The vividness of a photo

Eyeoftheeagle

Eyeoftheeagle

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Hello good people,


I have this thing that bothers me all the time when I look at my taken shots. It looks like the colors are washed out (photo_1).
Do you have any suggestions how to make them more vivid while taking a photo, is that a problem with exposure? I am the beginner in the photography so I do not really know where is the real problem.
As I develop the photo in the Lightroom, I make it darker, more vivid and more saturated as it looks in the photo_2. Can I do this with my camera or this is how it should be?



photo_1.jpg photo_2.jpg
 
Do you use lightroom and do you shoot raw?
With raw you really need to 'develop' the image in post.
In the above image try shifting highlights up, clarity up (I always add vibrance if using clarity). There are loads of other tools that can make your images POP!
 
What camera are you using ? What were the settings ?

So many experienced guy's (and females) on this forum, supply the details and great knowledge will come your way :)
 
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•


If you're shooting RAW, the first steps are DRL and WB.
To give a mineral capture a more organic look, mid-tonal
taming should resolve both contrast of the luminance and
vividness of the chrominance without having to use such
things as saturation, vibrance, contrast etc.

If you have captured correctly the scene through proper
exposure, it's all in the recorded data and not complicated
to pull out.

Have a good time!
 
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Its either your camera screen or monitor setting that to bright. I don't see anything wrong with the saturation, only that your images are dark.
 
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Hi @dcash29 the OP has stated her preference for "no editing" of images. It is the received wisdom here at TP to ask the posters permission before displaying such a tweaked image.

As she is new here she may well be OK about it but no way to know without asking first, just saying ;). If you read the other posts some of the members have expressed in words the adjustments you have done but have respected her wish for no editing.
 
Box Brownie said:
Hi @dcash29 the OP has stated her preference for "no editing" of images. It is the received wisdom here at TP to ask the posters permission before displaying such a tweaked image.

As she is new here she may well be OK about it but no way to know without asking first, just saying ;). If you read the other posts some of the members have expressed in words the adjustments you have done but have respected her wish for no editing.
Click to expand...

In the 10 years I've been a member Brownie, I cant say that a moderator or member has ever commented on an edited shot after its been uploaded, normally someone would state in their initial post if they were against it.

The site needs to make the Edit information a little more prominent for the hard of seeing
 
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Eyeoftheeagle said:
Hello good people,


I have this thing that bothers me all the time when I look at my taken shots. It looks like the colors are washed out (photo_1).
Do you have any suggestions how to make them more vivid while taking a photo, is that a problem with exposure? I am the beginner in the photography so I do not really know where is the real problem.
As I develop the photo in the Lightroom, I make it darker, more vivid and more saturated as it looks in the photo_2. Can I do this with my camera or this is how it should be?



View attachment 105714 View attachment 105715
Click to expand...

Hi, #1 doesn't look to bad exposure/colour wise, well, maybe a tad under exposed. Your settings produced this photograph so some PP will be needed. You could use off camera flash, but I'd tweak in post for now (y)

Cheers.
 
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What camera to start with.

They are all different.

But that photo reminds me so much of a photo by a Nikon d80 I seen that is also dark and terrible looking.
 
Firstly, where were my manners

@Eyeoftheeagle welcome to TP, as you have found there are lots of folk at TP willing to help in all ways possible. If you wish people to edit and post the changes with advice as to what they did please feel free to change your preference.



Hi @dcash29 my post was in no way meant to put you off and fwiw there have been many threads where the subject of posting edits against the other members preference choice and on all(?) occasions that I recall it has been 'pointed out' as premature. If you feel the need to block me for reminding you (or anyone) that as a club environment we should respect others wishes, then so be it, I will not be offended :)
 
It looks a bit like you aren't using sRGB, Lightroom will default to ProPhoto or something.
Results will be dispapointing unless this is changed.
Exif seems to be removed so can't check.
 
So
The photo us underexposed, which isn't really having a bearing on the vividness of the colours.

You can also change all those things in post production, as noted, check your Lightroom settings, and check out some basic LR tutorials.

However; the answer to your actual question is 'because it was shot on an overcast day.

Photography is literally translated as drawing with light, the thing which most affects the quality of an image is the quality of the light.

