Natural Light Shot

itsaduck

Ok, a lot of firsts on this one. My first post here, first time really really doing everything manually, and the first time I tried (and hated) a noise reduction filter. This is pretty much the shot as it was taken with a slight exposure adjustment in Aperture. I don't know how people feel about noise, I like it in these shots but am open to all opinions and suggestions.

Comments welcome. This is 3.5 year old Anna just playing in her room.




Cheers-

urbanaries

Wow! What a beautiful little girl you have there. Normally I would recommend black and white for shots this noisy, but with those amazing eyes, I can see why you're hesitant to.

That said, I think the noise is less of an issue in the 2nd. In the first it is fairly distracting in her cheek color. FWIW, I like the WB in the 2nd two as well, the first one looks cold, but I'm on a crappy monitor.

What camera settings were you using? I would definitely try this setup again, whatever room you're in is producing some amazing catchlights, we can try to help you troubleshoot, so you can dial in a better exposure next time.

Again, gorgeous eyes....

itsaduck

Thanks
I agree with you re noise and black and white. I typically would translate a shot like this but her eyes were so vibrant I couldn't do it. As for the WB, I lied a bit b/c I didn't set that manually and I confess I'm a bit of a technical novice with stuff like that. (Basically, any WB difference between shots is unintentional). Any insight is welcome.

As for location, her room is south facing near the water and in the afternoon it makes for some delicious light. I wish I had more opportunities to shoot then.

Thanks for looking!

urbanaries

What camera are you using?If you give us your ISO, aperture, shutter speed....I can try to help! I would die for a room with great light like this. I live in a wooded area and my home is a cave.....D

itsaduck

I'm using an old Digital Rebel (the 300D); 1/160 f/5.6, ISO 1600. I was using a ProMaster 28-200mm. I would have rather used my Canon 28-105 but I have four little kids under five so getting the right gear often takes a backseat to getting a good shot .

Thanks so much for all of your help. I love your site too, I've bookmarked it as inspiration. If you are ever in Baltimore, you can come and set up in Anna's room, I'm sure she wouldn't mind.


Cheers!

urbanaries

itsaduck wrote:

I'm using an old Digital Rebel (the 300D); 1/160 f/5.6, ISO 1600. I was using a ProMaster 28-200mm. I would have rather used my Canon 28-105 but I have four little kids under five so getting the right gear often takes a backseat to getting a good shot .

Thanks so much for all of your help. I love your site too, I've bookmarked it as inspiration. If you are ever in Baltimore, you can come and set up in Anna's room, I'm sure she wouldn't mind.


Cheers!

Thanks for the kind words! I'll look you up if I get to B-town! :grin!

I have owned a DReb but I am not familiar with that lens, so I am going to assume 5.6 meant you were "wide open"? Meaning, that's the widest aperture (smallest f number) that lens is capable of. I think you did an amazing job handholding this shot at that shutter speed, but short of getting a tripod out (and turning your kid to stone, heh) there's not much you can do to get the noise down. (And that 300D ISO image quality isn't what it is in the Digital Rebel series today, sadly!)

I can completely sympathize with gear taking a back seat to kids! I suspect you really like the natural light look, however (and with great reason!). Do you have a low light lens, like the "thrifty fifty"? (the Canon 50mm 1.8)?

Robinivich

Very nice shots, particularly #2, my personal experience with noise is also a dislike of noise filters, but if you have a tool that does only Chroma (colour) Noise (Canon's DPP works well for this) you might give that a shot, it can do a very good job of getting rid of the colour issues without getting that vasoline noise reduction look. I usually will put high ISO shots with max chroma noise reduction and little or no luminance reduction. This keeps the texture better, and it's usually just the colour noise that bothers people anyways.

:Edit: thought I'd mention I shoot another rebel (XT), and I second urbanaries on the 50mm f1.8, besides the low light, I'm sure you'd love the bokeh too

itsaduck

Thanks for the great advice. We have a great photo store not too far from here so I'm going to see if I can pick up a new lens. I haven't been granted leave to purchase a new camera but I think I can swing the lens sooner rather than later.

I'll also give the Canon DPP software a try. Right now I'm testing Aperture and its RAW capabilities. I don't love it and it's kind of a dog on my MacBook Pro, but I think that speaks more to poor workflow than the software.

Again, thanks for the help. I'll take all I can get.

Cheers-

urbanaries

itsaduck wrote:

Thanks for the great advice. We have a great photo store not too far from here so I'm going to see if I can pick up a new lens. I haven't been granted leave to purchase a new camera but I think I can swing the lens sooner rather than later.

I'll also give the Canon DPP software a try. Right now I'm testing Aperture and its RAW capabilities. I don't love it and it's kind of a dog on my MacBook Pro, but I think that speaks more to poor workflow than the software.

Again, thanks for the help. I'll take all I can get.

Cheers-

Yep, the 50mm is way cheaper than a new camera! You will love it, it's an amazing lens for the price.

If you have Aperture, I am willing to bet you have a noise reduction function in the develop module (sorry, i don't know that program's terminology) with a slider just for colour noise. Check over in the Digital Darkroom forum for help, there are others who will know more about that program.

Can't wait to see more of your pics!