I need some help and suggestions

My bosses (husband and wife) just bought a Nikon D80 and are bringing it by either today or Sunday for me to play around with before I go on Monday to take pictures of a project we are submitting for a few lighting design awards. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I need to look at in particular (either with this camera or shooting a retail business in general)? I am used to using manual mode with my Dimage Z2, but the submitting pics for the award has me more concerned.

Here are a few pictures they took with their Dimage Z3.


I'd like to get the yellow out of these shots.


These aren't bad, just a minor tweak here and there.



This one is a combination of 5 pictures all put together. It looks much more impressive at it's full resolution, also:


Now on to more of the specifics. For the pictures we send in for the award, they can't be edited in any way. I am assuming they are referring to Photoshop, but is there anything that can be done on the camera itself if a shot isn't perfect? White balance, color adjusting, etc. after the picture is taken?

We can send in up to 10 pictures for each award we are going for. I have them broken down into the groups above. The top group is the "Womens area" followed by "Mens". The ferris wheel and the daytime shot of the exterior are just to give you an idea of the rest of the store. The third award we are going for the the parking lot/front facade ( the last picture).

If we win any of the awards, the pictures will be published in a nation lighting magazine. Compound that with the fact that my wife said that if the pictures turn out good and we win an award that I could buy a "kick ass camera" as she put it. Needless to say, I want these to turn out the best I can possibly get them.

My question lie more in the specifics of how best to set up a shot. Am I better off with a higher ISO and a faster shutter, and vice versa. Thsoe kinds of things are what I am looking for help with more than anything.

Any thoughts would be great.

sorry for the long post. There was a lot of information to get in there.

OK, I would say that it's vital for you to use a tripod. If your camera supports it, then use a cable release: should only be around $30, and use "Mirror Lock-up". This moves the mirror the first time you press the shutter button, then you press the shutter button again to take the shot. It has a real influence on reducing camera shake.

Secondly, use the lowest ISO you can, as higher ISO settings introduce noise, which you don't want. Consider using (if you camera supports it) "Long exposure noise reduction".

Your first row of shots had the wrong white balance. Since you're shooting for a competition, I would repeat the same shot using different white balance settings, then you can pick the most visually pleasing.

You seem to be shooting wide scenes, so you will need to use a narrow aperture (high F number), as this will help to bring more of the scene into focus, by increasing the Depth of Field. Experiment with different apertures though, and pick the best. I wouldn't advise going narrower than F/16 though, as that can start to introduce its own problems.

Set the camera to boost saturation and sharpness.

Fundamentally, since you're shooting for a competition, and you've been told you can't post-process, you need to take as many shots as you can, to cover all of the bases.

I wouldn't think altering the NEF (RAW) file would be considered post-processing (or would it? heh). If you've got access to something that can edit these files (Adobe Photoshop 7+/CS/2), this may be an option to look into. If they bring you the software bundled with the camera and you have the means to rip the images -- wonderful. Nikon probably included some of their own software for editing these files.

Editing in RAW will give you access to change the common settings of the file once it's off the camera . . . Kelvin, Contrast, Brightness, Shadows, Sharpness and all of that good stuff without losing much quality (depending on your inputs).

And here's a nice review of the D80's features if you haven't stumbled upon something like this already: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond80/

GilesGuthrie

OK, I would say that it's vital for you to use a tripod.

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I am most definetely going to do that. The only difficult part will be when I'm up on a ladder to get over some of the store displays. I also thought getting up a bit higher might help with lens flares, as there are so many light sources all pointing different directions, but mostly down.

GilesGuthrie

If your camera supports it, then use a cable release: should only be around $30, and use "Mirror Lock-up". This moves the mirror the first time you press the shutter button, then you press the shutter button again to take the shot. It has a real influence on reducing camera shake.

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Not so much an option, as it isn't my camera and I'm therefore not spending anything on this. I'm just taking the pictures.

GilesGuthrie

Secondly, use the lowest ISO you can, as higher ISO settings introduce noise, which you don't want. Consider using (if you camera supports it) "Long exposure noise reduction".

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For the ISO, that's what I thought, but wasn't positive, as I've never used a DSLR before. Around 200 or so? I'll have to look into the noise reduction setting, if available, though.

GilesGuthrie

Your first row of shots had the wrong white balance. Since you're shooting for a competition, I would repeat the same shot using different white balance settings, then you can pick the most visually pleasing.

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Again, not my pictures, but point taken otherwise. I think the difficult part is that there are so many different types of lights in this area. In the coves are fluorescent uplights bouncing off of the ceiling. In the wavy panel there are fiber optic heads with a metal halide source. The recessed cans (the silver circle in the second picture) and the track heads are all using the same type of lamp, which I believe is halogen.

GilesGuthrie

You seem to be shooting wide scenes, so you will need to use a narrow aperture (high F number)

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This is the one thing I did know. Thanks for verifying, though.

GilesGuthrie

Set the camera to boost saturation and sharpness.

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I hadn't, and probably wouldn't have, thought of this.

GilesGuthrie

Fundamentally, since you're shooting for a competition, and you've been told you can't post-process, you need to take as many shots as you can, to cover all of the bases.

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The rules for the competition (which say that you should just hire a professional photographer. PAH!) suggest taking 60 and then narrowing them down to the best 10. On the plus side, if there is a pretty good picture that we think we can do better, the store is only a few miles away from the office.

