A Beginners Studio

Taking good photo's of your tree's can be challenging. Discuss your ideas and tips here.
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Dibbo
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A Beginners Studio

Post by Dibbo »

Finally got around to setting up my shed into a temporary photography studio. I played around with 35mm film many years ago and decided to borrow my wife's Canon 600D and have a play. It turned out more difficult than I expected as I am not used to electronic SLRs but having fun all the same. Attached are some pics of the setup and some results. More work to be done re reflectors, lighting and background but the current setup did not cost me anything.
studio 2.JPG
Studio.JPG
Ficus Benjamina (1 of 1).jpg
Buxus (1 of 1).jpg
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by Boics »

Look much better than any Bonsai pic I've ever taken!
Nice!
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by KIRKY »

There both vey good shots. I'd be very happy if I could photograph my trees to looked that good :clap: i'd also be happy if they were my trees :whistle: great test subjects.
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by [ Kane ] »

Very good. Photography is one of my other hobbies ;) http://www.kanegledhill.com.au
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by tgward »

nice plants--- did you intend to have parts out of focus ?---
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by kcpoole »

Nice effort for the first go
A little over exposed on the sunny side but knock it back a bit should be good

I wish i had a decent spot to set up in as they are all on the southern side of the house for me and the sun is thus all wrong :crybye:
Maybe after the Renos i an do a nice setup spot :fc:

ken
Last edited by kcpoole on April 20th, 2017, 9:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by Beano »

Nice job! I find a white sheet or big white piece of cardboard bounces light back better than a foil reflector, and if you put it closer to the subject there will be less uneven lighting caused by the sunny side. The plant looks fine but you can see it in your buxus shot, the light gradient from one side of the table to the other. Still excellent shots.
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by Dibbo »

tgward wrote:nice plants--- did you intend to have parts out of focus ?---
Yes I notice in this shot the very small depth of field. I took a lot of random shots of these trees playing around with depth of field. Obviously this one is too narrow. A couple of f-stops larger needed I think.
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by Dibbo »

Thanks for all the positive comments people. And thanks for the tips. Will put them to practice soon. :wave:
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by Lane »

This is one area I definitely need to work on too, appreciate you posting your efforts for all of us to learn from.
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by PeterH »

Hi Dibbo,

Nice setup. The shots look like they need a better depth of field (DOF). I am not sure what mode you are using your camera in but I suspect its in auto or portrait. I use mine mainly in Aperture priority.This allows me to change the aperture and thus the DOF,the camera selects the shutter speed automaticly in this mode. If you take a series of shots at differant apertures you should find one that brings the whole tree into focus. Or you can try focus stacking.

Kind Regards,

Peter
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Re: A Beginners Studio

Post by Dibbo »

PeterH wrote:Hi Dibbo,

Nice setup. The shots look like they need a better depth of field (DOF). I am not sure what mode you are using your camera in but I suspect its in auto or portrait. I use mine mainly in Aperture priority.This allows me to change the aperture and thus the DOF,the camera selects the shutter speed automaticly in this mode. If you take a series of shots at differant apertures you should find one that brings the whole tree into focus. Or you can try focus stacking.

Kind Regards,

Peter
Thanks Peter,
I used Aperture priority and took a variety of shots but obviously did not take enough care in checking out the final product before posting. When I used my old 35mm Nikon and Pentax film cameras I knew exactly how much depth of field I was getting with each f-stop. Not so knowledgeable with the new fangled digital variety of camera I'm afraid but will get there I expect.
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Dibbo
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