The Official TB Photography Thread

[Michael Jewels]

Hello, everyone.

Here is a shot taken with the Lensbaby at different apertures.
This might, and I stress the word might, be used on the cover of a CD. Point of focus is the white highlight strip between the glass and the pickup selector switch.
f 8.0 It almost looks like it was taken with a regular lens.

f5.6 Now the Lensbaby magic begins to appear.

f4.0 Severe moosh is setting in.

f2.0 Whoa! Look at the whipped cream on the tops of the volume and tone knobs

The big space above the guitar is where the name of the band and other info will go.

I want to re-do it, because:

1.) I don't like the beer cases visible in the background.
2.) I want to use a shorter bottle, as I feel the one in the photo now is too tall and distracting.
3.) You can see Christmas lights reflected on the body of the guitar just below the highlight line.
4.) I may change the point of focus to somewhere else.
5.) I may position the guitar a little more southwest to northeast

Which aperture do you like best?

Does anyone have any other ideas for improving this shot?

Mike

 

[Vic]

I want to re-do it, because:

1.) I don't like the beer cases visible in the background.
2.) I want to use a shorter bottle, as I feel the one in the photo now is too tall and distracting.
3.) You can see Christmas lights reflected on the body of the guitar just below the highlight line.
4.) I may change the point of focus to somewhere else.
5.) I may position the guitar a little more southwest to northeast

Which aperture do you like best?

Does anyone have any other ideas for improving this shot?

Mike

I'd suggest using a normal sized bottle, just put it behind the neck so it's not in the foreground. The glass in the foreground is enough to make the statement. I wouldn't worry about the Christmas light reflection. I seriously doubt anyone would pick that level of detail out because it's several levels deep in what I call the "layers of interest" of that photo. I agree on losing the beer boxes, however, if they're not completely obscured by the band name or focus, anyway. I think the bottle and glass are enough, and a more refined statement as well.

Only MHO tho... and only because you asked... composition is almost (if not completely) purely artistic, so to each their own, and FWIW.

 

[DigMe]

I say lose the lensbaby and just go with a shallow DoF with a normal lens. Or at least try that and compare it to the lensbaby shots.

bc

 

[Michael Jewels]

I'd suggest using a normal sized bottle, just put it behind the neck so it's not in the foreground. The glass in the foreground is enough to make the statement. I wouldn't worry about the Christmas light reflection. I seriously doubt anyone would pick that level of detail out because it's several levels deep in what I call the "layers of interest" of that photo. I agree on losing the beer boxes, however, if they're not completely obscured by the band name or focus, anyway. I think the bottle and glass are enough, and a more refined statement as well.

Only MHO tho... and only because you asked... composition is almost (if not completely) purely artistic, so to each their own, and FWIW.

Vic, putting the bottle behind the neck is a good idea; maybe I'll take it out of the shot entirely.

As for the Christmas lights, several other people didn't notice them, and when I pointed them out, they told me to stop being a perfectionist.

Thanks for commenting, I do appreciate it.

Anyone else?

Mike

 

[Michael Jewels]

I say lose the lensbaby and just go with a shallow DoF with a normal lens. Or at least try that and compare it to the lensbaby shots.

bc

I'll do that when I re-shoot this, Brad.

Thanks.

Mike

 

[Vorago]

I made a little photo report on a treeplanting action by a group that's protesting against the construction of a new ringway around the city.

More on my blog


Let me know what you think!

 

[Ziltoid]

Vorago, it's kind of off topic but I was wondering if you speak mainly french of flemish.

 

[Vorago]

Flemish Dutch is my mother language, English my second and French my third language, but I'm working on that!

 

[Ziltoid]

Nice, feel free to ask if you have any question

I should learn a third language but if I do it's either Russian or Mandarin and I doubt on my success without a teacher and there's none around here for these languages.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

The ef-s has a short back focus so it's closer to the sensor, basically it sits deeper in the camera. So My guess is that putting an ef-s on an ef only mount could probably mean stuff hitting/scratching/breaking inside the camera.

As said, I realise it's a no-no, so will only be using EF and EF-S lenses on the EF-S mount, but only EF on the EF mount

 

[vbd]

Vorago. Your's BW photos, reminds me that I have an Ilford XP2 400 to use, maybe in the holidays.

