Not the best but

elgato

New member
Though this photo is a long way from being crisp/sharp, I am quite liking the bit in the fall that looks like an arrow pointing upwards... this shot can be taken again and again as the wee waterfall is not far away, tripod would have been a godsend and no doubt would have made for a crisper image.. have a look at the shooting info and barring the tripod what/how would one improve on this shot?

I used faststone for the editing and to be honest I just played with it without much of a clue what it was I was doing, in the ol days of film I would simply send off the film to a reputable lab for processing.. now I can do it meself and this is a first time jobbie though have messed around with the windows live photo gallery edit option with my previous photos, am now playing with a curve and though I can see what happens, have no idea why LOL.

all criticsism is gratefully recieved and appreciated.. took photos that are mucho better imho yesterday with me camera but want to repeat this one to see how much WE can improve the pic... ignore the date and time on the photo as had to reset the cameras time and date last night to the proper date.. twas shot yesterday 25/11/14 at around 4pm-ish .. sunset was around 16.20pm..

thiswayup.jpg
 
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rocketman122

Senior Member
this isnt a joke, is it? great effort but there is blur to the point my eyes are feeling dizzy. adding the blurred waterfal makes a bit woozy as well.
 

Jerry_

Senior Member
As you already figured out, a tripod is a must for this type of shots (long time exposure).

could you please list your key EXIF data (camera model, lens, exposure, aperture, etc.) in the post, that would help to comment.

I think that you could improve the capture (while having the camera on a tripod) by either playing a bit with the aperture, either by using an ND filter.
I would also try to have more light in the background, in order to show more structure.
 

sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
As you already figured out, a tripod is a must for this type of shots (long time exposure).

could you please list your key EXIF data (camera model, lens, exposure, aperture, etc.) in the post, that would help to comment.

I think that you could improve the capture (while having the camera on a tripod) by either playing a bit with the aperture, either by using an ND filter.
I would also try to have more light in the background, in order to show more structure.

I might not be real popular but this is a poorly composed shot. Sorry....but needs lots of work.
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
I think the OP is well aware the shot needs improvement and perhaps a little premature as the next shot with the tripod would likely be a better object of evaluation.

It is hard to provide much feedback, becasue the blur affects many other factors including exposure. It looks under-exposed, but may not once there is more detail.

So, take the tripod and If you can, back up or use a wider angle. That will provide some options when it comes to cropping the composition.

Try several exposure combinations. If you are using a priority setting, use the exposure compensation to vary the overall exposure..
 

elgato

New member
As said this shot can and is going to be shot again.. this time 1st december early morning with me tripod and thanks to jerry for giving me the heads up a ND filter.. I never went there to take that shot.. I went to the beach further up wanting to get a sunset and had never driven there before and the road/track there was steep and twisty and few sharp bends, that the big girls blouse in me surfaced and decided to leave early and get to know the road/lane/track that leads there a bit better, having suffered a few punctures from our lanes here decided against it and then went to the beach in the pic as I knew the way back as here dark means dark.. and one has to know where one is going otherwise. so was just snapping around.. twas me first day with the camera.. enthusiasm, excitement and just wanting to play were all the order of the day.. saw it,, thought give it a go and hey ho as said already.. i love the arrow bit.. if one can push past how badly the shot actually is as that can be improved?? to me its quirky, water coming down and an light arrow pointing upwards.. be nice to retain it but dont know if its going to be possible with correct exposure etc... still I am willing to give it a bash... took 75 photos yesters in about 80 mins.. and very enjoyable it was too!!!!! :cool:

So will see what improvements can be made next Monday!

Not sure about the wide angle lens bit though.. the only lens I have at the mo is the 18-55mm jobbie that came with the d5000... got uv and cpl filters in the post along with lens cleaning kit and the ND filter which I am more than excited about so much so I got that on express delivery and will be here on Friday.. nice one about using the exposure compensation though I am going to have to look up what "priority settings" are LOL... as said only got the cammy yesters :)
 
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Jerry_

Senior Member
Hi, so just starting up with that camera :)

Based on the EXIF that you PM'd me, that shot was taken at 55mm, thus there is still some margin for a wider shot, while keeping the same distance. However the 18-55 kit lens does not perform very well at the lower end, so suggest not to go lower than 25mm, but anyhow 35mm should be already fine.

Looking forward for seeing extra shots you will take.
 

elgato

New member
eh up Jerry.. yes tis new new new to me and have to hang fire a bit as need a few filters. which will be here soon the ND filter I paid just as much for the postage as I want it NOW lol, tis a cheap one and have looked at more expensive ones and will upgrade it when more competent.. the nd filter with express postage is only costing me just over 15 quid aka an hour or 2 in the pub LOL.. tis this one here 52mm Adjustable Neutral Density ND Fader Filter ND2 ND4: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
I think the reason I took the original pic at 55mm was because the rest of the cliff to me is pretty dull and dark due to the waterfal being north facing.. but will take loads of photos at different settings and see what we can come up with.

Blacktop.. wow nice pic and may I ask how it was done, can see info with the lovely photo .. we have similar scenes here and would love to plagiarise your work LOL, so messing.. will be over the moon if I can get remotely close to what you have achieved.

Thanks loads for the link Tracey, am downloading as I type and will have a play with it in a mo..

some good info here peeps and all taken on board, "diolch yn fawr" aka ta very muchly for your time in helping a obsessive underexposerer... just out of curriosity and sure its going to be tidy knowledge to have... what is the slowest speeds one can use without a tripod, i know it must vary some as some people will be much steadier than others but wondering if there is a kind of "Get the tripod out" alarm bell that goes off when viewing the info in the shooting display...
 
