3 more shots, suggestions please

Thusie

300 D kit lens, no excuse, so ways to improve are greatly appreciated. Including croping etc. PSE2 have not installed 3 yet.

first two, one of the Japanese Maples





Hummer nest..Forgot about the book in back:rolleyes

Sam

Looks like this was taken with a wider aperture. Also maybe some camera shake. What was the aperature and the shutter speed ? The kit lens will work better at about f8 or so to f11.

I punched up the color a little and sharpened this some.

Sam

Mitchell

I'm just not seeing anything that's truly in focus in these shots. I suspect camera shake as well. You may want to work on your camera holding technique or use a tripod for these types of pics.

Thusie

Mitchell wrote:

I'm just not seeing anything that's truly in focus in these shots. I suspect camera shake as well.

f5.6 1/200, I do have to start thinking f8+. Camera shake is/can be a problem, try to hard to hold it steady and tense up. Need to relax!!!! Camera didn't seem to be locking on focus like usual and that was probably part or most of the reason. Shots didn't really look out of focus to me but didn't look quite right either, now that it is pointed out....I see it.

Thanks for the advice, will work on it.

Skippy

Hi ya Thusie

Thusie wrote:

300 D kit lens, no excuse, so ways to improve are greatly appreciated. Including croping etc. PSE2 have not installed 3 yet.

first two, one of the Japanese Maples

Hummer nest..Forgot about the book in back

I like the Japanese Maple its leaves are very pretty indeed.
Depth of field is something I struggle with trying to do Macro's......

I'm only now learning how to enhance, though I do it in a very round about kinda way hehehe.....ohhhhhh geezz I'll never make it in the big world cause mine's all guess work

Your doing just fine........just keep taking pictures, experimenting, and having fun........ it's the only way to learn Skippy (Australia)

gus

Thusie wrote:

Mitchell wrote:

I'm just not seeing anything that's truly in focus in these shots. I suspect camera shake as well.

f5.6 1/200, I do have to start thinking f8+. Camera shake is/can be a problem, try to hard to hold it steady and tense up. Need to relax!!!! Camera didn't seem to be locking on focus like usual and that was probably part or most of the reason. Shots didn't really look out of focus to me but didn't look quite right either, now that it is pointed out....I see it.

Thanks for the advice, will work on it.

Thusie if you MUST hand hold & are looking at a slowish shutter speed you can put the camera on rapid fire & shoot several off...the 2nd & 3rd will be sharper than the 1st.

Then go in & delete the 1st shot...halves the room on your storage but may help with some more keepers.

Gus

Thusie

Thanks for the encouragement Skippy.
The J maples are just beautiful when they 'bloom' in spring. The one in the picture actually blooms a hot pink color, goes green, and is now changing for fall

if you MUST hand hold & are looking at a slowish shutter speed you can put the camera on rapid fire & shoot several off...the 2nd & 3rd will be sharper than the 1st.

Gus I will try that, yes I need to be able to hand hold, need a pod of some sort too.

When I said h camera didn't seem to be locking on well, I didn't mean it was the fault of the camera it was me and my death grip.

davev

Thusie wrote:

Thanks for the encouragement Skippy.
The J maples are just beautiful when they 'bloom' in spring. The one in the picture actually blooms a hot pink color, goes green, and is now changing for fall

Gus I will try that, yes I need to be able to hand hold, need a pod of some sort too.

When I said h camera didn't seem to be locking on well, I didn't mean it was the fault of the camera it was me and my death grip.

Thusie, did you set one focus point, or do you have all of them lit?
After reading different forums for about a week after I got my 300, I changed
to the center focus point and kept it at that.

If it seemed like it wasn't getting a focus lock, I wonder if maybe you were
to close to the subject. Don't be afraid to back up a little and then crop
your picture. At 6 Meg. there is a lot of room for cropping and still come
out with a fine print.

Also, don't be afraid to raise the ISO to 400. The pictures come out very
well at ISO 400, at 800 it can be hit and miss, depending on the subject
matter.

I hope this helps.

Thusie

davev wrote:

Thusie, did you set one focus point, or do you have all of them lit? I hope this helps.

Took you at your word last time...one focus point!

Adjusted viewer so I didn't need glasses (helped). Used manual focus, I think that helped. Backed up (thanks Dave) amd only went to 45mm instead of 50.
f11, ISO 400, 1/125. Used f11 because it seemed a bit sharper???

Dwarf rhodie so nothing fancy..are these any better? The middle shot I just liked, weird tastes.

DavidTO

Huge improvement!

Sam

Thusie wrote:

Took you at your word last time...one focus point!

Adjusted viewer so I didn't need glasses (helped). Used manual focus, I think that helped. Backed up (thanks Dave) amd only went to 45mm instead of 50.
f11, ISO 400, 1/125. Used f11 because it seemed a bit sharper???

Dwarf rhodie so nothing fancy..are these any better? The middle shot I just liked, weird tastes.

Major improvement!!

Your on your way now!

Sam

davev

Way To Go.:D

You should try it again with auto focus, to make sure the lens is working right.

Thusie

Thank you all, made one small step in the right direction, I hope:D

Now for a first class dumb question. I assume it doesn't matter which eye you use? Being right handed I tend to use my right eye. Those last shots it was my left and while playing around last night it seems that when using my right eye I tend to 'pull' a bit (blur the shot) when I depress the shutter button. So while it feels a bit bumbly (left eye) upper body balance and auto focus (camera can only do so much when one is moving around) do better? With what I do a firm but steady grip is a must and I'm trying to put A & B together.

Is this a normal thing people go though or am I being obsessive? Rambling around this AM, but if you have thoughts/suggestions. Or heck just tell me I'm sort of normal