Hi Sifus here, i just got my cam 2 weeks ago, had some outdoor shots under sunny day. However, the pics came out to be dull.
Is that setting problem? FYI, White balance was set to fine. PP improve the contrast, brightness, and saturation.
But i hope to get the right colour from my cam.
Please advice.


Attached thumbnail(s)

overexposure causes color to become pale, underexposure causes the color to become dull.

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Added on September 23, 2007, 8:25 pmset to +ev

This post has been edited by gold3knight: Sep 23 2007, 08:25 PM

Mind if I borrow thread a while?

Just want to know how to take really really sharp pictures. Already using tripod. Subject is a still object.

But somehow, the image taken from a normal digicam is not up to the sharpness level that I want.
Usually I only manage to get the desired sharpness through photoshop editing.

Any tips or settings in the camera for sharper images?

I did for most of the shots, but the back ground is still dull, object colour still cant reach what i expected, and worse is when the sky overexposed.




This post has been edited by mars2005: Oct 1 2007, 01:35 PM

for the first two pics i don see much problem with that...and the tyre pic seems to be fine to me...only the third pic is more obvious... i am using laptop now so i cant really see the colors accurately...

wat cam n filter r u using? ur 1st pic seems a bit overexposed, 2nd pick just fine. 3rd pick seems underexposed.

Yea i'm using laptop too. But i could see pic taken by oths are vibrant compared to mine.

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Added on September 23, 2007, 9:01 pmS6500, just UV filter.

This post has been edited by mars2005: Sep 23 2007, 09:01 PM

erm...in one of your post, you said that you cant meter the sky and land properly... just duplicate a layer and adjust the exposure...make sure you shoot in raw so that you can get back those over exposed areas....

Its harder to work with the environment in your pictures as the sky is rather empty and clear. A few tips is to make use of ND grad filters or create a graduated sky using Photoshop. Then you can tweak the blue clouds with the blue hue to give it a nicer blue.

mars2005, the first thing you want to check is the histogram:



See the empty space on the far left, that's the reason it looks dull. And the distribution is shifted to the right, generally it's over exposed.

First step it to carry out an Auto Level (to remove the blue cast), followed by 20% Highlight (under Shadow/Highlight), a mild S-curve, followed by a little sharpening (Smart Sharpening).

Before:


After:


Remarks: The original photo has so little pixel (only 800*600) so there will be some artifacts even with so little post process. If you notice, the artifacts around the yacht is seen in the original.

This post has been edited by kelvinyam: Sep 23 2007, 10:43 PM

kelvin and orenzai explained some very useful tips. Use them

Under some conditions as mentioned by Orenzai, you need to use layer and layer mask to adjust two or more parts of the shot differently.

Before:


After:


Note that the boat needs a little level adjustment while the forest at the back there needs more, so both of them needs to be adjusted separately.

Generally shooting under harsh sun light, it's advisable to stop down at least -2/3 (base on my experience). It would be safer to shoot a few shots with different exposure bias. If your camera allows exposure bracketing, use it.

Remarks: Artifacts seen in the "After" is not caused by my post process adjustment, it's already there in the original.

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Added on September 23, 2007, 11:54 pmHere are more (darn, I guess I'm too free... ):

Before:



After:


Before:


After:


This post has been edited by kelvinyam: Sep 23 2007, 11:54 PM

thanks forvery useful technique, kelvin
however, by this technique, i see it's too contrast, make quite hard feeling and i notice something happen over top of the forest ????
can prevent that ?
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sorry, looked original pic, it's happen over top of the forest also it's just clearer to see by increase more saturation

This post has been edited by vichio: Sep 23 2007, 11:57 PM

Next time when you want to prepare your shot for publishing in forum/website, resize it to 640*480, but set the compression quality to 100% (90% minimum), then you will be able to prevent artifacts.

Wow thanks all for your tips, and kelvinyam, for your effort, those pics look much more better and sharper.
But i'm wondering isit possible to take those pics to this kind of contrast & sharpness without PP?

A camera will never able to produce/capture exactly what our eyes see. Optics are not perfect, so does the sensors and other electronic parts. That's why you need post process to make it to near perfect.

However there are a few ways to make a shot presentable without much post process:
1) Get a better equipment. Better camera, better/larger sensor and better lens
2) Do not shoot under harsh sun light. The best time to shoot is in the morning or late afternoon when light is warm
3) Under expose a little. -1/3 to -1 depends on the condition. The color will be richer and more saturated

I've been told that post process is 50% of producing a shot, especially when you are shooting RAW. Taking a well composed and well exposed photo is just half of the work.

One more thing, resizing to smaller resolution often causes the shot to become soft, so sharpening is often required. But still it depends on individual liking

i think the contrast makes it look more dramatic and vivid


those are good tips bro...but i cant really judge the slight underexposed or overexposed on the lcd screen...can teach me what you do? i use the histogram but sometimes there are spikes..what is that?

Orenzai, check this out:

http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/articles/phot...enhancement.htm

if u come KL remember find me to test it

thanks again for this useful article..

What ISO were you using?

Sure

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Added on September 24, 2007, 11:47 pmWas using ISO100 only.. lowest one.

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Added on September 24, 2007, 11:55 pmSad to know that it reach it's limit thr . Anyway thanks for your tips.

This post has been edited by mars2005: Sep 24 2007, 11:55 PM

Let's face it, there are limit on everything (except the religion stuff), the important thing is to identify the bottleneck. Many people claimed that S3IS has to many limitations to produce a good shot. But my current bottleneck is my skill, so I don't care about the camera's limitation.

Hope i can help u out here.

Mars2005,

What camera are u using?

1) Set ur saturation to +, crank it up and see the results. U will soon know when its nice to have it max and when to have it to 0. For most scenery/outdoor pics u (usually) want it ++++.

2) Play with the WB. Auto isn't perfect.

3) PP is quite necesarry if u r posting it online. Reso and added sharpening is usually needed.

4) Pick non dull background/lighting. Flat blue sky will look like flat blue sky. Morning to have clear effect. Evening for warm effect. (not always) Best times are sunset and sunrises, although its hard to catch a good 1.

5) Your camera is not holding u back. Its the photographer not the camera. Camera companies will always tell u that your camera is inferior but it isn't.

6) Most cameras tend to overexpose. Usually -2/3 or -1/3 does the trick. Flat indoors usually require 0.

7) Please ignore single channel histograms. If u wanna use histograms, make sure its a three channel RGB histogram.

8) Overexposing will blow out all your highlights which cannot be recovered. Underexposing can (usually) be saved with editing.

I think the most important thing to get great colors is to look for colorful things to shoot. Easy as that. Lookin for it is the hard part.

Two articles i hope u'll find useful.

How to get great colors

Timing
This article should be particularly useful. It shows how pictures 30mins or so too early can be so crappy compared to the right time.

I hope i din waste anyone's time xD