Advice for better image quality- Heres my results from day 2 of my photography hobby

[westsidesurfing]

<p>I would really appreciate you taking a look at my photos from yesterday and giving me some advice on how to achieve better images quality.<br>

http://westsidesurfing.smugmug.com/Other/Surfing-HuntingtonBeach/10321626_bgquL/1/713464755_HShHZ<br>

I'm 2 days into my new photography hobby. Day 1 was to test all the different settings and attempt to master them :) and here is day two's results. (Using Canon 40d & Sigma 150-500mm(with optical stabilization) and using Auto focus, and a very solid tripod with a killer gimbal Head which works amazing)<br>

There are no filters used, I programed C1 settings to what i thought would be best. I was usually between a 1200-1600 shutter speed, 400 to 640 iso , and the stop was usually around a 7 or 8 but would vary between 6.3 - 11 depending on the relationship of my lens direction and the sun. I also would add +2/3 stop of the cameras determination. I shot in RAW, brought into computer with Bridge and tweaked in camera raw 5.0. Primarily i adjusted the color temp, tint (slightly), rarely the exposure(maybe .20 only), Always upped the blacks by " 5 " , and increased the fill, and put the clarity to 50 on some and upto 90 on some.</p>

<p>Literally, I've really only used point and shoot in the past. Have always had the theory knowledge of fstops/shutter speed/ iso etc.<br>

But this is my first "NON" point and shoot camera, and I have two days of shooting experience so far.<br>

<strong>Thanks to anyone who can give me some good advice and critique</strong>.</p>

 

[William Kahn]

<p>Brad, if that was day 2, you have nothing to worry about. There are some great shots in there. It's amazing that you were able to catch them from a tripod! Just keep doing what you're doing...</p>

[jpo3136b]

<p>Brad, you have a serious problem with your photography that needs immediate correction: you were at a beach and apparently returned with no photos of bikini clad women. November is no excuse! Otherwise, things look alright. Keep on photographing.</p>

[westsidesurfing]

<p>Damn, no advice or teachings of any kind? Im wondering if Im having focus issues. Wondering If Im possibly not using the correct auto focus settings. Im using AL Servo, but there are some other Auto focus settings that im not sure what they do or how to use correctly. I dont know if im seeing focus issues, or if im being over critical, or what. when im tracking a surfer on the wave keeping the button half way down to stay in focus, i lose focus it seems at times and Im not sure if im at best focus because so much movement and tracking surfer. I wonder if i should try manual focus, but I would assume i would have more difficulty with that.</p>

[ajrobertson]

<p>The pics look great. You should get a circular polarizer and try again and see if you can get a little detail and color back in the sky. If you were stopped down to f6-10 or so as you say, you should still have a fast enough lens even with the cirpol on there.</p>

<p>cheers,<br>

AJ</p>

[riley_s1]

<p>I agree with William. These look great. Keep doing what you're doing - it's definitely working.</p>

[James G. Dainis]

The one bad thing I see is the surfer's faces are all in black shadow. That is a result of the harsh sunlight. The only way to fix that is to shoot on a cloudy day or around sunset (if the sun isn't on the sea horizon). I don't know if the image stabilization (IS) of that lens reacts badly to a solid tripod mount. Many do have a problem when they have nothing to stabilize and go funky. I would shut off the IS when the camera is on a solid tripod.

 

I can see that some of your exposures are all over the place. Why should that be? Wasn't the same sun, the main light source, falling on all the surfers? The light never changed so why should the camera settings. Take a gray card reading (or incident light meter reading) and set your exposure to that in manual. With 400 ISO you should be at 1/500 sec @ f/11 for all shots on that sunny day. The camera meter won't then be "fooled" by more or less white water in the scene.

[jim_momary]

<p>Brad -<br>

Some nice shots in a tough environment. Action was stopped in many cases at peak. That's good.<br>

Agree on more light on the faces. Agree on polarizer, if it does not cut your speed too much.<br>

Mind the horizon line; many find it distracting when it's not dead level. Try rotating and cropping in some program and I think you'll see how level does make a difference, oddly enough.<br>

For day two, hell wait a week and they'll be killer.<br>

Keep the faith<br>

Jim</p>

[westsidesurfing]

<p>thanks everyone. I did try a circular (multi coated) polarizer on my 1st test day. apparently a good quality sigma filter over $100. I thought the images looked horrible. It was a little more overcast, then my 2nd day, and the images with the polarizer looked purple in the hazy sky. Should the polarizer only be used on clear days? Even on my day 2 surfing shots, the part of the sky that is close to the horizon was hazy, therefore i didnt use the polarizer on day two.<br>

thoughts ?</p>

[devon_mccarroll]

