Portraits...

William · 05-16-2008, 04:49 PM

Clicking around with my new camera last week and got this. Kinda like it. Looks kinda mottled to me though, any thoughts why? Taken with Auto, Flash Off. Egads!!

matty · 05-17-2008, 12:07 AM

If by "mottled" you mean there is a lot of noise, yes. Looking at the data info on your pic, you took this with an ISO of 1600. You probably know this, but the lower the ISO, the better the picture quality, aka less noise.

You have a great idea for the shot, however, understandably, the conditions to shoot the sleeping baby are no where close to ideal. Shooting low light conditions can be worked around in a couple different ways. The only way I see for this particular situation, meaning flash and turning on lights aren't good ideas, is to use an extended shutter speed.

Setup on a tripod, take the ISO down (100 being ideal), open up the aperture to max, and experiment using longer shutter speeds.

Obviously the pic will only turn out if the baby isn't moving, as motion will give you a blurry shot.

Hope this helps.

William · 05-17-2008, 08:55 AM

Thanks.

MotoPhotog · 05-29-2008, 06:39 AM

William, you probably have this set to Auto ISO. If you dont know what ISO is. Wiki it. All Nikons come set at auto ISO i believe, and it will take your most sensitive setting (1600) most of the time to compensate for higher shutter speed. You probably want to keep your D60 under ISO 800 for a majority of the time. For outdoor shots, keep it as low as possible. ISO 100 or 200. Congrats on the new toy!

William · 05-29-2008, 03:27 PM

ISO = Film speed. I knew that!! If I'd thought about it a little more, I'd have figured it out. In my profession, we call that graininess "Quantum Mottling", and it's caused by poor exposure settings. Duh...

I'll have to play around to get familiar with ISO settings vs. Light Conditions.

Thanks, Moto. Cheers.

05-16-2008, 04:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
William Junior Member Joined: May 2008 Posts: 28 Blog Entries: 1 From: Seattle, WA.	Portraits... Clicking around with my new camera last week and got this. Kinda like it. Looks kinda mottled to me though, any thoughts why? Taken with Auto, Flash Off. Egads!!

05-29-2008, 06:39 AM	#4 (permalink)
MotoPhotog Senior Member Joined: Mar 2008 Posts: 202 From: Federal Way, WA My Camera: D300 & D200	William, you probably have this set to Auto ISO. If you dont know what ISO is. Wiki it. All Nikons come set at auto ISO i believe, and it will take your most sensitive setting (1600) most of the time to compensate for higher shutter speed. You probably want to keep your D60 under ISO 800 for a majority of the time. For outdoor shots, keep it as low as possible. ISO 100 or 200. Congrats on the new toy! __________________ http://darrenbeattyphotography.com

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05-17-2008, 12:07 AM	#2 (permalink)
matty Member Joined: Apr 2008 Posts: 87 From: B-ham, WA	If by "mottled" you mean there is a lot of noise, yes. Looking at the data info on your pic, you took this with an ISO of 1600. You probably know this, but the lower the ISO, the better the picture quality, aka less noise. You have a great idea for the shot, however, understandably, the conditions to shoot the sleeping baby are no where close to ideal. Shooting low light conditions can be worked around in a couple different ways. The only way I see for this particular situation, meaning flash and turning on lights aren't good ideas, is to use an extended shutter speed. Setup on a tripod, take the ISO down (100 being ideal), open up the aperture to max, and experiment using longer shutter speeds. Obviously the pic will only turn out if the baby isn't moving, as motion will give you a blurry shot. Hope this helps.

05-17-2008, 08:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
William Junior Member Joined: May 2008 Posts: 28 Blog Entries: 1 From: Seattle, WA.	Thanks.

05-29-2008, 03:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
William Junior Member Joined: May 2008 Posts: 28 Blog Entries: 1 From: Seattle, WA.	ISO = Film speed. I knew that!! If I'd thought about it a little more, I'd have figured it out. In my profession, we call that graininess "Quantum Mottling", and it's caused by poor exposure settings. Duh... I'll have to play around to get familiar with ISO settings vs. Light Conditions. Thanks, Moto. Cheers.