Strange pixel effect on all photos

[DistantMelody]

Hello everyone

I have a Sony SLT-A77V camera. I nearly always use a tripod and a remote control for added steadiness. I have a polarizer for the nice deep blue sky effect. I can always see a pixel effect on my photos. Here is one as an example:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=648980398470611&l=90284b1105

Close up:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=648981998470451&l=df5f54c211

It is rather upsetting when I do my best and get these results. What could be the reason?

I wanted to go into Stock photography but it turns out they are quite particular about this sort of thing and my images wouldn't be acceptable due to the pixel effect.

Please help me to fix this problem.

DistantMelody

[DistantMelody]

Thank you James.

The close-ups are very good. I wish they would highlight the problems (crop/circle them or something) like you did because a newbie might struggle on their own, like I did.

Where do you find the histrogram and how to tell if it is correct?

DistantMelody

[james.billings]

The historgram is in Lightroom. Most photo editing software should have one somewhere though. There's no right/wrong histogram in the general- it'll depend on the scene - but a typical "daytime landscape" shot like yours would ideally want a good spread across the whole range. This link explains it: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/histograms1.htm

[DistantMelody]

Thank you James

I will absorb the new information.

[Bieomax]

How are you getting on with this ? have you managed to get some images into an agency ?

[DistantMelody]

Hello Bieomax

No. 😞 I have been rejected twice now. This time they wrote poor exposure and lacking definition. It is difficult when I don't understand what they want. I still enjoy photography despite this.

I am looking at macro lenses now. Are the 3 Sony macro lenses for specific distances? As I understand it they are for 10cm away, 5cm away and 2cm away. Is it correct? Does it mean a person needs all 3?

[james.billings]

I'm not familiar with the specific macro lenses- I imagine the distance measurement is perhaps the closest yu can focus? I've never heard of one that only works at one distance.

A cheaper option is to look at extension tubes (you fit them between the lens and the camera) - these turn a normal lens into a macro.

They aren't as easy to use as a proper macro, but a good way to see if you like it before spending money on a proper macro lens.

[DistantMelody]

Hello James Billings

I have tried extention tubes. They fit but my camera wouldn't focus and the image was just a blurry darkness even though it was daytime. I set ISO to the maximum and still it was dark. Without focus they are useless and it is too dark to be able to focus manually.

[james.billings]

It will be darker, but it shouldn't be so dark that you can't see (especially at max ISO)- what was the aperture set to? Start wide open (lowest number) to focus, then turn it back a little more to increase the depth of field. If that still doesn't work, then I'm not sure what's happening 

[DistantMelody]

Hello James

The tubes don't have any connections for the lens and camera to communicate. I have to do everything that is lens related manually. Is it possible to adjust the apeture manually without using the camera buttons? I can only use zoom and focus manually at the moment.

[james.billings]

possibly not- old lenses will have a ring to set the aperture, but newer ones were controlled by the body (it's the little lever you see if you look in the camera end of the lens) or they will be completely electronic. 

I believe you can get fully automatic extension tubes but naturally these are more expensive.