Moody self portrait

Karlos, a couple of articles you may find of interest - I hope they help

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorial​s/expose-right.shtml
http://www.visual-vacations.com …e_metering_stra​tegies.htm

If you were shooting at around f4 with the 18-55, it looks like you might be able to get another 3 stops of exposure out of your 50mm under the same lighting conditions. That's going to give you a much better signal to noise ratio (which is a good thing even if you are looking for that noisy, grainy effect, as it helps to prevent some very ugly posterisations that you'll get in your image otherwise).

Then, even if the image comes out lighter than the mood you're trying to achieve, you'll have enough detail in the image to safely throw a lot of it back into shadow safe in the knowledge that the subtle gradations in tone will be rendered smoothly.

I'm sure this has already occurred to you, but if you want some sensor noise in there, you could try throwing your ISO setting right up to its max value


Finally, if you are shooting B+W in-camera, you might get more favourable results by shooting in colour and then performing your B+W conversion in PP. I know you said that PP is a process you don't particurlarly wish to go through (at least that's how I translated what you said), but PP is a simple fact of photography and has been since it's earliest days (Ansel Adams was once quoted as saying “The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score… and the print is the equivalent of the conductor's performance”) . It might be a chore, but if you want to get the best images possible, it will involve a degree of digital darkroom work.

Not anti-PP, just want to get the picture looking its best before that stage. I once said the photo is like the foundations if their not done right their is no point building on top of them

Thanks for the links.

KarlosDaJackal wrote in post #5927982
No harm done Robert

Anyway the room was pretty much pitch black which might explain why a lot of people thought it was a bit/very/extremely underexposed, but it probably was extremely underexposed , as the readings on the metre are a bit unreliable at the best of times and the shutter speed probably was too fast for the shot even if I used the 50. I used the 17-55 at about 28 with no tripod as their was not much room to work with, think the f/number might have been something like f/4.0. I know ISO was at 800 cause I was bummed when I saw the picture I was hoping for more noise

I've been reading PhotoGuy's thread about exposure today, so I might try that out if I get some free time this evening. Think I've learned that I spent too much time worrying about camera shake over exposure. Also that the kind of ISO noise i've read about on film is not like the ISO noise produced by an SLR. So I'll probably grab a tripod of some form in the next few weeks also.

Let's see if I can summarize what can be done to get more noise in the image as it comes from the camera.
1) Use highest possible ISO setting

2) Use the smallest aperture possible - which will result in the longest shutter speed possible. However, if that gives you a shutter speed longer than 30", you may have to compromise, because I believe you are limited to 30" max. This also requires that you turn Off C.Fn-2.

3) Underexpose as much as you dare without clipping. (That will require some care)

4) Shoot in RAW (In RAW with PSCS3 you can use the "Detail" tab to set the noise reduction - by setting the sliders at zero you eliminate any noise reduction.

Robert_Lay wrote in post #5937416
Let's see if I can summarize what can be done to get more noise in the image as it comes from the camera.
1) Use highest possible ISO setting

2) Use the smallest aperture possible - which will result in the longest shutter speed possible. However, if that gives you a shutter speed longer than 30", you may have to compromise, because I believe you are limited to 30" max. This also requires that you turn Off C.Fn-2.

3) Underexpose as much as you dare without clipping. (That will require some care)

4) Shoot in RAW (In RAW with PSCS3 you can use the "Detail" tab to set the noise reduction - by setting the sliders at zero you eliminate any noise reduction.

Even better... Use a P&S following the above suggestions! There is more noise to signal in those bad boys

KarlosDaJackal wrote in post #5933891
Not anti-PP, just want to get the picture looking its best before that stage. I once said the photo is like the foundations if their not done right their is no point building on top of them

Thanks for the links.

Correct Karlos.. It is important everything possible is done in camera.. PP is only an aid to getting the best image possible,,not a crutch..

KarlosDaJackal wrote in post #5933891
I once said the photo is like the foundations if their not done right their is no point building on top of them

Thanks for the links.

Well I don't think any of us would disagree with that!

And you're welcome