First off, I'd like to congratulate Nancy on her wonderful winning entry in the previous challenge!!. Nancy has asked me to host this challenge and I am honored to do so!
Do some of the camera settings intimidate you? Do you want to learn how to develop your photography skills and learn how to use your camera effectively without always going back to the “auto” function? These challenges are for you!
This week’s challenge is: In Camera Picture Styles/Control modification or "Pre-Processing"
For this challenge, you will need to find Picture Styles if you have a Canon, or Picture Control if you have a Nikon (if you have some other dSLR, I recommend googling or consulting your manual) in your camera's menu. You will need to select one you can modify (with Canon, you'll select User Defined). You can do monochrome, Standard, Portrait, Vivid, whatever you want, but you must modify the settings. You modify them by increasing them +1 to +3 or decreasing them -1 to -3.
I have an example below. For this, I started with User Defined, selected Monochrome as my template, increased Sharpness +1 and Contrast +3. I selected no filter and no tone effect...
You don't have to do monochrome... you can do color. But the rule is, you cannot do ANY edits (other than adding your signature or watermark if you like) after you press down on the shutter release. Pretty simple, because there are only 2 rules: 1) Make a modification in camera and 2) No edits after the shot is taken. I highly recommend experimenting using the same aperture and shutter speed on all shots to see how increasing and decreasing different things affects your photo. Feel free to play with ISO, white balance, etc as well. You want the end result to appear to have had some degree of post processing, but have all of it done IN CAMERA.
Experienced photographers who are knowledgeable in this particular setting are encouraged to offer “kind and constructive” suggestions on the posted entries. Those entering this challenge want to learn and improve.
This challenge starts today, Thursday, September 20th, and will go through September 30th. All photos must be taken during these dates to be considered. Enter as many as you would like- the idea is to practice & learn. TAG YOUR PHOTO CSC-13 AND post your picture in this thread to receive feedback from other experienced photographers specific to this challenge.
I will then select the finalists and you will have 2 or 3 days to vote. The winner of the challenge will select an experienced photographer to host a new challenge. It is the winner’s option on who they want to host the next challenge; it may be someone they follow whose work they admire, or someone who is active offering suggestions on previous CSC challenges. The winner may also select an experienced photographer from the list of photographers who have agreed to host future challenges as another option. Here is the link to that list: http://365project.org/myhrhelper/365/2011-12-12
Expect to receive constructive suggestions on how to improve your skills.
How to post your photo on this link:
1) Go to your page that has the photo you wish to post.
2) Copy the “share” code in the bottom right section of that page.
3) Return to this thread and paste the code under comments
Have fun and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!!!
I searched for this setting for the camera when I looked at your bridge shot Jeff. Will be great to play around with this, thanks for hosting this challenge
I don't use any pre process other than getting the settings right nor am I going to but white balance is a good way to go if you want a processed look.. try tungsten in the daylight for example (This really warms things up on an overcast day), or as a lot of people do, shoot shade all the time just to warm things up a little.
@ayearinthelifeof any adjustment you make on your camera prior to pressing down on the shutter release is pre-processing, including setting your aperture and shutter speed. This challenge is to get people to realize they don't have to rely on what Canon, Nikon, etc think are the "correct" settings for contrast, saturation, etc. Also that by modifying those settings, you can get drastic results if you want them.
Oh, I am so looking forward to this challenge! I have learned so much just reading about how these setting work. I can't wait to put them to the test. This feels like it could be a big step forward in actually using my camera properly, HA!
@jsw0109 I see, I might have a crack, I set everything to zero after reading this is the best way to go for stock photography, I don't sell stock as yet though so there is no reason why I can't. I was just offering that little gem of knowledge for anyone who is thinking of having a go. I have used the shade setting for a while but only found out about tungsten the other day. It obviously depends on the subject, daylight to tungstun won't always give the desired effect.
I am considering not participating in this challenge because my basic set is vivid, contrast +1, sharpness +1, and saturation -1. However if I decide to change from vivid, I will reconsider. Thank you Jeff for this challenege, it is good to experiement with these sett8ings.
