This week’s assignment on the Digital Photography School forums is to take a picture straight from the camera with no post processing. I decided to combine getting a picture for that with adding another to my fiftytwo self-portrait project.

I used my 50mm lens (50mm f/1.8 E Series) and Raynox DCR-250 macro adaptor for this and set myself up in a corner of the front room that was getting strong sunlight from outside. I took lots of shots and ended up with a few that I liked. In fact, I have to admit that I deleted all of the first set because I realised I still had some crumbs from lunch on my lips – tiny until you start zooming in for a macro shot!

The other thing I did during the set up for this shot was to delve into the camera menus and ask it to bump up contrast, sharpness and saturation. Those are all things I would normally leave to the post-processing stage. Was that cheating? I don’t think so – it stuck within the rules of the game although it does illustrate why I remain to be convinced that sticking with pictures straight out of the camera has any virtue other than as a training exercise. Sometimes shots do come out just right but it is rare to get a picture that can’t be improved by taking some time in the digital darkroom.

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