Shooting outside and color grading and getting good footage?

R

ReelFilmGeek

Well-known member
So today I wanted to go do some test outside with my T2I and kit lens and I got a few shots in the sunny weather before it all of a sudden started to rain (that's just how Florida is :huh:) and when I got back in and started to play around with the footage I got everything just looks meh. It just looks like terrible video and was wondering what tips you guys could give me to help me get better looking images? What picture profile settings should I use, what should I be doing and not doing when color grading, ect.

Also could it be possible that I wasn't helping the look of my footage by shooting at 1pm in the afternoon?
 
Picture style: Flaat, of course!! :)

About everything else... well, maybe if you upload some clips you'll get some detailed feedback...
 
What are the best setting to film in sunlight? Because my footage looks like crap in bright sun, when shooting in cloudy conditions everything is perfect, but the sun messes everything up.
 
You need an nd filter that will allow 1.4 to 5.6 ranges in the fstop to give shallow dof during those hours. Ur probably shooting at f16 which will look flat in dof.
 
Direct sunlight introduces hard light sources, which means lots of shadows with harsh edges. Reflectors and silks can be used for diffusion. Or you can avoid shadows in your shots. There are also options in post to help with that, but shooting flat becomes extra important in harsh lighting conditions so you have the ability to balance the exposures and feather a bit. Of course this is very generic information, and without seeing screengrabs I can't say much more.
 
Definitely need ND filters to make sure your shutter speed stays down at 1/40th to 1/50th depending on frame rate. Deep depth of field is not necessarily the issue. It's a pure issue of exposure for the pieces of the image you want. In mid day sun you will have blown highlights and black shadows no matter what you do. They key is to expose for the piece of the image you want the minds eye to go to.

I have found that a Hoya ND-4 and a circular polarizer do pretty well at bringing your exposure down enough to get very nice images. For some reason that combo seems to flatten the image a bit more than just ND or just polarizer and gives what I think is a more appealing image. If I need to get to f/2.8 in bright daylight I need ND-8 and the circular polarizer.

Here's a couple samples I what I've been getting with them and Samuel's Flaat10p picture style.
http://youtu.be/uLfRYfHBed8
http://youtu.be/GjwHM7zFu_c

If you can afford to buy a couple of high quality filters, it will make a world of difference in what you can do in bright sun light.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Here are some links to frame grabs of the footage I shot and then with a little post work. All the shots were kinda unmotivated but they all seem way to soft and just don't look right. Is it just me and from watching super sharp footage from other cameras, is it operator error, or something else like a camera issue or the 18-55mm kit lens it self.

MVI_2677 (0-00-00-00).jpgMVI_2677 2(0-00-00-00).jpgMVI_2678 (0-00-01-18).jpgMVI_2678 2(0-00-01-18).jpgMVI_2679 (0-00-00-00).jpgMVI_2679 2(0-00-00-00).jpg
 
You don't seem to be having the problem any of us thought you were. I think you need to re-evaluate your camera settings, as you've washed it out so much you don't have any color left. You may have also overexposed slightly. So yes, post your settings.
 
The problem I see is what are you shooting? What are you trying to shoot? A good course on photography can actually help you learn how to frame and what the viewer is exactly supposed to be looking at. Learn to use selective focus and understand certain rules of photography. No one buys a camera and create beautiful images, it is an art that when practices can yield excellent results.
 
I was honestly shoot nothing and that might just be the problem. I wasn't feeling good and decided to try and get a breath of air and just recorded a few random things to color grade. That might be the first problem, I was using a Polaroid variable ND filter, and the settings were cinestyle profile with 0 sharpness, -4 contrast, -2 saturation, and 0 color tone. I just download Flaat 10 and will give it a quick try with the same unmotivated shots.
 
I don't see much wrong with those images, apart from the fact that the subject seems dull.

Regarding softness, remember to add sharpness back in post if you shoot with sharpness=0, and don't close the iris too much (if you go much above f/11, diffraction kicks in and everything becomes fuzzy).
 
Thats the thing, I am adding sharpness back in post and not going anything lower than F/8 so I don't what to do to get better looking image.

EDIT: will do some more test but with actual motivated test shots, also maybe its just me or does the footage looks worst when in after effects ,or then again I might just be pixel peaking too much.
 
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Your variable ND is super soft and cinestyle with sharpness at 0 are killing you here. Try Samuel's Flaat10p picture style and expose a shot properly without the ND at f/5.6 or f/8. You will see a world of difference in your image to grade with. It takes really good ND filters to keep your image on these cams from becoming mush. Cinestyle just doubles down the issue in my experience.

Cheers,
Pete
 
I think your biggest problem was, judging by the position of the shadows, that you were shooting with the sun almost directly overhead. That's the worst time of the day to shoot. The closer the sun is to the horizon, the better the shadows fall. Try the same shots at 1 hour after sunrise and also 1 hour before sunset. See what a difference it makes.
 
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