Shooting a relatives engagement pics not as expected 24-105

Dear Photographers;

 

I have been off the photography scene due to hectic job and major exams; but yesterday I had an engagement event for a relative and they did put a lot of weight into me offering to take photos. They relied on me which I don't mind and actually like.

 

I was let down by the photos. I used the 6D; 430ex II flash and the 24-105L mark I.

I have attached 4 photos full detail to just allow anyone kind to comment/critique.

 

I personally felt despite lowish ISO's 400-800 the photos were a bit too grainy. Pics were not sharp and colours were faded.

I switched to the 17-40 and did get a better result-> more contrast and colour.

 

Any feedback by anyone would be appreciated. I'm not sure if maybe it's a flash and lighting issue. I am sure I used the centre point focusing and focused on peoples eyes. Maybe camera isn't focusing spot on?

 

Thank you

Peter

I think a little post processing will work wonders. IMO the facility provided serious challenges.

Contrast and Colour certainly and to some extent the allusion of image sharpness can be addressed in Post Production, so I think that different (i.e. better/more suitable) Post Production would be a good idea. In general terms General Image Sharpening and a boost in mid tone contrast seems required for the two wide shots. Perhaps you could punch the saturation tad. For the two Half Shots a bit more contrast generally and a bit more saturation might assist, but suitable Post Production Sharpening would be my first goal.

 

***

 

HOWEVER, upon analysis I note the following technical issues:

 

Image 01: 1/125s @ f/4 @ ISO400; Flash Fired –

 

The flash appears to be acting as Fill Flash and is nicely balance with the diffuse window light.

 

There is a focussing / DoF issue: note in crop 01 the table is sharp yet at crop 02 the table (and the man) are not. However, I would not rule out that some of the men exhibit some motion blur in their heads.

 

CROP 01:

 

CROP02:

 

***

 

Image 02: 1/100s @ f/4 @ ISO400; Flash Fired -

 

Again the Flash appears to be acting as Fill and is nicely balanced with the interior diffused light.

 

There is a Subject Motion Blur issue; note crop 01 the man’s hands exhibit motion blur. This is because the Shutter Speed is too slow and the AMBIENT EXPOSURE captured the blur (please see general conclusion for more detail). I suspect that the two men sitting on the lounge farthest from the camera also exhibit Motion Blur in their hands and their heads, especially the man at Camera Left, (the man with the headdress) seems to have noticeable Motion Blur in his head and R Hand

 

CROP 01:

 

 

*

 

Image 03: 1/100s @ f/4 @ ISO800; Flash Fired –

 

There is probable Subject Motion Blur issue; note crop 01 the man’s shirt is sharp, the pattern is crisp, yet his faces, especially the eyes/eyebrows (which are approximately in the same plane of focus) are not nearly as sharp. Note crop 02 (albeit that the R. Hand is a tad OoF), there is definite Motion Blur, which lends me to believe that the Man’s Head also exhibits Motion Blur, again this is because the Shutter Speed was not fast enough and AMBIENT EXPOSURE captured movement.

 

CROP 01:

 

CROP 02:

 

***

 

Image 04: 1/80s @ f/5.6 @ ISO800; Flash Fired –

 

The flash seems to be acting as Key, if not the Key light, certainly the Flash has more influence than in the other three images. However, noting crop 01, closely observe the Plane of Focus on the shirt and tie and contrast that to the eyebrows: my conclusion is that there was enough AMBIENT EXPOSURE to capture a small movement in the man’s head, thus making the face appear soft.

 

CROP01:

 

***

 

I think all the sample images show a consistent issue of Subject Motion Blur being a result Dragging the Shutter below the x-Sync Speed and in each case the AMBIENT LIGHT was bright enough to capture Subject Motion Blur at the Shutter Speed and ISO which were selected.

