Some no nonsense C&C please

BengaLover

Seems I have lost my way some..every photo I have taken lately just doesnt seem right, the colours seem to be too glarish, I dont know, some tips anybody please?
Macro photos I LOVE..but want to capture the colours as they are. I dont use any external flashes etc.
Im also not using my regular macro lens, just a standard 18-55 on a macro setting. Not that it would make a difference to the colours/light?

pete4130

Cheaper lenses do affect the contrast and colour reproduction a lot. The 18-55 is a €100 lens where a proper macro is in the region of €700-800. Your paying for better optics.

Macro on the 18-55 isn't try macro, merely close focusing.

BengaLover

The macro setting on the camera itself isnt great with this lens at all.

luisspellcast

hei-- even though you're using a sub-par lens for the job, there are a few things you can do to improve the quality of your shots that doesn't involve stretching too much-- by looking at the metadata of your pictures i came up with the following, which doesn't go in any particular order-- just put the puzzle pieces together at the end:


lightning -- i don't think you can ever have enough light (sort of.) so you can get a few reading lamps and point at your subject-- even though you might get different light temperatures, this might help a bit with other settings and work while you don't have external flashes or own lightboxes-- you can use pieces of paper in front of the lights to diffuse the light-- another cheap way is to use aluminum kitchen foil shaped in a lightbox way to reflect the light

iso -- not all cameras can handle noise that well so i would advise to keep it as low as possible-- getting tons of light on your subject will allow you to use iso100 and cut a bit on the noise you have on your pictures

manual shots -- you're using aperture priority when taking the shots-- not sure how comfortable you are with setting the shots but manual is the way to go: set your camera to automatic and check the meter, change it back to manual and set those settings and adjust aperture and shutter speed manually after-- tripod will allow your shoots to be steady enough for sharpness (in case you can't get a remote trigger)

white balance -- by shooting raw you don't have to worry too much about the white balance-- shoot in auto and change it on your post-processing program until you figure out which one does what-- after a while you'll be setting it at the moment you shoot

background -- you can use a white piece of paper-- a white plate-- a glass table a flashlight (or candle or whatever) at the bottom to light it up-- make sure your background will reflect some of the light in an attractive way without being shiny (nothing against carpet or black stuff)

camera's flash -- if you have to use it, try to diffuse it in some way by using a thin piece of paper taped in front of it


hope this helps

BengaLover

Thats very useful thanks - I have a silver and gold diffuser disc that I havent used yet.
I seem to favour aperture priority a bit too much and will try manual instead.

magicbastarder

i don't think using a more expensive lens or a different camera mode would make much difference; you'd just get slightly sharper or slightly better exposed photos of fairly ordinary objects.

Nebezpeci Mys

In addition to the above, I'd suggest manual focusing for all your close ups and check the focus on Live View, if your camera has that functionality... Please correct me, if I'm wrong but I don't think that the focus on no. 1 & 3 is where you intended and am completely lost as to what part you wanted in focus in no. 2.

With regards to the lighting I have a sheet of glass from a broken photo frame with white rice paper stuck to it to difuse the light. If you put it onto 2 boxes or stacks of books, etc. (you get the idea) and put a source of light in between those (underneeth the glass), it's a perfect and cheap 'light table'.

sineadw

I'd agree on the focussing - i'm not sure where it was supposed to be on a few. The lens certainly wouldn't be helping here. I'd go manual too. I *really* don't see the point in switching from aperture to manual exposure though? It's exactly the same thing, with more fiddling. Unless you're using an external meter it makes zero difference.

Kenny Logins

I'd have gone for ISO 100, f8+ and whatever shutter speed was required (tripod and timer), but that's just a guess, I have very little experience with macro..

Gregor Samsa

Nebezpeci Mys wrote: »

In addition to the above, I'd suggest manual focusing for all your close ups and check the focus on Live View, if your camera has that functionality

As Nebezpeci Mys says, your focus is off. You have a Sony A33, so you have a handy tool at your disposal to get very accurate manual focus. Have you tried Focus Magnification (which gives you a magnified view in the viewfinder/LCD)?

sebphoto

I downloaded third picture from the top and i'm surprised that you've used ISO 1600 and 1/20 sek. Do you have such option in your camera to lock your mirror before you shoot?
If your shutter is set for such long time then tripod and timer won't help as ever very little vibration caused by the shutter might cause blur on your images.
Set lower ISO e.g. 100, go for f/8, use remote release and use mirror lock if you can.

Gregor Samsa

sebphoto wrote: »

Do you have such option in your camera to lock your mirror before you shoot?

The A33 has a fixed semi-transparent mirror - it doesn't move during exposure, so there's no mirror slap.