Hopefully it's a bright sunny day with you, go and shoot a flower now, then shoot it again when the weather is overcast, they'll be dramatically different images.
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•


If you're shooting RAW, the first steps are DRL and WB.
To give a mineral capture a more organic look, mid-tonal
taming should resolve both contrast of the luminance and
vividness of the chrominance without having to use such
things as saturation, vibrance, contrast etc.

If you have captured correctly the scene through proper
exposure, it's all in the recorded data and not complicated
to pull out.

Have a good time!
Click to expand...

Jeez Kodiac, he's/she's a beginner!
 
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I don't have much to add but to check what picture profile you are shooting with (if you are shooting jpg).
I don't know what camera you have but Canons have picture styles such as Landscape, Neutral, Standard, Vivid, Portrait and each will give the image a particular look with different hues and saturation. Neutral is a fairly flat image ie saturation and vibrance are toned way down. Standard and Vivid will boost saturation and vibrance as will landscape, but mostly in the greens and blues.

Saying that the vividness of the images you provided look fine to me, just a bit underexposed.
 
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Hi guys,
Thank you all for your opinions. Thank you for your kind welcome to this group, just I am not really sure what had happened here :rolleyes:

Box Brownie said:
Hi @dcash29 the OP has stated her preference for "no editing" of images. It is the received wisdom here at TP to ask the posters permission before displaying such a tweaked image.

As she is new here she may well be OK about it but no way to know without asking first, just saying ;). If you read the other posts some of the members have expressed in words the adjustments you have done but have respected her wish for no editing.
Click to expand...

Probably, I should change my preferences to "Yes", because I could learn more from you guys who have a lot experience, it would be a wise thing because I am new in photography and I want to take better shots. What do you think?

Let's get back to the answers and you are right! I did not mention the camera and settings I was shooting with. So the camera I am using is Nikon D5500 and I am shooting in RAW, manual mode 1/160, F5, ISO200, WB auto 0, 0 sRGB, exposure -1 (probably this should be the problem), but I do not know how to adjust the exposure when I am setting aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. I tried everything, I can do this only when I put the camera on A mode. Or I just do not know something? I thought it was a good time to take a photo because it was taken just before sunset but there was a little shadow because I was shooting in from of a big bush.
 
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The exposure compensation is the bottom right button on the shooting screen. If you select this it will allow you to revert the setting back to 0.
d3300_exposurecomp-02.jpg
 
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Eyeoftheeagle said:
...
Probably, I should change my preferences to "Yes", because I could learn more from you guys who have a lot experience, it would be a wise thing because I am new in photography and I want to take better shots. What do you think?
Click to expand...

Not your fault because a lot of people just offered help on processing.

But if you want to take better shots, then it's done with the camera, not when you're sat at the computer. That's a whole other skill set you'll need, but learning one at a time will be better.


Eyeoftheeagle said:
...
Let's get back to the answers and you are right! I did not mention the camera and settings I was shooting with. So the camera I am using is Nikon D5500 and I am shooting in RAW, manual mode 1/160, F5, ISO200, WB auto 0, 0 sRGB, exposure -1 (probably this should be the problem), but I do not know how to adjust the exposure when I am setting aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. I tried everything, I can do this only when I put the camera on A mode. Or I just do not know something? I thought it was a good time to take a photo because it was taken just before sunset but there was a little shadow because I was shooting in from of a big bush.
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Now, you haven't got to grips with the simplest of your cameras functions, why are you shooting Manual?

It's a hair shirt that a lot of beginners believe they need to wear in order to be considered seriously.

Most professionals only use Manual when it's the most appropriate choice. Which for many is less than 10% of shots, and it's chosen because they have a vision that the camera couldn't possibly comprehend.

As a learner, the important thing you need to be in control of is what the camera focuses on, and what your picture contains. Your camera will get the exposure close most of the time.
You will learn when your camera meter will be fooled, and you can override the camera whilst still in the semi auto modes.

Using manual and centring the meter isn't being in control, it's just misguided.

