Trying to take better photos

[greg27]

Bad news - I treated myself to a new lens a couple of weeks ago and have been playing around a lot with the camera. So I'll most likely be annoying you all with many uploads.

[Keels]

Upload away Greg, always happy to see more trees. Plus tell us what you've done to improve your photography skills. I'm always interested in hearing tips

[BonsaiBobbie]

Bad news - I treated myself to a new lens a couple of weeks ago and have been playing around a lot with the camera. So I'll most likely be annoying you all with many uploads.

Lol

If you are going to splash out on a new lens, time to splash out on some off camera flash gear.

A good site

https://www.hypop.com.au/

Of eBay / Amazon for cheaper stuff.

[greg27]

If you are going to splash out on a new lens, time to splash out on some off camera flash gear.

I woke up early to get some work done, ended up spending an hour reading about lighting

This rabbit hole sure is deep.

[BonsaiBobbie]

Lol

I did the same after posting the link last night.

Here is where most people start to learn about off camera flash.


https://strobist.blogspot.com/

https://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/l ... 1.html?m=1

[legoman_iac]

Great to see the updates, keep them coming!

Re: rabbit holes ... I got two more dangerous time sinks for you to try, without the need for spending money:

- look into image sharpening (as already briefly mentioned), I got a book on it years ago, covers the workflow in Photoshop and Lightroom. There's lots to learn, and once you start you'll never want to share a non-sharpened image again. I use it in all my moon photos now. Though as warned, it's a rabbit hole unto itself.

- image stacking: something to experiment with if you cannot eliminate DOF issues. I've only dabbled with macro dof stacking, it's incredible what can be achieved but adds an exponential level of complexity during a shoot.

Pic and tree looking great ... though have to ask, what's going on with that fresh left branch and its large leaves?

My biggest fig is doing the same, which is why I've noticed, but in my case, it's neglect - your tree looks like it's getting lots of attention and care.

- Daniel

[greg27]

- look into image sharpening (as already briefly mentioned), I got a book on it years ago, covers the workflow in Photoshop and Lightroom. There's lots to learn, and once you start you'll never want to share a non-sharpened image again. I use it in all my moon photos now. Though as warned, it's a rabbit hole unto itself.

Sold. I've been playing around with Photoshop/Lightroom (and a few other programs...) lately so definitely keen to learn more about post-processing and getting things nice and crisp.

- image stacking: something to experiment with if you cannot eliminate DOF issues. I've only dabbled with macro dof stacking, it's incredible what can be achieved but adds an exponential level of complexity during a shoot.

Also sold! I've very briefly looked into image stacking with astrophotography (yet another rabbit hole) so definitely another one to add to the list. The macro side is interesting too - the lens I bought is a Sigma 17-70mm 2.8-4.5 Macro - not a true macro lens but I can get some decent closeups of tiny spiders to horrify my very-arachnophobic wife.

Pic and tree looking great ... though have to ask, what's going on with that fresh left branch and its large leaves?

I'm regrowing that left branch - what was there previously was very straight and taperless, so it got the chop. I defoliated the rest of the tree last summer but left that branch alone to thicken. Looking back at the photo I'll need to wire it down a lot, and do something with the little branch behind it...

[PeterH]

This was a focus stacked image of 5 shots. I Generally use focus stacking when taking photos of my trees

Peter

[greg27]

Thanks for that Peter, your photos always have lovely detail so nice to hear how they're done. What's your editor of choice?

[PeterH]

Thanks for that Peter, your photos always have lovely detail so nice to hear how they're done. What's your editor of choice?

Hi Greg,

Basic edit in Lightroom and stacking in photoshop.

Regards ,
Peter

[greg27]

It begins...

20220725_112815.jpg

[BonsaiBobbie]

lol

Great choice...

You'll have a lot of fun with that and be constantly bouncing stuff off walls, ceilings etc.

Your photos, whether of plants of people snaps will be infinitely better for it.

I had mucked around with cables to fire remote flashes for a long time, even cheap wireless triggers. Only this year did I get a proper trigger for my set up (I generally use a full GODOX Strobe now - Godox DP400III 400W - it definitely isn't needed, I've managed to do whole shoots for my kids school with the speedlite).

Not being a professional, and learning as you go like you, I think jumping straight to controlling the speedlite from the camera helps because you will get the settings wrong, and you just avoid hassle of going backwards and forth to the flash all the time. This is important for taking pics of people!

One immediate tip is to confirm your cameras maximum flash sync speed (ie the fastest shutter speed beyond which the flash won't work "or sync" with the camera). You should be able to look it up, or just test it by taking photos. The speed will likely be 1/200th or 1/250th of a second, but maybe quicker if you are lucky. You'll know when you experience it. You'll get half the image nicely exposed and the other half like the shutter hasn't fully opened. The first time it happened to me, I didn't have a clue what was going on.

Enjoy the rest of your learning.

[BonsaiBobbie]

It begins...

20220725_112815.jpg

Also apologies to significant others for suggesting this! Hopefully they get the benefit of some great happy snaps.

[greg27]

One immediate tip is to confirm your cameras maximum flash sync speed (ie the fastest shutter speed beyond which the flash won't work "or sync" with the camera). You should be able to look it up, or just test it by taking photos. The speed will likely be 1/200th or 1/250th of a second, but maybe quicker if you are lucky. You'll know when you experience it. You'll get half the image nicely exposed and the other half like the shutter hasn't fully opened. The first time it happened to me, I didn't have a clue what was going on.

That explains what happened to me this morning! Google says my Nikon D5100's speed is 1/200. I had a quick play early this morning, I think at 1/400, and the bottom quarter of the photo was dark. Mystery solved.

Also apologies to significant others for suggesting this! Hopefully they get the benefit of some great happy snaps.

My wife didn't bat an eyelid when I showed her my new toys. I think she's already written me off

[BonsaiBobbie]

One immediate tip is to confirm your cameras maximum flash sync speed (ie the fastest shutter speed beyond which the flash won't work "or sync" with the camera). You should be able to look it up, or just test it by taking photos. The speed will likely be 1/200th or 1/250th of a second, but maybe quicker if you are lucky. You'll know when you experience it. You'll get half the image nicely exposed and the other half like the shutter hasn't fully opened. The first time it happened to me, I didn't have a clue what was going on.

That explains what happened to me this morning! Google says my Nikon D5100's speed is 1/200. I had a quick play early this morning, I think at 1/400, and the bottom quarter of the photo was dark. Mystery solved.

Also apologies to significant others for suggesting this! Hopefully they get the benefit of some great happy snaps.

My wife didn't bat an eyelid when I showed her my new toys. I think she's already written me off

I wasn't expecting you to hit that problem so quickly, but glad that I did. It took me a few years between encountering the problem, reading about it, and putting two and two together. Pity is was for photos of my newborn!

I have to bit my tongue on anything else, lest I take away any of you fun.