Canon EOS 40D on Manual mode & in RAW

[Gas Man]

In the past couple of days I have decided to start playing around with my camera in Manual mode and shooting in RAW mode also.

I took a number of images trying to work out settings and so on and have taken this image and am wanting some feed back on the image, it isn't the subject in question i'm asking for feed back on, it's the quality and so on, and please, be honest, haha.

[MarkChap]

Don't really know what you are after, but

It is sharp, DOF is very good
White balance looks off, but that can be fixed in PP, and your table looks a bit short (slopeing) on the right hand side ??

[MrJorge]

Also not sure what you're after but it looks pretty good. Nice DOF affect. Kinda wish I could see more of the chair and the background to get more of a story from it but not sure you're asking for critique on the image... or are you?

Technically looks very sharp but perhaps a tad bright in the backgrounds.

[BLWNHR]

Technically ok, 'subject' is sharp, background OOF. Can't comment on it any further as the white-balance is miles off. Shooting indoor you need to manually set your WB or alter it in your RAW converter (the advantage of shooting RAW).

I grabbed the image and played with its WB levels and the colour is very good. Very natural feeling and with the colour corrected it really pulls the texture out of the cushion in the foreground.

[Gas Man]

Yea I wasn't after any comments on the subject or the actual photo, just the way it was taken, like sharpness, DOF and so on, white balance I will play with then.

[Gas Man]

BLENHR, I'd be interested to see what you came up with when you played with the WB levels.

[sixfootfour]

I like the warm White Balance

Bokeh is silky smooth and the focus is tack sharp, good photo as far as skill goes.

[Gas Man]

Cheers, so I need to read my manual more and play around with the WB then, haha.

[B D H]

I've just discovered the benefits of using custom white balance
I was having a real problem shooting in areas where low voltage halogen lighting was used
read up on custom WB setting

[MarkChap]

Cheers, so I need to read my manual more and play around with the WB then, haha.

You said you shot RAW ??

Adjust the WB in your RAW convertor

[Gas Man]

Yea I know but would still like to play around with WB in the camera though also.

[enduro]

WB has been offset in this image by whatever your choice was. Mostly, I choose auto WB, though you do have several other options, including tungsten bulb (under which this shot was taken).

You have no EXIF data in the image to help us by, so my coments are limited by that lack of necessary detail.

[BLWNHR]

BLWNHR, I'd be interested to see what you came up with when you played with the WB levels.

WB adjusted in Photoshop CS3. I also did a mild levels adjustment, lightened the image slightly and increased the black point to add some depth to the shadows.

It is still a bit warm (and perhaps slightly pink?). I am working from an uncalibrated monitor here at the office, I tried making it a bit colder but it didn't feel as nice as the image I posted.

[Gas Man]

Yea no worries, I had a play with the image lastnight also using the software that came with the Canon EOS 40D and I came up with the following, to me looks better.

[bigbikes]

To me those photos look like your w/b setting are incorrect. Have you tried using a white balance card? When shooting in areas were the light source isn't very good, I usually use a white balance card, then set my custom w/b from that. The colors then are usually perfect (or very close to it)
Just a thought if you haven't tried it.

[BLWNHR]

Yep, looks good. not as pink as mine. Right on the border of going 'cold'. I say good work!

[Gas Man]

No worries, cheers BLWNHR.

As for a white card and I have also read about grey cards aswell, I haven't really heard or seen much about them, but I think i'll just play with settings and on the lap top once the photos are on them.

[JCT]

what lens you shoot that with