AusBonsai

Hi all,

Just a test using one umbrella and one hooded light box against a plain white backdrop.

If anyone can offer suggestions to help me improve my photography I'd be very grateful.

Regards,
-Mo

looks underexposed to me... cant see the detail in the foliage and pot seems to be in full shadow. Tree is also too close to the background causing a slight shadow.

Webos wrote:looks underexposed to me... cant see the detail in the foliage and pot seems to be in full shadow. Tree is also too close to the background causing a slight shadow.

Notes taken.

Thank you very much, I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Hi Mo.

Firstly, Cool tree. The refinement from live vein to deadwood is first class. Once the canopy matures and fills out, it will be a fantastic Bonsai mate. I really like it.

With your photo, I do not know what set up you use so it is hard to say yay or neigh.To be constructive, at first, the lighting is too dark, you cannot decipher the foliage and makes it hard for one to gauge depth from it. Also, from your photo's, the first photo indicates to me that you're too close to the background as the tree casts a shadow that is visible, bring it back from that by at least a foot or depending on where your lighting is.

Another thing to consider is a decent program to use to fix photos, be that for cropping, resizing and clarifying. I myself use an old 5.1 mp camera and then use Corel Paintshop Pro x2 to adjust the size, brightness and clarity.

Here is one of your pics that has had the brightness, contrast and clarity changed:
It is food for thought nonetheless. Don't worry too much, it will come mate. That Juni speaks volumes

Cheers

David

MoGanic wrote:Hi all,

Just a test using one umbrella and one hooded light box against a plain white backdrop.

If anyone can offer suggestions to help me improve my photography I'd be very grateful.

Regards,
-Mo

Mo,

TRy to get your background further from the tree. As far a possible. Of course, that means a bigger background, but hey, the fun's in the search. My latest acquisition was an old trampoline net - the black type that's been in the sun too long and had perished on the edges. Makes a nice background. Also, take your photos on a wide aperture. It helps to get the background out of focus. I've found lighting from two sides makes for better display photos. One side above front right. Other side, pot height, closer to the side and left. Finally, tripod, tripod, tripod.

Cheers,

Andrew

Just a tip - unless you are setting exposure manually, the metering system will average the tree and the background. If the background is white, the the tree will look comparatively dark. Your eye adjusts for this as it scans, the camera doesn't.

If you choose a darkish background, the tree will look comparatively lighter and will stand out against it. If it's black, the contrast will be too strong. A neutral colour can be good. Iron your background if it's wrinkled - any texture in the background distracts from the tree. A bit of distance between the tree and the background will help the camera focus on the tree, and fuzz the background out a bit.

Hope this helps. Welcome to the wierd world of light and looks.

Gavin

Thanks guys for all the advice.

Absolutely stoked at the response.

What I'm getting mainly is more distance between backdrop and tree, which shouldn't be difficult to achieve.

My camera is a low end bridge and everything I do has to be manual adjustments as the auto feature is absolutely useless - and I had no idea what aperture, shutter speed and "bridge camera" meant when I bought the cam.

So I'll get a neutral darker, slightly larger backdrop, move it farther back, position the lights at angles and set better exposure and aperture on the cam.

Now the kicker, i actually have two umbrellas and two boxes to use - anyone got a plan for using four light sources? Would it be worth the effort?

Thanks!

Ps please accept my apologies. There have been quite a few responses and I will have to thank you all together rather than individually.

Again, thank you all very much.

MoGanic wrote:Thanks guys for all the advice.

Absolutely stoked at the response.

What I'm getting mainly is more distance between backdrop and tree, which shouldn't be difficult to achieve.

My camera is a low end bridge and everything I do has to be manual adjustments as the auto feature is absolutely useless - and I had no idea what aperture, shutter speed and "bridge camera" meant when I bought the cam.

So I'll get a neutral darker, slightly larger backdrop, move it farther back, position the lights at angles and set better exposure and aperture on the cam.

Now the kicker, i actually have two umbrellas and two boxes to use - anyone got a plan for using four light sources? Would it be worth the effort?
Thanks!

Just because you have them, doesn't mean you have to use them, however when you move your background further back, you may lose some light on it. Use the extra light or lights down low and angled up a little to create those nice graduated backgrounds. A light to medium grey is a good average tone for auto exposures btw. Also you might consider using a good flash meter or light meter to measure accurately the output of the light source if your using the camera manually. It will tell you the correct settings to use.

Mo,

Auto is the scourge of the photography world for anyone taking pictures seriously! Be thankful that you have manual controls as they will make your life SO much easier. The key to successful photography is experimentation and having an understanding of the basics of photographic physics. Read this to understand the relationship between aperture and depth of field. http://www.exposureguide.com/focusing-basics.htm

Lighting requirements for every tree will be a bit different to optimise the visual appeal of the photo and things as simple as trying to highlight a jin may change the way you light a tree. I find that the camera is best placed slightly up from the rim of the pot and a few meters back. Use a bit of zoom, and the widest aperture possible. Compensate for your exposure with shutter speed, not aperture, and if you are using a tripod, you can go as low as you need to on shutter speed. Also important is that you keep your ISO setting low. 100 to 400 is a good range, and anything above 400 starts to noise up. Also important is to match the lighting source to the camera settings. Tungsten for tungsten . . . . cloudy for cloudy etc etc.

To get the best exposure my technique is to take a few photos at different shutter-speeds and then simply delete the ones that are worst.

Have fun mate, and which bridge are you using? My Canon G9 has just died and I'm going to have to choose something new soon.