 

Dragging the Shutter is a valuable technique, but one must be aware of the effect that the AMBIENT EXPOSURE will have on the Final Image, hence one must be acutely aware of the Shutter Speed: this is especially so when working Social Events, where people are generally buoyant and always moving even if they appear to be standing still for the ‘pose’.

 

As a general rule, the brighter the Ambient Light, the more dangerous it is to Drag the Shutter below the Camera’s X-Sync Speed. I expect that the 6D’s X-Sync is 1/200s or 1/250s.

 

As the interior of the venue seems relatively bright, my advice is that you would have been much safer to employ that Shutter Speed all throughout the event and balance the Flash to Ambient Ratio for the Flash as Fill shots by firstly choosing a suitable Aperture and ISO to suit the Ambient Exposure and then controlling the Flash Exposure with Flash Exposure Compensation.

 

On the face of the four images as samples one should not conclude that the 24 to 105L Lens is faulty or notable 'un-sharp'. If you have the program, it would be interesting to note which AF Point locked focus for the first image, you might find that it was an AF point below the middle, and simple that you did not have adequate DoF

 

But I again reiterate that my view is the general 'softness' in the images of the Subjects is due to a general repetitive Subject Motion Blur, being a result of the incorrect (i.e. too slow) Shutter Speed being used

 

Also reiterating that better / more suitable Post Production can address a lot of the issues, including the appearance of sharpness - however you asked for critique and there is IMO, a systemic technique fault (or lack of complete understanding of) the application of Flash as Fill in this type of brightly lit interior when one is shooting Social Events.

 

WW

I think you're putting way too much emphasis on gear and technical issues. That's not to say having the proper gear for the job and knowing how to use it isn't important. It certainly is. But your critique of your photos doesn't mention things like expression, content, composition, narrative, gesture. If you make those things a little more important, I'd say then you have something for which technical improvements will be well worthwhile. The photos you've posted on the whole feel a bit stilted. There's little spontaneity, little suggestion of what an engagement is actually about, little expression that moves me. I suggest loosening up when shooting, trying some different and more interesting angles, noticing facial expressions and things like hand movements. When posing people, especially two people together, they needn't always be looking right at you as if each other didn't exist. One can be looking at you while the other looks at him, or they can be looking at each other, and engaging with each other. Formal poses are fine but then they need to look sort of formal and not casually formal. Casual poses should seem really casual and not posed. You can interact a bit without distracting from the main events in order to get people looking to be involved. Focus, sharpness, better lighting will only get you so far. IMO.

I checked out sample images of the Canon EOS 6D on PhotographyBlog and I'm surprised at the thick halo edges of the out of the camera jpeg this camera produces. Check out this sample image of a plant shot without flash at the OP's similar exposure setting of 105mm, 1/100sec., f/4, ISO 160...

 

http://img.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_eos_6d/photos/canon_eos_6d_37.jpg

 

From this sample image page... Canon EOS 6D Review - Sample Images | Photography Blog

 

Looks as if you need to shoot Raw and control sharpening along with Michael's points about motion blur and I'ld also add that the DOF on wide angle shots should've been greater even at f/4, but it doesn't seem to be the case. On the portrait of the guy holding the plate of food the suit is sharp but the subject's entire head is soft.

Thanks Everyone;

Thank you William for your detailed response...yes I will aim 1/200 in the future then; I just thought 1/60 is more than enough and used my 1/focal length rule.

But I guess they move more than I expected.

Like this pic of that guy eating was at 1/100 which I thought is heaps good but his face is soft.

 

For Fred; I appreciate your response its true; but a bit of context is I shot >100 pics and I had to choose the pics of people I know wouldn't mind their faces being published on forums. All the others I didn't know they agree to I chose the group photos zoomed out. Other pics were better to be honest.

