The *OFFICIAL* Throwdown Photography Tips Thread
- Thread starter bigabyte
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fingerlickin'
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Damn CD, I hope they pay you extra for shining up the bumpers before the shoot. They should really have a "guy" for that.
colonel00
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Damn CD, I hope they pay you extra for shining up the bumpers before the shoot. They should really have a "guy" for that.
They used to have a girl for that but in a communications glitch, all of the chrome was somehow sucked off :noidea:
fingerlickin'
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Seriously though, since I bumped a thread more than 30 days old I should probably ask something useful.
Where do I find out how to work my camera? For instance, this shot here. I don't even know how to move the little red dots to the part of the picture I want to focus. I would've liked to focus the very front of the slice, I don't love that it's a little out of focus. Is that stuff in the manual? Maybe I should read it. :crazy:
Where do I find out how to work my camera? For instance, this shot here. I don't even know how to move the little red dots to the part of the picture I want to focus. I would've liked to focus the very front of the slice, I don't love that it's a little out of focus. Is that stuff in the manual? Maybe I should read it. :crazy:
colonel00
Quintessential Chatty Farker
RTFM :tsk:
Now, once you are done with that, you should have a basic understanding of how the controls work. Then read a book or hop on a forum and start to learn about aperture, shutter speed and ISO. I have learned those buzz words so far :thumb: However, it would appear that you took the picture with a very narrow depth of field which caused it to be in focus in the middle of the slice but out of focus in front and behind. If I were to play a detective, I would guess you had your kit lens zoomed at 55mm at F5.6 then you depth of field is only .091 ft if the slice was 2 feet from the camera. This is extremely thin. Useful at times but that is my guess as to your issue. It would be a little better once you figure out how to control the focus points.
Now, once you are done with that, you should have a basic understanding of how the controls work. Then read a book or hop on a forum and start to learn about aperture, shutter speed and ISO. I have learned those buzz words so far :thumb: However, it would appear that you took the picture with a very narrow depth of field which caused it to be in focus in the middle of the slice but out of focus in front and behind. If I were to play a detective, I would guess you had your kit lens zoomed at 55mm at F5.6 then you depth of field is only .091 ft if the slice was 2 feet from the camera. This is extremely thin. Useful at times but that is my guess as to your issue. It would be a little better once you figure out how to control the focus points.
fingerlickin'
Quintessential Chatty Farker
RTFM? Who does that anymore? Guess I'll have to throw it on the back of the chitter for a week.
btw: f4.5, 29mm, iso 500, exposure time 0.017s
cameraman
Babbling Farker
I don't know what type of camera you have but you'd have to have a very close focusing lens to have brought the tip of that chip in. I suspect you were focused in as close as your camera will go. Oh, and RTFM. There is nothing intuitive about modern cameras. :thumb:
cmcadams
Quintessential Chatty Farker
I've been playing around with a new light source... my iPad!
I downloaded an app called Softbox Pro, and it allows for different colors and shapes, brightness, etc. I took these shots with a 40" silver bounce directly above it. Just because I could, I did HDR processing with 7 shots each, which helped even out the exposure. Black foamcore in the back. Shots were done at f/8 at 80mm. for the lone cocktail, 30mm f/2.8 for the cocktail and ingredients, and 30mm f/8 for the bottles. Exposure ranged from 1/30" to 3"
I got a gadget called a CamRanger which allows me to use my ipad or iphone to control the camera from up to 150' away.
The ipad was on full brightness, with the objects sitting directly on it.
I downloaded an app called Softbox Pro, and it allows for different colors and shapes, brightness, etc. I took these shots with a 40" silver bounce directly above it. Just because I could, I did HDR processing with 7 shots each, which helped even out the exposure. Black foamcore in the back. Shots were done at f/8 at 80mm. for the lone cocktail, 30mm f/2.8 for the cocktail and ingredients, and 30mm f/8 for the bottles. Exposure ranged from 1/30" to 3"
I got a gadget called a CamRanger which allows me to use my ipad or iphone to control the camera from up to 150' away.
