Two Saturdays ago, I held the last of the three lessons in my “Introduction to Digital Photography” course, a photo walk in the Fells Point area of Baltimore. It was a bit cold so we took refuge at the end of the lesson in The Daily Grind, a local coffee shop. As we discussed what was covered in the three lessons, my student, really had a good suggestion. She indicated that she felt more comfortable with her camera, but was still looking for a process of analysis of a photo and what corrective action she could take to make a photo better.
The student asked if it was better to correct a photo in post-processing”? I hesitated to answer because photo editing software is always improving. Frankly, as I was taught in the days of film photography, you need to get it right in the camera. Post-processing won’t correct a poorly exposed or blurry photo. Today’s digital cameras have many readily available controls that allow the photographer to make adjustments easily at the time of taking the photograph.
Understanding today’s camera controls and how they affect a photo is just what my “Introduction to Digital Photography” is all about, but the lessons are only the beginning. It takes practice. To address the question in a more direct and visual way I going to initiate a series “How to Make This Photo Better. The series will discuss primarily what camera settings to adjust to get a better photo.
How to Make This Photo Better #1
This photo was taken as the sun was setting, using Aperture Priority, ISO 200 @ f/8.0, the camera determined the shutter speed to be 0.8 sec, impossible to get a sharp photo with the camera handheld.
So what choices are there? Use a tripod, use a larger aperture i.e. f/3.5, or increase the ISO to a higher setting that will increase the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor. So what happens with f/3.5 @ ISO 800?
Still a bit blurry and only slightly better, still at 0.5 sec, still impossible to get a sharp photo with the camera handheld. A tripod is an option, or increase the ISO more or use the camera’s built-in flash. That should help out. Only one photo is no reason to set up the tripod. So, what happens when the flash is used?
1/60 sec @f/3.5 ISO 200 W/Flash
Too dark, but the shutter speed is good at 1/60 sec. Let’s adjust the
Flash Compensation +2 which should make it brighter.
Oops, too bright! Adjust the Flash Compensation to +1
The color is correct and the photo is sharp. Done.
So why wouldn’t you increase ISO to a higher setting? The higher the ISO the more noise. “Image noise is a random variation of brightness or color information in images, and is usually an aspect of electronic noise. It can be produced by the sensor and circuitry of a scanner or digital camera.” from Wikipedia.
See the photos (enlarged) below comparing ISO 200 and ISO 4000. Note how higher ISO has more noise.
Here’s a link that should be helpful, 7 Steps To Getting The Best In-Camera Exposure
Stay tuned for the next: How to Make this Photo Better.
photos available for purchase at FineArt America
© Tom Wiggins Photography 2015-2023
Good class!
Comments are closed.