I'm still committed to using only manual settings; it's the only way I'll learn how to use my camera skillfully. So here is a subject I've been toying with a few times when I'm in that "I've got to find SOMETHING to take a photo of" mode.
This is my "copper" discounted tea kettle (although it is silver...hmm)--the discounts came because of the dented spout.
I tried capturing it in different ISOs, and various shutterspeeds and aperture settings. I think I'm getting more comfortable and more knowledgeable with "playing" with the camera vs. trying to get a great shot. I just have to "go with it"...ahh, like so many things in my life.
Any feedback (not that I have many fans!) would be greatly appreciated if people have advice! :)
Daryl this is a great shot, the detail on the rim of the spout is super sharp and looks great against the black, the dents and shadows are gorgeous and the DoF just perfect, I think you must be doing something right, keep up the good work.
Again, I think this is a very competent photo, possibly a touch overexposed going by the highlights. Are you shooting in raw format, and do you use the histogram?
@automaticslim Whoa there--what? :) Ok, I did accidentally hit a button that added "Raw" to it and I have NO idea what that is YET. And what is the histogram. I have so much to learn. But I'm really willing to get there because I just love it all! Thanks so much for visiting. I really love your work--it's all so good!
Hi Daryl, I'm so glad you like my work ... at the moment I'm not very happy with it at all. :-(
Anyway, raw is a minimally compressed format which retains a lot more information than jpeg. You can do a lot more in the way of exposure correction with it, provided you have the appropriate software. Most people seem to use Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw, but there are a fair number of free alternatives. In this case it would be easy to tone down the highlight without it looking obvious - that's why I asked.
The histogram is a little graph which your camera can display on the screen which shows the distribution of tones; your editing software will also be able to display one I expect. In a photo with blown highlights you'll see a peak at the right hand end. In practice, if you display the histogram and see such a peak, you can use the exposure compensation to dial back the exposure. Not so easy to explain in words, but there's quite a good article here which has the benefit of pictures: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml
@automaticslim Wow, thanks so much for all the information (I really appreciate it very much). I do have Adobe Photoshop and I'm learning some from that, and I have not tried to locate the histogram on my camera (that's next). My windows media program has a histogram and after you mentioned it, I started to play with it some, but your description here really helps. Will definitely take a look at the link. I've been trying all-manual photos just to teach myself to think in terms of the "triangle" and to feel like I am in more control of the photo than the camera is. Once I learn the basics, I'll feel better about my choices going forward! I'm sort of responding to two of your posts at one time--hope that's ok. I can't be pious yet--I don't know anything! LOL!
@automaticslim@darylo -- I love it when I'm getting ready to comment on someone's photo, and as I read others' comments, I learn from the posts! THANKS for the info, @automaticslim!
And @darylo, my only suggestion might be to try an alternate version of this at a 3/4 angle view on another of your "gotta photograph something" times.
Do you know those Japanese electric pots, fondly known to some as "potto-chan" -- an item found in every Japanese home? I bought a little Korean teapot last week . . . to add to my Japanese and Chinese tea pots. But no kettles, beautiful as they are.
March 6th, 2013
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Anyway, raw is a minimally compressed format which retains a lot more information than jpeg. You can do a lot more in the way of exposure correction with it, provided you have the appropriate software. Most people seem to use Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw, but there are a fair number of free alternatives. In this case it would be easy to tone down the highlight without it looking obvious - that's why I asked.
The histogram is a little graph which your camera can display on the screen which shows the distribution of tones; your editing software will also be able to display one I expect. In a photo with blown highlights you'll see a peak at the right hand end. In practice, if you display the histogram and see such a peak, you can use the exposure compensation to dial back the exposure. Not so easy to explain in words, but there's quite a good article here which has the benefit of pictures:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml
Hope that helps!
And @darylo, my only suggestion might be to try an alternate version of this at a 3/4 angle view on another of your "gotta photograph something" times.