Paul, reading your post I realized that if I had composed that way (I mean the "right" way) it would've been much better also for the post-process, right? I mean that way I could've avoid some backlight which was problematic to deal with during the shots and in the postprocessing.
Didn't know about the "Shadows/Highlights". I'll give it a try. Thank you very much. On 4/11/06, Paul Stenquist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'd say you did a rather good job on the technical side of things > considering the conditions. You might pull up the midrange brightness > on some of them. You can do that in PhotoShop curves with the rgb > curve. Just push the middle up. You might also improve some of them > slightly with an adjustment to the shadow brightness level with the PS > tool "Shadows/Highlights." I know you didn't focus on composition, but > next time remember that for most group shots you should frame down. > Don't leave as much empty space above the heads. But I think these are > excellent for your purpose, and your friends should be very pleased. > Paul > On Apr 11, 2006, at 1:01 AM, Fernando Terrazzino wrote: > > > Last friday I had the chance to do my first indoor available light > > shooting. The small event was not really a happy one, as this was a > > farewell lunch for a couple of co-workers that joined the 500 > > employees that were laid-off last week by the Co. I work for. > > Anyway I tried to capture some shots as a way for them to remember > > some of us. > > I tried half of the shots without flash. The light was really dim with > > light comming from some spotlights. I expected to use ISO 800 but end > > up using mostly 1600 (even some 3200). Just want to tell you guys what > > I did and collect some valuable tips if possible (all shots with my > > *istDS): > > > > 1) I used an FA35/2 wide open, which turn to be acceptable sharp in > > the centre (I mean, given the fact I used it wide open) > > 2) Manual mode, spot "metered" the subject, adjusted ISO, autofocus, > > switch to manual focus and then burst-shot sets of 3 frames in a row > > hoping to use the one in the middle (I don't trust my eyes, the > > autofocus didn't hunt that much, I switched to manual focus so the > > camera wouldn't try to autofocus between shots) > > 3) I shot raw to have more "latitude" in the postprocessing and set > > white balance to "tungsten" just to have a reference when processing > > the raw files > > 4) End-up using mostly ISO 1600 > > 5) Processed in Capture One usually "pushing" with the exposure > > compensation dial between +0.65 to +1.15 > > 6) Adjusted contrast, brightness > > 7) Saved as TIFF 16 bits > > 8) Used Neat Image (default parametes) to clean up the noise and save > > as .jpg > > 9) Added some sharpening in PSP > > > > This is an example shot: > > http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4322083 > > > > large size: > > http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4322083&size=lg > > > > Any ideas on how could I improve this next time (hopefully a birthday > > lunch not a farewell one...)? > > > > I liked shooting this way as ppl didn't get disturbed and I could > > capture some interesting face expressions that otherwise would've been > > impossible to capture. > > > > At the end, just in case, I got the obligatory posed shots (forgot the > > AF360 so didn't turn good) but I'm amazed with the outcome of the > > cleaned High ISO. > > > > Don't mind the composition as I was focused in the technicalities, > > hopefully next time I'll be more relaxed ;-) > > > > The rest of the shots (extra sharpened for the web) are here: > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/sets/72057594091422991/ > > > >
