weekly Bebop's 52 for 2020 - week 52: Decor(ate)

LC2 said:
The 3rd version is certainly sharper. Improving pp skills too eh? :)
So that's the state of the art 40 years ago.
Haven't things moved on.

Nicely shot/lit to have the black of the camera stand out so well from the black of the background. Did you light from behind as well as the front?
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I've moved away from Lightroom recently, and I suddenly realised my sharpness problems when downsizing coincided! Interpolation method seems to have made all the difference - something I've always ignored before.

It's naturally side lit, and then the room lighting from above is quite bright and directional, so I held a diffuser brolly over it. I did have problems with bright highlights on the top otherwise. Camera on tripod and image 'in camera' stacked. The black background is a neoprene laptop bag propped against a chair - as you do :)

Boots said:
Yup, third version is the sharpest of all.
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Yes - much more like it looks on my computer!

rpn said:
That's quite a difference in sharpness. Nice camera, btw. Is she still using it?
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Yes - I shall stick to this setting in future! She has several film cameras and does still use this one. I gave her my compact Pentax Espio 'auto' 35mm from about 2003 recently and it had a film in it - surprisingly the images came out - she was only about 7 or 8yrs old on them :)

-Oy- said:
Lovely camera - I have one somewhere but it died :(
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Oh dear - I hope this one keeps going. I was surprised at how weighty it was. It feels pretty solid.
 
Camera
The lighting is quite nice. I do like the lens cap, nothing like a bit of self promotion by Canon there.
 
Great reminder of what we used to use... I can feel the weight of it just looking at the image.
 
Lovely shot and a beautiful classic camera. What are you using to stand the camera on it is very textured?
 
Nicely taken pic of an iconic camera. I remember it being a "must-have" at the time but for me it was a "can't afford".
 
Cloudforest said:
Nicely taken pic of an iconic camera. I remember it being a "must-have" at the time but for me it was a "can't afford".
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Thanks Pete. It definitely would have been out of my price range at the time and it was off my radar. I think I was still shooting with a Kodak Instamatic.
 
The 3rd one is the Sharpest. Did you use the same jpg for each. I cleaned my glasses to check.
The first 2 appear to have what I believe to be focus breathing going on. That is the slight difference in size of the photos when the focus is moved. I can see some halos around the hotshoe.

So which Interpolation method did you use for each photo.

Nice Camera by the way
 
seaodyssey said:
The 3rd one is the Sharpest. Did you use the same jpg for each. I cleaned my glasses to check.
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:LOL:
seaodyssey said:
The first 2 appear to have what I believe to be focus breathing going on. That is the slight difference in size of the photos when the focus is moved. I can see some halos around the hotshoe.

So which Interpolation method did you use for each photo.

Nice Camera by the way
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I hadn't heard of that, but I would agree there was a halo around the hotshoe which I had touched up before posting the third shot - I hadn't intended sharing it until I discovered that the bicubic sharper method made a huge difference.

The strange thing was that the image looked sharp as a raw on my screen and sharp as a full size jpeg, but it went soft when I downsized it (before I discovered bicubic sharper).

It was the same source file exported for each image.
1. bicubic with DxO Photolab
2, full size jpeg (using bicubic) from Photolab, then downsized in Lightroom (whatever the default is) - I no longer subscribe to Lightroom so I was unable to edit in there.
3. bicubic sharper from Photolab - but had healed the halos a little beforehand.

I've experimented a little since, and learnt that bicubic sharper over sharpens a jpeg so I shall use bicubic shaper for raw files and bicubic for jpegs in future.... and I shall double check my output! I must check out linear too to see if that makes a difference.
Thanks for listening :)
 
Bebop said:
:LOL:

I hadn't heard of that, but I would agree there was a halo around the hotshoe which I had touched up before posting the third shot - I hadn't intended sharing it until I discovered that the bicubic sharper method made a huge difference.

The strange thing was that the image looked sharp as a raw on my screen and sharp as a full size jpeg, but it went soft when I downsized it (before I discovered bicubic sharper).

It was the same source file exported for each image.
1. bicubic with DxO Photolab
2, full size jpeg (using bicubic) from Photolab, then downsized in Lightroom (whatever the default is) - I no longer subscribe to Lightroom so I was unable to edit in there.
3. bicubic sharper from Photolab - but had healed the halos a little beforehand.

I've experimented a little since, and learnt that bicubic sharper over sharpens a jpeg so I shall use bicubic shaper for raw files and bicubic for jpegs in future.... and I shall double check my output! I must check out linear too to see if that makes a difference.
Thanks for listening :)
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Don't forget that sharpening is applied to a jpg image in camera and sharpening twice can cause problems, also sharpening should be different for what the image is going to be seen on, Screen is completely different to paper and of course it does depend on on the quality of the screen which is used.

Pete
 
seaodyssey said:
Don't forget that sharpening is applied to a jpg image in camera and sharpening twice can cause problems, also sharpening should be different for what the image is going to be seen on, Screen is completely different to paper and of course it does depend on on the quality of the screen which is used.

Pete
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Yes I was aware. I knew more what I was doing in Lightroom where I would use the mask and sharpen, then apply output sharpening, but I am on a learning curve with Photolab which I think applies sharpening in the Optics module for lens/camera combo - there seems to be no mention of output sharpening though, but there are sharpening options within the development part. I will get there in the eventually!

