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Mar 2, 2016 05:39:01   #
piedmonte66 Loc: Michigan
 
I went to our church to take some photos and the lighting in the church is not the best for taking pictures. With the poor lighting, I set my D7000 (with my 18-200) on a tripod using the aperture priority function set to f14 with the ISO at 100 and the shutter speed ended up at 1.3sec. What should I have done (if anything) to get better clarity? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking time to look. Oops, I think I should have put this in the photo gallery but not sure how to move it.


(Download)

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Mar 2, 2016 06:20:52   #
nicksr1125 Loc: Mesa, AZ
 
Only suggestions I have are: use a cable or remote release, & lock the mirror up. Otherwise, it's a great shot. It could have been a little lighter.

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Mar 2, 2016 06:22:03   #
WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio
 
piedmonte66 wrote:
I went to our church to take some photos and the lighting in the church is not the best for taking pictures. With the poor lighting, I set my D7000 (with my 18-200) on a tripod using the aperture priority function set to f14 with the ISO at 100 and the shutter speed ended up at 1.3sec. What should I have done (if anything) to get better clarity? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking time to look. Oops, I think I should have put this in the photo gallery but not sure how to move it.
I went to our church to take some photos and the l... (show quote)


Open up your lens to 5.6 let in more light. Learn to shoot on manual.

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Mar 2, 2016 07:05:14   #
piedmonte66 Loc: Michigan
 
nicksr1125 wrote:
Only suggestions I have are: use a cable or remote release, & lock the mirror up. Otherwise, it's a great shot. It could have been a little lighter.

Thanks, I did use the timer for this picture.

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Mar 2, 2016 07:19:15   #
piedmonte66 Loc: Michigan
 
WessoJPEG wrote:
Open up your lens to 5.6 let in more light. Learn to shoot on manual.

Thanks for your suggestions. I know that I am no pro but I was trying to achieve a DOF where everything was in focus and I thought the f14 would have given me this. I will go back and play around with the manual settings. Thanks again.

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Mar 2, 2016 07:46:44   #
WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio
 
piedmonte66 wrote:
Thanks for your suggestions. I know that I am no pro but I was trying to achieve a DOF where everything was in focus and I thought the f14 would have given me this. I will go back and play around with the manual settings. Thanks again.


When you open the lens then you can use more speed hope this helps.

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Mar 2, 2016 09:30:59   #
Rick36203 Loc: Northeast Alabama
 
It looks fine to me except it is a little dark. I believe your 'spot' metering locked on a relative bright area of the scene and wanted to make it darker. Matrix metering may have returned a slightly better exposure. But, if the majority of a scene is composed of light colored areas then exposure compensation may still be needed.

Going one step further, you may want to get to know your lens a little better. That lens is usually sharpest at f/5.6. Its hyperfocal distance on your camera at 18mm would be only 9.45ft. So you probably gained nothing by shooting at f/14.

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Mar 2, 2016 11:12:39   #
WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio
 
piedmonte66 wrote:
Thanks for your suggestions. I know that I am no pro but I was trying to achieve a DOF where everything was in focus and I thought the f14 would have given me this. I will go back and play around with the manual settings. Thanks again.


You can up the ISO from 100 too 500 or better and open that lens you will be able to get more speed. I have the D7000 and it's not the best for low light but I have some good pictures I have taken with an ISO of 2000. Try upping your ISO a little at a time if you don't like it Delete it and start over. Thanks

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Mar 2, 2016 12:51:00   #
R.G. Loc: Scotland
 
You had a tripod and nothing in the frame was going to move - I don't see the slow shutter speed as being a problem. I would also say that keeping the ISO at 100 was right.

Since you had close foreground elements that you wanted sharp, I would say there's nothing wrong with f/14 - which seems to have worked fine. It looks as though the focus point is quite distant (probably behind the altar), whereas the foreground pews are quite close, so you needed a fairly high f-stop to keep the sharpness for the close-up stuff. I don't think f/14 is small enough to give any serious diffraction problems.

Now about the clarity.... I suspect that all this shot needs is a bit of brightening and possibly some Contrast and Clarity. The best way to get a brighter shot is to get a longer exposure, either in manual mode or using exposure compensation in aperture priority mode (exp. comp. would work by upping the exposure time). It looks as though nothing is close to being blown, so upping the exp. comp. by a click or two would have been a fairly safe option.

Alternatively you can work on what you already have. If you don't have the required post processing software or skills, you can give permission for us to have a go at it for you. You can then choose the edit that comes closest to meeting your requirements. If you have the software but not the experience, you could ask for specific PP advice.

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Mar 2, 2016 12:55:24   #
WessoJPEG Loc: Cincinnati, Ohio
 
R.G. wrote:
You had a tripod and nothing in the frame was going to move - I don't see the slow shutter speed as being a problem. I would also say that keeping the ISO at 100 was right.

Since you had close foreground elements that you wanted sharp, I would say there's nothing wrong with f/14 - which seems to have worked fine. It looks as though the focus point is quite distant (probably behind the altar), whereas the foreground pews are quite close, so you needed a fairly high f-stop to keep the sharpness for the close-up stuff. I don't think f/14 is small enough to give any serious diffraction problems.

