Beach pic: Shadows pixelated - How to avoid?

[LooseScrews]

Took some pics at the beach this past weekend and now that I am home and reviewing them, I am a little disappointed. Take the image below. It is a bit soft, more so than to be expected when shot at f/2.8 with the 70-200 L. Also, there seems to be a fair amount of noise in the shadows. It's frustrating when I try to reduce noise AND sharpen. The pic is good for an 8x10, but nothing larger. Or am I missing something?

http://www.reynoldsanddanielle.com/RandD/Site/Photos/Pages/Gulf_Shores_files/Media/IMG_8832/IMG_8832.jpg?disposition=download

50D with 70-200 f/2.8L IS
Av
1/3 EV
ISO 200
1/3200ss
f/2.8
Highest quality JPEG
Highlight tone priority off, noise reduction off
IS was on, but I think it *may* have been on Mode 2 on accident

Center point AF (on right shoulder, should have been his eyes)

Full size original (4.7mb) - http://reynoldsanddanielle.com/RBPhotography/IMG_8832.JPG

Here is the rest of the gallery if you want to see other examples.
http://www.reynoldsanddanielle.com/RandD/Site/Photos/Pages/Gulf_Shores.html

The camera is a few months old and has been shot regularly. Already time for a sensor cleaning? Is it possible the heat (~92F) and 100% moisture affected the shot? I was VERY protective of my gear at the beach. Carried out my backpack INSIDE of a garbage bag and allowed it to acclimate before pulling it out. I took pics for maybe 20 minutes and put it away.

[LooseScrews]

Also, I have not microadjusted this lens. I have examined several images taken at f/2.8 and haven't noticed any front/back focusing issues. It just seems generally soft throughout DoF, however at times a little more than desired. I have concluded that I will shoot at max. of f/4.0 in the future unless necessary or for artistic purposes.

[René Damkot]

I see *no* noise. (as in: None whatsoever, looking at the high res image) But I do see that the image is out of focus: Looks like the knee is sharper then the face. Might be user error, might be it needs micro adjust.

Also: If you use a filter: Get it off. I see some flare around light parts against dark background (the sand at his knees, his hands). Might not be caused by a filter, but simply because it's OoF, but my first guess would be a filter.

[LooseScrews]

The center AF point is on his right shoulder, but I can't remember if I was using One Shot or AI Servo. Should have been One Shot. Either way, if his knee is in focus, this may indicate a need for micro adjustment. I'll run through the procedure and take some test shots, see if the quality gets better.

I just remembered that I had the 'Sharpness' under picture styles cranked up. I wonder if that caused the pixelation I am seeing? Maybe it's not pixelation per se, but rather the color gradient on his cheek is not smooth. He is a little flushed from the sun, but that was it.

[JeffreyG]

I don't see any noise or pixelation. The subject would look a little better if he was brighter. One thing I suggest should be standard equipment at the beach is a flash unless it is near sunrise or sunset. All that sun and bright sand will call for some fill flash.

As for the softness, to me the foot is sharper than the face. I think the plane of focus is well in front of where you wanted it for some reason. I would start by microadjusting the lens and see what happens.

[TeeTee]

That's not noise and you misfocused on the knee/foot area...

Your camera takes excellent photos.

[LooseScrews]

I don't see any noise or pixelation. The subject would look a little better if he was brighter. One thing I suggest should be standard equipment at the beach is a flash unless it is near sunrise or sunset. All that sun and bright sand will call for some fill flash.

As for the softness, to me the foot is sharper than the face. I think the plane of focus is well in front of where you wanted it for some reason. I would start by microadjusting the lens and see what happens.

I agree about the flash and I have everything with exception of a ND filter to stop down enough to have a shallow DoF and be able to sync at 1/250.

[JeffreyG]

I agree about the flash and I have everything with exception of a ND filter to stop down enough to have a shallow DoF and be able to sync at 1/250.

I was just at the beach too, so I just stopped down to f/11 to get under the synch speed. DOF seems thin enough as the backgrounds are usually quite far off at the beach.

Or you can shoot more open and just put the flash in HSS mode. This is actually what HSS is specifically for.

Here is flash at the beach. f/11, 1/200 and ISO100. Look at the hard shadow he is casting on the sand. This would be a mess of shadow without flash.