The ipad was on full brightness, with the objects sitting directly on it.
These are hollowed out orange peels filled with jello. The jello was still liquid at the time, and reflects the light quite nicely:
caseydog
somebody shut me the fark up.
Seriously though, since I bumped a thread more than 30 days old I should probably ask something useful.
Where do I find out how to work my camera? For instance, this shot here. I don't even know how to move the little red dots to the part of the picture I want to focus. I would've liked to focus the very front of the slice, I don't love that it's a little out of focus. Is that stuff in the manual? Maybe I should read it. :crazy:
It really varies from camera to camera, with a lot of new point-and-shoot cameras actually deciding what the primary focus point is, for you -- such as, a person standing in a big room. The camera assumes the person is the subject.
On my cameras, including both my pro Nikon, and my pocket-canon, I can choose my focus point in two ways. I can move the focus bracket thingy, or I can point the focus bracket thingy at my chosen focus point, and press the shutter button half way. Then, I can move the camera to frame my picture, and push the shutter button the rest of the way. The camera will hold the focus I selected as long as I keep the shutter button pressed half way.
I generally use the second method. If I have the camera on a tripod, then I will use the first method.
Read your camera's manual, and do a bunch of practice shots until you get the hang of it.
CD
I find the Food Macro on my Nikon will do a max zoom. then I just line up the shot and it will refocus to it. But I'm no pro by any means.
bump...
deguerre
somebody shut me the fark up.
Been playing with the new fixed focal length lens and am really beginning to enjoy it:
Used the auto focus, F1.8 at 1/125 under a dual halogen light source. The only adjustments I made were a slight bump in brightness and contrast in the photo editor.
Used the auto focus, F1.8 at 1/125 under a dual halogen light source. The only adjustments I made were a slight bump in brightness and contrast in the photo editor.
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Nice shot there!
deguerre
somebody shut me the fark up.
The Macro button is your friend...
caseydog
somebody shut me the fark up.
A few months ago, I posted up a way to take great food pr0n with a point-and-shot camera, a window, and a table.
Some throwdown participants asked about making good food pr0n after dark. Well, I use some of my studio lights for that, but most people don't have that.
So, I set out today to make a super cheap lighting setup that anyone could copy.
I took a piece of 1X2 from my garage, and made a 2-foot by 2-foot frame. I stapled a white kitchen trash bag to it, and made a light "softener" with it. I used a spring clamp to attach it to my kitchen table, and took the shade off of a table lamp, and put a 150 watt bulb in it, and used that as my light source. I used my Canon point-and-shoot camera to take these pictures -- in Program mode. I only used Photoshop to resize the images for posting on the forum.
Here is what the setup looks like...
And, here is what the setup does...
Yeah, it's just a bunch of food props, but you get the idea.
Seriously, anyone can replicate what I did here. Some wood, a trash bag, and a table lamp.
I hope this helps.
CD
Just for grins, and to play with my tethering software, I did a "professional" version of the simple set-up above. I figure some of the camera buffs in here might like to see what I did.
I used my Nikon D3, on a tripod, teathered to my MacBook with a 15-foot USB cable, and used Sofortbild software to control the camera. The light source is a 300 WS strobe, in a 24X36 softbox. I used reflector cards for fill (two white mat boards taped together).
The Camera and flash were connected wirelessly by a PocketWizzard remote system.
They make wireless systems to connect the camera to the laptop, but wouldn't use it enough to justify the cost.
If I were getting paid to do this shot, I would put a whole lot more time into staging it. I just tossed this together, and I can see all kinds of things wrong with it. But, since I am too cheap to pay myself for my work, fark it. :becky:
CD
You da man!
cmcadams
Quintessential Chatty Farker
I really want to get some strobes to start learning that soon. And a softbox or two to go with them!
Great stuff here
Can this be made a sticky?
Can this be made a sticky?
The Macro button is your friend...
Pssst. deguerre need additional width..pass it on.
Or go to www.tinypic.com :grin:
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