NOISE /GRAINS IN MODERN SENSOR DCAMs

The photo uploaded here is shot with a compact dcam at ISO 400, which inevitably shows the grain when enlarged to 100%. The face of my grand son I picked up from the full frame. The details look merged. My point here is that in compacts if we go above ISO 200, the noise appears. The compacts are sold more so concern for general public. However, if you use prosumers or DSLRs, this problem will arise at ISO 800 and above. During film days the photographers generally got the film rating at ISO 100 for most purposes and for professionals ISO 200 and 400 were readily available in small towns too. So most of photographers used ISO 100 film and got best results and enlargements in weddings, travels and all functions, with good sunlight and bright shadows or indoor or outdoor with good brands of powerful flashguns....

The improvement I made in the image by denoising and slight sharpening it, so my worry of getting a grainy/noisy pic is reduced
and I can get a good enlargement of the full image shot on the small sensor of a compact camera....The sensor size is the main issue of having noisy results because of the compactness/thinness of the small cameras. SO IF YOU shoot with a compact, shoot at the minimum noise level set by the manufacturer i.e. may be ISO 80 or 100. The pros who use DSLRs are aware of the problem and therefore set and shoot according to their requirements.

VIEW LIGHT BEFORE CLICKING.

Here in the position of the car, the light is low because of clouds and adjacent trees...Yes low lighting is tricky and challenging. U need to apply all ur understanding to find out the right exposure without missing ur subject from clicking..U may encounter low light situations when photographing cityscapes in the evening, during rains with heavy clouds or in dusk and night time. Besides this may happen in private lowlit parties and events....THE LIGHT WILL NEED BIGGER APERTURE to allow maximum of light to pass thru camera to sensor....If this does not work and u get still underexposed photos, try to decrease the shutter speed to low which because of dull light, may be at lower side. Here, u will require a tripod. the most essential help in trouble....The other thing remains to satiate ur desire to capture the low light photograph, is to increase the ISO setting on the camera...This will increase chances of u getting more slower shutter speed for perfect exposures....therefore u can come home with some good stuff....In the photo of the car above, i used evaluative metering which read most of the light falling on the car body, then i did one stop minus exposure compensation to have subdued whites.

RAINS--LET COME ALIVE

IT is interesting to photograph in rains. It is a different sort of feeling holding camera during rains, hiding yourself in some shop, bus stand or ant protective where your equipments are safe. Since the atmosphere may go darker, u wud need slower shutter speeds. Therefore, it is essential to avoid camera shakes and improper focusing.U will have to use a UV filter over the lens to protect the lens from rain drops and then getting it scratched while wiping out rain drops. A good filter is ND filter when it is raining and light is brighter to use it to get slower shutter speeds. Rain photographs need not be restricted to rainshowers only....u can shoot ripples and coronets that are formed when rain water hits the ground/roads.

2. The light during rain is so low, that u may need to increase the ISO during daytime too. This will add noise to the photograph. I think noise is a part of a photograph...u can use noise to your advantage converting images to b&w.

3. The above photo i shot from the windscreen of my car, while it was drizzling. You can view the light reflection of scooter on the road and the distorted lamp post because of slipping water on the glass, with more diffusing effects. This is an example. finding out possibilities is endless.

MONSOON ENTERS--BE PREPARED.

THE RAINS JUST STARTED. I switched my ISO TO 3200...therefore a good amount of noise. Took it on manual mode at f3.5 and 1/13. The light is against the lamp-post. you can visibly see the yellow effect of an halogen lamp...the rest blue area is lighted by tubelights and was 200ft away. Therefore i got the distance in the picture. The rains were close to my gate...and it was a good downpour. The halo effect i could not get because there were tree branches near the lamp-post.

2. However one way to capture the droplets of water on a glass pane, try to include the light source like a street lamp in the background. This will show droplets more vibrant and make them stand out clearly. One easy way is to keep the light source out of focus so that the water droplets stand out clearly. Next, you can create another interesting effect by shooting the droplets as bokeh by blurring them out.

3. The lighting conditions during daytime with a good directional sunlight will capture rain effectively. The backlight plays a good role here to bring out the drops of water more clearly. Thus you can try several angles for the prominence of the rains. The sidelight will help light up raindrops partially and add a three dimentional effect to the overall picture. You can use your on camera flash to freeze the droplets during night or after it is dark...Making still life objects, freeze raindrops in closeup mode inside the room by using on/off camera flashes.....LOOK out for the perspective of your subject including with rain water. Avoid camera shakes and wrong focus, not to lose your best efforts.

AMBIENT LIGHT NEEDS FLASH TURN OFF

SOMETIMES PHOTOGRAPHERS MAY NEED TO GIVE THE AMBIENT LIGHT EFFECT to their images...the images will have a warm effect, which will look different from what anybody gets in sunlight, daylight shadows and with flash which throws light equivalent to daylight.

2. Warmer effect may depict a different mood, that is why i chose the ambient light i.e. tungsten light to lit this portrait of my daughter...The background too matches the warm effect, because i used a cream coloured walled at a distance from the subject...The effect i wanted is easily achieved.

3. Here while shooting this sort of photography, the the photographer will have to switch off his builtin or separate flash....these moody shots anybody can take in home with sufficient light by slightly increasing the ISO(generally 400 or 800 will work better without tripod or with tripod), in the parties, where flash light is not allowed or flash will mar the original effect of the hall concentrating light upto a particular distance, in the theatres, where the artists' moods are shown by their own light arrangements, on the roads or in night where again the restricted flash light will distract the overall luminance of the ambient lighting, reading under the table lamp light and shot the mood of study...there are so many like occasions where ambient light is photographers main light source....exploit it to ur best.