First, I agree with all the comments above, especially William's detailed evaluation of each image. I am also happy to hear that these images were chosen based on the subjects comfort in posting images on line and that you have more natural and esoterically pleasing images. When facing this type of shoot, you need to decide if you want to use flash as the main source of light (with ambient fill), or ambient as the main source of light (with flash fill). It looks like you choose the latter, but as you have found, ambient light images have a greater risk of motion blur and color issues due to mixed lighting sources, but do avoid an obvious flash look to the images. High ISO performance provides a greater shooting envelope for ambient light than in the past so it is both an aesthetic and a technical choice.

 

One specific technical issue which may account for higher noise than expected, is that all the backgrounds (and foregrounds) in theses rooms are mostly white or extremely light colored materials, including brightly lite windows. I would have added at least +1 stop of both ambient and flash exposure comp in order to render the subjects better and avoid underexposure and the subsequent build up of noise. Test shots and your histogram would help guide how much exposure comp you need, and that could change based on what direction you are shooting at, and if there is a strong back-lite source of light (like a window) in your viewfinder.

Here is one of your photos with some processing done in Lightroom. Added Clarity, vibrance, saturation, dehaze at the top of his head. In Photoshop I used unsharp mask which seemed to help. Check that your lens is clean and if you are using a filter remove it and do some test shots to see if that improves things.

And one of the others done the same way with a crop and brightened their faces using the adjustment brush in Lightroom.

And I just realized the answer to the cause of the narrow DOF at f/4, 24mm. The Canon EOS 6D is a full frame sensor. I tested on my APS-C 6MP DSLR at 24mm, 1/40sec., f/5.6, ISO 800 with fill flash and got more foreground to background sharp detail.

. . . I just thought 1/60 is more than enough and used my 1/focal length rule. But I guess they move more than I expected.. . .

 

I think you misunderstand what the '1/Focal Length Rule' addresses. This 'rule', (which is really a guide), is to ensure that the Shutter Speed is fast enough so there will not be Camera Shake which causes Blur,

 

My comments were addressing Subject Motion Blur.

 

Subject Motion Blur must be addressed by a fast Shutter Speed - OR - having the Flash Exposure (much) more dominate than the Ambient Exposure.

 

WW

I was let down by the photos.

 

We are all our worst critique and hardest on ourselves. These a learning moments. You can do a lot and only do so much in post processing, Lightroom can give those images some punch, also cropping can allow you to make the most of a dull scene with too much dead space.

 

I am not trying to be mean or picking on you, so take this a constructive criticism so you get better. Nobody is born a professional. This is stuff you need to learn to be a pro. This is stuff that makes the difference between a pro and a guy with a camera. The pros I worked with would point out every mistake to make me think and get better so I could produce images they could sell to a client.

 

Learning to compose in camera is best, but in post (not as good) but mastering this will really improve the final image. I want to see the subject, not a lot of dead space, boring dead space makes for boring images IMHO. Crop out the dead space. Also, think about what you are shooting, what is the subject doing, what is in the background, what is in their hand, is their shirt tucked in, are they holding a paper plate of food with a sloppy crimples napkin, wow there will be a treasured photo that will be framed and hanging on the wall and passed down for generations.

 

:Cropping:

Crop out dead space, the bottles on the wall or hotel room door are doing nothing for the image. But this only helps so much, yes the backlighting over the head, a bit more flash and to equalize that, next I suggest waiting till someone is not holding a crappy plate and napkin. This was not an opportune time for shooting. This is not a keeper image. You could crop the food out, but better, wait for a better moment. Unless this is a shot of the bride and groom feeding each other or people raising a glass for a toast or something worthy of recording don't take the shot. Could you really salvage this shot and make it an image someone would buy. IMHO probably not.

 

 

The images that were blurred, this is only a learning moment when we kick ourselves saying why didn't I shoot at a higher shutter speed, why didn't I do a focus-recompose, and look at the images figuring out what went wrong. Shadows behind the subject....why didn't I use bounce flash or a slip over Speedlight softbox and maybe a couple remote flashes?