@chapjohn did you change it to +1 contrast, +1 sharpness and - 1 saturation or is that Nikon's setting? You should have an option to alter one or more settings. You can always set them back after you're done, but if you're already modifying those settings in camera, then this is not something for you to learn anyway. This is for people who may have wondered what the settings were for but never messed with them because they weren't sure about them.... this is an opportunity to learn.
@jsw0109 Haha yeah, I have seen that the morning after when you forget to check these things and shoot! I generally do use the right WB nowadays but it isn't an issue when shooting in RAW as I can change it in UFRaw when I get home if needs be.
@chapjohn I typically have it set on Vivid but through this challenge I discovered that there are actually some additional settings I can choose under the Vivid option - I was surprised to see them! Perhaps you discovered them already before, if so why not take a shot for the rest of us to see & learn.
Also, There may be times in the future you want a B&W, or high key effect for a portrait - I now know that I can get alot of those adjustments using that section of the camera settings which would save tons of time in processing.
I'm pretty excited at my new discovery thanks to Jeff! @jsw0109
Below were a couple quick shots to simply play with the settings - during this challenge I will go out & do some serious photography
@myhrhelper I really like the effect on that top one... and I can see where the settings on the bottom could be really nice for certain things as well. Nice experimenting!
hey Jeff... i played with this today and LOVE this feature - not sure i am 100% thrilled with what i got today, but that's just a matter of working on the settings and focus... this is gonna be fun... Tx!!!!!
@jsw0109 Jeff, I love this challenge. Like Kathy I shoot a fair amount in Vivid and didn't even realize there were subsettings. For today I decided to try a Monochrome.
@lstasel I like the toning... and you framed it perfectly with an excellent dof. I think you're on to something with this shot. I wonder how it would look if you used either shade or tungsten white balance?
@jsw0109 Funny you should mention the "shade" setting. I had used the "shade" WB for the Vivid shots I took and had just changed it back to Auto when I shot the Monochrome.
So for some of the next shots I will try some different WBs. The Filter Effects look interesting also.
ok - here it is... this is a hip shot... in camera settings were monochrome with a sepia toner having boosted the contrast by 4 and the sharpness by 2... i do think i like the settings... i took a bunch of shots with it today and liked them more than i should ;p
@myhrhelper@jsw0109 I got out to shoot today, first time in two weeks that went somewhere, please look at my photos of 9-20 (B&W) & 9-21 (color). I will post the B&W image here too. I had not set these controls for B&W images before. These will SOOC.
Jeff, I set those values in vivid default is 0. Although, Sony does a great work at default values also and those may need little PP.
CSC-13 I played around so much with settings today that I can't remember what settings I had this on. However, it has been good to play around as I have not done this before so now feel I am no longer afraid to change things
@rosiekind the first one actually has a vintage look to it which is fitting for the subject. I like the clarity in the 3rd one (whatever your settings were, they improved the clarity indirectly - sometimes you have to turn contrast down to have that indirect effect, so I wonder if this is contrast -1)
I was going to shoot some more B&W or Toned shots today but found these thistles still blooming. I found after yesterday that my camera does not log all of the settings into exif so I wrote down all of the settings.
This was a great challenge as I knew nothing about those settings. I used Monochrome with Sharpness +2, Contrast +1, Filter red, though I'm not sure what effect the red filter had on it. And then voila, look what came out sooc!
@jsw0109 Thanks Jeff. I also tried the shot in B&W but had the brightness set at +1. It blew out the highlights on the right side of the thistle where the sun was shining.
This one shot in monochrome with the following settings: cloud ISO 200 sharpeing +2 contrast +6 Filter effects R (not sure what that means either) Toning cyanotype 4
I don't like this one very much but I thought I would post it just to prove that I have tried something very different from my usual settings
Today I decided to try the "Neutral" setting and I have to admit that I really don't care for it. Maybe I just don't understand the setting. I assumed it would give me neutral colors but most of my shots looked just like the "Standard" setting. This is the best of all of the shots, that is mostly because the photo was neutral already.
@lstasel I could be wrong, but I think "neutral" basically gives everything a muted look. If you ever try the faithful setting or template, the colors will come out looking like they really do, so if you wanted more color, you'd need to increase saturation
@jsw0109 Thanks Jeff. That was my thought that I would get a muted look. I also set saturation to -1 thinking it would desaturate more. The photo I posted was pretty much already desaturated. The ones I didn't post were not muted much at all even with saturation set to -1.
