Shooting under exposed??


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conkeychua

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Aug 19, 2009
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Hi, any advise on the pros and cons on the following scenerio?

Taking shots at night without tripod, increasing shutter speed to reduce hands shaking but that would result in a under exposed pictures due to apperture not having enough light. Then using photo editor to up the lightings.

Any take on this kinda cheat? :)

Thanks alot
 

No need to ask us, you can try it for yourself. The result will be a very noisy, obviously over-boosted image.
 

I usually find make-shift objects which are steady to use like a tripod; objects such as lamppost, dustbin, rails, bench, or any other structures to keep the camera steady for my long exposure of 30 seconds and less, or the longest shutter speed the camera provides without going to bulb mode.

Increase shutter speed and will require an increase of ISO in order for the camera to retain the measured exposure (aperture value unchange). However if you do not intend to increase ISO and the photo is underexposed, increasing the exposure in post-processing will plausibly bring up the noise to very much visible and undesirable result.
 

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This method is not entirely impossible, but it has its limitations. If you must do that, I recommend that you shoot RAW. You can recover 1 stop without much loss in quality, and 2 stops (or more, if you can achieve that) with some loss in quality.

This method gets worse with greater ISO settings.
 

No need to ask us, you can try it for yourself. The result will be a very noisy, obviously over-boosted image.

Have tried but because the back ground was dark as usual, so the noise was not obvious. Do not know about the results on lighter back ground yet which i think it would be like what you mentioned. :(
 

I usually find make-shift objects which are steady to use like a tripod; objects such as lamppost, dustbin, rails, bench, or any other structures to keep the camera steady for my long exposure of 30 seconds and less, or the longest shutter speed the camera provides without going to bulb mode.

Increase shutter speed and will require an increase of ISO in order for the camera to retain the measured exposure (aperture value unchange). However if you do not intend to increase ISO and the photo is underexposed, increasing the exposure in post-processing will plausibly bring up the noise to very much visible and undesirable result.

At that point of my pictures, the make shift object was just not right enough meaning to say that i put it on the dustbin, it was too low so still need to use 2 fingers to tilt the camera to capture, hence, still shake..... haha thinking of buying those small put on table tripod. wondering if those helps?

Thanks
 

Hi, any advise on the pros and cons on the following scenerio?

Taking shots at night without tripod, increasing shutter speed to reduce hands shaking but that would result in a under exposed pictures due to apperture not having enough light. Then using photo editor to up the lightings.

Any take on this kinda cheat? :)

Thanks alot

Ask yourself...... what kind of QC you have laid down for your photos?
 

This method is not entirely impossible, but it has its limitations. If you must do that, I recommend that you shoot RAW. You can recover 1 stop without much loss in quality, and 2 stops (or more, if you can achieve that) with some loss in quality.

This method gets worse with greater ISO settings.

Hey... i didnt thought of the RAW though...... will try that out.

Thanks alot
 

OH and btw, i seem to have some problems whereby i took a few pictures, they look ok on the preview screen of the camera, but put it up on the computer, face is under exposed kinda thing.... so dunno which to trust......:(

Guess it also equates to skills not enough...

Chees!@
 

OH and btw, i seem to have some problems whereby i took a few pictures, they look ok on the preview screen of the camera, but put it up on the computer, face is under exposed kinda thing.... so dunno which to trust......

Trust only a profiled monitor. The camera LCD is only for settings and histogram.
 

I alway shoot under-exposed shots at night. The meter is often fooled by the large amount of darkness, and thus if you shoot it at the metered values, you're gonna get a weird looking photo.
 

I alway shoot under-exposed shots at night. The meter is often fooled by the large amount of darkness, and thus if you shoot it at the metered values, you're gonna get a weird looking photo.

After 2 weeks of learning on the Apperture, shutter and ISOs, I guess i have to start on the Meter, WB and stuffs.... :)

Cheers!
 

OH and btw, i seem to have some problems whereby i took a few pictures, they look ok on the preview screen of the camera, but put it up on the computer, face is under exposed kinda thing.... so dunno which to trust......:(

Guess it also equates to skills not enough...

Chees!@
That will need your experience to get use to the camera under different lighting condition, but a better way would be learn to look at the histogram
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml
 

After 2 weeks of learning on the Apperture, shutter and ISOs, I guess i have to start on the Meter, WB and stuffs.... :)

So what have you learnt on the aperture, shutter and ISO? :think:
 

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At that point of my pictures, the make shift object was just not right enough meaning to say that i put it on the dustbin, it was too low so still need to use 2 fingers to tilt the camera to capture, hence, still shake..... haha thinking of buying those small put on table tripod. wondering if those helps?

Thanks

This 7.5" tripod is very handy and portable. You can put it on a wall, car roof or table.

DSC01202Medium.jpg
 

Taking shots at night without tripod, increasing shutter speed to reduce hands shaking but that would result in a under exposed pictures due to apperture not having enough light. Then using photo editor to up the lightings.
Any take on this kinda cheat? :)

The light that isn't there cannot be captured by the sensor. Software needs something to start with, amplifying minimal levels of image signals will always also amplify the noise - regardless whether you do it with high ISO or later with software. For stationary objects get a tripod and do longterm exposures. For moving objects get a flash to freeze the motion. But flash is an entire realm of it's own, better focus on the basics for now and stay in daylight.
 

At that point of my pictures, the make shift object was just not right enough meaning to say that i put it on the dustbin, it was too low so still need to use 2 fingers to tilt the camera to capture, hence, still shake..... haha thinking of buying those small put on table tripod. wondering if those helps?

Thanks
In that case, I can't think of a way to help you. If in anyway possible, a Gorillapod can be handy. It is small and easy to bring along.
 

Unfortunately with that cheat.. one thing won't change.

the photo editor cannot put back information that is lost due to the pict being too dark, and you end up with tons of interpolated crap in the pict =(

get a tripod man, I tried doing really low light shot, but had to reshoot with a tripod, the results are spectacularly different.

IMG_75001.jpg
 

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