Deep breath.. first C&C

sineadw

Right. So I just got some photos back that I'm kind of happy with (first time really). Bearing in mind I'm working fully manual so up till now I've been working mostly on getting the things in focus in the first place, and hopefully correctly exposed in the second. I'm still not quite sure I'm getting it right though so wanted some opinions..

Sooo.. just wanted to know if you think these look ok exposure/focus wise? Composition and lighting aside.. (they're my next mission).

The Bell in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. The scan isn't great (my scanner decided to start playing silly buggers on me today). It was really dark and I had no tripod and only 200iso in the camera so I had to brace at 1/15 sec (at f2 I think? I gotta start writing these things down). The detail in the original print is better - you can read the writing at the top of the bell. I'm happiest with this one:



I like the colour in this one



And that's about it, from three rolls I'm hoping I get a better future hit rate!

Dundhoone

Yay first pics on the new camera?

The first one looks like it was a tricky one to get right with the dark subject and the light directly behind it. You have detail in the bell, and those two supports came out really nicely so I'd say I'd like the bell a little brighter, but only by a little bit. I cant see the writing but that might be my screen being too dark.

Focus looks grand especially at that speed, you must be very steady handed!

I think the second is spot on exposure and focus wise.

sineadw

Nah these were the death throes of the old one. I'm still waiting on the newest arrival (drums fingers impatiently..). I like the tones from the lens though, which is why I stuck with the brand. I had thought the bell would turn out a blur if anything so I'm really happy with it. Steady-handedness probably due to a pint in the Old Royal Oak beforehand Or beginners luck.

Oh and I got a Minolta Maxxum 5 for nothing yesterday too, with a macro lens (I think).. Anyone ever use one?

Ruu_Old

Thanks for sharing, sineadw. As suggested, I would have loved to see the bell brighter but its still not too bad. Keep snapping and posting.

sineadw

Learning here.. how would I get the bell brighter? Would I need to set up reflectors behind me? Or if I were working with dslr (hopefully soon!) is there a setting I could use?

Dundhoone

I think in this case a reflector back onto the bell would have been great. Or a little bit of flash to fill in.
Increasing your apeture or a long shutter speed would have blown out the highlights way too much.
Im learning too, by the way, so its just an opinion!!

311

I really like the way the light shines on the supports of the bell,on what look like celtic designs.

The supports make the shot interesting to me .
Thanks for sharing

Edit , I'm a newbyish aswell ,sorry I didn't comment on exposure ,but I like the shots .

sineadw

I was hoping that would be picked up on. The supports were my supposed point of focus but i didn't think they were strong enough. Thanks!!

TJM

If you were using a digital camera, the bell might make a nice HDR subject.

DeVore

Here's the bell slightly brightened and the levels adjusted in Photoshop.



DeV.

sineadw

Thanks Is there a way to brighten the bell without losing the background detail?

Wez

There sure is, there's a couple ways, typical is to dodge the bell in photoshop, but I decided to select it, then adjust the curves to brighten it up. I then added a bit of gaussian blur to smooth it out (lost detail when I brightened it up).

What ya reckon?



Also, I reckon it could look nice having the bell as just a silhouette..

mtracey

Very done on the steadiness of the first one. Pity there is so much going on in the background as the tones are very nice.

Second shot would look quite good in b+w also I think. Can't beat a good
gravestone shot