carefully...and with a child on a swing, that's very difficult.

Unfortunately these shots are in pretty bad shape because of the focus (granted the #1 is much worse than #2) so I wouldn't bother putting too much effort into them. That said, because it is what I would consider a "precious moment" I do think I'd print them as 4x6's as they are. With the smaller print size, the focus issues aren't going to be "as" evident and you'll still have the memories regardless. While I have MANY great shots which I have framed around the house, some of my personal favorite shots are some of the "technically poor" shots I'd done years before...shots of our first dog for example who passed away 6 years ago. I really didn't know much about "critter photography" back then so some of my old pictures are pretty crappy, but I still love those shots dearly just because they're pictures of Mirage. Memory photos don't always have to be technically perfect to be great pictures :D.

Just my $.02 worth,
Jim