Help! I'm new at photography so I thought I would participate in the I Heart Faces Constructive Criticism thingy today.
My husband is a steer wrestler (aka bulldogger) for those of you who don't know (that's not him pictured below though) anyway I bought my Canon Rebel XS to learn to take photographs before I spend the "bigger bucks" on a more advanced camera. I bought it specifically to take Rodeo pics.
So help me out here. I was using a 300x zoom lens, not on a tripod because lets face it, who wants to carry around a tripod to rodeos?? It was really sunny obviously and I got great detail in the dirt but the bulldogger's face is way out of focus and the exposure is weird. I played with this photo in Corel PaintShopPro but this is the best I could get.
I'm not gonna lie, I have no clue how to tell you what settings I used because I've already deleted this picture off my camera, but I'm pretty sure I was in Tv mode and it was up close to has fast as I could get it to go.
***Edited to add
Focal Length: 281.00mm
Exposure Time: 0.0003s (1/4000
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 800
White Balance: Manual
Metering Mode: Center Weight
Exposure: Shutter Priority
Thanks Jessica!! Didn't know that was possible!***
What can I do to make these more clear??? Help!
Also... How in the world do you take great photos at Night Rodeos?? If I turn the ISO up to get a clean shot I've got white noise galore. With the largest aperture I can't get a clear shot, it's too blurry. I've been told to get a lens with a larger aperture, 4.5 is what I'm using now. I can't afford to buy a new lens right now... any suggestions???Thank you for all the help I can get!!!
5 comments:
I love this shot, I would do a few things to it in post production via photoshop, but camera work wise you did great, a shorter f stop always helps, but you don't seem to need it judging by this shot.
I would bring your midtones up a smidge but the photo is great. I didn't focus on the cowboy. I think the steer stole the show.
I took some photos at our local rodeo and my absolute favorite is the last I got that night. Sometimes in rodeos it is the 'dirty' photos that convey the story the best.
http://www.hansellphotography.com/sidney-iowa-rodeo/
Focal Length: 281.00mm
Exposure Time: 0.0003s (1/4000)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO equiv: 800
White Balance: Manual
Metering Mode: Center Weight
Exposure: Shutter Priority
Found your exif data!! :) I have a program that tells me :) Anyway this is a SWEET picture! Love it!
I have to tell you, I have never been to a rodeo in my life...but your photo is making me want to go to one just for the photo ops. Wow!
I honestly don't know if you could do much more than what you are already doing with the equipment that you own. Probably the only way to improve your SOOC shots would be to buy a different lens - one that had a lower aperture and/or one that is VR (has Vibration Reduction.)
One other thing that I do is shoot a ton of photos right in a row. I might end up deleting 6 out of 10 of them, but then I can usually get at least one really sharp, in-focus shot that stands out above all of the others.
That said, you can do some things in a program like Photoshop that will help brighten the photo a bit, boost the color and sharpen it. I saved your photo to my computer and had a ton of fun playing with it this afternoon.
To see my fixes, just go to this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thearthurclan/3975730992/ After you go there, click on "all sizes" and then "original" to see the largest size of the different edits. This photo looked great with a lot of different finishes.
I think you should be really proud of what you are doing with the equipment that you own. It was an amazing shot! :)
~Angie
co-founder of I ♥ Faces
Hey Jenna...
Would you mind sending me an email at iheartfaces AT hotmail DOT com? I'd like to ask you a question about your photo. :)
Thanks,
~Angie
co-founder of I ♥ Faces
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