<p>Wow, for a couple of days into it, you're showing some amazing talent! One suggestion I could offer--wait until the sun is pointing in the direction of the surfers' faces. So if you're shooting straight on, then have the sun behind you so that it illuminates their faces, or if they're facing to the right, same kind of idea. You want the light to be on the face. Great work!!</p>

[william l. palminteri]

<p>Practice, man, practice !<br>

Two quick tips, get the horizon line dead-on and practice framing up.<br>

A good book on compositition is worth the money.</p>

<p>Bill P.</p>

[westsidesurfing]

<p>thanks guys. and William I did notice many times throughout the day that i needed to frame up. And I find myself trying to force myself to frame higher, but still I would catch myself forgetting :) Can anyone answer that question about the pola i had earlier? Should the Pola not be used when it is overcast and or hazy. My first day it was overcast and hazy, and the pola made the hazy sky look quite bad. Purple haze. Also I'm reading online that alot of UV filters really dont do much, is this true? Would the UV filter help me considerably in the beach enviornment considering most of the time it will be early morning and its often hazy and or overcast?</p>

[william l. palminteri]

<p>Hi Brad,<br>

Here's a quick pre-print edit of your photo #2.<br>

I corrected the horizon by rotating the shot minus 1 degree.<br>

I cropped the shot to give our guy some "surfing room", this way he's surfing into the frame.<br>

Since he's coming off the top of the curl, he's falling into the frame, which is why the horizon is high (your choice) and the surfer has room to fall into the frame. There's a nice sense of action here.<br>

I also horsed around with the contrast ratio to simulate a polarizing filter. I added a bit of sharpness also.</p>

<p>Bill P.</p><div></div>

[william l. palminteri]

<p>Brad, I noticed that I overcooked the horizon by .25 degree.<br>

Here's the shot at minus .75 degree rotation.<br>

Finicky maybe, but I notice this stuff.<br>

Here's the corrected shot.</p>

<p>Bill P.</p><div></div>

[brett_w.]

<p>when I shoot action in bright sunshine I use ISO 100 and crop closer, bright sun does make surfing pic exposures difficult because of the white water and shadows</p>

<p>here is one surfing pic with the Canon XSi (450D) and Canon 55-250 (no polarizer)</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3525/3863994663_530a31b356_b.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p> </p>

[James G. Dainis]

At the right angle the polarizer will help to cut glare on the water. You can even use a polarizer indoors to cut glare/reflections on glass cabinets. A UV filter will do nothing. It can be used to protect the lens from water and sand. If you have the polarizer on then that will protect the lens. I assume you are using a good lens hood.

[johnw63]

<p>Since it's your second day, I'll go out on a limb and ask a possible dumb question.</p>

<p>Brad,</p>

<p>You are aware that the polarizing lens can be rotated to change the level of effect it has, right ? You don't just slap it on and shoot away without regard to the angle of the sun or the position of the filter.</p>

<p>http://www.great-landscape-photography.com/polarizing-filter.html</p>

<p>This is a good video instruction....<br>

http://www.dslrtips.com/workshops/How_to_use_polarizing_filters/reduce_haze_deep_blue_sky.shtml</p>

<p>I apologize, if you already knew this.</p>

<p> </p>

[walter_strong5]

<p>Crop tighter and avoid barren sky at all costs.</p>

[william l. palminteri]

<blockquote>

<p ><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=4396622"><em>Walter Strong</em></a><em> </em><a href="../member-status-icons"></a><em>, Nov 17, 2009; 12:47 a.m.</em><br>

<em>Crop tighter and avoid barren sky at all costs.</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Open cropping and lots of sky give a great depiction of the massive scale of the planet, and our very small place in the grand scheme of things.<br>

It's one of the most useful and dramatic techniques for this purpose.<br>

See the example below.<br>

Try a couple of shots like this with surfers as mere dots on the waves, with the big sky as a backdrop.</p>

<p>Bill P.<em></em></p><div></div>

[glenn_cratty]

<p>In regard to the polarizer question, I would actually avoid using one as you'll lose a stop or two that you might otherwise need to freeze the action. Instead, since it appears you're in SoCal, get out there earlier to catch some of that creamy light coming over the horizon at dawn. Due to the lower angle of the sun the background sky will look appear naturally darker and you'll still be able to pull off some fast shutter speeds.</p>