How should have I taken this photo?

Ok, first time here. I just started photography.
I took this photo few days ago with my Canon 90D and the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM.
Day was forecast with a bit of sunshine. Manual mode, ISO 400 F3.2 1/250s 70mm.
Focus on the right tree.
Image is grainy, a lot of lens aberration. Not what I was expecting.
Any suggestion? Thanks

Can you post it elsewhere and embed it here? Or post a 1:1 crop? This is downsized too much to tell if there’s anything wrong with it... but my guess is that the problem is simply you’re looking at it magnified 100%, which on that sensor, is probably equivalent to making a 40” wide print and looking at it with a magnifying glass...

My first reaction was, "Where is the subject?"

What were you photographing?

To add to what Spencerphoto says, where were you metering/exposing for and what metering mode were u using? It looks like you were in shadows and a lot of the image is in shadow, yet there is a lot of bright area at the top of the image.

So it is difficult to identify which part of the image should be correctly docked on and correctly exposed

This was taken with evaluative metering, but I tried partial also with worst results.

This is not the answer at my question. It was a sample shoot to try to understand why I was not getting a good exposure and a sharp image with that piece of glass (remember, I'm just starting).
Original idea was the view of the lake with the deck as a natural framing, but I was not getting the right exposure (or deck too dark, or sky too bright), so I tried to include and focus on the tree to see if the exposure was better, and it is compared to the other photos, but way far from my expectation. I just want to understand is there was a better way to get better results and if it is normal to have this lens aberration with this glass.
Yes, deck was in shadows, sky was bright from clouds.

Thanks

You need to expose for what your primary subject will be. As SpencerPhoto says, we don’t know what that is.
There is so much difference in the exposure needed for the background and foreground in this image that the camera just tries to average everything out and as a result, nothing is correctly exposed.

There are a many of ways to tackle this. Here are just two:
1) get the right exposure for what MUST be exposed correctly. You can do this by metering it and then dial that in as a manual exposure, or lock it in with the exposure lock button
2) Pick a composition where the dynamic range is not so large and then see how your images work.

Evaluative is a good mode generally but it does not really work where there is such a discrepancy between the exposure for highlights and shadows.

Ok, thanks all for your fast answers, I really appreciated. Love this forum BTW.
In regards of the primary subject, I already answered saying it's the tree trunk on the right. It was a test shoot not trying to compose. Tree is in focus and under exposed 1 stop purposely to compensate the brightness of the sky that otherwise was completely bright. The deck, however, that is close to the tree, same shade, it came out un-sharp/grainy/ and with lens aberration. At ISO 400, even if it is 1 stop down, is it normal to expect this? I can understand blurriness in foreground because I was at F3.2, but not grainy as is, but again, I'm just start learning so I would just like to know if this is what I have to expect.

Thanks again.

BTW, because you asked what was the subject, here the composition I was trying to make. Waited 20 mins when sun was lower and colors more even.

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Welcome to the forum, Nicolas!

We're glad to have you here.
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Spencerphoto wrote in post #19000109
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My first reaction was, "Where is the subject?"
What were you photographing?
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nicolastella wrote in post #19000460
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This is not the answer at my question.
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Spencer's question actually is pertinent to your question.

You are not going to get something that is dark and something that is light both exposed properly in the same image. . So you have to decide which one thing in the photo you want to be exposed properly. . Spencer was asking what your subject was so that we could advise you on how to get that one thing exposed properly.

If you expect to take a picture that has something dark in it that is in shade, and also something bright in it that is in sunlight, and expect them both to be exposed properly, then your expectations may be surpassing reality.

To get everything in your composition to be exposed "properly", that would either require two or more images and combining the exposures on the computer ...... a.k.a. "HDR". . This gives a rather "yucky" result, in my opinion, because the cool light on the foreground and the warm light on the background makes for a terrible aesthetic. . I should note that if you did want to take multiple exposures, that you should then use a very solid tripod, to ensure consistent alignment of the framing. . Also, when doing HDR imagery of this scene, I would advise the use of focus stacking, so that both the foreground and the background are in sharp focus. . For this particular scene and what you are trying to accomplish, I just don't see any way this would be effective if either the foreground or the background were too "soft". . I mean, the foreground HAS to be in absolute perfect focus, and the background should either be in perfectly sharp focus, or somewhat close to it. . Either way, I think focus stacking would be necessary to achieve ideal depth of field.

The other, better way to do this would be to bring in an array of artificial lighting, and to use the lights to illuminate the deck, and foreground tree so that they are nearly as bright as the distant hillside, and also to control the color temperature of the artificial light you are using so that the color temperatures are at least somewhat consistent throughout the theme.

I must say, for someone just starting out, you have picked a very difficult and technologically complex composition to try to capture. . I wonder if it is even worth the effort. . I mean, even if captured perfectly, is that view/scene really worth that kind of effort? . I think this is a case where you may want to carefully "pick your battles", so to speak, to ensure that you don't spend a whole lot of time and extensive effort on an image that isn't really going to look that great, no matter how technically perfect you can make it.


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I am surprised at the amount of purple fringing from a native and expensive lens, especially not wide open.


To begin with, why not drop it down to 2.8 which will allow you to reduce the ISO which means less noise.


Other than that...are you shooting in jpeg or raw? Is there any in camera sharpening being applied.

That camera(although its not pro grade) with that lens is capable of much better shots in those conditions.

Heres a 70-200mm f4L on my sony crop which is equivalent to your 90d

1/250 • f/4 • ISO 1250 hand held

PJmak, finally someone who got my point.
RAW and no sharpening.
Lens was rented.

nicolastella wrote in post #19000635
PJmak, finally someone who got my point.
RAW and no sharpening.
Lens was rented.

That attitude isn't going to encourage others to help.

Tom, Very interesting, thanks for your answer. So I'm assuming you consider normal to have that grainy photo and lens aberration in that condition.
And yes, it is not worth the effort because it was not the composition I was trying to achieve.

Under exposed images are going to be grainy. Sort out your exposure and then see the quality of the image and lens.

Spencerphoto wrote in post #19000638
That attitude isn't going to encourage others to help.

Honestly, all other people other than you gave me their good point of view. You don't have to answer me if you don't want. And if you read what I asked, has nothing to do with the subject of the photo you didn't understand. If you spend $1800 in a lens, I'm not expecting to have that lens aberration, in dark, in bright, in any mix condition independently if subject is in foreground, background or....no subject at all.
Best regards