Why do these pictures look like crap?

[KingOfJericho]

Learn to use your camera beyond automatic mode. You will get much better results. Best thing I did was subscribed to magazines for photography and pick up a book or two for your camera specific.

AAAAnd, never shoot into the sun. Especially when shooting a car.

I am pretty familiar with the camera and it's manual modes but when I just need to snap a few quick pics I just throw it into auto and shoot... this used to work just fine but now the auto mode is shooting like shit. I'll shoot a few more this weekend but this really caught my eye as I took 3 pics with my cellphone that look noticeably better than my $1,000+ DSLR setup.

 

[AdvanSuper]

Set everything to default settings? Also a tripod isn't gonna help with the graininess of the pics.

 

[Loveisjustacamoflouge]

Set everything to default settings? Also a tripod isn't gonna help with the graininess of the pics.

He clearly needs to use a tripod. Didn't say it would help with the grain in the pics. Purely a suggestion to help him.

 

[KingOfJericho]

Update: I had the ISO set to the absolute max setting... I had it set high because I was taking pictures of my dog in very low light but I guess I never set it back. Oops... back to normal. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[KingOfJericho]

He clearly needs to use a tripod. Didn't say it would help with the grain in the pics. Purely a suggestion to help him.

I've got a tripod but in high light conditions the exposure time is so short that it's not really necessary. If I'm shooting HDRs or night shots I use a tripod.

 

[ReflexMkV]

Yeah you don't need a tripod to shoot in full sun...

 

[Loveisjustacamoflouge]

Yeah you don't need a tripod to shoot in full sun...

Oh rearry?

Even in full sun you bet your ass I got my Bogen tripod/ballhead and a remote shutter release. WAY less room for error and quality shots every time.

Camera shake is awful. lol.

Go try to take a scenic shot in full sun at narrow aperature without a tripod and let me know how that works for you. Unless you are a statue your pictures will be blurry. I can almost guarantee it.

 

[KingOfJericho]

An old one from the spring...

 

[Loveisjustacamoflouge]

Picture looks a tad soft.

Do you have the EXIF info for it?

 

[KingOfJericho]

Wouldn't even know where to start. I had the pup on my lap and held the camera our with one hand and snapped it so it's not surprising that it ain't perfect. I have a NEF copy if that helps...

 

[ReflexMkV]

When you open your .NEF the EXIF data is all that information about camera type, lens, focal length, exposure..etc. iirc You can save the exif data as a text file with Nikon Capture.

 

[nhbubba]

Oh rearry?

...

Camera shake is awful. lol.

Go try to take a scenic shot in full sun at narrow aperature without a tripod and let me know how that works for you.

Huh? Camera shake has nothing to do with aperture and everything to do with shutter speed. Unless you're Michael J Fox, you'll have no problem getting reasonably sharp hand-held pictures if you set your shutter speed to the inverse of the focal length you are using. If you're really unsure, go for a shutter speed 1/2x that for safety sake. In full sunlight you should have no problem doing that.

 

[ReflexMkV]

Oh rearry?

Even in full sun you bet your ass I got my Bogen tripod/ballhead and a remote shutter release. WAY less room for error and quality shots every time.

Camera shake is awful. lol.

Go try to take a scenic shot in full sun at narrow aperature without a tripod and let me know how that works for you. Unless you are a statue your pictures will be blurry. I can almost guarantee it.

Right, because he was shooting landscapes with narrow apertures that required longer shutter times...../facepalm

 

[gs3xr_fun]

Oh rearry?

Even in full sun you bet your ass I got my Bogen tripod/ballhead and a remote shutter release. WAY less room for error and quality shots every time.

Camera shake is awful. lol.

Go try to take a scenic shot in full sun at narrow aperature without a tripod and let me know how that works for you. Unless you are a statue your pictures will be blurry. I can almost guarantee it.

:iono::iono::iono:

how many stack of nd filter are you using in full sun to warrant a long exposure? landscape shot takes more than f22 to get everything in focus?

 

[MBH]

Your biggest problem is the time of day IMO, as you say you have a grasp on everything else. Unless you're a wizard with your camera and with photoshop, automotive photography under those conditions is going to leave something to be desired of the end result. It's all about the light.

And there is a bunch of noise in the original post's pictures, that's from a high ISO I can almost guarantee it.

Drop the ISO to 100, stop the lens down a couple of stops from wide open, use a tripod and your camera's self timer, and shoot about an hour before sunset (put your camera between the subject and the sun if you can). Your pics will be much better.