A few for C&C

[stroker]

Here are a few for C&C

This one was taken while the camera was on a tripod and the matches in a clamp. still dont know how to remove the blur..

^this was taken while i was holding the match in one hand and the camera in the other, im trying to figure out how to remove the blur around the flame.

I dont remember how this was taken, i will try to find the color photo

 

[stroker]

These were all taken using a sony cyber-shot, for those of you who would like to know.

 

[creisinger]

The first three are out of focus/blurry and the composition is not spot on.

In general you want your camera to be on a tripod unless you intentionally go for a certain camera movement causing blurring.

For the matches it would work a lot better to have at least the burning matches in focus while the flames are still moving.

Ideally, also attach the matches to something so you don't have to hold them in your hand (which will cause additional blur). Make sure that it cannot catch on fire!!!

I think if you look online, there might be some specific tutorials on how to take pictures of flames.

The leaves in #4 have interesting lines. I think you should go in closer but watch out for the shallow depth of field. I'd prefer it in color.

I'm not a fan of the tilted horizon in the last one. Work with the angle. The plant growing out of the wood is a nice concept but your perspective with the wooden post behind it destroys the picture. I'd focus just on the plant growing out of the wood and have everything else out of focus and use a different angle.

Keep going!

 

[stroker]

Thanks! I plan on trying the matches again with a tripod( just found it) and some different camera settings and angles. Its really hard to get the camera to focus on the flame, stupid auto focus. I have a few more shots of the plant closer up, i cant remember if the background is out of focus or not.. what do you mean by "shallow depth of field"?

 

[creisinger]

Oh sorry, I already forgot about your camera while I was typing my response. Since you don't have much control over the aperture or focus, the whole thing gets a bit trickier.

You could use something bright (pen etc.) next to the matches so the camera focuses easily on it. Later you can clone the bright item out of the frame. Maybe this way you can make the camera focus more accurately without going through dozens of boxes of matches.

Shallow depth of field is an important part of photography. It's basically controlled by the size of your lens opening (aperture). The bigger the opening in the lens (low f-number) the more shallow depth of field you will get.

I think some point and shoot cameras support manual aperture settings (I don't know if yours does). So if you can change your aperture manually then I recommend doing some test shots of a subject with different aperture settings. You will then see the effect of depth field depending on your aperture settings.

 

[stroker]

crap, it focused on the fence not the plnat! but aside from that, is this better for the composition? I can retake the picture while the plant is in focus

different angle that time^