Planning a picture?

Rich E500

Rich E500

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Rich
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After looking at lots of different pics all over the internet, trying to get ideas and figure out how to set up a shot that will look good, I thought I'd have a go. I used a pepper my missus had chopped up because it had nice colours and textures etc and the onion peelings (I thought) added to the effect. So I arranged them all and lit them as best I could, which I realise isn't too great so don't flame me for it please, and set my camera up to take what I was hoping would come out as an amateur masterpiece...

Anyway, as you can see, it's come out far from it :(

So what I was wondering was, how do you guys work out where everything needs to be in a shot, what angles to do it from and all that depth of field stuff and tie it all together to make really great shots?

I haven't edited or cropped this pic yet, it's as it came off the camera.

http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab32/RichE500/_1016872.jpg?t=1262729054

Staff Edit : Image(s) removed. (Link(s) left in place). Pictures must not exceed current forum limits as per the rules.
Please feel free to replace this with a fresh/resized image and remove this text
 
Hi Rich, don't be too hard on yourself there is a LOT goes into good still life and product shots.

Shooting angle relative to your subject is one. Where do you want the viewer to look and why, there has to be something there that grabs their attention

Then you are right to mention depth of field, how do you want to use that? Up to you, it's called creative control.

The you have to light it. That's where some reverse engineering comes into play. If you have your subject where you want it and you have worked out the shooting angle and DOF then you need to work out where and how much light you want to use. What is the highlight of the image and how much light you want to put on it as well as how quickly you want it to fall off and also how soft or hard you want it.

There is a lot to good still life and product photography, it's an exacting discipline.
 
Can I just appologise for the slightly large image, I can't seem to get it to come out smaller for some reason.

I wanted the pepper to be the main focal point and the rest to be blury in the background, but still reconisable. I thought I had the angle nailed, so it picked up the seeds as well as some of the skin coulor etc. I knew the lighting was no good, but its was all I could do for now. My aim was to get the rest of it something like...
 
Rich E500 said:
Can I just appologise for the slightly large image, I can't seem to get it to come out smaller for some reason.

I wanted the pepper to be the main focal point and the rest to be blury in the background, but still reconisable. I thought I had the angle nailed, so it picked up the seeds as well as some of the skin coulor etc. I knew the lighting was no good, but its was all I could do for now. My aim was to get the rest of it something like...
Click to expand...

To help you achieve that aim, a shallow depth of field, (low f number,) would have been a good choice. You used an aperture of f/20. *Something* like f/3.5 (the widest your lens could manage?) would have created the more shallow depth of field effect you were looking for. Your exposure time would also drastically reduce from 8 seconds...

As Ali rightly says, food and product photography is an exacting discipline - try some different aperture settings and see how the results differ. Keep at it and you'll get there! ;)
 
irw1 said:
To help you achieve that aim, a shallow depth of field, (low f number,) would have been a good choice. You used an aperture of f/20. Your exposure time would also drastically reduce from 8 seconds...
Click to expand...

How did you know that? Is there some way of finding out how pics were taken?

I will have another go tonight with something else and try a lower f number and see if I can get a bit closer to the end product that I'm after. I might have a go at making some sort of light box at the weekend too.
 
Right, had another go, I'm still after the same finished result as before but used a different subject this time. Once again though, it still just looks like a normal photo and is lacking something to draw you in.

Any suggestions on how I could improve or what is lacking?

I used a tripod but can't seem to get the focus sharp enough either.

http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab32/RichE500/_1016907.jpg
 
Rich E500 said:
After looking at lots of different pics all over the internet, trying to get ideas and figure out how to set up a shot that will look good, I thought I'd have a go. I used a pepper my missus had chopped up because it had nice colours and textures etc and the onion peelings (I thought) added to the effect. So I arranged them all and lit them as best I could, which I realise isn't too great so don't flame me for it please, and set my camera up to take what I was hoping would come out as an amateur masterpiece...

Anyway, as you can see, it's come out far from it :(

So what I was wondering was, how do you guys work out where everything needs to be in a shot, what angles to do it from and all that depth of field stuff and tie it all together to make really great shots?

I haven't edited or cropped this pic yet, it's as it came off the camera.

http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab32/RichE500/_1016872.jpg?t=1262729054

Staff Edit : Image(s) removed. (Link(s) left in place). Pictures must not exceed current forum limits as per the rules.
Please feel free to replace this with a fresh/resized image and remove this text
Click to expand...

i like shots like this...they are landscape in a sense...sort of inner space
lots of potential there and pp will do the job nicely
 
Rich E500 said:
Right, had another go, I'm still after the same finished result as before but used a different subject this time. Once again though, it still just looks like a normal photo and is lacking something to draw you in.

Any suggestions on how I could improve or what is lacking?

I used a tripod but can't seem to get the focus sharp enough either.

http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab32/RichE500/_1016907.jpg
Click to expand...
contrast and dynamics...background needs to be darker and slightly front lit as if those mojo's are coming to get you..haha

your shot i cant save to do anything with ....:bat:
 
I can email it to you if you want it?
 
Rich E500 said:
Right, had another go, I'm still after the same finished result as before but used a different subject this time. Once again though, it still just looks like a normal photo and is lacking something to draw you in.

Any suggestions on how I could improve or what is lacking?

I used a tripod but can't seem to get the focus sharp enough either.

http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab32/RichE500/_1016907.jpg
Click to expand...

Focus looks Ok to me Rich. What you have there is a technique called differential focus. Allows you to focus on the front object while the rear one is left a bit blurred but still recognisable.

You ask what is lacking................lighting. You must have quite a good eye because you recognise that something is missing and that's the magic ingredient. Have a look at images you like and not how the light hits things. practice with an inanimate object and a torch, put the camera down and just watch how they interact. You'll soon get the hang of it! :thumbs:
 
I'm going to have a play with this one and see if I can light it a little bit better and give it a better background then shoot it again.

Theres more to this taking pictures lark than meets the eye!
 
Rich E500 said:
I'm going to have a play with this one and see if I can light it a little bit better and give it a better background then shoot it again.

Theres more to this taking pictures lark than meets the eye!
Click to expand...

pm back to you...go for it!!
 
Thanks for that mrcrow :)

I made a makeshift lightbox out of some old bits of junk I had in the loft and took the same pic again using a desk lamp to light the men from the lower front. Heres the untouched end result...

Still not feeling it though :(

(Please excuse the background not filling the the entire pic)

http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab32/RichE500/_1016935.jpg
 
Rich E500 said:
I made a makeshift lightbox out of some old bits of junk I had in the loft.....
Click to expand...
Take a look at this thread for some DIY Lightbox Inspiration. One of my posts within that thread - http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=5106604&postcount=1935 (I hope I would do better in a future effort).

I simply bought an 80cm popup light cube for £15 including delivery, from eBay.....

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=...oEquipment_RL&_odkw=80cm+light+cube&_osacat=0

It looks like prices have crept up since I bought mine. Of course, smaller ones are cheaper. :)
 
Rich E500 said:
Thanks for that mrcrow :)

I made a makeshift lightbox out of some old bits of junk I had in the loft and took the same pic again using a desk lamp to light the men from the lower front. Heres the untouched end result...

Still not feeling it though :(

(Please excuse the background not filling the the entire pic)

http://i847.photobucket.com/albums/ab32/RichE500/_1016935.jpg
Click to expand...

hey man..every mistake is a brick in the edifice of learning
stick with it
 
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