Now about the clarity.... I suspect that all this shot needs is a bit of brightening and possibly some Contrast and Clarity. The best way to get a brighter shot is to get a longer exposure, either in manual mode or using exposure compensation in aperture priority mode (exp. comp. would work by upping the exposure time). It looks as though nothing is close to being blown, so upping the exp. comp. by a click or two would have been a fairly safe option.

Alternatively you can work on what you already have. If you don't have the required post processing software or skills, you can give permission for us to have a go at it for you. You can then choose the edit that comes closest to meeting your requirements. If you have the software but not the experience, you could ask for specific PP advice.
You had a tripod and nothing in the frame was goin... (show quote)


Bologna.

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Mar 3, 2016 01:08:52   #
anotherview Loc: California
 
Look into Hyper-focal Distance setting for achieving sharp images from near to far in the frame.

Please bear in mind that each lens has a sweet spot where it performs the best in terms of image quality: generally, f/8.

Going to a smaller Aperture opening, by closing down to, say, f/11, the physical phenomenon of diffraction sets in, and begins softening the image.

For this reason, I usually shoot at f/8 or f/7.1, although sometimes f/5.6.

Anyway, for the church interior shot, an Aperture of f/8, with focus set at the Hyper-focal distance, could have achieved acceptable sharpness from near to infinity. As a rule of thumb, you can set the Hyper-focal distance at about one-third of the way into the frame to achieve Hyper-focal distance.

Good luck.
piedmonte66 wrote:
Thanks for your suggestions. I know that I am no pro but I was trying to achieve a DOF where everything was in focus and I thought the f14 would have given me this. I will go back and play around with the manual settings. Thanks again.

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Mar 3, 2016 05:46:14   #
Billyspad Loc: The Philippines
 
With the smallest amount of Post Processing your shot is very very good. Opened your Jpeg in Camera Raw and adjusted Shadows highlights upped Contrast and Clarity and small increase on Exposure.
As R.G. says your settings were fine but would have benefited from a little more exposure time.
Try the For Your Consideration Forum

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-119-1.html

Thats where R.G. hangs out a lot along with others who know there stuff and you will get all the help and advice you need.

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Mar 3, 2016 06:20:53   #
CO
 
anotherview wrote:
Look into Hyper-focal Distance setting for achieving sharp images from near to far in the frame.

Please bear in mind that each lens has a sweet spot where it performs the best in terms of image quality: generally, f/8.

Going to a smaller Aperture opening, by closing down to, say, f/11, the physical phenomenon of diffraction sets in, and begins softening the image.

For this reason, I usually shoot at f/8 or f/7.1, although sometimes f/5.6.

Anyway, for the church interior shot, an Aperture of f/8, with focus set at the Hyper-focal distance, could have achieved acceptable sharpness from near to infinity. As a rule of thumb, you can set the Hyper-focal distance at about one-third of the way into the frame to achieve Hyper-focal distance.

Good luck.
Look into Hyper-focal Distance setting for achievi... (show quote)


I agree. I don't stop the aperture more than f/8 on my digital cameras. LensTip.com does great lens reviews and test lenses in twelve different categories. I downloaded the image resolution chart for the Nikon 18-200mm lens.

What is a little bothersome in the photo are the converging verticals caused by the wide angle setting. It's possible that if you were further back and used a longer focal length that the effect would be less.



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Mar 3, 2016 06:38:13   #
rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona
 
piedmonte66 wrote:
I went to our church to take some photos and the lighting in the church is not the best for taking pictures. With the poor lighting, I set my D7000 (with my 18-200) on a tripod using the aperture priority function set to f14 with the ISO at 100 and the shutter speed ended up at 1.3sec. What should I have done (if anything) to get better clarity? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking time to look. Oops, I think I should have put this in the photo gallery but not sure how to move it.
I went to our church to take some photos and the l... (show quote)


My suggestion would be to set you camera on manual, walk up to the front of the church, choose an f-stop that gives you the necessary DOF you wish, spot meter on the white part of the altar, set the shutter speed to indicate correct exposure. Then increase the shutter speed to where the meter indicates 2 stops over exposed. Put the camera on the tripod at the location you have in the back of the church, check focus, take the photo. That will accommodate the lighting to give you a much better exposure.
--Bob

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Mar 3, 2016 06:40:30   #
piedmonte66 Loc: Michigan
 
anotherview wrote:
Look into Hyper-focal Distance setting for achieving sharp images from near to far in the frame.

Please bear in mind that each lens has a sweet spot where it performs the best in terms of image quality: generally, f/8.

Going to a smaller Aperture opening, by closing down to, say, f/11, the physical phenomenon of diffraction sets in, and begins softening the image.

For this reason, I usually shoot at f/8 or f/7.1, although sometimes f/5.6.

Thanks, so much more I need to learn!

Anyway, for the church interior shot, an Aperture of f/8, with focus set at the Hyper-focal distance, could have achieved acceptable sharpness from near to infinity. As a rule of thumb, you can set the Hyper-focal distance at about one-third of the way into the frame to achieve Hyper-focal distance.

Good luck.
Look into Hyper-focal Distance setting for achievi... (show quote)

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