Why are we getting those stupid stripes and specks in the background?

Seems like our Nikon D70s has some issues with black backgrounds.

has anyone had this problem before? I am going to check the manual

and see what it says about noise reduction. ISO was 400, and we

used window light with a reflector. I expected a nice rich black

background.

 

Any ideas and comments are greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks, Jason

Jason

it has nothing to do with your camera but with your lighting and settings. Those are not stripes they are the lines in the curtain. Light was hitting the curtain. If you move the subject farther away from the back ground so your lighting only falls on the subject, that should solve it. The specks are dust and lint that are on your backdrop. You can take care of that in PS. Hope this helps. Adorable baby and nice pic. I have one very similar in my portfolio.

Elaine

I do see at least one horizontal line near the top and then some fainter ones. Is that what you mean? The speckles seem like noise. As Elain said, maybe having subject further from backdrop?

Hi Elaine!

Try to get bub at least 6 foot from background. If you were to meter the background and the baby separately you should have > 2 stops difference.

Hi Guys, I played some with your image. I used the burn tool and adjusted the contrast and curves. I also took out some of the noise. Thought you might like to see what I would have done with the image. BTW - the baby is darling and this pose is always a parent favorite.

 

It's hard to tell but it looks like the burn is leaking over the photo. Do the same but use an adjustment layer (select, levels) and then when you've darkened the background down using colour burn (in your case) go to the layer mask and brush in black on the baby area so that you remove the burn from that bit only (use a soft brush).

Thanks to everyone for your input...it is appreciated. Does anyone know why we would be getting the noise in the black background? I noticed it in another photo, in the shadows of the neck. Is there something wrong with our camera...or the users?!? Thanks again! The baby is our darling little daughter, Lysia, born July 19.

Read this about Banding noise: Noise. Google for more info for your camera.

The NOISE in the DARK parts of the photo, like you are talking about (neck, creases, ect.), is caused by UNDER-exposure. Digital photography can be tricky...it's best to underexpose because if you OVER-expose there is NO way to get back what you have burnt out, unless you shoot raw, and even then it can be hard. BUT....if you UNDER-expose too much...you get noise. Did you use a lightmeter to test for correct exposure? Anyway that is what the noise is coming from.

Hey...we shoot with the same camera!!!!! Go D70s! So no, it's really NOT the camera!

Geeze....sorry for the triple post here..I keep noticing things...ISO 400 is the HIGHEST you'll want to go w/ our little camera if at all possible....after 400 you WILL get noise. I keep mine on 200 unless I'm REALLY desperate!