But you were right about why your shots are underexposed. :)
 
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You have a direct control for exposure compensation as well. Hold down the +/- button on the top and turn the command dial. See p129 of the reference manual from here:

http://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/196/D5500.html

There are various ways of making your photos more vivid in the camera settings. You can use one of the more vivid Scene modes, or when using the standard P, A, S, or M modes, you can set the Picture Control to Vivid - see p152 of the manual above. These in-camera settings will affect your jpegs directly, and are recorded to the raw files. I don't think Lightroom reads them from raw, but Nikon's own (free) raw development packages (Capture NX-D and ViewNX-i) do:

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/capturenxd/
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/software/viewnx-i/

Even with neutral settings I like the default colours from Nikon's raw development software better than Adobe's, but this is a matter of taste, and of course by playing with the settings in any package you can (eventually) get whatever colour you want. But I think it's worth downloading one of the Nikon packages so you can compare the results with Lightroom and see which you prefer.
 
Thank you @Orangecroc!

Phil V said:
Not your fault because a lot of people just offered help on processing.

But if you want to take better shots, then it's done with the camera, not when you're sat at the computer. That's a whole other skill set you'll need, but learning one at a time will be better.




Now, you haven't got to grips with the simplest of your cameras functions, why are you shooting Manual?

It's a hair shirt that a lot of beginners believe they need to wear in order to be considered seriously.

Most professionals only use Manual when it's the most appropriate choice. Which for many is less than 10% of shots, and it's chosen because they have a vision that the camera couldn't possibly comprehend.

As a learner, the important thing you need to be in control of is what the camera focuses on, and what your picture contains. Your camera will get the exposure close most of the time.
You will learn when your camera meter will be fooled, and you can override the camera whilst still in the semi auto modes.

Using manual and centring the meter isn't being in control, it's just misguided.

But you were right about why your shots are underexposed. :)
Click to expand...

Well, what I was thinking that if I want to take a control of the camera and learn how to take better shots I should be shooting Manual :) Maybe it is just my silly opinion, but when I shooting auto mode, I do not like how camera sometimes expose my photos, so this is the second reason why I want to shoot Manual, to adjust all the settings by myself and to learn how to adjust them. Sometimes I shoot auto mode to see what was the shutter speed, aperture and ISO if I like the photo... In my opinion, it is like driving a car, you learn how to drive manual not automatic, manual is harder. But thank you for your advice, maybe I really have to shoot in semi auto modes for now. :)
 
Retune said:
You have a direct control for exposure compensation as well. Hold down the +/- button on the top and turn the command dial. See p129 of the reference manual from here:

http://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/196/D5500.html

There are various ways of making your photos more vivid in the camera settings. You can use one of the more vivid Scene modes, or when using the standard P, A, S, or M modes, you can set the Picture Control to Vivid - see p152 of the manual above. These in-camera settings will affect your jpegs directly, and are recorded to the raw files. I don't think Lightroom reads them from raw, but Nikon's own (free) raw development packages (Capture NX-D and ViewNX-i) do:

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/capturenxd/
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/software/viewnx-i/

Even with neutral settings I like the default colours from Nikon's raw development software better than Adobe's, but this is a matter of taste, and of course by playing with the settings in any package you can (eventually) get whatever colour you want. But I think it's worth downloading one of the Nikon packages so you can compare the results with Lightroom and see which you prefer.
Click to expand...


Thank you so much! This will be very helpful information.
 
Eyeoftheeagle said:
In my opinion, it is like driving a car, you learn how to drive manual not automatic, manual is harder. But thank you for your advice, maybe I really have to shoot in semi auto modes for now. :)
Click to expand...

I can relate to that in that I passed my test on a manual gearbox, and have driven automatics for years. The other side of the coin though is that if you don't have to watch the rev counter, depress the clutch and take one hand from the wheel to move the gearstick, you have your mind fully on the road, and have better control of the steering. Cameras are somewhat similar. My preferred cameras don't even have a meter, let alone automatic exposure, but when I use a digital camera I leave it on an automatic setting. On the few occasions I know it will get it wrong, I turn the exposure compensation wheel. Not worrying about exposure means I can pay more attention to the subject; and I suspect that if we all used auto 100% of the time we'd have fewer failures due to wrong exposure than we have failures due to faulty composition/lack of attention to what's in the frame.
 