Edit: While I was posting the above, Z decided to join the "Help TB out party."

Z

I wouldn't think altering the NEF (RAW) file would be considered post-processing (or would it? heh). If you've got access to something that can edit these files (Adobe Photoshop 7+/CS/2), this may be an option to look into. If they bring you the software bundled with the camera and you have the means to rip the images -- wonderful. Nikon probably included some of their own software for editing these files.

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I have no idea what comes bundled with the camera, as I haven't got my hands on it yet. We have Paint Shot Pro (I think up to version 8) at work. No Photoshop.

Z

Editing in RAW will give you access to change the common settings of the file once it's off the camera . . . Kelvin, Contrast, Brightness, Shadows, Sharpness and all of that good stuff without losing much quality (depending on your inputs).

Click to expand...

I'm not sure how they go about checking if the image has been edited. EXIF tags, maybe? Paint Shop (I use version 6) doesn't preserve those on an edited image. Besides the fact that I never do a total overhaul of the shot, just levels, slight color shift, etc. I normally love editing pictures, but I don't want these thrown out on a technicality.

Thanks for all of the input, guys. If all goes well, I'll post up some of the shots after I take them. The bosses will be out of town on Tuesday, so I may get a chance to post them then. Any input on those would be greatly appreciated, also.

TB

I have no idea what comes bundled with the camera, as I haven't got my hands on it yet. We have Paint Shot Pro (I think up to version 8) at work. No Photoshop.

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I'm not certain that PSP can handle RAW files yet. I'm still on an older version that does not, but have been using Photoshop alongside that for the bulky tasks of editing.

TB

I'm not sure how they go about checking if the image has been edited. EXIF tags, maybe? Paint Shop (I use version 6) doesn't preserve those on an edited image. Besides the fact that I never do a total overhaul of the shot, just levels, slight color shift, etc. I normally love editing pictures, but I don't want these thrown out on a technicality.

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I'm unsure of this as well and agree that it would not be worth the trouble to get thrown out on a technicality; however, as RAW is the step before you get to JPEG, you should retain any EXIF data within while converting. I managed to crop the JPEG in Photoshop and retain the EXIF, but once I edited the photo again in Paint Shop Pro, the information was lost. Then again, if they straight up request the RAW file, it will retain footprints of any editing and this could be a problem. Yet again, if you do not have Photoshop or a comparable RAW editing utility, this all becomes moot. :|

Z

I managed to crop the JPEG in Photoshop and retain the EXIF, but once I edited the photo again in Paint Shop Pro, the information was lost.

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I read somewhere on Friday that Photoshop retains EXIF if you do a Save As, but if you just Save, it dumps it. I attempted this in PSP6 and it didn't work. I didn't edit the photo at all, just saved it to a different location and there was no EXIF. So, no it doesn't appear that PSP can handle EXIF, so hopefully whatever software comes with the camera can. Again, I'm not looking for a total rework of the shot, just minor adjusting. It is incredible what the slightest curve adjustment will do.

TB

I read somewhere on Friday that Photoshop retains EXIF if you do a Save As, but if you just Save, it dumps it. I attempted this in PSP6 and it didn't work. I didn't edit the photo at all, just saved it to a different location and there was no EXIF. So, no it doesn't appear that PSP can handle EXIF, so hopefully whatever software comes with the camera can. Again, I'm not looking for a total rework of the shot, just minor adjusting. It is incredible what the slightest curve adjustment will do.

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Photoshop keeps the EXIF unless you do "save for web".

I've been thinking about this a little more. I think you're going to need to shoot a few frames using Aperture-Priority mode, between F/11 and F/22. Note down the shutter speeds for each aperture. Then use manual mode (or auto exposure bracketing) and bracket the exposures by +/- 1 stop or so. You'll see that the ratio of ambient light to from-the-lights light changes, and you will happen across the best balance. I suspect that this is what the organisers are getting at when they say "take 60 shots" and "hire a pro".

Oh, and when I say "use the lowest ISO possible", I mean that you should aim to use ISO 100. Or lower if your camera supports it, which I doubt.

I'll just add to the white-balance thought that you have to set that whenever the environment changes, anything that changes your light source, not just indoor vs outdoor.

I took the pictures this morning. So far, everyone is very happy with the shots. I am entirely too busy right now, but I should have the pictures posted sometime tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the input, guys!

Picture time!

First off, I have to say that I absolutely loved using this camera. I burned off over 500 megs with 130+ pictures in an hour and a half. It will be very difficult going back to my Z2 now.

Mens Area - The Tungsten white balance was perfect here. All of the colors "pop" without being overly saturated.


Womens area - I had to play with the white balance for a while for some of these. I ended up not being happy with any of the sunny, cloudy, tungsten, etc. settings so I ventured (for the first time, without knowing exactly what I as doing) into the temperature setting. I decided to use 3000°, as that appeared to be the closest to what it actually looked like. After I got back to work, I told my boss that and he said that the fluorescent lamps are 3500° to which I replied "I got pretty close for eye-balling it then."He continued with if you figure in the other lamps also, which are in the 2500-2800 range, I was about spot on. That made me fell pretty good.


Those are two of the areas we are submitting for the awards, the rest are "just because I was there" pictures.


Of course, any and all comments are welcomed.