Grainy photos

[smaliden2]

Any idea what causes grainy photos? Or how to correct this issue? I'm 100% sure it's me!

 

[Meta4]

Any idea what causes grainy photos? Or how to correct this issue? I'm 100% sure it's me!

Post one full resolution and we might have some answers for you.

 

[smaliden2]

When I zoom in on my laptop this photo gets super grainy but sometime it takes great photos like the second pic. Now I had to email the second photo to myself so it was somewhat compressed but clear prior to the emailing.
I'm am using a ND16 filter.

 

[Meta4]

When I zoom in on my laptop this photo gets super grainy but sometime it takes great photos like the second pic. Now I had to email the second photo to myself so it was somewhat compressed but clear prior to the emailing.
I'm am using a ND16 filter.

Those are 1,000px × 563px and 1,000px × 750px so we can't see the full resolution of any capture data.
The only reason to use an ND filter when shooting stills is to slow the shutter speed - it's not doing anything to improve your photos.

 

[Durian Flyer]

1st picture is too gloomy to use even an nd4...

 

[Meta4]

1st picture is too gloomy to use even an nd4...

Unless there's a particular reason to want a shutter speed 4 times normal, an ND4 isn't going to do anything to make a photo look any better.
And making the exposure last 4x longer might even be detrimental to image quality.

 

[Durian Flyer]

Unless there's a particular reason to want a shutter speed 4 times normal, an ND4 isn't going to do anything to make a photo look any better.
And making the exposure last 4x longer might even be detrimental to image quality.

Exactly... On the sky conditions on picture 1, even without filters I guess it's hard to make it look like the one on picture 2.

 

[smaliden2]

Sorry for taking too long to get back but i finally made it home from work and was able to take a few photos so i can upload them. I did some reading on the forum and watched a few videos and used recommended settings and i think my photos look way better! The first one is unedited and the second is edited, so since I have no idea what i'm doing i'm wondering if these are acceptable photos? also for some reason when i copied the photos from my SD card to my Laptop they showed as DNG files now when i open the folder to view the files they show up as JPG files. Any ideas what causes this?

 

[Durian Flyer]

Are you still taking the photos with the nd16? Try removing it and take pictures without any filter. One thing I learned is it's easier to take pictures a little bit over exposed. The lighter areas can be darkened. But if it's underexposed, the darker areas will remain dark after post processing.

Jpg files are already processed, you can just tweak it a bit. But DNG files are basically RAW pictures. If you preview it, it's quality is bland. But if you post process it, you can tweak almost everything. Try it yourself, edit a Jpg and a DNG of the same subject. The difference is like night and day.

 

[Meta4]

when i copied the photos from my SD card to my Laptop they showed as DNG files now when i open the folder to view the files they show up as JPG files. Any ideas what causes this?

DNG (raw) image files are only able to be opened by a few programs (usually not cheap ones).
They have a small preview jpg image built-in just to show what the image looks like.
These are the jpg files you are seeing.
They are small .. only about 900 px wide and are only useful as a preview image.

 

[NITEWULF]

Curious to what you had the white balance and camera settings on?