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Jerry_

Senior Member
Elgato,

the rule of thumb is that the fraction of a second for the exposure shall be not longer than the focal length when handheld (i.e. If shooting at 50mm, the exposure time should be not longer than 1/50s, etc.) but this is just a rule of thumb that gives an indication ...

Settings that impact on the exposure time are aperture and ISO values

Aperture: for the DOF (depth of field) smaller apertures are better (again, apertures are expressed as fractions, so when you read 8, it means 1/8) -- however a smaller aperture means less light passing, so longer exposure.

ISO: you can compensate (or the camera does, depending on the settings) with ISO settings ( the higher the ISO value, the more sensible is the sensor (previously the film), which again shortens the exposure time.

The best combination depends on your equipment (both camera and lens).
 
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Eyelight

Senior Member
Croeso

On slow handheld shutter speeds, some lenses have vibration reduction (Nikon VR), which can compensate for a small amount for camera shake and allow for a slower shutter speed. Not all VR is the same from lens to lens; some works with tripod and some not. Like all things photographic, it takes some practice to determine how VR works best for you.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
Blacktop.. wow nice pic and may I ask how it was done, can see info with the lovely photo .. we have similar scenes here and would love to plagiarise your work LOL, so messing.. will be over the moon if I can get remotely close to what you have achieved.


@elgato. Thank you for the compliment. According to the EXIF this shot was taken in May at around 6 PM, so it wasn't real dark yet but the sun was going down for sure.
Also this spot is inside the woods, so not much sunlight gets through anyway.
I used a CP filter to cut down on the reflections on the water.

Looks like that at F/18 and ISO 100 and just a CP and no ND filter I achieved 6 seconds of shutter speed, which is more then enough to get silky water effect. (remember, that the faster the water flows, the slower the shutter speed you need, and vice versa.) Also a tripod was used.

For post processing I used Lightroom 5, which is the only thing I had at the time.

Normally I shoot in aperture priority mode, but with my water shots I'm more often then not in Manual mode.
The main reason I put up this pic is to show that the 18-55mm is a pretty darn good lens even down to 18mm.

Looking forward to your new shots.
 
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elgato

New member
Eh up!!! me filters arrived today but low tide is not till late so.. took the "poetry trail" or part of it,never actually got to the bit where the poems are as it was getting dark and the walk there was muddy, slippery and gungy in lots of places so thought best head home before it gets proper dark and just about made it too LOL..

tested out the nd filter and what a difference it makes, no idea how many stops down I did to get this shot but am looking forward to actually setting the thing on the lens so that I can actually see whats happening.. also the tripod.. was used.. low tide at a reasonable time to me isnt till monday and the sun will be shining from the east as apposed to the west in my first photo so will see what the craic is then.. am pleased as punch with this one.. took 50 odd photos.. this has to be the best and from here it only gets better.. think we can say its a massive improvement on the first shot in this thread albiet a diffo subject.

best of today nd filter.jpg


not at all sure whats happening with the info in this one so have copied and pasted the exif data

Filename - best of today nd filter.NEF
ImageWidth - 160
ImageLength - 120
BitsPerSample - 8 8 8
Compression - 1 (None)
PhotometricInterpretation - 2
Make - NIKON CORPORATION
Model - NIKON D5000
StripOffset - 119468
Orientation - Top left
SamplesPerPixel - 3
RowsPerStrip - 120
StripByteCount - 57600
XResolution - 300
YResolution - 300
PlanarConfiguration - 1
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Ver.1.00
DateTime - 2014:11:28 15:46:46
ReferenceBlackWhite - 0
ExifOffset - 480
DateTimeOriginal - 2014:11:28 15:46:46
ExposureTime - 2 seconds
FNumber - 22.00
ExposureProgram - Aperture priority
ISOSpeedRatings - 400
DateTimeOriginal - 2014:11:28 15:46:46
DateTimeDigitized - 2014:11:28 15:46:46
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 4.29
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired
FocalLength - 26.00 mm
UserComment -
SubsecTime - 00
SubsecTimeOriginal - 00
SubsecTimeDigitized - 00
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - Other
SceneType - Other
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
White Balance - Auto
DigitalZoomRatio - 1 x
FocalLengthIn35mmFilm - 39 mm
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - Low gain up
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - Normal
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown

GPS information: -
GPSVersionID - 2.2.0.0

Maker Note (Vendor): -
Data version - 0210 (808595760)
ISO Setting - 400
Image Quality - RAW
White Balance - AUTO
Focus Mode - AF-S
Flash Setting - NORMAL
Flash Mode -
White Balance Adjustment - 0
White Balance RB - 754
Exposure Adjustment - 0.0
Thumbnail IFD offset - 14142
Flash Compensation - 67072
ISO 2 - 400
Serial number - 6623635
Colorspace - sRGB
ISO 3 - 400
ISO Expansion - Off
Lens type - 234881024
Lens - 1014
Flash Used - Not fired
Bracketing - 131072
Contrast Curve - I0
Noise Reduction - OFF
Total pictures - 8403
 
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hank970

New member
My only criticism is that you preface your entry by stating, "Not the best but..," and then you share the image with us anyway. But what? Further, you claim that you could revisit the site and do a makeover. I really like the composition and lighting, but I don't understand why you or anyone else would post an image with which they admittedly aren't pleased, particularly if they have the opportunity to wait a while, take a better one, and wow our socks off. Even rank amateurs are capable of taking great photos, and seasoned professionals are capable of taking lousy ones. The difference between a seasoned professional and the rank amateur is often the delete button.

Here's hoping you become be a bit more self-critical and selective before you post again, and that you share some awesome images with us.
 
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