Would love help on low light photos. I have uploaded this with little editing so you can see the amount of color noise; hand held, ISO 250, f/25, 1/250s. The photo is underexposed, but the histogram is not that bad. Please advise as to proper settings in these situations, hand held. Ultimately, I would like the photo to be more portrait, cutting out electric poles, etc. Thank you!
crouch down! crouch down!!
First thing I would suggest is opening the lens aperture to get the depth of field as shallow as possible. This will require a quick shutter opening, but that’s fine and actually beneficial if you’re shooting hand-held. Now get closer. Fill half the frame with the subject. All of these steps will get you a better portrait and the shallow DoF will exclude the background elements by blurring them to obscurity.
Now, I know the sky colors are pretty, but that’s not the subject of the photo. That warm light is a great way to light your subject, so get it behind you and let it hit your subject’s face directly. Because it’s relatively dim, the rider will be able to look towards the light without squinting and that’s important.
I was standing outside the pasture fence, so crouching down would have introduced barbed wire. I do think the lower angle would work better and moving to where the sun was behind me would also light the rider up. Both good suggestions. Thank you! Any suggestions for reducing noise if I emphasized the sun rays?
Hi Marcia! Do you have a 'luminance' or 'denoise' function on your editing software? These will both reduce noise but will also reduce clarity so you may have to bump up clarity at the same time. Hope this helps! Nice image. Darn fences! I would suggest though that the silhouette of barbed wire may have been cool against the sky. Or not! Just a thought. Best wishes!
Yes, using Lightroom I was able to make a useable print. Pretty on a card, but I doubt I could go much bigger. I am trying to learn to get it right in camera. Wondering if my lens is one of the noisier ones (Canon EFS 18-135). When working cattle, photos are on the fly. You can't cry, wait, stop and hold for a second! Thanks for the suggestions..
Try shooting somewhere closer to f.4 rather than f22 so you can let more light in. Otherwise nice shot!
Thank you, Zach. I do believe the larger aperture would do the trick.
Nice image. I'd read this entire series on the exposure triangle, it will improve the quality of your photos a lot https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/the-...
Thank you, I will!