Both barrels please

OK, let me have it. I am interested in any and all advice and comments on what I did wrong here. Please note these images have been noise reduced (1st mistake, too high an ISO) but they have not been sharpened.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …hwoods_photo/11​457792104/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …hwoods_photo/11​457750275/

Tough situation but you got the pictures. They do look a bit soft, perhaps the high iso correction. Candid flash is also tough work. That flash gives you away every time. Not much more you can do except with composition which should still follow cropping rules.

I try to focus more on smaller groups with this type of situation, say just the group to the left of the flag. That flag in the middle is a problem but they don't usually consult the photographers before they set things up. I also have lost my inhibitions about getting up and moving around to get better angles. And if flash was OK here I would slap the flash bracket on with a Lumiquest ProMax modifier and bounce the light.

Dave,
Thanks for the thoughts. Flash was allowed, in fact I was asked by the Scoutmaster to take photos. My son normally takes photos for the troop but this time he was in the ceremony. He is the boy lighting the candle in the first image.

Where I got a bit messed up was trying to balance the ambient light with the flash. I was looking for the DOF of at least f11 Actually I am thinking a bit more DOF might have been nice. Shutter was already down to 80 or 100 so the only thing left was to crank the ISO. Really curious how else I could have handled this. Could I have relied on the flash for all my light? I know I could have set up additional flash units but that seems a bit over the top for something like this.

Anyway, just curious how others might have handled this situation.

I will check out the Lumiquest ProMax.

Northwoods Bill wrote in post #16541409
I was looking for the DOF of at least f11 Actually I am thinking a bit more DOF might have been nice.

Remember, part of DOF is a function of your distance to the subject. F11 at 5 feet is going to be narrower than F11 at 15 feet. Here's a tool that will help illustrate this.
http://www.dofmaster.c​om/dofjs.html

I agree with Dave (Titus). These setups are tough. I do them for the troop on a fairly regular basis. Because I can't get them posed, I go for the pray and spray. I'll take a hundred shots during a Court of Honor trying to catch eyes looking out instead of down. I don't end up with many keepers.

You're shooting a 5D III? ISO 3200 should not be an issue and f11 should have more than covered the situation. What was your focus setting, single shot? The image just looks too soft for your settings and setup.

Perhaps you are using more noise reduction than you need? I try to keep it to an absolute minimum.

BTW - my experience with the 5D III is through our daughter. She uses one and she has sent me very high ISO shots that were amazingly sharp with no noise reduction.

I was in single shot mode. Using the center 9 AF points. Typically I shot with a single point but I figured a little extra coverage couldn't hurt.

Noise Reduction was in LR.

In a couple hours I will post up these same shots SOOC I was a bit disappointed at the noise but maybe I am being too picky. Keep in mind that I am usually working landscapes at ISO 100 on a tripod so it is entirely possible I am screwing up the NR.

Cactusjuice I would estimate 12 foot or so.

Here is one of the images SOOC. Curious to hear thoughts.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …hwoods_photo/11​468852355/

I think you are over estimating the amount of noise in your images.

I also think your edits are adding too much contrast and saturation. It's making the image have a hard edge and people look better a bit softer (but not in focus). I actually like the SOOC a bit better than your original post. It certainly doesn't need much work.

Dave,
Thanks for your comments. I will go back and have another look. I will post a few re-edits over the next day or two. I will try not to be so heavy handed.

Bouncing the flash would help quite a bit.

And I think you're on the right track with balancing the flash with ambient.

In these situations I try to move around (not always possible) and to use a zoom to get in close but then also go wide to capture the same moment. You have to move fast.

On camera flash and f/11 indoors just aren't going to work well. I'd never go more than f/5.6, except occasionally for a group photo.

Hi there. I have a couple of questions for you. How far away were you from the subject, and what type of lens were you using for your camera? This is more of a photojournalism-type shot, and the key is positioning yourself in the right place to take the pictures. Was there any way you could have moved around six feet to the left, and zoomed in for a close shot of three boys lighting the candle, and then pulling back to show the full group? You sort of need to move fast, and shoot fast. And yes, out of a hundred images taken, you'll probably get a couple good photos. This type of photography is not easy. But you did get the shot!

Quick thoughts:


Opened as camera raw

temp +1 tint -4

Exposure +.25

Contrast +10

Cloned out some distracting bits

duplicated layer, filter high pass at 4.5 set to overlay - opacity 73%

Change crop

IMAGE LINK: http://s1259.photobuck​et.com …ting_zps7aeff4b​a.png.html

get in closer... there's no real need to focus on the group as a whole, particularly as the expressions of a candid group are hard to control, there will always be someone looking away / yawning, etc.