touching up digital photos is it always necessary

[chinadoll]

I've got a 4mega pixel digital camera. I take phtos with it and in day time shoots they always look good. However in indoor shooting conditions I always have to touch up the photos using software to introduce backlight, remove noise, sharpen etc....is this part and parcel of using a digital camera ...how many users on ab find themselves retouching their digiphotos with software through necessity rather than artistic preferences

[Hippy]

If your camera will allow it, reduce the ASA rating. This will reduce the sensitivity to light, by reducing the amplification from the light sensor, and hence reducing the noise. I habitually use ASA 80. It is still just fine for outdoor work, however the flash settings are a bit more severe for indoor work.

 

You might try recording your pictures as TIFF images (much less compression), or even experimenting with RAW, no compression or balancing in the camera at all, processing later on PC. Hard work but you don't lose anything.

 

It is a photo-truisim that, "If you don't light it, you don't see it". For night and indoor work, there is no substitute for good lighting to start with, and by that I don't mean a single photoflood bulb instead of the usual light bulb. Strangely, you have to light the shadows if they are to mean anything.

 

A good exercise is to watch 1950s or earlier Hollywood films, preferably in black and white. Look at the internal scenes, especially long shots where all the characters are visible. You can see by the shadows being cast that there are multiple light sources, usually three, left, right and above but to one side, with occasional snoots, that is narrow shafts of light into which the characters move during significant bits of action or dialogue. Also notice how the lighting changes for the medium shots and again for the close ups. These shots are, of course, all taken separately, not in continuous action.

 

For all its speed of production and use of multiple camera angles on continuous action, "Coronation Street" is quite skillfully lit. You don't notice it unless you look, and it certainly is quite unlike any terraced house I've ever been in, but it is very effective in complementing the action.

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