need some help with scenery photography

Cuchulain · 16 Dec 2013 at 12:25

A little while ago you guys gave me some solid advice on product photography and it's worked out really well, we get regular complements on it now so thanks for that.

I'm having some bother with scenic shots now though and just want to check if it's me being an idiot or the lens I'm using being crap.

I use a Sigma 10-20mm at 10mm, F/10, ISO 100, focus lock to a point around 3m away then re-frame and shoot, tripod mounted using 10 sec timer.

Everything I seem to shoot ends up either soft or noisy and under-saturated. It may just be me not taking the shots properly or not using the right settings, I just want a scenic shot with a full depth of field.

Thanks in advance.

Sh4rkie · 16 Dec 2013 at 16:20

What body do you have? Can you do bracketed exposures?

f10 should be more or less the sweet spot of the lens, and focusing at 3m should have everything from there to infinity in focus.

Can you post an example with exif data intact?

englishpremier · 16 Dec 2013 at 16:24

DOF should be infinite at those settings.

Do you have any examples?

I don't understand why you'd be getting noisy shots shooting landscaps from a tripod.

D.P. · 16 Dec 2013 at 16:38

Cuchulain said:
A little while ago you guys gave me some solid advice on product photography and it's worked out really well, we get regular complements on it now so thanks for that.

I'm having some bother with scenic shots now though and just want to check if it's me being an idiot or the lens I'm using being crap.

I use a Sigma 10-20mm at 10mm, F/10, ISO 100, focus lock to a point around 3m away then re-frame and shoot, tripod mounted using 10 sec timer.

Everything I seem to shoot ends up either soft or noisy and under-saturated. It may just be me not taking the shots properly or not using the right settings, I just want a scenic shot with a full depth of field.

Thanks in advance.

Post some examples, because what you are saying doesn't really add up as the others have said (you have plenty of DoF and you should have no noise at ISO100).

If the images are soft then the lens may be at fault or your tripod is not up to the task. The mirror may be causing vibration, use mirror lock-up if you have it or exposure delay if you don't have MLU.

Lastly, once you have these technical issues resolved just be aware that shooting at 10mm is extremely difficult to pull off and only works for certain scenes. Ultra wide angle lenses are absurdly hard to compose with. I love the effects when it works but it is a real challenge to have sufficient fore-, mid- and back-ground interest with appropriate connecting visual cues.

Cuchulain · 16 Dec 2013 at 17:15

Sh4rkie said:
What body do you have? Can you do bracketed exposures?

f10 should be more or less the sweet spot of the lens, and focusing at 3m should have everything from there to infinity in focus.

Can you post an example with exif data intact?

I can do bracketed exposures but I don't really want to have to bugger about combining images, I've got some cokin ND grads on the way so the sky doesn't overexpose.

Probably should have kept some of the ones I tried from yesterday but I formatted the card they were on this morning

I'll get out later in the week and get some samples and keep the exif intact.

AHarvey · 16 Dec 2013 at 17:48

if you've not used the card since you could recover them to save people waiting.

Not sure about the lens/camera but any stabilization in lens or camera would result in blurry images when used on a tripod.

Sh4rkie · 16 Dec 2013 at 19:15

Cuchulain said:
I can do bracketed exposures but I don't really want to have to bugger about combining images, I've got some cokin ND grads on the way so the sky doesn't overexpose.

Probably should have kept some of the ones I tried from yesterday but I formatted the card they were on this morning I'll get out later in the week and get some samples and keep the exif intact.

It's not so much the ability to create a HDR type image for the bracketing, more to shift the exposure up and down slightly. If an image is over exposed it could introduce noise vs a correctly exposed image. If you do a bracketed shot say a third of a stop above and below it'll give you ability to compare them when you get back to your computer.

Try some images without the ND grads, and also remove any additional glass e.g. uv filters, lens protector if present. Just to see eliminate everything so you're shooting with the least amount of kit as possible. It might take a little more time but it'll be worth it if you find the issue.

Also try another lens with the same settings (exposure) as the Sigma, again for a point of comparison.

If you're doing long exposures remember to cover the viewfinder (assuming a dslr) as any stray light can impact upon image quality depending upon exposure length and its strength.

Cuchulain · 16 Dec 2013 at 22:35

Thanks for all the tips folks, lot of a good advice which I'll use. Need to wait until the weather picks up before I try again but I appreciate all the help.