Here is one of the other photos. Neutral; Sharpening +3; Contrast +1; Saturation -1; Brightness 0; Hue 0. Maybe I should try again and set Saturation to -3. That is as far as it will let me go.
I also never thought about what would happen to my NEF files. They are still color.
@lstasel I shoot in RAW and JPG because if I do anything at all to color, whether its shooting in monochrome or desaturating a photo, the RAW file is in standard as though I didn't do anything.. only the JPG file is affected. That way, if I decide I don't care for it once I see it large on the computer, I can use the RAW file.
FYI - both shots were taken the same day September 23rd but I had to post them on two different days since I don't have an Ace Account. (If the economy gets better and my business does better I can spend more money - things are tight in the employment world for professional positions right now)
@myhrhelper I like the contrast and darks in the top one and the sky in the bottom one. There's also something about the trees in the 2nd one that makes the bottom one more interesting, but I can't put my finger on it.
Today I did an experiment using the filters in the Monochrome setting.
All photos were shot: Monochrome; Sharpening +4; Contrast +2; Brightness 0; Toning B&W except first shot.
1. Standard; Sharpening +4; Contrast +2; Brightness 0. So you can see what the original colors are. SOOC
2. No Filter
3. Red Filter
4. Green Filter
5. Yellow Filter
6. Orange Filter
I was shooting in a pretty stiff breeze so the focus is not great but I think I have a better understanding of how the filters work. I had used the filters in some of my other shots and could not really see a difference but this shot really shows how the filters affect B&W.
Prior to the shot, I selected the 'sunset' option from within the camera, and then adjusted both the contrast and saturation settings under that option.
This is the first time I've ever tried to use the custom picture style settings. I'm very pleased how it came out for a first time attempt. Thanks for such an interesting challenge. I learned a lot today about my camera that I didn't know before. I'll keep working with different settings and see what else I can come up with for this challenge. :-)
User Define picture style is Monochrome, with Sharpness: +4, Contrast: +4, Filter Effect: Red, and Toning: Sepia
My camera is set at sharpness of 4 so I left it at that, I changed the contrast to -4 to see what I would get.
This shot is sooc with the changing of settings
What do you set the contrast at?, Is it lighting, etc that determine the setting? or is it just preference? Sorry just three questions out of twenty I have about this. I do play with the contrast in postprocessing but I don't really understand it. What type of shot would you use the negative in? just to add question number 4
@wenbow in bright light situations, I would turn the contrast down, but if I want things to pop under normal outdoor lighting, I turn the contrast up. Turning it down when its bright helps prevent bright areas from ending up with no data when you capture it, and prevents your shadowy areas from taking over. In your example, increasing the contrast would have helped the lamb stand out from its mother (although, as much as you turned contrast down, if it was bright out, maybe only turn it down one instead of 4....kinda hard to say without knowing how bright it was at the time)
@jsw0109 Thanks for the explanation, Jeff. This was taken not long before dusk so it wasn't very bright. I wanted to show this one because I didn't understand how the negatives worked in the contrast. I did bump up the contrast in my others shots & they do bring out the sheep better. I think the confusion of the amount of combinations you can have between the sharpness & contrast is a little overwelming as to what to use when. Thank you again
Clouds again, we've got a of them here just now :)
Picture Control: Monochrome
Sharpening: 6
Contrast: +2
Brightness: 0
Filter Effect: Orange
Tone: Blue(2)
Exposure Compensation: -2/3 stop
My camera has scales so I am guessing as to what some of the settings were:
Monochrome
Sharpening +3
Filter effect red (I actually don't recall setting that)
Toning brown
Sepia 4
Okay, I gave it a first shot. Think that this pre-processing might be more effective in b&w though. Thanks so much for giving us the chance to try these :)
@jsw0109 Thanks Jeff. When I spotted the leaf I thought "what a great photo". I think the tree is gone. A real shame since it was just planted in the spring.
After re-reading the challenge instructions I may have done too much.
Anyway, here it is.
WB - Cool white florescent
Picture control - Vivid
Sharpening 7
Contrast +1
Saturation +1.
