Hmm, we thought taking picture was easy

The more I dig into the ways to take better picture with digital, the more I feel like fumbling with a computer than taking picture. Just to list a few that we need to know: ISO, white balance, shutter speed, aperture, depth of field, file size, JPG or RAW (DNG), if it is JPG whether it is fine, normal or basic, even camera profile.

The list of things to consider before taking a picture is getting more and more, no wonder the number of good photos are still selective.

My recommendation from the latest read and experiment :

ISO - set at the camera's base ISO close to 200 or 100 (not 80 or 160 as it is easier to think in round numbers). This will eliminate one variable.

Use RAW, or JPG normal ( I find there is no additional advantage of JPG fine, but a larger file size). I find the N brand has very good jpg output, I almost always shoot JPG with N camera. With L camera, the DNG color is so green, most Chinese with yellow skin will look  greenish-pale. Luckily, there is a profile to adjust for the excessive green and get the color as correct as possible. Please bear in mind, this is not white balance which is caused by the changing of lighting color temperature, so no white balance adjustment can change it except adjusting the camera profile. It took me quite a long time to realize that the M camera is not accurate in color.

If you are shooting with good optic, always experiment with the best aperture and stick with it. No point to stop down if the performance of F2.0 is almost as good unless you have to increase the depth of field. This will eliminate another variable.

Oh, no. The white balance. There are at least 8001 variables from 2000K to 10000K. It is almost always not possible to get the correct white balance. Without the correct white balance, most skin tone will be very yellow. Remember, except for convenience, auto white balance is not always correct, and the time when we get the white balance wrong is more than 50% outdoor. When we are shooting indoor, the chances of getting the white balance wrong is almost 100%.

A simple shot of the skyline in Hong Kong. Looks acceptable, but you don't know what you have missed until you use the dropper in lightroom and point to the grey wall/

Still not a fantastic picture, but the color is so much more realistic without the blue cast which I got from auto white balance of the R brand camera. I am sure the N, C, F, L brands all behave similarly  here and there, since there are 8001 color temperature variables, the only way is to include something white or grey in your picture. Once you have this, it is just a matter of point and click.

Another example:

This picture was considered acceptable until I realized that the white bowl is yellowish. So with the magic click...

Now the skin tone is healthy not like being sick.

I am going to shoot some Fuji ISO 100 film this week, as the film is no longer imported into Singapore and Hong Kong due to low demand. Those who shot film now are using Lomo camera or cheap point and shoot film camera which needs at least ISO 200 or ISO400 to get some more speed to offset the small aperture of this type of camera.

BTW, are you stocking up Kodak Ektar ISO 100 film? If not, please do, and keep it in the fridge. This film has beautiful color, very smooth tone, but I think it is going to go down. Good luck!