Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations
-
Taryn
- Posts: 554
- Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:27 am
- Location: Miles away...........................
- Contact:
Re: Photography
Still reading the manual.............
-
Xamonas Chegwé
- Bouncer
- Posts: 50939
- Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 3:23 pm
- About me: I have prehensile eyebrows.
I speak 9 languages fluently, one of which other people can also speak.
When backed into a corner, I fit perfectly - having a right-angled arse. - Location: Nottingham UK
- Contact:
Re: Photography
You should aim for a ratio of about 50:1 - taking pictures:reading the manual!Taryn wrote:Still reading the manual.............
A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.
Salman Rushdie
You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.
House MD
Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view.
Sandy Denny
This is the wrong forum for bluffing
Paco
Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish!
Calilasseia
I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants.
Twoflower
Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse
Millefleur
Salman Rushdie
You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.
House MD
Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view.
Sandy Denny
This is the wrong forum for bluffing
Paco
Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish!
Calilasseia
I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants.
Twoflower
Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse
Millefleur
Re: Photography
Like XC said, get out and take photos as well!Taryn wrote:Still reading the manual.............
-
Taryn
- Posts: 554
- Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 1:27 am
- Location: Miles away...........................
- Contact:
Re: Photography
I have been taking pics too, not very successfully so far.
These are two of the pics, uncropped, that I took of a swan at the local country park the other day, using the tele-macro lens and the camera on auto. Most of the others were a bit blurry, I think I need to use my tripod next time.
This was from about 50' away.
This was from about 20' away.
These are two of the pics, uncropped, that I took of a swan at the local country park the other day, using the tele-macro lens and the camera on auto. Most of the others were a bit blurry, I think I need to use my tripod next time.
This was from about 50' away.
This was from about 20' away.
Re: Photography
Both good, second one is lovely.Taryn wrote:I have been taking pics too, not very successfully so far.
These are two of the pics, uncropped, that I took of a swan at the local country park the other day, using the tele-macro lens and the camera on auto. Most of the others were a bit blurry, I think I need to use my tripod next time.
This was from about 50' away.
This was from about 20' away.
Have you heard of 'unsharp mask' ?
Unsharp Mask
The Unsharp Mask (UM) is a method of improving the clarity of images. It gets it's name from the original chemical process used in film days when it made sense. This is the result of using UM.
The first image is unaltered from the original except for a reduction down to 800 pixel width.
The second image has UM applied twice, once before reduction in size and once afterwards.
The use of UM is most obvious in the wing membrane as the effect is most noticeable in areas of high contrast.
The UM has 3 parameters, Amount as a percentage, Radius in pixels and Threshold in Levels. I have found through trial and error that values of 100%, 1.1 pixels and 2 levels work for my camera/final image combination. These parameters are related to the original image size, the amount you want to reduce the image by and how sharp the final image needs to be. This isn't a magic wand, if you overdo the amounts the picture quickly becomes distorted and obviously manipulated. Some might say this is cheating, however one has to appreciate that the original need for sharpening is caused by the limitations of digital sensors and the amount of processing power you can cram into a camera body. UM just overcomes the current flaws in technology.
If you know how to use one part of your photo manipulation software after 'Resize' then Unsharp Mask is it.
The first image is unaltered from the original except for a reduction down to 800 pixel width.
The second image has UM applied twice, once before reduction in size and once afterwards.
The use of UM is most obvious in the wing membrane as the effect is most noticeable in areas of high contrast.
The UM has 3 parameters, Amount as a percentage, Radius in pixels and Threshold in Levels. I have found through trial and error that values of 100%, 1.1 pixels and 2 levels work for my camera/final image combination. These parameters are related to the original image size, the amount you want to reduce the image by and how sharp the final image needs to be. This isn't a magic wand, if you overdo the amounts the picture quickly becomes distorted and obviously manipulated. Some might say this is cheating, however one has to appreciate that the original need for sharpening is caused by the limitations of digital sensors and the amount of processing power you can cram into a camera body. UM just overcomes the current flaws in technology.