@mikehamm if all you did was in camera, then you didn't do too much....the only rules were that you had to tweak at least one thing such as contrast, saturation, etc and you couldn't do anything to it once you pressed the shutter release
I took this for the Artist Challenge but was hoping I could adjust the settings to meet the camera settings as well. I don't remember all the specific settings since I took several shots with different ones.
This is the first time I really used these settings and am so excited about exploring more effects in camera. Thank You Jeff for this wonderful challenge! @jsw0109
B&W Setting, Contrast +2, Sharpness +2, Filter - Blue
@salza for the challenge, please tag prior to cropping. If you're an ace member with more than one album, you can always make a copy and crop the copy, but don't tag the cropped one for the challenge. The idea is to learn and see how much you can accomplish in camera, including how you frame your shot
@tctime that sunflower is gorgeous! I was playing with using monochrome with a red filter and sepia tone while photographing roses....I really liked the results... the blue filter is extremely versatile, its kinda hard to go wrong with it imho :)
@jsw0109 Thanks Jeff, I have posted two separate shots. I reread your instructions and deemed that cropping was not allowed. Have only tagged the uncropped picture for the challenge.
I almost didn't take this shot because I thought the color version would be far superior but I really like the black & white. Sepia might give it that "fall" look.
Part of an art installation by the river. I couldn't flip it in camera so it looks more like a hook than a question mark.
Picture Control: Monochrome
Sharpness: 7
Contrast: +2
Filter Effect: Red
Toning: Blue(7)
Exposure Compensation: -1 Stop
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Will have a play over the weekend.
@onie Thank you Leonie, now I know where to look since we have the same camera!
Also, There may be times in the future you want a B&W, or high key effect for a portrait - I now know that I can get alot of those adjustments using that section of the camera settings which would save tons of time in processing.
I'm pretty excited at my new discovery thanks to Jeff! @jsw0109
Below were a couple quick shots to simply play with the settings - during this challenge I will go out & do some serious photography
Sharpening +3, Contrast +1, Brightness 0, Filter Effects off, Toning Red/Purple 3.
Like Northy I am not 100% thrilled with what I shot today but it is a good start.
So for some of the next shots I will try some different WBs. The Filter Effects look interesting also.
Jeff, I set those values in vivid default is 0. Although, Sony does a great work at default values also and those may need little PP.
CSC-13
Sharpness was +3 contrast +1 and saturation 0 ISO setting was 800 (no flash) and white balance was warm setting
CSC-13
Colour setting was standard for all 3 pics sharpness +5 contrast and saturation 0 white balance
CSC-13 I played around so much with settings today that I can't remember what settings I had this on. However, it has been good to play around as I have not done this before so now feel I am no longer afraid to change things
Vivid; Sharpening +3; Contrast +2; Brightness 0; Saturation +2; Hue 0; White Balance Cloudy
@ferry_tjan Love the color and focus. Amazing shot.
@myhrhelper Great shot Kathy. Love all of the details in the jail. Also the reflections of the trees in the windows.
CSC-13 Settings used Cloudy Vivid ISO 800 sharpeing & contrast +5 saturation +1 on aperture priority which is what I used for most of my shots
CSC-13 I used cloudy ISO 200 sharpening A (not sure what that means on my Nikon) contrast +2 saturation +3
This one shot in monochrome with the following settings: cloud ISO 200 sharpeing +2 contrast +6 Filter effects R (not sure what that means either) Toning cyanotype 4
I don't like this one very much but I thought I would post it just to prove that I have tried something very different from my usual settings
Neutral; Sharpening +3; Contrast +1; Brightness 0; Saturation -1; Hue 0; White Balance Sunny
I think I will do a little reading on what exactly "neutral" is.
Not sure what I am doing and think I have recorded all settings correctly. Having a great time experimenting.
Canon 1000D
Picture Style ~ Monochrome
Sharpness + 1
Contrast - 2
Filter effect , Red
Toning effect, Sepia
WB ~ Cloudy
Here is one of the other photos. Neutral; Sharpening +3; Contrast +1; Saturation -1; Brightness 0; Hue 0. Maybe I should try again and set Saturation to -3. That is as far as it will let me go.
I also never thought about what would happen to my NEF files. They are still color.
