Please tell me it gets better...

[DizneyNutz]

not sure why you thought this was flame worthy but the only thing i don't know if raw would help the op with is one problem she said were her photos are blurry,which must be from to slow a speed and/or camera shakeand /or subject moving i guess( maybe something else i don't know) rather than an exposure etc problem she could correct with raw... i totally agree, raw covers a multitude of sins and since i started shooting in it i have a lot less clunkers...would love to think it was because i was wising up but..well at least i've wised up enough to shoot raw

I have seen some pretty (not as bad as other boards mind you) heated posts about using RAW as a crutch to taking good photos. I just KNOW that I have not had official training in photography and I didn't want to start a flame about using RAW to help correct our less than desireable photos over getting it right the first time Overall this board is MOST accepatable to us novices that aren't as capable with our new equipment. I just hoped not to get flamed for mentioning that after shot adjustments to save a picture of importance is possible. You guys ROCK that know what you are doing, but there are a lot of us that don't, but we are trying. Thanks to all of you!!!!

Oh and no Photoshop will not help the blurry, but those exposures will certainly be corrected and saveable!!!

 

[0bli0]

i'd like to know to which manual mode the original poster was referring. 'M' mode with complete manual exposure, manual focus, or some sort of priority mode. if it's full manual mode, it's going to be difficult without a light meter (or taking a few readings with the camera itself). it sounded like it was at the school, which sounds like indoors. indoor lighting is very tough without metering for all of the angles and proximity to the subject. it depends on what the subject is wearing (white, light colours, dark, etc.) and how close you're cropping. it depends on the lighting - is it flourescent? how does the lighting change moving from left to right? are the light fixtures linear bulbs, or standard globes. indoors is tough even with auto mode. were you using a flash?

if it was outdoors, is it sunny, cloudy, bad shadows, reflecting light off of white buildings, reflected off of coloured buildings, etc. again, the proximity to the subject and their clothing is also important. it is certainly far easier to get the exposure right outdoors. start with the sunny 16 rule and adjust for the base light conditions.

regarding the blurry photos - if you are focussing manually, you may want to consider hyperfocal distances - especially if you are shooting outside. figure out what the nearest distance you will be to the subject and then use the hyperfocal marks on the lense an choose an aperture. this will depend on the focal length of the lens. if it's pretty wide, you can probably use f/5.6 beyond 2 metres. i wouldnt recommend it indoors.

if you're not focussing manually, is there enough light for the camera to pickup the contrast to auto-focus. were you shooting with a large aperture (say f/2.8, f/2.0, or faster)? if so, you have to remember the depth of field is going to be very shallow and plan accordingly. i'd highly recommend using a single focus spot and set it to the subject's eyes.

if you post some examples of the photos, we can help you understand where to concentrate for next time.

 

[photo_chick]

I have seen some pretty (not as bad as other boards mind you) heated posts about using RAW as a crutch to taking good photos. I just KNOW that I have not had official training in photography and I didn't want to start a flame about using RAW to help correct our less than desireable photos over getting it right the first time Overall this board is MOST accepatable to us novices that aren't as capable with our new equipment. I just hoped not to get flamed for mentioning that after shot adjustments to save a picture of importance is possible. You guys ROCK that know what you are doing, but there are a lot of us that don't, but we are trying. Thanks to all of you!!!!

Oh and no Photoshop will not help the blurry, but those exposures will certainly be corrected and saveable!!!

Most of the people who I have heard actually say that shooting RAW is a bad thing are those that just don't understand the benifits. I am not talking about those who just prefer to shoot jpg rather than RAW, but those who openly bash people who shoot RAW. OR who say that shooting RAW is not as good. Or like you said say that RAW is a crutch.

Raw wil help correct things, but not without a price. You can't add details that the sensor did not get due to over and under exposure the first time, it can only help bring out what is there. You get some noise when you try to move the exposure too far. It is not a miracle cure for bad shots like some people say (usually those who have not really used it), and to me no different than what I do in the darkroom when I change the developing times on my film or adjust the exposure when I make prints, or any othe rthings I would do in the darkroom.

So just ignore anyone who flames you for using RAW. Just tell them that a RAW file is the digital equivalent to a latent image on film and remember you probably know more (about RAW at least) than they do!

 

[Michele]

Avoid this mistake.

Boy, I wish this thread had been here a couple of weeks ago. On our trip last week I thought I knew everything, because I've been looking at all these great pictures. I can do it, all I have to do is use manual mode and get a new lens, right? I got a new 50mm f1.8 because there are so many low light situations in Disney, shot tons in manual mode, just moving the controls around not really knowing what I'm doing, surely one of these settings will make the picture come out. I ended up with lots of blurry pictures and missed a really important shot because I still had the camera on manual mode setting from One Man's Dream after we went outside.

We settled down on a wall behind HIgh School Musical Pep Rally to eat our ice cream, not knowing that after it ended the characters were going to come out. Now my boys are 12 and 13, so not really into seeing the characters anymore, but I carry their autograph books anyway. Well, we notice a line forming behind us, turns out we are the first in line to see Lilo even though we didn't know we were in line for anything. We were cracking up, I hurried and grabbed their autograph books, snapped a picture. It's a highlight story from this trip, but here is the picture I got, didn't even check the LCD screen when I took it.

I haven't told the boys or Dh yet.

Lesson learned, next trip I am shooting on program mode and reading Bryan Peterson's books before I do any more experimenting. I also have tons of dark photos because I didn't know about the metering control and it was set on -2 the whole time. I'm lucky I got any decent pictures.

