quality issue ?

[WsW-WYATT-EARP]

I took a few shots of my dogs today laying in the sun on the couch. Showed them to a friend online. He asks what lens I used then said that my photos just don't look like they came from a DSLR. This isn't the first time he has told me this. I don't know what I am doing wrong to get this type of comment.

I shoot with a Nikon D50 , Tamron 70mm - 300mm F4 - 5.6 w/ macro , and a Sigma 18mm-50mm F3.5 - 5.6. Both lens have a Kenko UV guard.

Here are the 2 pics I showed him of my dogs. Both were taken with the Sigma lens.

The last 2 pics are also taken with the Sigma lens first one with the filter and last one without the filter.

Any suggestions, comments , advice would be greatly appreciated. None of these photos have been post processed except for converting to jpeg and sized for posting. I normally shoot in RAW. If you need or want any more info please ask and I will supply what I can.

Thanks !
Ben

[another view]

Dogs laying on the couch - a familiar sight here!

I think the main problem is that there is just too much of a contrast range for the sensor. This would be true of any digital camera and a lot of film types. Window lit shots usually work better when the light isn't coming directly into the shot. A north facing window or an overcast day would change the contrast range.

Shot #1 looks like it has been lightened in post processing (Photoshop). You can lighten quite a bit and still get decent results - especially with RAW - but there are some tricks to it. Scott Kelby's books are really good if you are using any version of Photoshop. Look for Adobe Photoshop (insert your version here) for Digital Photographers.

Shot #3 has some flare on the lower left side. This makes sense because the window is to your left and is a strong light source. I'm guessing that you didn't use a lens hood which should help a lot with that. I'm not surprised that this is the one with the UV filter - they can add flare. Personally I always use a lens hood but never a UV filter unless the lens will get wet or dirty in whatever situation I'm in, such as a rainy day or a windy day near water.

[WsW-WYATT-EARP]

Thanks for the reply and advice ... none of these shots had any processing done to them except for resize and convert to jpg .. my concern is that he has told me this a few times about my photos " they just don't look like they come from a DSLR" ... that bothers me ... alot of my photos are spur of the moment shots ... like the top 2 in this post .. the dogs were just laying there and the shadows looked cool on the dog on top of the couch .. so i took some shots ...

i know i have alot to learn about getting "the shot" and learning more about it .. just bothers me when someone tells me that my camera (or me) is not taking good photos ...

[freygr]

clip....
my concern is that he has told me this a few times about my photos " they just don't look like they come from a DSLR" ... that bothers me ... alot of my photos are spur of the moment shots ... like the top 2 in this post .. the dogs were just laying there and the shadows looked cool on the dog on top of the couch .. so i took some shots ...

i know i have alot to learn about getting "the shot" and learning more about it .. just bothers me when someone tells me that my camera (or me) is not taking good photos ...

I didn't see anything wrong with those photos, just the lighting was not the best for good digital photography. Digital is very like shooting slide film.

[Frog]

What does he think they look like they are from? An oatmeal box?
They may not be prize winning photos or something you are going to publish but they are just what they are....pictures of your dogs.
Tell your 'friend' to be more specific.

[another view]

"they just don't look like they come from a DSLR"

There's nothing magical about a DSLR. I've seen excellent work from compact digitals; it's all about the light. A lot of magazine photos that you will see - ads especially - will have extensive post production work done to them. It's almost a style, really. DSLR's give you more options and generally higher quality images that you can do more with in post, but if you had a decent compact digital and a DSLR and set them up the same (jpeg mode, color saturation, etc), there probably wouldn't be much difference looking at the images right out of the camera. Start working with curves and levels a lot and you'll see the differences show up. Other differences too, but again one shot isn't necessarily better than another just because it came from a DSLR.

[WsW-WYATT-EARP]

thanks for the input! really appreciate it ... I know I haven't gotten "the shot" yet ... but practice and patience will get me closer to that ... as I said 90% of my shots are done when they have to be done .. I haven't had time to go find a subject and wait for the "golden hour" ...

thanks again ..

Ben

[Ronnoco]

Lighting is one of your major problems. To simply things, you should be near the window shooting inward toward the dog rather than outward toward the window, which fools your meter and causes other problems. Fill flash and a reflector are also used in these situations to spread and even out the light for an overall better shot. Even turning on an interior light or focusing a light on the dog can help as well, if you control the white balance carefully.

Ronnoco

[WsW-WYATT-EARP]

thanks again ... more learning ... never ends ... some day i will get it---

I didn't post the images to get a critique ... just more of a why i get the comments i got .... I am more afraid of not having the right set up ( bad lens / bad filter / wrong filter ) .. that is why I labeled the thread "quality issues" .. I can handle the fact that I am not taking a good photo .. just don't want the equipment to be faulty ...

thanks again !! appreciated

Ben

[Liz]

Ben,

You have the right stuff! You just need practice and more practice. If I were you, I would take more pictures, go to the Critique section and ask for specific help. This is what helped me improve in my photography.

BTW, you got off to a good start.

Liz

thanks again ... more learning ... never ends ... some day i will get it---

I didn't post the images to get a critique ... just more of a why i get the comments i got .... I am more afraid of not having the right set up ( bad lens / bad filter / wrong filter ) .. that is why I labeled the thread "quality issues" .. I can handle the fact that I am not taking a good photo .. just don't want the equipment to be faulty ...

thanks again !! appreciated

Ben