[ryant35]

The only thing I get from that photo that can be improved is to under expose a little and use a little fill flash.

[Macrosill]

The cause of the softness may be due to the lack of contrast in the shoulder itself. If the auto focus point was on the shoulder and did not overlap onto anything else it could fooll the camera and not focus properly. Just a thought.

[Eagle]

The pic is good for an 8x10, but nothing larger.
http://www.reynoldsanddanielle.com/RandD/Site/Photos/Pages/Gulf_Shores_files/Media/IMG_8832/IMG_8832.jpg?disposition=download


How large are you wanting to print the pics at?

[LooseScrews]

Not sure, I was considering doctoring it up a bit in PS and printing it for his room.

[JeffreyG]

Not sure, I was considering doctoring it up a bit in PS and printing it for his room.

I'd want eyes in anything I was going to print large.

[HappySnapper90]

I looked at the full size original and there is no noise. The histogram of recorded light is even away from the left edge, so there's no pure black shadows without detail. Maybe you're using a low resolution monitor displayed at 1024x768 or something, when I'm at 1920x1200. Viewing at 100% is not a good gauge of how something will print unless you plan to make a wall print.

Your photo will print fine as large as you want to print it. It isn't that sharp but that's probably because you shot wide open.

Not sure, I was considering doctoring it up a bit in PS and printing it for his room.

A strange thing. How often do you find someone that has pictures of themselves hanging on the walls of their bedroom? Usually you have pictures of other people in your bedroom or pictures of you and someone in the same photo. I doubt your kid cares about a picture of himself as the photo probably means a lot more to you than it does to him. I'd have it out where people can see it.

[LooseScrews]

I doubt your kid cares about a picture of himself as the photo probably means a lot more to you than it does to him. I'd have it out where people can see it.

Very true!

And I am on a Macbook running 1280x800. That's as high as it goes. I am considering buying a good monitor, just don't have the funds right now though.

[René Damkot]

The cause of the softness may be due to the lack of contrast in the shoulder itself. If the auto focus point was on the shoulder and did not overlap onto anything else it could fooll the camera and not focus properly. Just a thought.

No. The cause of the softness is that it's out of focus :rolleyes:

[JWright]

Took some pics at the beach this past weekend and now that I am home and reviewing them, I am a little disappointed. Take the image below. It is a bit soft, more so than to be expected when shot at f/2.8 with the 70-200 L. Also, there seems to be a fair amount of noise in the shadows. It's frustrating when I try to reduce noise AND sharpen. The pic is good for an 8x10, but nothing larger. Or am I missing something?

http://www.reynoldsanddanielle.com/RandD/Site/Photos/Pages/Gulf_Shores_files/Media/IMG_8832/IMG_8832.jpg?disposition=download

50D with 70-200 f/2.8L IS
Av
1/3 EV
ISO 200
1/3200ss
f/2.8
Highest quality JPEG
Highlight tone priority off, noise reduction off
IS was on, but I think it *may* have been on Mode 2 on accident

Center point AF (on right shoulder, should have been his eyes)

Full size original (4.7mb) - http://reynoldsanddanielle.com/RBPhotography/IMG_8832.JPG

Here is the rest of the gallery if you want to see other examples.
http://www.reynoldsanddanielle.com/RandD/Site/Photos/Pages/Gulf_Shores.html

The camera is a few months old and has been shot regularly. Already time for a sensor cleaning? Is it possible the heat (~92F) and 100% moisture affected the shot? I was VERY protective of my gear at the beach. Carried out my backpack INSIDE of a garbage bag and allowed it to acclimate before pulling it out. I took pics for maybe 20 minutes and put it away.

At ISO 200 on a bright sunny day, you didn't need a shutter speed of 1/3200. You could have stopped down from the f2.8 and gained a little more DOF. You still would have had a workable shutter speed, especially with IS.

[LooseScrews]

JWright, I purposely chose wide open for a thin DoF, not because I wanted a high SS. Have since realized or learned f/4.0 would have given a shallow DoF as well, but likely a bit sharper.

[Transfer]

A) I don't see any shadows in particular.
B) I agree, there is zero noise anywhere.
C) While the focus isn't perfect, you could print this huge if you wanted and the quality would be good.
D) If you want to surrender your gear, I'd be happy to borrow it.