 

[DVC Jen]

I think anyone saying it is better to shoot in jpg rather than raw and raw is a crutch is a few nice sandwiches short of a picnic.

Jpg is a lossy file format. Why would you want to take precious photos and then take a chance on them degrading?

I shoot in raw not only because it can save me from learners mistakes, but also because I then convert the photos to a tiff file. Yes it is a big file, but I know it is not going to degrade. After I am finished with all the tweaking and playign with a photo I will save it as a jpeg for loading to smugmug or for printing.

I just like the security of knowing I have that file saved as a tiff file - tucked away just in case.

 

[Groucho]

Like the others said, definitely play with aperture priority or shutter priority first. Most of the time, you should rarely need manual mode unless you're either 1) really confident about what you're doing or 2) interested in making things hard for yourself. If it's the latter, you may also want to consider shooting while you have a child riding on your shoulders, or shooting low-light with F8 and ISO 200.

It does have its uses, but you certainly shouldn't feel guilty about not using it. And the AE-L button (or equivalent on your camera) is your friend!

 

[MsSpinShady]

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions! I apologize for taking so long to respond, we had family in from out of town this weekend. Needless to say, I took your advice and shot in Auto mode!

i just thought of something...op do you mean the m setting on the dial or the av/tv/p side of the dial? i was thinking the m but maybe you are talking the creative modes? just wondering

I was using the "m" on the dial. I was controlling everything but the focus.

With that being said, did you photograph in RAW mode?

Nope, I was shooting in .jpg fine. I think I need to get different software to open the RAW files on my computer?

i'd like to know to which manual mode the original poster was referring. 'M' mode with complete manual exposure, manual focus, or some sort of priority mode. if it's full manual mode, it's going to be difficult without a light meter (or taking a few readings with the camera itself). it sounded like it was at the school, which sounds like indoors. indoor lighting is very tough without metering for all of the angles and proximity to the subject. it depends on what the subject is wearing (white, light colours, dark, etc.) and how close you're cropping. it depends on the lighting - is it flourescent? how does the lighting change moving from left to right? are the light fixtures linear bulbs, or standard globes. indoors is tough even with auto mode. were you using a flash?

were you shooting with a large aperture (say f/2.8, f/2.0, or faster)?

if you post some examples of the photos, we can help you understand where to concentrate for next time.

It was complete manual (except for the focus) and yes, it was indoors. It was in a darkened gym with the kids on the stage and the lighting above them. Everything looked yellow. You will all be proud of me because I was worried I wasn't getting the settings right so I did shoot a few in Auto mode as back-ups. I did get a just a few in the manual mode that were not blurry that actually had better lighting than the ones taken in Auto mode, but I don't remember what settings I took them on.

The blurriness was definitely camera shake because of the long shutter speed. I tried pulling the camera in tight to my face and that worked a few times. My lens is a only an f/3.8. I did not use a flash except for a few photos, but I was too far away for it to have any impact. If I can figure out how to post photos I'll show you some examples.

Michelle, I'm sorry about your photos! I guess the bright side is that you now have 2 great stories to tell with that picture...

Thank you all again for all your advice. I'm going to print this thread out so I can keep referring back to it. I have been lurking here for a few months and I have learned a lot from all of you!

MsSpinShady

 

[tinksdad]

It was complete manual (except for the focus) and yes, it was indoors. It was in a darkened gym with the kids on the stage and the lighting above them. Everything looked yellow. You will all be proud of me because I was worried I wasn't getting the settings right so I did shoot a few in Auto mode as back-ups. I did get a just a few in the manual mode that were not blurry that actually had better lighting than the ones taken in Auto mode, but I don't remember what settings I took them on.

MsSpinShady

Those types of "photo shoots" are the worst!!! Gyms have TERRIBLE lighting. A mixed bag and very difficult to get the white balance correct. And with the darkened conditions, and the movement even at high ISO's the shots are a mixed bag.

Keep trying, never give up!!

 

[Groucho]

It was complete manual (except for the focus) and yes, it was indoors. It was in a darkened gym with the kids on the stage and the lighting above them. Everything looked yellow.

The yellow coloration is really a white balance issue, it has nothing to do with going into "M" mode, which just gets you manual aperture and shutter at the same time. Tungsten lights will produce a yellowed image on nearly any digital camera.

White balance is my #1 reason for shooting RAW, because it's so easy to change it later, so I never worry about it when shooting.

 

[jann1033]

what kind of camera do you have? i know canon has raw converter that comes with the camera, digital photo pro.i'd think any camera that shoots raw would have the software someplace so you might have the software you need already.

 

[jann1033]

I have seen some pretty (not as bad as other boards mind you) heated posts about using RAW as a crutch to taking good photos. I just KNOW that I have not had official training in photography and I didn't want to start a flame about using RAW to help correct our less than desireable photos over getting it right the first time Overall this board is MOST accepatable to us novices that aren't as capable with our new equipment. I just hoped not to get flamed for mentioning that after shot adjustments to save a picture of importance is possible. You guys ROCK that know what you are doing, but there are a lot of us that don't, but we are trying. Thanks to all of you!!!!

Oh and no Photoshop will not help the blurry, but those exposures will certainly be corrected and saveable!!!

imo that is crazy. why shoot in something with less of an ability to retain everything it sees when you have the option to do otherwise. "real" photographers could leave 1/2 of their lens cap on or (in the old days) buy the lousiest film they could find just to make it more "challenging" as well