Shootin' low

damianmkv

damianmkv

Uh oh, a fruit basket!
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Tried some reflection pics today ( best of the bunch below ) but I was under trees and hanging off a tree root

milllane027.jpg


I wanted to get low to the water to get the best reflection and avoid as much foliage as possible but have failed and suffered a shot that is not sharp enough. Obviously I was keen not to drop the camera or fall in !

Is there anything I could use to help IS ? I have a tripod bit it proved no good as I needed to be right on the ground...
 
Was using an nd4

Good idea about a bean bag - need to find a little one somewhere..
 
damianmkv said:
Was using an nd4

Good idea about a bean bag - need to find a little one somewhere..
Click to expand...

Unless you're using flash or shooting straight into a very bright light you don't don't want to be using an ND filter handheld.

It will make the sharpness worse since it's increasing the shutter speed.
 
Yes, I see that now ( hadn't even thought about DoF - d'oh ). Will have another go without the filter and change the aperture.

Thinking about a bean bag, it wouldn't help on this occasion as, in order to get low, I need to have the camera below the river bank..
 
Was shot at f7.1, 1/6s, iso400. I guess the shutter speed is why shooting handheld makes it lack sharpness ?
 
damianmkv said:
Was shot at f7.1, 1/6s, iso400. I guess the shutter speed is why shooting handheld makes it lack sharpness ?
Click to expand...

Yup,that'll do it! ;) 1/6 is almost certain to give your more shake than you really need. The rule of thumb is to make sure your shutter speed is greater than the focal length you are using. You were at 55mm according to the exif on your shot, so 1/60 would be the minimum. (this is not hard and fast - but it mostly works. Add crop factor to shutter speed if applicable).

Seems you were using Aperture Priority. This means that the camera will pick the shutter speed, so possibly why it got so slow. Try it on Shutter Priority or Manual to make sure the speed stays in the zone.

For stability, you could try fixing the camera to a tripod or monopod and dangling it over the water, then using a remote to trigger it. If no trigger, the 10 sec shutter delay could do the trick. Manual focusing before inverting the camera may improve chances of a good shot. (You may also find out how well your camera floats by doing this :p)
 
Thanks for that :thumbs: learnt something about the shutter speed / focal length so will hope to put it into practice:thinking:
 
damianmkv said:
Thanks for that :thumbs: learnt something about the shutter speed / focal length so will hope to put it into practice:thinking:
Click to expand...

It's crucial. With your camera, x1.5 for the crop factor, ie 100mm lens, 1/100sec x 1.5 = 1/150sec. That's minimum for most people, though some can hand-hold lower, others not. If the position is awkward, as it sounds like in this situation, then you need to allow more for that.

Push ISO or drop the f/number to get it. IS or VR (doesn't you lens have this?) can reduce it by two or three stops, in which case 1/150sec could go to 1/20sec - that's three stops, each stop doubling each time (1/150 > 1/75 > 1/40 > 1/20).

IS/VR does not reduce subject movement though.

NB, when you're on the limit, with or without IS/VR, put the camera on continuous and fire off several frames - there's a good chance one will be sharp.
 
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Great - thanks for the pointers :thumbs:

Yes, the lens has VR - is it also the case that ( as it's 18-55 ), if I'm shooting at 55mm, the sharpest is lost a bit ?

Sorry for all the questions - I really want to learn and be better
 
damianmkv said:
Great - thanks for the pointers :thumbs:

Yes, the lens has VR - is it also the case that ( as it's 18-55 ), if I'm shooting at 55mm, the sharpest is lost a bit ?

Sorry for all the questions - I really want to learn and be better
Click to expand...

Maybe, but don't worry about it - the difference in sharpness is not great.

All lenses have a sweet spot in terms of their maximum sharpness capability.

Very few lenses are at their best at lowest f/number, though it's the edges that suffer most. F/5.6-f/11 is a good range. At higher f/numbers, all lenses are affected by diffraction which reduces sharpness all over the image. Avoid f/16 if you can, and f/22 will be poor if you look closely.

In addition, zooms vary a bit in terms of sharpness at different focal lengths, some more than others.

But in practical terms, the main killers of sharpness, by far, are poor focusing technique and camera shake.
 
Thank you. As long as wifey doesn't call me home again tomorrow to go to the tip, I'll give it another go at lunchtime
 
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