Nobody has tested, Ilford SFX 200 film?

This is digital -*500D, but with manual focus lens, M42 135mm 2.8

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Michael Jewels]

I say lose the lensbaby and just go with a shallow DoF with a normal lens. Or at least try that and compare it to the lensbaby shots.

bc

Brad, this is for you.
Pentax DA70mm @ f2.4 @ 1/20 second.

Lensbaby with 1.5 teleconverter @ f4.0 @ 1/8 second.

The point of focus for both shots was the bridge pickup.

I did the first shot with my 70mm portrait lens at Brad's suggestion, and I like the result.

For the second shot, I used my Lensbaby with the 1.5 teleconverter, which gave the lens an effective length of 112.5mm.

Last night I spent two hours and made 80 exposures, but I'm still not 100% satisfied with any of these shots.

I think I'm going to leave this project alone 'till after Christmas.

Thanks to everyone for looking and offering advice.

Mike

 

[warwick.hoy]

Nice^^^

I like both shots,...the 2nd one is better.

 

[Michael Jewels]

Nice^^^

I like both shots,...the 2nd one is better.

I'm just getting frustrated with this project, because the image I see in my mind is not the image that's coming out of the camera.

Maybe if I leave it alone for a while, something will click.

Thanks for the kind words, though; I do appreciate them.

Mike

 

[jucas]

I liked the first images with more in the frame a little better, and prefered the focus point so that part of the glass stayed sharper.

Maybe a hair faster if you're going with a normal lens, but I actually don't mind the effect-y looking lensbaby here.

What pentax body are you using?

 

[warwick.hoy]

I'm just getting frustrated with this project, because the image I see in my mind is not the image that's coming out of the camera.

Maybe if I leave it alone for a while, something will click.

Thanks for the kind words, though; I do appreciate them.

Mike

Not unlike writing a song and painting a picture. Seems like you aren't willing to compromise which can be a blessing and a curse. Is the lighting not coming out right? Or the Framing? Just sleep on it and it will come to you.

I rarely have an idea or image in my head of what I want. I just go with it, but then again,...I'm not normally trying to produce a quality still life.

This image for example sucks in terms of still life quality, but I was just looking to portray my pedalboard for inclusion in a TBFX thread. From a journal of gear standpoint,...I think it's at least somewhat artful.

For the most part, I like texture and detail.

 

[HEIST]

I'm just getting frustrated with this project, because the image I see in my mind is not the image that's coming out of the camera.

Maybe if I leave it alone for a while, something will click.

Thanks for the kind words, though; I do appreciate them.

Mike

Maybe try having a large light source to light for all the flat metal parts on the guitar and another light to show the upper contour of the body.

I really like how it shows the colour detail of the body and at the same time (in the foreground) it shows the glossy finish. I like the way the glass looks too.

Let us know how it goes, I like seeing projects grow.

 

[DigMe]

I think the better shot in the end is going to be sans lensbaby, which probably isn't as fun but I'm not feeling it in this situation. I think you should come in tighter on the pickups area at a little lower angle with the other props in the background slightly blurred with the shallow DoF.

This is all SO subjective though!

bc

 

[Michael Jewels]

I liked the first images with more in the frame a little better, and prefered the focus point so that part of the glass stayed sharper.

Maybe a hair faster if you're going with a normal lens, but I actually don't mind the effect-y looking lensbaby here.

What pentax body are you using?

I like the first images better too.

The shot taken with the 70mm was taken at f2.4, the lens' maximum aperture.

I also have 100mm macro lens, which yields an effective 150mm on a digital body. I'll try some shots with this lens when I come back to this.

By the way, I'm using a Pentax K100D.

Mike

 

[Michael Jewels]

Maybe try having a large light source to light for all the flat metal parts on the guitar and another light to show the upper contour of the body.

I really like how it shows the colour detail of the body and at the same time (in the foreground) it shows the glossy finish. I like the way the glass looks too.

Let us know how it goes, I like seeing projects grow.

That's a good idea, Heist.

I'm going to do some shots with the guitar on its amp.

As I said, I'm going to leave this alone for a while, and let some new ideas build up over the next few weeks.

Thanks for the idea.

Mike