I also need to get to grips with printing outside of Lightroom - well I can still print, but I can't softproof properly without the develop module. It's such an effort getting away from Lightroom!! I have Affinity so I'm just going to try that for soft proofing ...
 
Week 49: Leaves and technique - soft focus.... added afterwards, but I had intended to use this lens for the technique!

In the interest of timeliness, I will post the fruits of my efforts today. I was hoping to get out and about for this theme, but it's been so grey out there :(

Lensbaby twist with a home made leaf bokeh and the Christmas tree in the background. Peace Lily in the foreground.

My first attempt has the better composition I think, but I then tried using flash so that I could darken the background and lose the cream walls, which worked but then I wasn't so keen on the composition. So here it is... I actually took loads of photos and have learnt a little more about off camera flash.

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Interesting takes on the theme - I like 'em :)
 
That definitely looks like fun and you've produced a really interesting image. I like the curves and the framing on #2.
 
Hi Bebop

I prefer the 1st shot more, the out/soft focus shows up nicely.
The 2nd shot is a bit dark for me, but the leaves are nicely lit.

Pete
 
Love the colours and the idea. Second one for me or a tighter crop on the first taking out some of the left hand side and bottom.
 
HelenC said:
That definitely looks like fun and you've produced a really interesting image. I like the curves and the framing on #2.
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seaodyssey said:
Hi Bebop

I prefer the 1st shot more, the out/soft focus shows up nicely.
The 2nd shot is a bit dark for me, but the leaves are nicely lit.

Pete
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Allan.H said:
Nice effect I quite like the second one
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Cloudforest said:
Love the colours and the idea. Second one for me or a tighter crop on the first taking out some of the left hand side and bottom.
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Thank you all for the comments. I liked the curves of the leaf and certainly neither are perfect, but I lost the will in the end :D I can't help but feel the lights are a bit like a thumbs down in the second one ha ha! I think the depth of field is better in the first one too.

I can see a tighter crop might work on the first although I vaguely thought it was a leading line at the bottom.
 
Second for me - when your day homemade bokeh - is that by some kind of Waterhouse stop? Not sure if the details on the Lensbabys, but there's definitely some interesting effects that can be made with them...

The second had the more interesting lighting for me - especially with the leaves hinted at and the leaf shaped OOF Christmas lights.
 
Shugpug said:
Second for me - when your day homemade bokeh - is that by some kind of Waterhouse stop? Not sure if the details on the Lensbabys, but there's definitely some interesting effects that can be made with them...

The second had the more interesting lighting for me - especially with the leaves hinted at and the leaf shaped OOF Christmas lights.
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Thanks. The home made bokeh was a piece of card with a leaf shape cut out which I placed in front of the lens - it can be any lens(wide open and as wide as possible for blur) and any shape, though some work better than others. It's a bit of fun you can have with Christmas lights. Here's a heart which is a bit more effective. I'm giving a talk on it this week to my camera club :)

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Nice take on the theme Bee, both work well, but my vote is for #1 (y)
 
Bebop said:
Here's a heart which is a bit more effective. I'm giving a talk on it this week to my camera club :)
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And there's an idea for a Christmas card for the Mrs... Thanks!
 
Week 50: Abstract

I struggled to think of anything so this is a bit late. Inspiration struck as I looked through my glass of water at the Christmas tree lights. Out comes the macro lens and tripod again
Reminds me of Maltesers. :)

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Hi Bebop,

Abstract - Or maybe marbles suspended in space? Beware of the attack of the space marbles and fluffy socks !!!
It's a cool abstract and has nice colours.
Showcase - Well that one is a WOW shot isn't it !!! Power, speed, menace.
 
LC2 said:
Hi Bebop,

Abstract - Or maybe marbles suspended in space? Beware of the attack of the space marbles and fluffy socks !!!
It's a cool abstract and has nice colours.
Showcase - Well that one is a WOW shot isn't it !!! Power, speed, menace.
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Thanks Tim. I'm not quite sure where the brown colours have come from - perhaps the furniture? I took lots with lots of different colours and I liked these best.

Marbles when you're in fluffy socks definitely sound like something to avoid!

Cobra said:
I see floating alien eyes ( yeah I know lay off the Pernod :D )

Straight down the barrel, very nice Bee (y)
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:ROFLMAO: If this had been vodka or gin there would not have been any bubbles from it standing around :D I haven't had Pernod in years... possibly because I over indulged then.

Thanks for looking in :)
 
Your owl is an absolute stunner! What a fantastic picture!

Abstract is very very good as well, but your showcase is exactly what it says on the tin!
 
Ooooooh nice owl!
 
Along time since I visited so here are my comments on

I like the subtle use of selective colouring in your artificial shot.
There is a warm glow to your Autumn shot the colours and the shine on the conker are spot on.
your image for sharp is very abstract and I like the colours you have captured.
I like your toadstools for your snappers choice and your paper shot is very clever.
I like your leaves shot that's a technique I keep meaning to try out but have not got around to.
well done on spotting your abstract it really works and your owl shot is stunning and certainly deserves the showcase spot.
 
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