Taking module photos outside

Just experimenting a little..





Anyone else have techniques they use?

 

If you're looking for feedback, the light looks really good. The second photo has a depth of field issue which may be intentional. The front of the locomotive is in focus and nearly everything closer and further is out of focus. If you want more to be in focus then try using a tripod and stopping your aperture down a bit. I often use f/16 or f/32 for still shots where I want a lot of depth of field. This will, of course, lengthen the amount of time you have the shutter open. This goes for film or digital cameras.

 

Yeah the second thats what I was kinda fooling with.. Im gonna take a bunch more throughout the evening messing with settings.

I'll need to buy one.. been on my list for awhile.

 

Even if you can just put your camera on a table or hold it against a wall or something that will help steady it. It's just that the longer exposures needed for the stopped down apertures ("higher" f-stops) show any motion much more than the quick ones.

 

What type of camera are you using? Do you have full control over the aperture and shutter?

 

It's a compact nikon..

There's some settings but obviously not a dslr.

 

I have one of those wonky cameras too and I only get OK depth of field by setting mine to either "Landscape" or "Landscape Portriate". Does yours have a menu of settings to play with? Do you have a tulip on your main menu for close ups? There may be an even closer setting hidden in the menus. Using the timer or remote to better insure your camera stays steady makes a huge difference.

 

I used macro on some.. but also used landscape on others.

Wish the wind wasn't consistently blowing at 30 mph today Id be trying more.

 

That's actually a cool shot on the first one.

 

change the time of day you are shooting. shooting in harsh light might give you good shadows but is blowing out some areas. you can shoot closer to dusk or after dawn for softer light. a small white card to reflect a little light to also helps.

otherwise same as the others, try and play with the PnS settings to get more DOF and less Bokeh. dont shoot in 30mph winds even small cameras benefit from a tripod, even if its home made

 

Yeah.. yesterday I shot at about 3pm in the shots with the gp38.. With bright sunlight.

The later shots I shot at about 645pm with some clouds passing through and a non-perfect sunset to the west.

I'll just keep fooling.. probably till I get another camera.. then I'll have to fool some more. :mtongue:

Never thought of the white card.. thats a novel idea.

Yeah.. I could barely mow the lawn without pebbles getting blown in my face.. not even gonna bother today.


Im probably gonna pick up a tripod after work sometime this week.

 

Do you have aperture priority? It'll show up as Av on the selector. Select that and then dial up a "high number" f-stop like f/16. Use that and avoid macro if you want any sort of depth-of-field. Depth-of-field is a result, not a camera setting. My ancient film cameras have no such "depth-of-field" setting (I am not aware of any camera that does) and I fiddle with the aperture to get these sorts of results when I want them.

Best of luck!

Adam

 

Ohh

I see.. That should help quite a bit.

Thanks

 

An outside foto. It isn't the best but the others are currently not on-line.



Made with a Nikon D60 and the default kitlens. Just make sure you use a high F-setting.

Gino

 

I tried using the "close up" setting on my new Nikon. It doesn't seem to help, so this is good to know.
I bought a couple of flouresent daylight balanced bulbs for taking my photos indoors. Experimenting with settings is really the only way to learn. Find what works and remember to take notes! I got some great results with a Canon AE-1 film camera and then lost my notes and have to learn all over again.

 

an easy way to do all that is just to bracket multiple shots. set what you think is the best settings take a shot. change 1 setting, take a shot. etc etc until you have enough to compare too. then your computer becomes your notebook vs trying to take notes in the field

your processing software will read all the META data and display the settings as you edit and review and DONT DELETE anything unless its totally worthless. even a half ass crappy shot can be used for something.

 

I have a compact Nikon (Coolpix L11) which has a macro mode that yields acceptable results.

However, if I were looking, say, to enter a photo in a contest or use it to illustrate an article, I'd want to use a (D)SLR with a macro lens for optimal results.

Dieter Zakas