If you know how to use one part of your photo manipulation software after 'Resize' then Unsharp Mask is it.
-
FBM
- Ratz' first Gritizen.
- Posts: 45327
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:43 pm
- About me: Skeptic. "Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach" - Contact:
Re: Unsharp Mask
Now that was a worthwhile read! Up to now, I've only used the Windows program that was pre-loaded on my computer. Which software do you use for photo manipulation? I'd kill the preacher to be able to get results even remotely similar to yours. I realize that I'm only going to get so much performance out of my current lens, but I'd like to maximize what I can learn and do with that one before getting another.CJ wrote:If you know how to use one part of your photo manipulation software after 'Resize' then Unsharp Mask is it.
btw, that mysterious line that appeared in so many of my earlier images hasn't shown up again in the last 2~300 exposures.
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
Re: Photography
I use Adobe Photoshop Elements as it came free with my scanner a while ago. Adobe Photoshop is the de facto image processing software, the 'Elements' version gives the non-professional user the basic stuff. I have used both and the full package does have some features that I miss but none that you can't work around using what is left.
I bet that line was a duff connection to the sensor which has now disappeared due to you using the camera, that's probably why you got given the camera for free in the first place
I bet that line was a duff connection to the sensor which has now disappeared due to you using the camera, that's probably why you got given the camera for free in the first place
-
FBM
- Ratz' first Gritizen.
- Posts: 45327
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:43 pm
- About me: Skeptic. "Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach" - Contact:
Re: Photography
In that case, I'll downlo...acquire PS Elements again. (I had 'acquired' it on my last desktop, but never got around to learning it before the computer itself crapped out.CJ wrote:I use Adobe Photoshop Elements as it came free with my scanner a while ago. Adobe Photoshop is the de facto image processing software, the 'Elements' version gives the non-professional user the basic stuff. I have used both and the full package does have some features that I miss but none that you can't work around using what is left.
I bet that line was a duff connection to the sensor which has now disappeared due to you using the camera, that's probably why you got given the camera for free in the first place
You may be right about why the camera was handed off to me. The person I got it from is a professional photog, and I can't imagine that she'd have much patience with something like that, seeing as how it would affect her livelihood. Whatever. I'm having a blast with it now.
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
Some lenses are not suitable for digital cameras
The film inside a non-digital camera is not very reflective, the digital sensor inside a digital camera is a lot more reflective than film. Lenses designed for digital cameras have to be much better at controlling internal reflections than those designed for film based cameras. This means that while some older film oriented lenses can fit and work on some digital bodies the results are sometime very poor.
This is exactly what happened with one of my lenses, my Minolta 100-300mm produces horrible highlights in high contrast areas of an image. So I have bought a dedicated digital lens to replace it, a Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 APO DG Macro (even though the macro is 1:2 not true 1:1). It arrived today so I'll go try it and report back later!
This is exactly what happened with one of my lenses, my Minolta 100-300mm produces horrible highlights in high contrast areas of an image. So I have bought a dedicated digital lens to replace it, a Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 APO DG Macro (even though the macro is 1:2 not true 1:1). It arrived today so I'll go try it and report back later!
Re: Photography
Sigma 70-300 is sweet!
-
FBM
- Ratz' first Gritizen.
- Posts: 45327
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:43 pm
- About me: Skeptic. "Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach" - Contact:
Re: Photography
I'll say! Is that without enhancement?
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
Re: Photography
No special processing. Just as I've described above. UM > reduce > UM.FBM wrote:I'll say! Is that without enhancement?
EDIT
This is the whole original frame reduced to 800 pixels from 3872 wide. No other processing.
-
FBM
- Ratz' first Gritizen.
- Posts: 45327
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:43 pm
- About me: Skeptic. "Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach" - Contact:
Re: Photography
Got it. I've got macro on my mind and I'm going to start scouting about for a new lens.
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
Re: Photography
Your camera has a Nikon mount?FBM wrote:Got it. I've got macro on my mind and I'm going to start scouting about for a new lens.
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests