8 replies to this topic

[emccarthy25]

I took this photo yesterday while I was out.  D5500 with the 18-55mm kit lens.  I'm sure this would look a ton better on my future 35mm 1.8, but until then, the kit lens will have to do.  

 

This is the first image that I've done 'real' editing on in Lightroom.  I did not edit in Photoshop.  Any and all criticism is welcome.  What did I do wrong?  What could I have done to improve it?

 

Thanks, and enjoy!

 

 

 

f6.3/ 1/400 / ISO 100 / 18mm

 

[ScottinPollock]

I would have bumped up the aperture a little closer to that lens' sweet spot (f8-f11). Also consider taking multiple snaps and combine in post to get some motion blur on the water.

You could also use ND filters to get the shutter speed slow enough for motion blur, but then you'll require a tripod.

[emccarthy25]

I didn't know there was a sweet spot. Is there somewhere that info is listed?

To get the motion blur, could I not have just set the ISO low, the aperture small, and used a slow shutter speed, or would the problem have been blowing out all the lighter areas of the photo?

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[Merco_61]

Lenses are usually at their sharpest about 2 steps closed down from open. If you have to close the aperture further, you will lose contrast because or diffraction. Using a slower shutter speed would blow out the highlights. This is exactly the situation ND-filters are made for.

[emccarthy25]

Ah, I see. That makes sense. I will look into acquiring a set (I assume they are available as sets).

That lens starts at f3.5. Would two stops closed down from open mean the best spot would be about 5.6, or am I thinking about this incorrectly?

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[ScottinPollock]

The site SLRGear has blur indexes at various apertures for most lenses, but experience has told me f8-11 is usually best, especially for slower zooms. It also gets you deeper depth of field.

[Merco_61]

Two steps down from f/3.5 is f/7.1. The 18-55 is still a little soft @7.1 and gains in sharpness if you stop it down a bit more. Exactly how each lens reacts to stopping down depends on the design of the lens. 8-11 is a good starting point for all consumer zooms, the pro zooms are usually better corrected as well as being faster and have their sweet spot @f/5.6-8.

 

The full stops are numbered 1 1.4 2 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 22 32. Each step is the square root of 2 times the previous.

[ScottinPollock]

That lens starts at f3.5. Would two stops closed down from open mean the best spot would be about 5.6

3.5 is a lot closer to f4 than 2.8. So two stops down would be closer to f8.

[emccarthy25]

3.5 is a lot closer to f4 than 2.8. So two stops down would be closer to f8.

Ah, I think I understand, thanks.

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