FAQ: Photoshop examples

I'm gonna be brave and post some before and afters! These straight out of camera shots (sooc) are for reals. Don't judge too harshly. :) Some are old and some are new.

Notes:

Some photographers prefer to overexpose, but if anything, I tend to underexpose.
I would shoot RAW if only for adjusting white balance.

Indoor window light:

62mm
1/250 sec.
f/2.8
iso 400

Indoor no window:

24mm
1/50 sec.
f/2.8
iso 400

For both examples above, I first adjusted the white balance to a cooler tone while minimizing the green, then raised the brightness.

For the b&w photos, I desaturated the image, then added a curve layer and played with the curve until I liked it. I do the same thing for all my b&w photos. I have searched high and low for a b&w action I like, but I've never found one, so I make them from scratch every time.

Can you guess my adjustments in the next examples?

cloudy:

62mm
1/250 sec.
f/4
iso 400

bright sun:

24mm
1/1600 sec.
f/5
iso 400

backlit:

35mm
1/200 sec.
f/2.8
iso 400

shade:

29mm
1/800 sec.
f/2.8
iso 400

shade 2:

50mm
1/800 sec.
f/2.8
iso 400

and a few landscape. . .

daylight with both sun and shade:

28mm
1/1000 sec
f/2.8
iso 400

cloudy:

24mm
1/160 sec.
f/3.2
iso 640

nighttime:

24mm
1/25 sec.
f/2.8
iso 4000
(I got real lucky without a tripod.)

50mm
1/500 sec.
f/1.8
iso 320

In answer to Kali's question about my go-to settings (hi dear!), I first choose my f-stop depending on the amount of light in the room and the depth-of-field I want (blurriness or sharpness of background), and then I choose my shutter speed. If needed, I adjust shutter speed real quick, but I almost always maintain my original f-stop.

I obviously almost always keep my ISO at 400, even though most photographers will tell you to keep it lower. I used to shoot at 200 when I had a camera that caused terrible noise in anything higher, but with a camera that handles noise well, I prefer 400 just so I can have quicker shutter speeds. (fyi: ISO is like film speed.)

I pretty much love 2.8 if I am indoors taking pictures of my baby. So, you could say that my go-to settings are f/2.8, 1/200 second (give or take), and iso 400. I always focus on the eyes.

p.s. I have a secret dream where I switch to film photography so I don't have to edit at all. :)