how do i focus better to make my photos pop

garethf

garethf

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gareth fox
Edit My Images
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hi guys as the title says im having trouble in making my photos pop and look pin sharp as ive seen others do with a basic nikon d3000 and kit 18-55mm lens

can anyone help

thanks
gareth
 
Put up some examples. Will help us decide what advice to offer.
 
as above put up some shot then people can diagnose you trouble.
 
Are you shooting raw or jpgs?

I have recently been shooting jpgs and noticed that the quality seemed poor.
I recently changed to pure raw then i use the software to make HQ jpegs.

my D7000 seems to produce low quality jpgs.
 
havent got any with me at the moment will do later,

Im shooting RAW
 
garethf said:
havent got any with me at the moment will do later,

Im shooting RAW
Click to expand...

RAW usualy wont be as sharp or as good looking as JPG satraight out the camera and will need working on..
 
Sorry guys just found some on photobucket i forgot about here goes




 
You need good light and none of those photos have been taken in good light - the horse rider is partly in own shadow and the light horse is almost in the dark.

it is not about focusing although low depth of field can help
 
How much processing, other than resizing, did you do on these shots, Gareth?

I think you could get more from them with a bit of adjustment to levels and a little sharpening.

Dave
 
I know there's no substitute for good light, but I have discovered that editing photos can help make my photos 'pop'. In Lightroom, a tweak of the clarity and contrast has really improved some 'flat' photos.

Just playing with an image this afternoon - not a good image, but just to demo the difference - though I have had to take the quality right down to fit it in here. Hope this works...



This is just a screen print of the before and after editing
 
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In essence - lighting, composition.

None of those photo's are thoughtfully composed or lit.

It's been said a thousand times already this year here, but no amount of effort after the fact can recreate the effort required before you press the shutter.

#1 Nice contrasty light was available, if the rider was turned 30deg clockwise the sun would be lighting the face better, the composition is thoughtless, cutting across the horses legs and filling 1/3 of the frame with sky?
#2 Shot in the shade. lacks any contrast, area of interest created by composition or lighting.
#3 is the closest to a decent picture, just a slight move of the horses head would have lifted the eye out of shadow, and a connection would be made. atm the focus is on the buckle and there's no real interest.

There are definitely better angles to explore for all of them, but I'm not an expert. Have a look at this he's a member here and should give you some inspiration.
 
I understand it's a pain working with animals or children, nevermind both together.... But for that first shot i'd have screwed my polariser in place to bring out the sky, possibly use a low defused fill flash (provided the animal wouldn't freak out), then shot RAW and tweaked the WB and contrast later.

I certainly wouldn't have shot with them facing into sunlight, as some people seem to have suggested.

Also as your shooting RAW, at the very least you can use Nikons View NX to tweak everything a bit.
 
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Lyonspride said:
I understand it's a pain working with animals or children, nevermind both together.... But for that first shot i'd have screwed my polariser in place to bring out the sky, possibly use a low defused fill flash (provided the animal wouldn't freak out), then shot RAW and tweaked the WB and contrast later.

I certainly wouldn't have shot with them facing into sunlight, as some people seem to have suggested.

Also as your shooting RAW, at the very least you can use Nikons View NX to tweak everything a bit.
Click to expand...

I wasn't suggesting facing the rider into the sunlight, but a slight move of the head would have produced a better lighting pattern on her face. I'd probably have gone with a diffuser and / or reflector rather than fill flash, but fundamentally the photo is more badly composed than it is badly lit. The whole thing needs a rethink and minor changes to the lighting wouldn't improve it more than the suggested tweaks in PP.
 
Phil V said:
I'd probably have gone with a diffuser and / or reflector rather than fill flash
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was going to suggest that, but figured it'd be a tad too much time+effort for what it is. Plus either way is just as likely to spook the animal, I think i'd probably leave this scenario to someone else :lol:
 
Thanks for the comments guys I've taken all of them in. The first problem I have is the fact that I haven't got a reflector and plus The brown horse is my wife's and I know how he behaves and a large round/square reflector pointing at him wouldn't have gone down well.

I understand the comment about the riders face and sunlight, I've always tryed to go by the rule don't shoot at the sun and don't have the subjects face pointing straight at it so how would I have best got round that
 
Well firstly, do you really need the rider on the horse?

I wouldn't pose a rider statically on a horse unless it was totally necessary, and if it was necessary, I'd be looking for a sympathetic background to include the whole horse in a pleasant environment. (I'm no equine photographer)

If not necessary, look at the link I posted for some examples. (he is an equine photographer)

In your example you've compromised yourself in all kinds of ways, leading to a shot that's suffered.

Some rules of portraiture:
Don't shoot people from below
Don't cut across limbs
Light sympathetically

Of course all rules can be broken, but usually when there's a good reason to do so. You've done it to make your life easier resulting in a picture that feels like no thought has gone into it.

I'd have got the rider off the horse and framed it for their faces, If the light was rubbish I'd have added off camera flash. In fact if I was planning the shot, I'd be looking at dusk for an interesting sky and to make most use of the flash.
 
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