Photo-a-day

[razer121]

He's - -- - wrong focus.

how do you do that? im still pretty unsure what i did wrong though? the idea was to focus on the purple one that was close up (which i did) so im abit stuck of the point? or am i juts being stupid here.....

[kalniel]

how do you do that? im still pretty unsure what i did wrong though? the idea was to focus on the purple one that was close up (which i did) so im abit stuck of the point? or am i juts being stupid here.....

What's the minimum focus distance on your lens (should be marked on the lens itself)? You probably just got a smidgen too close to the flower (and only a very little).

[matty-hodgson]

how do you do that? im still pretty unsure what i did wrong though? the idea was to focus on the purple one that was close up (which i did) so im abit stuck of the point? or am i juts being stupid here.....

Was there little light when you were focusing on the flower? The brighter you make it the better your focus will be then you won't need to sharpen it.

It seems that your focus was out, but only by the slightest bit.

[razer121]

What's the minimum focus distance on your lens (should be marked on the lens itself)? You probably just got a smidgen too close to the flower (and only a very little).

erm the focus i think is "0.28m/0.9ft" it has a little flower next to it, im not sure if this is what you are after but i never new i should have a set length before taking a picture! for the record its a Canon EFS 18-55mm lens

""edit""

there wasnt that much light at all,

[kalniel]

erm the focus i think is "0.28m/0.9ft" it has a little flower next to it, im not sure if this is what you are after but i never new i should have a set length before taking a picture! for the record its a Canon EFS 18-55mm lens

It's not a set length, but a minimum distance - basically anything larger than this distance (to the sensor) is fine. How close would you say you were to the flower?

Cameras also struggle to focus in poor/no light, but in my case when they fail, they fail miserably so I wouldn't even get close - I'm guessing your camera did the usual flash strobing to help get AF lock, so I guess there's a chance it just didn't quite get there.

Either way, there should be some kind of AF confirmation light, you want this to be lit before you take the shot.

[peterb]

Focus is very critical for close up work, and a small aperture helps with a wider depth of field, but close up the DoF will be very small, so focussing has to be spot on. At night when it is dark, you will probably be using a large aperture with an even smaller DoF or a very slow shutter speed - with the problem of camera shake. Are you using a tripod for this shot?

If the original image is out of focus, you will not be able to get the image back in focus with any tool like photoshop (or anything else) the detail has been lost. Sharpen tools may give the appearence of a crisper image, but they cannot recover the lost detail.

[razer121]

I see, so idealy how close should i be from my subject? i tend to be about 1ft then use the zoom to get closer if i need to. im also not sure what a AF confirmation light is, ive got alot of lights i see...theres a red light in the viewfinder which (along with a sound) lights up for a second before the camera can take the shot. the LENS has a "AF" and a "MF" should these have anything to do with close up shots?

i dont use a tripod...and didnt for that shot! so yes some blur occurs in my shots....i cannot help it but the tripod is going to be the next investment!

[Barakka]

i dont use a tripod...and didnt for that shot! so yes some blur occurs in my shots....i cannot help it but the tripod is going to be the next investment!

Instead of the tripod get yourself one of these...EOS 350D ..as a reference for when you're reading this.... The Good Book

There will follow about a week of "Ohhhh, I see", and "Ahhh, that makes sense"... and much joy...

[razer121]

Instead of the tripod get yourself one of these...EOS 350D ..as a reference for when you're reading this.... The Good Book

There will follow about a week of "Ohhhh, I see", and "Ahhh, that makes sense"... and much joy...

even though thats a good idea, i think google is my friend i only started out a few days ago mate! gimme a chance i can find all i need on the internet and the manual has already helped me out alot

[Gerrard]

im also not sure what a AF confirmation light is, ive got alot of lights i see...theres a red light in the viewfinder which (along with a sound) lights up for a second before the camera can take the shot. the LENS has a "AF" and a "MF" should these have anything to do with close up shots?

That flashing red light on one or some of the dots in the view finder is the AF confirmation. The points that light up are which parts of the picture the camera thinks is in focus. By default, it should be set to automatically select which points to focus on, but you can change it manually to focus on a certain point (ie the centre one if you wanted to). Read the manual to find out which button it is (on my 450d, it on the back at the top right, and I often accidentally hit it!).

The AF and MF is Auto Focus or Manual Focus. Switching to manual disconnects the focusing ring from the motor and allows you to turn it yourself. The camera will also take a picture straight away when press the shutter and you won't have the flash strobe either. I suppose technically you could focus as closely as possible manually and then move back from the subject until it's in focus.

[Splash]

even though thats a good idea, i think google is my friend i only started out a few days ago mate! gimme a chance i can find all i need on the internet and the manual has already helped me out alot

Seriously dude: buy Understanding Exposure. Read it. Understand it. You'll be taking much better pictures once you've done it, and it will save you potentially months of frustration.

I'm not a very good photographer, but that book has helped me pull off some corking shots.

[rox0r]

+1 for Understanding Exposure. You really want to do some proper reading on the subject, getting into dSLRs is a much bigger subject than just happy snap point and shoots.

If you want to learn how to take good pictures then do the homework that comes with the subject. Once you learn and understand the 'holy trinity' of focus, composition and exposure then it shows in your art.

Google will teach you so much and there are plenty of websites that will teach you what you need to know, but a good book written by an old pro will give you so much more.

[HSK]

My boss gave me a pass for Kew, popped down there for lunch to get some textures.

[matty-hodgson]

HSK - The 3 green ones remind me of Windows Vista for some reason.

Very lovely and vibrant photos

[HSK]

Yea, I think your right, there must of been a similar windows desktop wallpaper.

[Gerrard]

..as a reference for when you're reading this.... The Good Book

There will follow about a week of "Ohhhh, I see", and "Ahhh, that makes sense"... and much joy...

Oops, I appear to have just ordered that. Clumsy me!