The 5 Minute Challenge: SOOC Test

p27rpy

I had a fun challenge last night that I've never actually tried before. A few other photographers and I were challenged to create the best possible shots that we could, straight out of camera, with only 5 minutes per model(s).

I had no idea how stressful it would be! It was a great test though, and made me realize that creating nice shots without the help of editing is not easy. These shots are all straight out of camera, with only a crop (on one or two) and leveling applied. I'm looking forward to challenging myself like this some more, as I think it will definitely help out my skills when I have to bang out a great shot in a rush at a wedding.

If any of y'all have ever done something like this, feel free to post up your images, I'd love to see them!

slpollett

Love the shot on the top right. Wowza! Beautiful. Just Beautiful.

I don't do weddings, but I always try to get whatever I'm doing right SOOC. I'm not always successful, but I always have that goal.

Sherry

joshhuntnm

I could never have been a photographer before the days of digital. without editing. . . I could never get that good.

p27rpy

slpollett wrote: »

Love the shot on the top right. Wowza! Beautiful. Just Beautiful.

I don't do weddings, but I always try to get whatever I'm doing right SOOC. I'm not always successful, but I always have that goal.

Sherry

thanks! i try to get things right SOOC, but i nearly always use editing to give the photo that little bit of "pop"

joshhuntnm wrote: »

I could never have been a photographer before the days of digital. without editing. . . I could never get that good.

no kidding...i have a crazy amount of respect for pre-digital photographers. you have to get it right the first time, every time. we have it easy nowadays!

Matthew Saville

In my opinion, 90% of images should be able to stand on their own two feet right there on the back of the camera. At least for the general types of work I do, which would mainly consist of portraits and candids and details. I do understand that plenty of other genres may fall in the category of "post-production is half the battle", and I must admit I do love post-production sometimes.

Either way, you can check out my article and samples for "SOOC" here:

http://matthewsaville.com/blog/2010/05/17/for-photographers-what-does-sooc-mean/


Here's a few images from my most recent wedding:







And, just for fun, here's an image using one of my custom made camera profiles, (Picture Style, for all you Canon shooters) that I loaded on for fun...



Yep. That's SOOC. No $300 action sets, no instagram, just a few tweaks with a free Nikon program, and zero post-production. :-)

=Matt=

babowc

Matthew Saville wrote: »

In my opinion, 90% of images should be able to stand on their own two feet right there on the back of the camera. At least for the general types of work I do, which would mainly consist of portraits and candids and details. I do understand that plenty of other genres may fall in the category of "post-production is half the battle", and I must admit I do love post-production sometimes.

Either way, you can check out my article and samples for "SOOC" here:

http://matthewsaville.com/blog/2010/05/17/for-photographers-what-does-sooc-mean/
=Matt=

Hey Matt..
What 50mm are you using?

My 1.4G is NEVER sharp!!

Matthew Saville

babowc wrote: »

Hey Matt..
What 50mm are you using?

My 1.4G is NEVER sharp!!

I'm using the 50 1.8 AFS-G, although I'm not sure exactly which images you're referring to.

Honestly, having also shot plenty with the 50 1.4 G, I'd say that either your lens isn't working right, or it is a matter of "sharpness of the mind". One other thing is, I shoot with my in-camera sharpening turned all the way up, so my SOOC images always look ridiculously sharp. It helps me gauge focus and sharpness on the back of the camera even in bright sunlight, and the in-camera settings go away once I get the images into LR for final production, so I've just left all my Nikons at +9 (or max) sharpness when shooting RAW. (When shooting JPG however, I turn sharpening all the way down, and do it in post...)

An article just came to mind, an article by Galen Rowell. Scroll down to 1996 and read "Sharpness on the mind"...

http://www.mountainlight.com/articles.html


=Matt=

p27rpy

nice work, matt! i'll have to test some different in-camera sharpening techniques!