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StephenM said:
I can relate to that in that I passed my test on a manual gearbox, and have driven automatics for years. The other side of the coin though is that if you don't have to watch the rev counter, depress the clutch and take one hand from the wheel to move the gearstick, you have your mind fully on the road, and have better control of the steering. Cameras are so,ewhat similar. My preferred cameras don't even have a meter, let alone automatic exposure, but when I use a digital camera I leave it on an automatic setting. On the few occasions I know it will get it wrong, I turn the exposure compensation wheel. Not worrying about exposure means I can pay more attention to the subject; and I suspect that if we all used auto 100% of the time we'd have fewer failures due to wrong exposure than we have failures due to faulty composition/lack of attention to what's in the frame.
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Even the pros use semi auto modes. Manual has its place, but it not required for every scenario.
Most landscape photographers will shoot in aperture priority, photographers shooting sports will use shutter priority. Portrait photographers in a studio will use manual as they are in a controlled environment.

Understanding the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO is important and manual mode can be good to help you learn that, but don't ever feel like you must shoot in manual mode to be taken seriously.
 
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Eyeoftheeagle said:
Thank you @Orangecroc!



Well, what I was thinking that if I want to take a control of the camera and learn how to take better shots I should be shooting Manual :) Maybe it is just my silly opinion, but when I shooting auto mode, I do not like how camera sometimes expose my photos, so this is the second reason why I want to shoot Manual, to adjust all the settings by myself and to learn how to adjust them. Sometimes I shoot auto mode to see what was the shutter speed, aperture and ISO if I like the photo... In my opinion, it is like driving a car, you learn how to drive manual not automatic, manual is harder. But thank you for your advice, maybe I really have to shoot in semi auto modes for now. :)
Click to expand...

I learnt to shoot on Manual cameras because automatic cameras were too expensive.

What I had to show for that was thousands of prints with camera shake, underexposed, overexposed, or out of focus.

Using that method it took me years to 'learn'. What I lost was the opportunity to capture hundreds of great moments because I'd made mistakes.

Frankly, you're not 'learning' at all, you had no idea that your shot was so far underexposed or what had caused it (the answer obviously is you had caused it).

I'm not suggesting full auto, most people mostly use the semi auto modes (shutter priority and aperture priority), this allows you to take great pictures whilst learning the important stuff.

Whilst you're concentrating on learning the unimportant stuff, you're holding yourself back from the important things that'll improve your photography.
  • Learn to understand your meter
  • Learn to 'see' light
  • Learn about composition
BTW. The car analogy doesn't work. Your 'manual' car has:
Power steering
Automatic choke / cold start
Automatic ignition timing advance
Assisted braking
Automatically adjustable valve timing.

And probably:
Auto lights
Auto wipers
Cruise control

All the above means you don't have to be concerned with keeping the engine running properly like the early car drivers, you can get on with enjoying 'driving' it.

Likewise, rather than getting bogged down in Manual mode and not even being 'in control', you can let the camera do a bit of work so you can enjoy the 'photography'.
 
Eyeoftheeagle said:
Thank you @Orangecroc!

Well, what I was thinking that if I want to take a control of the camera and learn how to take better shots I should be shooting Manual :) Maybe it is just my silly opinion, but when I shooting auto mode, I do not like how camera sometimes expose my photos, so this is the second reason why I want to shoot Manual, to adjust all the settings by myself and to learn how to adjust them. Sometimes I shoot auto mode to see what was the shutter speed, aperture and ISO if I like the photo... In my opinion, it is like driving a car, you learn how to drive manual not automatic, manual is harder. But thank you for your advice, maybe I really have to shoot in semi auto modes for now. :)
Click to expand...

It's not like learning to a drive a manual gearbox vs automatic car. What you're actually doing is trying to drive without knowing what the various controls do or how and when to use them. Fortunately, when learning to drive you have someone next to you to explain it all. If you can arrange a camera instructor to tag along, then by all means get stuck in to manual if you like, and you'll learn fast and well.

If that's not possible, then you need to learn the basics like most of us did, by reading. Start with the Exposure Triangle of shutter speed, lens aperture and ISO. It's really not very difficult, but until you know about it you will keep making mistakes and not know how to fix them. Try this tutorial by our own Pookeyhead https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...ure-theory-but-were-afraid-to-ask-101.440126/ It's good, and clearly explained (y)

Welcome to TP :)
 
I must be odd.

Never used anything except full manual mode.

What I learnt is photography is hell of a lot easier with primes that are fairly wide and the subject is not too close.

When you start using tele zooms and close subjects it turns nightmarishly hard.
 
