These fall flowers are making their appearance - I guess it is time to really really savour the rest of our summer...
For the Get Pushed challenge ( http://365project.org/discuss/themes-competitions/13989/get-pushed-week-five), Jaap pushed me "... to make a macro with your 60D. I guess you don't have a special macro lens, but try to get the best out of your lens and camera. Try to come as close as possible, use manual focus with 10x focus zoom via LiveView and do a maximum crop."
Great challenge, as I almost never use the LiveView feature and now have become even more acquainted with my camera and its features.
@djepie - Jaap, here is my first attempt at a macro using your technique. Fire away with critique, as I think I can do better, but could use some guidance. I was not sure what you meant by maximum crop, but I did crop this image significantly from the original.
@kph129 Good shot! I like the bright color and the contrast and (thanks to the telelens) the soft background. It's rather sharp, though I think you didn't sharpen it in postprocessing? In the EXIF I see you used your 200mm zoom. Did you do this on purpose? Don't know which lenses you have, but my experience is, that with a tele you cannot really get closer, and, more important, the sharpness is better with the maximum zoom of your standard lens. There is also some color fringe on the contrast edges. Do you have software for post processing? In e.g. Lightroom it can be removed easily.
With maximum crop, I meant t crop so far, that it's still sharp and where you still remain enough pixels to present a decent photo; e.g. http://jaapmeijer.com/images/2012/jumper-b-a.jpg (made with a 60D too).
In this way you learn how good are your lens and your camera sensor, how far you can go.
I didn't manager to make a get-pushed pic yet, because when I go home, in our quiet village, there are no more crowded streets. Intend to do it next Friday!
@djepie ~ Jaap, my main lens, aside from a 50mm (no zoom) one is the 18-200mm... so for this photo I was zoomed all the way using that one. It seems if I don't use the full zoom, then I can't get as close. Would I be better off trying with my 50mm lense? I did do manual focusing, though there was a little bit of a breeze, so I may have lost some sharpness there.
After you do the 10x to focus, do you switch back to 1x to compose the photo or take the photo while at 10x and then adjust the composition with your crop?
I have Photoshop Elements, but really need to learn to use it better, so most of my editing for this project has been done in picmonkey. Do you know if there is colour fringe adjustment in Elements? For my next editing purchase, do you recommend Lightroom?
Thanks for sharing your expertise!
@kph129 Which Elements (PSE) version? I only have the very old PSE5. Via Google I found: Go up to the Enhance menu and choose Adjust Color>Defringe Layer…. And last lines in http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshopelements/using/WS287f927bd30d4b1f2773521512e28aff242-7ff5.html
I only go back to 1x on the LCD if I have to check if the object is all on the photo. Normally when you need 10x you have a very small object, and I don't go back to 1x where you risk to lose some sharpness / focus.
With maximum crop, I meant t crop so far, that it's still sharp and where you still remain enough pixels to present a decent photo; e.g. http://jaapmeijer.com/images/2012/jumper-b-a.jpg (made with a 60D too).
In this way you learn how good are your lens and your camera sensor, how far you can go.
I didn't manager to make a get-pushed pic yet, because when I go home, in our quiet village, there are no more crowded streets. Intend to do it next Friday!
After you do the 10x to focus, do you switch back to 1x to compose the photo or take the photo while at 10x and then adjust the composition with your crop?
I have Photoshop Elements, but really need to learn to use it better, so most of my editing for this project has been done in picmonkey. Do you know if there is colour fringe adjustment in Elements? For my next editing purchase, do you recommend Lightroom?
Thanks for sharing your expertise!
I only go back to 1x on the LCD if I have to check if the object is all on the photo. Normally when you need 10x you have a very small object, and I don't go back to 1x where you risk to lose some sharpness / focus.