Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 4:52 pm Post subject: Playing around with the D80
I was just playing around with the D80. I set it on portrait mode, on a tripod. The NEF was quite dark. I was able to set the WB to FLASH and set the EV to +1.67. With some adjustment on the levels, curves, contrast, and saturation, I wound up with this.
I don't think it is too bad. The JPEG(Fine) was almost black. I have so-o-o-o-o much to learn before I can achieve this without PS.
Sweet shot! Sounds like you had fun playing, LOL. For me, the reflection of the flash in the ball is kind of bright and distracting, though. _________________ Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. - Albert Gyorgyi
Try it on manual, I never use any of the auto settings except if someone just wants a quick snap of something, usually involving the onboard flash. I have found the D80 meter tends to read light, so try setting the exposure a bit faster than the meter reading. Also try taking two or three shots, at different speeds. High contrast pictures are always difficult for camera meters, in this picture the meter looks to have set the camera for the bright reflection, hence the dark picture. _________________
Ahhh- yes, Zen-Masta, LOL. Now that I think of it, I've been seeing quite a few of those photographer's-reflection-in-the-Christmas-ball shots on Flickr lately, LOL. I guess you'd have to get yourself into a really crazy position to avoid that one- or use some kind of tent-rig.
I hate to say this, but I think you have w-a-a-ay over-sharpened this on the second one. It is really noisy and full of artifacts. You could maybe run a pass of noise-reduction over it, but it honestly has so much noise and compression, you're going to have to sacrifice major detail to get a clean result... I would recommend to go back and do less sharpening, and then a very light noise reduction pass. _________________ Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. - Albert Gyorgyi
Here is another one. This is the original. I was shooting across my deck using matrix metering (why didn't I use spot, I ask myself).
This after some PP processing. I'm don't think I could have gotten event this far without the 10MP of the D80. I know that the 'after' also sucks, but it does illustrate to me what data is being stored.
Wow- I think that close-up of the feeder is awesome! Really neat shot. _________________ Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. - Albert Gyorgyi
Hey, nothing wrong with zooming and cropping, LOL!
I was thinking, too, maybe a fill-flash might have worked well on your deck- to illuminate the feeder more and freeze the bird's motion a bit. (don't know how far off you were, though) _________________ Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. - Albert Gyorgyi
Maybe Santa will bring me a SB800? I purchased a 50mm f1.8 lens for it. I was using a 'kit' lens (18-55mm) from the D40. The faster lens may let me get a faster shutter speed, I hope. _________________ "Nothing exceeds like excess"
I was using the built in flash and was probably 12 feet from the feeder.
can't see the exif data, but the flash would not reach the feeder at 12 feet away unless aperture some way around f2.8 or close by. _________________ -----------------------------------------------------
The exif data is the information stored with the image that gives the settings used at the time the image was taken
focal length, aperture, shutter speed etc - and will show in PS2 in the browser window.
There is a program called Opanda (free download) that allows you to right click on an image and see this same information - if it has been stored, that is.
Using flash try this experiment
Stand 12 feet away from your subject
Shutter speed at say 1/60 and f22
take picture
now change to f4 or similar (will depend on your lens) and take another shot
There should be a noticeable difference. _________________ -----------------------------------------------------
If you are running XP or Vista, you can access the exif data in Windows Explorer by right clicking a picture, choosing Properties, on XP the info is on the 'Summary' Tab, you might need to click the 'Advanced' option. On Vista you would want the 'Details' Tab. _________________
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