FWIW

My first cameras were manual and I needed a separate meter
Next I had ones with built-in metering
Then I had access to a semi auto control of Aperture Priority.........and craved for Shutter Priority
Following that I had both semi auto modes and AF
All the above was even before digital, all film cameras!

Digital and its increased technology has been a boon :)

But as the decades passed and I got improved cameras, as Phil says, the technology helped to concentrate on "getting the pictures" ~ any usage of technology frees you up to improve your camera craft in regard techniques to improve the end result.
 
As a relative beginner myself who thought the answer to most things was manual mode and learnt a lot from it whilst as Phil said got lots of unacceptable shots from my errors although
also learning from them,I ACTUALLY SPEND A LOT OF TIME IN INTELLIGENT AUTO SINCE GETTING MY PANASONIC FZ1000 and am really enjoying being able to focus on composition and light etc
without having to be concerned with camera settings particularly, its given me more freedom, its not ideal if you want more control over certain criteria and I wouldn't say its what people should use but Phils post resonated with me so thought I would just add this.
depends what you want to achieve I guess.
 
Phil V said:
BTW. The car analogy doesn't work. Your 'manual' car has:
Power steering
Automatic choke / cold start
Automatic ignition timing advance
Assisted braking
Automatically adjustable valve timing.

And probably:
Auto lights
Auto wipers
Cruise control
Click to expand...

Blimey, cars have come on! My manual car had none of that; and I learned to change gears with double declutching.

Back to photography, I'm old fashioned enough to believe that the photographer should be in full control of the camera, but that doesn't necessarily mean not letting the camera do some things for you. When I started, lenses didn't even close down automatically to the taking aperture before exposure, and I had to do it manually. I don't mind consigning that piece of control to the camera. The important thing is the final image, and if the camera is more likely to get the exposure right than you are (and as a beginner, it is) then let the camera do it. I spent a couple of years trying to nail exposure before I found a method that worked for me. With auto exposure, you'll have far fewer failures than I did.
 
The car analogy is poor at best and mis leading at worst.

Why? well like I say above about improved or available technology, it is how you use it. I have owned both manual and auto cars but prefer manual but Auto driven 'appropriately' were great drives too :D
 
StephenM said:
Blimey, cars have come on! My manual car had none of that; and I learned to change gears with double declutching.
.
Click to expand...
Yes I didn't mention synchromesh which enables us to (automatically) change gears manually.

StephenM said:
...The important thing is the final image, and if the camera is more likely to get the exposure right than you are (and as a beginner, it is) then let the camera do it. I spent a couple of years trying to nail exposure before I found a method that worked for me. With auto exposure, you'll have far fewer failures than I did.
Click to expand...

The camera uses the same meter whatever mode we use, that's why it's important for us to learn to understand the meter.
 
posiview said:
I didn't think exposure compensation worked in full manual :thinking:

Cheers.
Click to expand...
It doesn't on most Canons

But it doesn't need to, because we can choose to set 'compensation' using the aperture or shutter speed or ISO.
 
Phil V said:
The camera uses the same meter whatever mode we use, that's why it's important for us to learn to understand the meter.
Click to expand...

I should have made it clear that in those days (1960s) I was using a hand held meter; the camera had none.
 
Like Phil said, there's a time when you need to override your cameras' automatic exposure system: an example might be when shooting sports, and you can't always choose when the camera will meter from because you're tracking a moving subject, so you set the exposure with the required shutter speed, aperture and ISO to get the shot you need regardless of the background. Likewise if you were taking a picture of the moon, the camera will struggle to work out exposure, so you set it up manually. But setting up manual exposure is slow & distracting, when you should be concentrating on getting the picture.

There is no advantage to selecting the same manual exposure settings that the camera would have selected automatically anyway: 1/125th at f8 is the same whether the camera makes the choice or you do. And that's why you also need to understand how the cameras meter works, so you can set the compensation & other metering settings to give the 'correct' exposure for the shots that won't fool the meter.
 
ancient_mariner said:
There is no advantage to selecting the same manual exposure settings that the camera would have selected automatically anyway: 1/125th at f8 is the same whether the camera makes the choice or you do. And that's why you also need to understand how the cameras meter works, so you can set the compensation & other metering settings to give the 'correct' exposure for the shots that won't fool the meter.
Click to expand...
This concisely expresses a basic. The other thing as Phil said is about learning to judge how your subject is lit - not just quantity but quality of light.
 
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