 

Are your camera and lens having focus issues front or back focus or is it you. Testing the camera looking at focus points. Plenty of how to tutorial out there. Pay attention to what the focus locked on.

 

I don't know what experience level you are at. Before I shot my first wedding I studied everything I could, and then I practiced, practiced, practiced. When my skills were getting pretty darn good I worked as a second shooter with a local pro and learned learned learned. Then I studied more. Learn how to compose a shot. Look at other pro photographers shots, the best guys out there, what are they doing right. I am not saying copy them, learn from them and develop your own style.

 

The more you shoot, the better you will get. You make a mistake, it is a learning moment.

 

The 6D is a good camera and you can achieve professional shots with it. I shot a wedding with one. Just because you have a good camera does not guarantee every shot you take will look professional. That comes with experience. Hopefully, you took lots of shots, only give them the best stuff.

 

Your subjects can make a difference too if they are engaged, are they engaged? Candid shooting has its place, but sometimes you need to engage your subjects, getting a group shot of everyone in a large group can be hard, but try to get them to engage. Just saying hey folks I would like to get a couple shots of you all. It can make a difference between a keeper and a random snapshot. The image below could have been save by zooming in, or getting a better position, cropping and composing and saying high folks, I would like to get a shot of you.

 

 

Don't beat yourself over this, just learn from mistakes.

I did a couple edits using Photoshop and LR, also did some classic Black and White versions. I used a clone brush to remove some of the flash shadow, and a little sharpening tool. Also remember pixel peeping on sharpness is not going to be what the printed image will look like. A little clarity and vibrance, a tweak of the color to preference. It can make a big difference. These shots should print well.

 

 

 

 

No need to be overly self-critical, the photos could be improved but they don't look all bad. A few points... The individual portrait is not focused well which could be an issue of camera not focusing very accurately, but it could also be the result of focus-recompose which you would have used. On the 6D the center point is more reliable but focus-recompose has its own pitfalls. I personally shoot Nikon but sometimes encounter the same problem. If you want to be sure of focus and have a stationary subject, use Live View focusing without recomposing.

 

The same photo would likely be more contrasty if you did not shoot straight into the small window behind the man's head. Try not having strong backlight sources in or just outside of the frame; it will do a world of good for contrast. If you can put the window at 90 degrees and have it provide some sidelight, it can give the photo a more 3-dimensional look. The window is also distracting, but that's more about esthetics than technical issues.

 

You may get better sharpness and contrast (assuming focus is accurate) by stopping the lens down a stop (to 5.6). Also, for photos where the depth of field needs to be larger (the gentlemen sitting on the sofas), you may try to stop the lens down to f/8 and increase the ISO. Noise would be higher but the photo would look sharper.

 

HTH,

 

Peter

Crop out dead space, the bottles on the wall or hotel room door are doing nothing for the image.

I’d be very careful with this advice. It works quite well in some cases and would be bad advise in other cases. Sometimes, what might seem like extraneous stuff actually can add texture to a photo if handled well. A wedding picture full of closeups with no background details or sense of party or stray bottles here and there would be boring and sterile to me. Now, you don’t want to include details in an unthoughtful or haphazard manner, but you want some sense of spontaneity and surrounding texture to offset the more formal portrait moments. So, it’s good to develop a feel for how to include more space and details in various shots without them seeming messy or unnecessary. It should feel like these things are part and parcel of the event and the photos. The guy eating food should remain a guy eating food if you already have enough headshots of him or others. There was nothing wrong with showing him holding a plate of food with fork in hand. Your post work or your lighting at the time could have made the food a little more secondary, but it’s an appropriate detail at a wedding party. Again, cropping down to a portrait might work for that shot if that’s what you want, but do that to everyone and you’ll zap the life right out of the party.

 

I think balance is important when shooting events, between longer shots with more information in them, somewhat more spontaneous in nature which provide context and closer shots which are “cleaner” and more focused.