And Here is another shot
FYI - both shots were taken the same day September 23rd but I had to post them on two different days since I don't have an Ace Account. (If the economy gets better and my business does better I can spend more money - things are tight in the employment world for professional positions right now)
Bee-yond time and space...exposure -2/3, sharpness -1, monochrome
http://365project.org/welcometocarolworld/365/2012-09-24">
Picture Control: Monochrome
Sharpening: 6
Contrast: +1
Brightness: 0
Filter Effect: Red
Exposure Compensation: +2/3 stop
one sepia - monochrome, +5 sharpness, +4 contrast with a sepia toner
All photos were shot: Monochrome; Sharpening +4; Contrast +2; Brightness 0; Toning B&W except first shot.
1. Standard; Sharpening +4; Contrast +2; Brightness 0. So you can see what the original colors are. SOOC
2. No Filter
3. Red Filter
4. Green Filter
5. Yellow Filter
6. Orange Filter
I was shooting in a pretty stiff breeze so the focus is not great but I think I have a better understanding of how the filters work. I had used the filters in some of my other shots and could not really see a difference but this shot really shows how the filters affect B&W.
Prior to the shot, I selected the 'sunset' option from within the camera, and then adjusted both the contrast and saturation settings under that option.
User Define picture style is Monochrome, with Sharpness: +4, Contrast: +4, Filter Effect: Red, and Toning: Sepia
This shot is sooc with the changing of settings
What do you set the contrast at?, Is it lighting, etc that determine the setting? or is it just preference? Sorry just three questions out of twenty I have about this. I do play with the contrast in postprocessing but I don't really understand it. What type of shot would you use the negative in? just to add question number 4
Left contrast 4 & Right contrast -4
Picture Control: Monochrome
Sharpening: 6
Contrast: +2
Brightness: 0
Filter Effect: Orange
Tone: Blue(2)
Exposure Compensation: -2/3 stop
And another one here.
My camera has scales so I am guessing as to what some of the settings were:
Monochrome
Sharpening +3
Filter effect red (I actually don't recall setting that)
Toning brown
Sepia 4
Vivid; Sharpening +3; Contrast +1; Brightness 0; Saturation +2; Hue 0
I also shot it in Monochrome, Sepia but I liked the colors in it.
Picture Control: Monochrome
Sharpening: 6
Contrast: 0
Brightness: 0
Filter Effect: Red
Exposure Compensation: -2/3 stop
Another one I played with...this time using color.
Vivid
Sharpening 5?
Saturation +2
Hue +1
Anyway, here it is.
WB - Cool white florescent
Picture control - Vivid
Sharpening 7
Contrast +1
Saturation +1.
Thanks.
Picture Control - Monochrome, Sepia 2, Filters off, Contrast +3, Brightness +1
Monotone Setting, Contrast +2, Sharpness +2
This is the first time I really used these settings and am so excited about exploring more effects in camera. Thank You Jeff for this wonderful challenge! @jsw0109
B&W Setting, Contrast +2, Sharpness +2, Filter - Blue
1. Vivid, Sharpening +3; Contrast +2; Brightness 0; Saturation +2; Hue +1
I almost didn't take this shot because I thought the color version would be far superior but I really like the black & white. Sepia might give it that "fall" look.
Mono; Sharpening +3; Contrast +1; Brightness 0; Filter Orange; Toning B&w
Picture control: Vivid
Quick set: -1
Picture Style ~ Faithful
Sharpness 5 / Contrast -1/ Saturation 0 / Colour tone 1
Picture Style ~ Faithful
Sharpness 5 / Contrast -1/ Saturation 0 / Colour tone 1
Picture Style ~Monochrome
Sharpness 4 / Contrast -2/ Filter effect Orange/ Toning effect N
Picture Style ~ Faithful
Sharpness 5 / Contrast -1/ Saturation 0 / Colour tone 1
Picture Style ~Monochrome
Sharpness 4 / Contrast -2/ Filter effect Orange/ Toning effect N
Picture Style ~ Faithful
Sharpness 5 / Contrast -1/ Saturation 0 / Colour tone 1
Picture Control: Monochrome
Sharpness: 7
Contrast: +2
Filter Effect: Red
Toning: Blue(7)
Exposure Compensation: -1 Stop