The choir

[Yisehaq]

This preparation of a choir for an outdoor performance. Your c & c please.

[tomorrowstreasures]

Yisehaq - I love the effect of this photograph!

I would suggest that it be sharpened up a bit.

[Marko]

I agree with TT - this is a very interesting image that is much too blurry.

What was your shutterspeed? It should have been close to 1/250 IMO.

[Yisehaq]

Thanks. the exif is
Tv( Shutter Speed )
1/2500
Av( Aperture Value )
5.6
ISO Speed
400
at 300 with my sigma 75-300. I used ISO 400 to enable me to use higher sutter speed to avoid the blurr but :confused::confused::confused::confused:
your advice please

[tirediron]

Agree with both the above; great capture, but a little soft.

[kiley9806]

i think you missed the focus - was it manual or auto?
the cleanest part of the photograph is in the middle, where the group of men/boys heads are bare. i think it would be much improved if the faces in the front row were the sharp & clear, with the focus going gradually blurrier deeper into the group. as it is, the foreground has no detail, and my eye wanders around to find something it can focus on.

that being said, it looks like an amazing group & i wish i were able to have seen the performance!

[tegan]

I repeat what I have said before. You need to get detail into dark faces through whatever process works best for you: exposure compensation, fill flash, postprocessing etc.

Tegan

[Yisehaq]

Thank you all.
Kiley9806 it was autofocus. am I right to assume if I miss the focus point and used aperture of 5.6 it will have the blurring effect on the front guys because 5.6 has shorter depth? The picture was taken almost from 80-100m away.

*The performance was day of bonfire celebration called meskel (The cross). We(Ethiopians) claim one of our queen excavated the cross of Jesus Chirst and we have celebration for that every year. I will try to work on more pictures.

tegan, Do you have any solution for cameras without spot metering.I use 350D. I use the partial metering but not as effective as I hope it should be. Other than budget related solutions;)

[Marko]

The lighting is not the problem here IMO, it really is the focus. Besides for shots like this you don't have much lighting control unless you hired all these people. You can use fill flash but it won't hit the whole group.

You simply missed the shot. It happens often to many photographers so don't feel bad. You are still learning and this is a valuable lesson.
Manual would have helped and checking the viewfinder after the shot would have revealed it is blurry. Personally I only check the viewfinder occasionally, but for a moving group of people, I'd be checking the sharpness regularly.

Hope that helps - Marko

[kiley9806]

thats a really interesting sounding celebration - thanks for sharing the explanation! :)

[morgan]

very interesting image!

i tried a couple of things

before http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p148/morganleighbomer/IMG_1197-copyopti.jpg
after http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p148/morganleighbomer/IMG_1197-copyoptie.jpg

i upped the levels & saturation & sharpened. what do you think?

did you shoot this in raw? if you want to send me the high res image i can try a few more things morganleigh03 @ yahoo

BTW i'm at work so not on my calibrated monitor. I can probably do better at home.

[Yisehaq]

Thanks Marko & Morgan.

Marko learn learn learn, it is. No option but I enjoy the process it now.I hope the spirit will last. Thank you for having this form.

Morgan

I did try to work on the level and curves and sharpness. But you did a fantastic job. I have sent you the raw file through your email. Ready to be surprised. Thanks a lot.

[tegan]

It is easy to tell that although the focus is off too, it is a lighting problem. There is no way that you can have that amount of detail in white clothing and still get good detail in dark faces.

The easy way of getting detail in dark faces is to zoom in close on any face with the light in the same direction and take a reading from your camera. Then use that reading for your wide angle exposure.

Anothe approach would be to take the shot and then another at a half stop over-exposed. Compare on your LCD screen. You can zoom in on the faces even on your LCD and see if the detail is there or not. If for some reason it is too overexposed go to a third stop overexposed instead of a half.

Tegan

[Yisehaq]

Thanks Tegan. I will try that.
One of the problem in this shoot out was that I didn't manage to get vantage point I would have prefered. I couldn't get any closer either. I have to go before they cordon off the area next time. That would be a couple of hours before the cerimony starts. ;)

But till then I will practice your advice as we have plenty of dark faced people with white dresses around here.:D

One question if people are standing near (5m) and far (50m)with the same direction to the sun (light source) will the same reading (manual adjusted using the close subject) work for both? hope that is not dump question:confused:

thanks again.

[tegan]

One question if people are standing near (5m) and far (50m)with the same direction to the sun (light source) will the same reading (manual adjusted using the close subject) work for both? hope that is not dump question:confused:

thanks again.

Good question. It would work for both. As Tired Iron pointed out somewhere, it is not perfect, which I agree with. However it will get you closer and you can always use your LCD to make minor adjustments based on what you see.

Post processing will work on one or two faces but it is too tedious when you are talking about a large number. The best software for this is the Viveza plug-in, which you can use for 30 days without paying for it at www.niksoftware.com.

Tegan

[Yisehaq]

Thanks for your adviceTegan