Portrait of my girlfriend test shot in Raw :(

I usually shoot it jpeg but i decided to give raw another try and it still looks like crap.
I'm fairly new to this so my DPP skills suck but i tried . Maybe my Lens needs to be micro adjusted or something i have no clue.

All i know is that its very frustrating


Any help or tips greatly appreciated

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"And it still looks like crap"? Says who??
I think it's a bit underexposed, but with RAW you can certainly change that. I think it's a good portrait with good reflections and very pretty model.
Have you tried upping the exposure a stop or two?

Looks pretty good except for exposure.

Did you shoot this using a tripod? Looking at your exif data I see you shot this at ISO 100, f/3.2, Shutter 1/40 at a focal length of 57mm (on your crop body that is equal to 91.2 mm). If you shot this hand held, I would say that your SS was to slow. Was your model perfectly still? Again with a slow shutter speed any slight movement will be a problem. I understand the look you were attempting to get but the whole photo is underexposed. The image still has a lot of potential especially since you shot it in raw. Here is a quick edit of your pixelated jpeg. I would be glad to take a look at your raw image if you want to send it to me, just pm me.

Youridin wrote in post #7195918
i wanted it to have this type of look not fully exposed

Also the reason for me saying it looks like crap is that i think i should be getting sharper pictures than what i am getting. Maybe i'm doing something wrong

I focus on the eyes then recompose the shot while holding the shutter half way down then shoot. Is that wrong?

VERY wrong. Why not move the focus point and focus near her eye? You also need better light and increase the exposure. There is very little detail on her hair and no amount of PP will bring that back. The shot you are after, was probably shot with strobe/flashes. try going ISO 400 F4. Can you give more info about your lighting ? Most studio shots are ISO100 1/125 f8-f16 using strobes.

Email me the RAW and I will give it a try....PM me and I will send my email.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=138912

Also the reason for me saying it looks like crap is that i think i should be getting sharper pictures than what i am getting. Maybe i'm doing something wrong

I focus on the eyes then recompose the shot while holding the shutter half way down then shoot. Is that wrong?[/QUOTE]

This shot is fully exposed, but its all to do with lighting (in fact ALL photos are). Take a look at the shadows (on her nose and boobs), the light is coming from the (photogs) right at quite a sharp angle and fairly high. If a softbox was used, it was partly behind the subject.
Now look at yours, the light is coming from your left, and at a 45 degree angle to the subject.

To get a hand held photo sharper, you need to use a faster shutter speed. I see that you are using f3.2 and 1/40th sec with iso 100. Try putting your iso to 400, that should raise your shutter speed to something more usable.

Here are two of mine with side lighting, shot at f9, 200th sec, iso 100...

You have a very usable image, just have to work on post-processing is all. You'll get it.

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Harold made a nice edit. Convert to b/w and see what it looks like.

Thanks guys your help is greatly appreciated.

I'll try again and see what happens

btw i'm using 2 500w smith victor lights that i purchased yesterday with umbrellas.

Youridin wrote in post #7197490
Thanks guys your help is greatly appreciated.

I'll try again and see what happens

btw i'm using 2 500w smith victor lights that i purchased yesterday with umbrellas.


Also i noticed that most of the pictures i took in b&w and when i uploaded them to Aperture2 they were in color. Any reason why?

Because, when you shoot raw, it does not capture in b/w - it's just the raw image. You get the jpeg in b/w (if you set your camera to still give you a jpeg).

Youridin wrote in post #7197490
Thanks guys your help is greatly appreciated.

I'll try again and see what happens

btw i'm using 2 500w smith victor lights that i purchased yesterday with umbrellas.

Also i noticed that most of the pictures i took in b&w and when i uploaded them to Aperture2 they were in color. Any reason why?

You just have to work on placing them better if you are going for that certain look. You lit her evenly in your first try, so just place you lighting so it falls short on parts of her.

They were in color because you shot in RAW - RAW does no camera processing to the image

Youridin wrote in post #7197490
Thanks guys your help is greatly appreciated.

I'll try again and see what happens

btw i'm using 2 500w smith victor lights that i purchased yesterday with umbrellas.

That is very little light. The 500w produce by lights are not the same 500w produced by strobes. Use a tripod with F4 iso400(or higher) and keep experimenting.

silvex wrote in post #7198137
That is very little light. The 500w produce by lights are not the same 500w produced by strobes. Use a tripod with F4 iso400(or higher) and keep experimenting.

I wanna get a strobe kit but i have no clue what direction i should go in when choosing something affordable.
Any tips

Youridin wrote in post #7200815
I wanna get a strobe kit but i have no clue what direction i should go in when choosing something affordable.
Any tips

The "entry" level kits that are popular here are the D-lite2/4 and the AB400/800. I think they are about $600.

Here is a link for you. This company has customer service that cannot be beat.
http://www.alienbees.c​om/