Why is coming out flat

[scott1120]

I have noticed this shot looks flat. Is this the best I can expect out of a kit lens or is there a setting I can set?

[riteflyt]

well the shot looks back lit, so you will have to play with it to get any good contrast out of it. but it is fixable, try levels and contrast, if it is a RAW original, then you can play with the exposure and such.

[boxofrocks]

The white balance may have been off a tad.

How does this look?

before:



After contrast and saturation adjustments and sharpening (30 secs in PS):

[KdLaneJr]

I don't believe it is the fault of your kits lens. If that is truly what the steps and trees looked like than you've correctly captured.

If it is not what you wanted to see after post-processing, than perhaps a bit more processing is in order.

Something like this perhaps...

[MC Images]

Ajusted contrast, brightness, curves, saturation levels.

[CaptainTom]

Scott
I am assuming you are fairly new to DSLR? If not, plese disregard this since you already know it.

The DSLR camera is designed to capture the widest range of light and dark areas of the scene as possible. When we look at a scene, our brain, which has more processing power than your camera, will interpret the colors, contrast, lights, darks, etc. into the final image that you "see". In order to duplicate this, we have to use post procesing software on the data that the camera has captured. We "manipulate" the data until we get the final image we want.

Why do P&S cameras sometimes come up with better initial photos than DSLR ?
P&S cameras have built in image processors that take all the data and run it through the same conversions for color, exposure, etc. What you get in the end is already "post processed". In the post processing, some data is always discarded. With a P&S you don't have the luxury of deciding what data to keep, etc.

With the DSLR you have the control.

[scott1120]

Tom,
That explains alot. On my Powershot I had the sturation turned up and they looked good to me. Does this apply to RAW also? If I understand what you are saying a shot straight out DSLR is not going to look like I want it to with some kind of post-processing.

[scott1120]

Tom (boxofrocks),
I like the version with upped sat/contrast.

[scott1120]

So I guess i should not feel bad if a shot needs post-processing?

[boxofrocks]

Originally Posted by scott1120

So I guess i should not feel bad if a shot needs post-processing?

You get to a point where you set your in-camera settings to the point where most of your shots come pretty close to what you want, but that's after a fair amount of trial and error. Even then, you still wind up doing some post work to most of your "favorites".

And even if you have several setting banks saved, you may not have them perfect since shooting conditions always vary.

[supaxtiger]

sharpen or smart sharpen in adobe it will define the shot sand look in depths too by using blur tool in such areas

[Daniel Bates]

Originally Posted by scott1120

So I guess i should not feel bad if a shot needs post-processing?

I process nearly all of the work I shoot - mostly it's just some quick PS actions work, but the really nice images sometimes get a lot of processing to make them look their best.

[Duffy Pratt]

Originally Posted by scott1120

So I guess i should not feel bad if a shot needs post-processing?

I have yet to take a shot that could not benefit from post-processing work. If you shoot RAW, you will be doing some post-processing no matter what (even if it is to accept the camera defaults). If you shoot in .jpg, then what you get are some preset processing parameters for exposure, gamma, blackpoint, contrast, sharpness, etc... How often do you think the machine algorithm will work better than what a skilled person can do???

And, how the shot should be processed will depend on your intended output. I've recently been working on a bunch of vacation pictures. I've punched up the greens on alot of them, and they look great that way on a monitor. But when I print them on my Canon 9900, the greens look oversaturated. Which is correct? The answer is that the saturated greens are correct on an LCD, but a less saturated green would be better for a print with this printer.

Duffy

[brianmcho]

yeah...i just recently came to realize how useful post-processing is....

lots of good advice here.

[ddaybuff]

To me is looks like a bright part of the day and often when I take photos during mid day, they look flatter than early or late in the day.