Macro Hi-Fi Shots

[Martin Taylor]

So here is a recent one I took of my new Shelter cartridge (cropped from the original):

There is no specific macro mode on the GF1 so I used Programmed mode with the AFS point focus, camera on tripod and natural lighting. The record was spinning to give a blurred effect. By luck rather than judgement the graduation scale on the arm was in focus together with the cartridge.

Questions: what really is the best mode to use for these shots on the GF1? Even the David Busch book is not very helpful here and all previous cameras I've owned have had a specific macro mode.

How should I best set up lighting for good contrast but not harsh exposure of detail like dust?

How can I most easily adjust the depth of field?

Any other advice?

 

[Hamish Gill]

Interchangeable lens cameras don't tend to have a macro mode as such as it is all in the type of lens ....
There are Marco lenses available for your camera but they might not be worth your while for this sort of thing!
That lens focuses to about half a metre from memory which should get you close enough for this sort of thing I would have thought...

As for lighting, if your using a tripod you can get away with a very small amount of light ... And softly lit living room light is quite nice for this sort of subject

More contrast can be applied in post process ... Do you have any pp software? "curves" is a good place to start for adjusting contrast ... Let me know if you want me to expand on that at all...

Perhaps in this instance slightly over exposing might have brought out a little more detail in the cart? This can be done using "exposure compensation" on any of the auto modes ...


Depth of field is set by the size of the aperture... Turn the wheel on the camera to "a" ... Small numbers = broad dof, big numbers = narrow dof ... Loads more here http://www.realphotographersforum.c...Basics-Exposure-Part-1-Understanding-Aperture

As i said, it's actually a reall good effort, if you wants to make it a little more interesting you could get a little creative with the shooting angle... Or you could try hanging some black cloth behind the turntable to make it stand out from The background a bit...

Is any of that any help? Let me know of you need anythin clarifying ...

 

[Martin Taylor]

Thanks, Hamish. I definitely need to RTFM as I find the buttons and menus confusing - not something I've ever suffered from with previous cameras.

I use Photoshop Elements 9 - good enough, or would you recommend Curves (never heard of it)?

Thanks for the black cloth idea, that sounds like an excellent idea and I shall try it out after scrounging some material from our Art Dept.

I will experiment with shooting angle and exposure as suggested.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Curves is an adjustment feature within photo editing software...

i have no experience of using elements... or indeed much in photoshop for editing photos ...
you could look at photoshop lightroom as an alternative ... one that i could help you with ...

or ... if someone else could get them fingers moving and give martin some tips in photoshop for adjusting contrast that would be lovely ... anyone

 

[Hamish Gill]

http://tryit.adobe.com/uk/lightroom/tw1/standard.html

 

[Martin Taylor]

Thanks Hamish, I'll look into that. To be honest, I should be able to do everything I need from PSE at it has stacks of adjustments, it's just getting to know what works. I'll concentrate on getting my basic photography up to scratch first before worrying too much about post production.

 

[Paul Lange]

I do believe that PSE does have curves adjustment and adjustment layers. Try Ctrl M or Cmd M for Mac, this should bring up the curves tool

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Martin - PSE should be a great place to start - here's a good tutorial on using PSE to adjust levels and contrast:

http://www.alibony.com/pse/031808levels.html

Most of the stuff you'll need is in PSE, moving to a full version of Photoshop is nice, but pricey of course.

Some other good online training material here: http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-tutorials/Photoshop-Elements-tutorials/Most-popular/1/

 

[Mark Grant]

I use Photoshop Elements 9 - good enough, or would you recommend Curves (never heard of it)?

Elements 9 is excellent, I am definitely a beginner with any type of photoshop work but I like it.

If you open an image in elemets, then at the top of the screen, it is Enhance> Adjust color>Adjust Color curves.

Also Enhance>Adjust color>Adjust Hue saturation ( shortcut for that is Control U )

Also Enhance>Adjust lighting and try the various options

Tons of stuff to watch and read on adobe TV
http://tv.adobe.com/search/?q=elements+9&sortby=relevancy

 

[Martin Taylor]

Thanks Paul & Mark, I found the command (Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Color Curves...) just as I read this. There doesn't seem to be a keyboard shortcut. Playing with a few images, I can see how it works. Will experiment some more.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Gentle s shaped curve will give you a tweak up in contrast

I do wish lightroom was free with all cameras ... I can explain how to do almost anything in that ... I come so unstuck in Photoshop!

 

[Martin Taylor]

Taking all my lessons learned, especially Hamish's suggestion to use natural light with a tripod and not flash, and playing with the camera settings a little more I achieved this. It's still not quite as sharp as I would like it (focusing on the writing on the cartridge) but I'm a lot happier with the lighting. Very mildly enhanced in Photoshop.

 

[Paul Lange]

Looks good to me Martin. Have you sharpened the image a bit? Digital images generally require a touch of sharpening however the image doesn't look like it needs it in this case if it hasn't been done already.

 

[Martin Taylor]

No, I didn't use sharpening at all. Just a touch of colour correction.

I'm intrigued - what kind of sharpening would you recommend for digital images?

 

[Martin Taylor]

Here's another shot. Again, only slight colour correction.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Very nice indeed mate! I should be very pleased with that one!
Nice and warm light from the pick up lamp is nice and contrasts well with the slightly cooler background
I'm not sure I can see anything I'd comment negatively on at all really! Good stuff!

 

[Hamish Gill]

Here's another shot. Again, only slight colour correction.

... Snuck that in whilst I was typing ...
This is good stuff mate, as a photo, it's obviously slightly less interesting, but technically it's nice!
Goo quality eBay listings from you in the future then!

 

[Mark Grant]

Looks good Martin,

I saved it and did a sharpen in Breezebrowser Pro, using the completely automatic ' HQ sharpen' .

The image was already reduced in size so not ideal to work on but gives an idea:

Original:

----------------------

Sharpened:

http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser/index.htm

Looks like the GF1 is supported so maybe give the free trial a go.

A bit of a learning curve but is easy once you get the hang of it, it

 

[Martin Taylor]

Thanks Mark. I'll look up BreezeBrowser. Since you say 'the GF1 is supported' do I take it that RAW files are needed or can it work on JPGs?

 

[Pete Askew]

You can but most, if not all, JPEG conversions will have had some sharpening applied already. A RAW file would give you more control.