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2nd Day of Shooting with a DSLR

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  • 2nd Day of Shooting with a DSLR

    Hi Guys,

    Today I went for another spotting session with my new D60. Today, I trialed some different settings, and the results werent all that good. Could somebody perhaps tell me what im doing wrong! Im really getting frustrated by crappy shots!

    BTW- These shots are cropped and all that, just for ease. Im not thinking of uploading them

    Settings-
    Ap Priority
    F.Stop- 9
    ISO- 100
    All in camera editing- Off
    Noise Reduction- Off













    Thanks in advance

  • #2
    They don't look too bad actually. The only problems I see is heat distortion (due to shooting from too far away under a high sun) and jpeg compression (an editing problem not a camera problem, unless you're shooting at a low quality setting). Might be a good idea to post a few 100% crops - that is to say sections of unresized photos.

    Charles


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    • #3
      Make sure your shooting in the best possible quality, so if you don't want to shoot RAW, JPEG FINE should do the trick.

      They look compressed, could be in-camera or post-processing, either way you dont want it.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by NeilA330
        Make sure your shooting in the best possible quality, so if you don't want to shoot RAW, JPEG FINE should do the trick.

        They look compressed, could be in-camera or post-processing, either way you dont want it.
        Indeed.

        That distortion is trademark long distance, low quality Nikon jpeg compression. I shot a couple basic quality shots at KDFW just to see how they'd come out and had the same outcome. Not quite this harsh because I was literally a baseball toss away from the airplanes as they came over me on final.

        You're not going to want to shoot any planes on the ground in high sun, you will push the Camera's dynamic range to its limits which will usually end in a distorted highlighted or dark section.

        If you're going to shoot in high sun, try and catch them a few feet off the ground and be opposite the shadow of the plane. This way the light being reflected off the ground and buildings will catch the underside of the plane and you will have a well lighted photo.

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        • #5
          Hi Guys,

          Will a UV Filter help stop heat blur? I have one on my 18-55 but not my 70-300 yet.

          As for the jpeg compression. I shot in RAW that day, and well, it wasnt the same raw I had on my panasonic. Instead of being able to open the RAW file in PS3, it said cannot open file. I then realised I needed the Nikon software, so installed that and I couldnt convert them to just a plane RAW file for photoshop. So I just converted them all to jpeg in rage

          Edit- I will upload the Nikon RAW file of that first Qantas shot, seeing as it seems to be the best quality.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by jetsetkiwi
            Hi Guys,

            Will a UV Filter help stop heat blur? I have one on my 18-55 but not my 70-300 yet.
            Nope. The haze will still be there.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by jetsetkiwi
              Hi Guys,

              Will a UV Filter help stop heat blur? I have one on my 18-55 but not my 70-300 yet.

              As for the jpeg compression. I shot in RAW that day, and well, it wasnt the same raw I had on my panasonic. Instead of being able to open the RAW file in PS3, it said cannot open file. I then realised I needed the Nikon software, so installed that and I couldnt convert them to just a plane RAW file for photoshop. So I just converted them all to jpeg in rage

              Edit- I will upload the Nikon RAW file of that first Qantas shot, seeing as it seems to be the best quality.
              Download the Camera-Raw plug in from Adobe and install it in your CS3/Plug-Ins/File Format

              You can then open and edit as a raw file, then save to JPEG.

              As for the heat haze there is only one way to eliminate it. Take pictures closer to sun up or sun down.

              Send me the Qantas shot in RAW form if you can. PM me and I'll shoot you my email.

              Comment


              • #8
                Ben, All I did with your image was resize it, center the histogram with camera-raw, and sharpen it a touch.

                Are you sure you were shooting at ISO 100? There is a good bit of noise in the sky. I normally don't see that much noise until ISO 800.

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                • #9
                  Noise can also appear on under-exposed pictures, the original looks it.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    03SVTCobra, Thanks So much mate- It looks a tonne better- to me atleast.

                    I need to learn how to center the histogram it seems..

                    Yes, I definently shot it on ISO 100, but it probably was under exposed a tad, thats why.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by jetsetkiwi
                      03SVTCobra, Thanks So much mate- It looks a tonne better- to me atleast.

                      I need to learn how to center the histogram it seems..

                      Yes, I definently shot it on ISO 100, but it probably was under exposed a tad, thats why.
                      No problem. Don't throw your D60 away yet. I was disappointed my first trip out but just my second trip and I had some amazing shots to work with (for a beginning DSLR user).

                      Once you figure the thing out you'll start seeing the results of your investment.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        One thing you really have to watch too is the saturation. Those pics are not only too dark but way over saturated and they will have been rejected for those 2 reasons. And yes as it was stated before they are killed by the heat haze... one of the main reason why I prefer to shoot during winter. During summer I just go to eat and take a nap between 11am and 4pm to avoid that kind of problem.

                        Regards
                        Alex

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Omar Alex Saffe
                          One thing you really have to watch too is the saturation. Those pics are not only too dark but way over saturated and they will have been rejected for those 2 reasons. And yes as it was stated before they are killed by the heat haze... one of the main reason why I prefer to shoot during winter. During summer I just go to eat and take a nap between 11am and 4pm to avoid that kind of problem.

                          Regards
                          Alex
                          Lol try 9 am and 6 pm in Texas. Something like 15 strait days over 105 a couple weeks back.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Omar Alex Saffe
                            One thing you really have to watch too is the saturation. Those pics are not only too dark but way over saturated and they will have been rejected for those 2 reasons. And yes as it was stated before they are killed by the heat haze... one of the main reason why I prefer to shoot during winter. During summer I just go to eat and take a nap between 11am and 4pm to avoid that kind of problem.

                            Regards
                            Alex
                            Thanks for the tips- But oddly enough. Its the middle of winter here, the day I took the photos, it was about 18 degrees Celcius and about a 35km/h wind. I will hate to see the heat haze in the middle of summer

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by jetsetkiwi
                              Thanks for the tips- But oddly enough. Its the middle of winter here, the day I took the photos, it was about 18 degrees Celcius and about a 35km/h wind. I will hate to see the heat haze in the middle of summer
                              Yep, although more common in summer heat haze does not always depend on the temperature itsself but on temperature differences of diffenrent layers of air. I have witnessed the effect even with minus degrees (celsius). Avoid concrete areas in between yourself and the subject and wind often helps as well. If you can't get any closer to the planes there is ,unfortunately, nothing you can do against heat distortion.
                              greetings,
                              Philip
                              ______________

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