Still life? - how is it done properly

[puyjapin]

Ive only just started with a DSLR. I took this and obviously its just a middle of the road picture. How do I try and improve the look of pics like this?

 

[tenlientl]

that particular photo; crop it. the bottom half seems "empty".

if it was the other way around, where the top is empty, it might look okay.

other than that. its good. i dont know about the lemons though. it seems out of place. personally, i woulda gone with a wider aperture.

 

[puyjapin]

sorry i really dont get some of the terminology, would that be a lower fstop?

 

[Big Mike]

Firstly, I think the DOF (depth of field) is too shallow for this shot. The front fruits are in focus but the back ones aren't. I think that this particular shot would be better if more if it was in focus.

Secondly, the composition doesn't seem to be exciting or eye catching or even interesting. Its not terrible...but 'middle of the road' like you said. Try different arrangements & angles etc. until you find something that works.

And of course, lighting is always important. A change in the lighting can easily change everything about an image.

 

[chrisburke]

sorry i really dont get some of the terminology, would that be a lower fstop?

sounds like you need to do some reading... check out understanding exposure, also check out http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm

 

[tenlientl]

i guess me and Mike have a different eye. i dont know, i just like shallow dof unless im going landscape or something like that.

im just different. i like red apples over the green ones(lol), so i would just focus on the red and position and have the green one OOF(out of focus).

anyways.. yea, try a lower fstop.

 

[puyjapin]

so its totally possible to get the same amout of light/ exposure no matter what the f stop is by changing the shutter speed??

 

[Big Mike]

so its totally possible to get the same amout of light/ exposure no matter what the f stop is by changing the shutter speed??

F-stop (aperture), shutter speed and ISO are all related. If you change one, without changing the others, you will affect the exposure. Also, you can change the settings and keep the same exposure if you compensate for the change by changing another setting.

You camera will both aperture and shutter priority modes. You can use these to control either the shutter or the aperture while the camera adjusts the other to keep the same exposure....provided that you are not up against a limit of either the shutter or the aperture etc.

If you use manual mode, changing a setting without compensating will affect the exposure.

 

[tenlientl]

but, if you change the shutter speed, itll affect the whole freeze/blur(motion) scene.

you might want to read Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson.

tbh though, i bought it.. read a lot the first couple days, but havnt finished it. its been a couple of weeks now. the book didnt really teach me much, but thats because ive already read a lot online and asked questions online.

i still reccomend it though

 

[Flash Harry]

Depth of field in this type of still life should encompass the whole subject, lighting is more important, and, when are you lot going to realize that a fast shutter speed isn't important for a "still" life, I've never seen an apple, orange or even a lemon run around during exposure.

Tenlientl said,
" i dont know about the lemons though. it seems out of place. personally, i woulda gone with a wider aperture."

How about a banana, not that it would have made much difference to DOF

 

[tenlientl]

shape wise, yea.. out of place, lol.

iun know.. when i think of apples.. i think of oranges or anything else round that i can eat.. lemon, not really something you would eat.

 

[puyjapin]

so a slower shutter speed=more DOF? But presumabely it would be obligotary to use a tripod for slow shutter and a remote if poss?

 

[Village Idiot]

Learn about lighting.

You have hotspots and your fall off is so great that you have one good plane of exposure and everything else behind it is underexposed.

 

[Dao]

I agree with BigMike. I prefer all the fruits are in focus. In this case, I believe increase the aperture number (smaller aperture) to increase the DoF will help.

As for the lightning, did you just have one light above the fruits? I think soften the light a little bit may help.

Such as using one of this.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html

 

[Flash Harry]

so a slower shutter speed=more DOF? But presumabely it would be obligotary to use a tripod for slow shutter and a remote if poss?

No, slower shutter will allow more ambient light, depth of field is controlled by the aperture, it is also affected by the distance of lens/camera/focal plane to subject, meaning the closer your camera the less depth of field, small aperture, (small hole, big F number, f11, f16, f22,f32 etc) will give greater DOF but obviously slower shutter. H

PS. and yes to the tripod, or set your camera on some other solid body but a tripod is best.