Shutterstock Photographer Forum :: View topic

ladyjulian · Joined: 06 Apr 2012 Posts: 14

I'm having problems with the pixels in my images showing up at a 100% crop. The images look okay at normal size, then I zoom in, and you can see the little boxes of pixels as a sort of graininess.

I am not sure what's causing this. I shoot a Pentax K-X (18-55 mm kit lens, unfortunately). I recently switched to shooting RAW and have been experimenting with higher ISOs. This picture is ISO 800, f8.0 55 mm, and 1/500 of a second. This is the 100% zoom; the original is below.

I would like to fix this problem, obviously, so suggestions on what is causing the problem would be appreciated.

ladyjulian · Joined: 06 Apr 2012 Posts: 14

Original photo here:

greenfield54 · Joined: 21 Jun 2009 Posts: 2619 Location: Philippines

It must be the higher ISO.

ladyjulian · Joined: 06 Apr 2012 Posts: 14

Really? I have one that did this at 400 ISO too, which just seems weird. I've gotten noise but never pixels before. :P

ruxpriencdiam · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:43 pm

Exposure, lighting, ISO, OOF and photography 101 tree growing out of her head, also this isn't a 100% crop.

ladyjulian · Joined: 06 Apr 2012 Posts: 14

Okay, then how do I do a 100% crop? I use Photoshop Lightroom, and I haven't seen this feature.

(Sorry for the extra questions; this is my first time here.)

ruxpriencdiam · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:51 pm

Also forgot to mention dont shoot at extreme ends of the lens.

Zoom or magnify 100 percent and the crop an area no larger then 500x500 if it is too large say 589x602 "DO NOT RESIZE" just crop off more till you get below 500x500 simple.

rinder99 · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 12:11 am

And her teeth are yellow. UGH!

dambuster · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:50 am

semmickphoto · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:34 am

why ISO 800 and 1/500 of a second?

dambuster · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:44 am

ladyjulian · Joined: 06 Apr 2012 Posts: 14

@dambuster: I checked. I don't think it's setting to resize, which means its more my problem.

***I am looking for more of a solution than a critique (I already know that I'm not good yet); however, if something I'm doing wrong technically (high ISO, wrong exposure time) is causing the problem, I would love to hear about it.

I can't do ANYTHING with these grainy pictures, and it's never happened before. Very frustrating.

jhuls · Joined: 02 Jan 2012 Posts: 1047

I don't think it is pixels you are seeing it is noise and noise is caused by high ISO, Shooting at a high ISO like 800 should only be for situation where you need a high shutter speed and there is low light at the same time(such as a basketball game or trying to shoot a flying bird on a cloudy day)

This is a picture of a girl standing still, you should always try to get as close to an ISO of 100 if ever possible. There are situations where a higher ISO will be needed but this photo is not one of them. Next time shoot this image at ISO 100. I know you didn't ask for a critique but this also plays into your problem: the lighting is poor, most of her face is in shadow so you need to move around a bit to get better lighting on her face either that or use flash as fill. If you don't have proper lighting you will also get noise even if you are at ISO 100.

semmickphoto · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 8:49 am

@ dambuster & ladyJulian

I was going in the direction of what Jhuls said. To me it looks like noise after sharpening. why ISO 800 and 1/500 of a second? Reshoot at ISO 100, f/8 and adjust shutter speed accordingly and use a tripod. And then see if the noise is still there. If it is, it could have something to do with post processing. Is the grain slider in Lightroom at 0? Is the sharpening slider at 0? etc. It needs to be at 0 to start with.

ruxpriencdiam · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 8:55 am

A true 100% crop would show it much better!

Crop crop we need the crop.