I’d be very careful with this advice. It works quite well in some cases

Point noted. Rules are meant to be broken when appropriate. When to can only be determined by what the photographers' is trying to create or capture, hopefully, talent, skill, and experience will guide the way to success. For the pro, will the photo sell? Those water bottles would need to have some real special attraction and add value to the photo, perhaps the unique geometry of bottle stacking or part of storytelling or on Dune as a valuable commodity and sign of wealth and security.

Fred got me to think about the importance of inclusion or exclusion of detail that might tell the wrong story or detract in capturing the emotional tone in social events as this. But Mark's point about the numerous water bottles as in the wide shot of the living room scene made me take a second look where I started thinking these water bottles are kind of communicating the necessary hydration possibly caused by the stress and maybe the somewhat distrust of that location's tap water. Probably reading too much into it but those water bottles are really distracting.

 

I started laughing thinking about this and couldn't decide whether to leave the water bottles in or out. Maybe for laughs as a reminder for the parties concerned of the level of stress.

 

I don't shoot such types of scenes so I wouldn't know how to shoot the water bottle scene and make it a casual and natural looking event just short of asking everyone to put them away like behind the furniture.

. . .Learning to compose in camera is best, but in post (not as good) but mastering this will really improve the final image. I want to see the subject, not a lot of dead space, boring dead space makes for boring images IMHO. Crop out the dead space . . . .

&

I’d be very careful with this advice. It works quite well in some cases and would be bad advise in other cases. . .

 

When shooting Social Events, especially when one is learning, it can be quite difficult to compose every shot perfectly: in these situations, especially if one is shooting under the pressure of time, then it is better to compose and shoot a bit wide and attend to the cropping later.

 

HOWEVER the more important factor is to be in the BEST position to make the shot.

 

Using the candid portrait of the man with the plate of food as an example, it would have been better to get a camera angle so the background (the glass in the door) was not a major distraction - if the glass could not be eliminated from the shot, then at least perhaps move to camera left and make the shot such that the glass was not growing out of the man’s head. In some situations it is good to make a second shot. This example highlights how important (and distracting) backgrounds can be.

 

On the matter of “dead space” and ‘boring dead images” – I think it is important to assess the usefulness of all the space in the whole image and think about cropping ‘creatively’ rather than just ‘cropping it out’.

 

Again, taking the same image as an example – if we remove the door glass, then we will have a definitive dark background against which the light blue clothing can lay.

 

With respect to the white wall, at camera right, this is a nice juxtaposition to the brown of the door, additionally it is at a nice angle to both the man and also to the door – so we can use that white wall AND the row of bottles as a lead-in for the viewer’s eye to the main Subject. Additionally the white wall and the bottles of water give a sense of space, location and atmosphere to image and allow the man some space into which he can walk.

 

Consider how each image might add a bit more the atmosphere, for example my thinking could be “It’s reasonably hot, even inside the house – and that explains why the man might have loosened his tie” – these are only small elements but they do fit together in the picture story.

 

Each individual image telling a small story, or adding a little bit more atmosphere, is especially important when a GROUP of the pictures are used to re-created the story of the whole “Social Event” - and I think this is exactly what the OP was charged to do.

 

In these situations it is important to remember not to view each image in isolation - but rather as part of the story of the whole event.

 

Additionally tightening up (cropping) or removing the odd element at Camera Left and Bottom Camera Right and removing a bit of Flash reflection, removing item on the white wall and sharpening up the Man’s eyes and darkening his beard a tad and warming his skin tone.

 

This quick edit is one result

 

 

WW

Post script:

 

Neil Ambrose gave a Master Lesson "Reportage Wedding Photography"

 

The techniques he described are applicable to the Reportage Photography for any Social Event and also Sporting and Commercial Events.

 

I remain indebted to the tutelage he provided to me and for the content of his Master Lesson generally.

{LINK}

 

WW