My first picture

Carmelo75

Here is my first picture posted on Dgrin.

It is a recent shot of quite a big spider that I met while having a walk with my dog...

Handheld shot in natural light, taken with a D300 and the 60mm macro...

I'm really curious to have your opinions, as this is my first time sharing my photos, and... please criticize when needed, I'll never take it bad!

P.S: the picture is in attachment to the post, hope it will show up...
PP.S: More to come soon, when I'll have figured out to include several photos in one post...

Skippy

Carmelo75 wrote:

Here is my first picture posted on Dgrin.

It is a recent shot of quite a big spider that I met while having a walk with my dog...

Handheld shot in natural light, taken with a D300 and the 60mm macro...

I'm really curious to have your opinions, as this is my first time sharing my photos, and... please criticize when needed, I'll never take it bad!

P.S: the picture is in attachment to the post, hope it will show up...
PP.S: More to come soon, when I'll have figured out to include several photos in one post...

Hi there Carmelo, firstly I'd like to Welcome you to the Dgrin Forum

Your spider looks to be quite a decent size.

Interesting how it got the tips of its legs touching the web, waiting to feel dinner is stuck in the web.

The image looks soft, not sure if it slightly out of focus, or if it because you are attaching your files to display them in the post.

Composition looks good, with the spider slightly to one side.

Sharpness is what I'd like to see more of for this shot

Great find on your part Carmelo, I'm sure you will enjoy this forum,
and I know you will learn so much from so many people here.

Enjoy, and please keep posting


If you are attaching images to posts you are limited to ONE image per attachment.

To add more images to that same post,
you simply reply to your own post, and your second and subsiquent images will appear below the first image you posted.

If you have any problems just ask for some help and we'll be more than happy to help you.

....... Skippy
.

paddler4

A very nice shot--great angle, nice bokeh in the background. Great start.

I agree with the previous poster that it looks a tad soft. It's hard to tell from the image at this size, but looking at the web strands, it looks like it is slightly out of focus. This is VERY tough with macro because the depth of field is so narrow, particularly if you are using natural light in moderate or dim light. I'm a novice, but I've been at this over a year, and I still throw out most of my images of bugs because of focus problems. One thing that might help, if you are not doing this already, is to take a bunch of 'identical' shots in quick succession--your inadvertent movement will change the plane of focus, and some will be sharper than others as a result. One nice thing about digital is that there is no cost other than your time of taking lots and culling them.

Carmelo75

Skippy wrote:

Hi there Carmelo, firstly I'd like to Welcome you to the Dgrin Forum

Your spider looks to be quite a decent size.

Interesting how it got the tips of its legs touching the web, waiting to feel dinner is stuck in the web.

The image looks soft, not sure if it slightly out of focus, or if it because you are attaching your files to display them in the post.

Composition looks good, with the spider slightly to one side.

Sharpness is what I'd like to see more of for this shot

Great find on your part Carmelo, I'm sure you will enjoy this forum,
and I know you will learn so much from so many people here.

Enjoy, and please keep posting


If you are attaching images to posts you are limited to ONE image per attachment.

To add more images to that same post,
you simply reply to your own post, and your second and subsiquent images will appear below the first image you posted.

If you have any problems just ask for some help and we'll be more than happy to help you.

....... Skippy
.

I have put here an 100% crop of the original hi-res file, without any sharpening... to me it doesn't look too out of focus, or at least this is the best I manage to do looking into the vewfinder...

Carmelo75

here is another shot of the beast...

Carmelo75

...and a last one

Chrissiebeez_NL

hey carmelo!

nice shots, think the focus is good. its too bad the 60mm leaves the BG less out of focus than longer focal length lenses do. sometimes its a plus but here it takes away from the subject which you preferably would like seperated as much from the BG as possible. See if you can get closer as well next time and make a series of it

Carmelo75

paddler4 wrote:

A very nice shot--great angle, nice bokeh in the background. Great start.

I agree with the previous poster that it looks a tad soft. It's hard to tell from the image at this size, but looking at the web strands, it looks like it is slightly out of focus. This is VERY tough with macro because the depth of field is so narrow, particularly if you are using natural light in moderate or dim light. I'm a novice, but I've been at this over a year, and I still throw out most of my images of bugs because of focus problems. One thing that might help, if you are not doing this already, is to take a bunch of 'identical' shots in quick succession--your inadvertent movement will change the plane of focus, and some will be sharper than others as a result. One nice thing about digital is that there is no cost other than your time of taking lots and culling them.

hi, no doubt it can be a bit out-of-focus, although I already use the same technique of "shot-many-times-and-take-the-best", if the subject is patient enough... what I have not yet figured out is what I should expect as maximum possible sharpness out of the camera, taking into account the effect of the anti-aliasing filter. The shot was taken at f8 and 1/250s, so pretty standard settings...

Chrissiebeez_NL

Carmelo75 wrote:

hi, no doubt it can be a bit out-of-focus, although I already use the same technique of "shot-many-times-and-take-the-best", if the subject is patient enough... what I have not yet figured out is what I should expect as maximum possible sharpness out of the camera, taking into account the effect of the anti-aliasing filter. The shot was taken at f8 and 1/250s, so pretty standard settings...

Sharpness is not a constant but a dependent upon many things, among which the contrast etc. resizing for web also has influence on the sharpness but what i was pointing at (the background) also makes the image appear less sharp because the subject doesnt 'pop' from the background. posting as an attachment also wont help you

GOLDENORFE

welcome:D

very good frst post, compositions very good, agree about background needing a bit more blurring. 2nd frame better i think,does appear sharper.

phil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldenorfe/

Carmelo75

Chrissiebeez_NL wrote:

hey carmelo!

nice shots, think the focus is good. its too bad the 60mm leaves the BG less out of focus than longer focal length lenses do. sometimes its a plus but here it takes away from the subject which you preferably would like seperated as much from the BG as possible. See if you can get closer as well next time and make a series of it

thanks a lot! I agree about the advantages of longer focals, I will maybe get one when I really have some spare money...
As for the closer look, the day after I come back with the idea of experimenting a bit more, but the beast had found a better place for hunting.

Carmelo75

GOLDENORFE wrote:

welcome:D

very good frst post, compositions very good, agree about background needing a bit more blurring. 2nd frame better i think,does appear sharper.

phil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldenorfe/

thanks goldendorfe! in fact, at the moment I am more concentrating in the composition and the "surroundings" of my subject, than the technical perfection. That's why I prefer ambient light for most of my shoots.
By the way, I definitely have to improve my focusing technique.

Lord Vetinari

Wonderful first post - like it!
Brian V.