ckreef Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 On vacation at my sister's house for Thanksgiving. Was looking through the Black Friday flyers and Best Buy had a camera I've been looking at for a decent price. About 8:00 pm on Thanksgiving I went to Best Buy with the thought - if they have what I want I'll pull the trigger - if they don't I'll stall until some future time. Well they had what I wanted. Hopefully this will improve my food pictures a little after I figure out what I'm doing. Played with it a bit at my sister's house. After a long drive home Sunday I figured I needed some actual play time. I WiFi connected an old tablet to it, set it up on a tripod and cooked me a quick snack (a brat and some beans). Here is my first official test of the new camera. Not a bad picture. It can only get better from here. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Ora Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Nice first photo. Great score Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosco Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 (edited) the depth of field looks decent, however, I am not sure but think that you may have bleached the shot with the flash. Did you use the camera flash itself? With the 50mm lens, getting in tight with an F 1.8 lens is great, just make sure that you don't use the camera flash as it shoots directly onto the subject and makes the clarity very strong. The finish will be a very hard look on the main subject, in this photo that being the sausage on a bun. Does that camera allow for an after market flash to be added to it? If not, you will need to work on deflecting the flash. I struggled with the 50mm lens, however, now it seems to be my go to for food shots. I usually direct my flash to the ceiling or behind me depending on how tight I am in on the plate. I used a bit of photo editing to soften the shot a bit just to show you what I mean. It is softer than I like from the camera shot, however, given the shot you took it is the best that I could do to help explain what I mean. I am not an expert and think that fast glass member may be able to explain this in more technical terms. If I know you as well as I think I do.... you will be a photo expert by January! Awesome buy and keep at it bud softer Edited November 28, 2016 by bosco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pearson Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Good luck with the new toy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FotonDrv Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Does it take video as well? Nice photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 (edited) @bosco I didn't use the on board flash but I do need to work on my lighting setup. I did manual focus and aperture priority letting the camera auto everything else. The white of the bun was definitely washed out and I just couldn't work It out with editing. I was also doing spot metering and I should have set the camera for a more broad metering. It does have a top shoe for aftermarket flash units. This was taken with overhead daylight bulbs with 2 other supplemental daylight bulbs. I would rather get a better daylight setup instead of flash. Edited November 28, 2016 by ckreef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 1 hour ago, Bruce Pearson said: Good luck with the new toy. TY Bruce should be interesting to see what I can do with it in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 8 minutes ago, FotonDrv said: Does it take video as well? Nice photos It does do video and what I've read pretty nice video. Will have to play with that one day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 ck, you are going to be very busy getting all the settings/options figured out, enjoy.:) You won't need any toys for Xmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 10 minutes ago, MacKenzie said: ck, you are going to be very busy getting all the settings/options figured out, enjoy.:) You won't need any toys for Xmas. Yup, it's got a lot of settings and options. Makes your head spin. Slowly figuring it out. And it does remote shutter and automatic downloading through an app on my tablet or smartphone - took me a little bit to work that out. They have a decent PDF manual I've downloaded but even that doesn't do a lot of in depth explaining. Gives me something to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschaaf Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 Both of those pictures look heavily edited to me. What does it look like straight out of the camera? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 11 minutes ago, cschaaf said: Both of those pictures look heavily edited to me. What does it look like straight out of the camera? I had 2 to choose from. I think this was the one I used. Just a little editing - mainly a crop and to try and get the exposure better. Overexposed - my bad - I'm learning - LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschaaf Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 Ah, that looks better to my eye. I have a hand-me-down Nikon D90, but haven't really learned to use it. I've tried a few times, but I'm just not as into learning it as I wish I could be. I get confused and bored too quickly . Same with photoshop lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 It is extremely easy to become a very good photographer very quickly. Read Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure". In literally one day you will understand a tremendous amount about the subject. His other books are also excellent. I am not necessarily speaking to those who have posted in this thread, but to anyone reading this thread who may be interested. https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1480390657&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=understanding+exposure 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosco Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 way better buddy. That one looks good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 Nice shots. Good thing I'm done with the challenges or else I'd be dead in the water. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pequod Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 7 hours ago, mguerra said: It is extremely easy to become a very good photographer very quickly. Read Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure". In literally one day you will understand a tremendous amount about the subject. His other books are also excellent. I am not necessarily speaking to those who have posted in this thread, but to anyone reading this thread who may be interested. https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1480390657&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=understanding+exposure That would be me! So thanks! My 16 year old daughter is the family photographer and photo editor of her school newspaper. Have always wanted to get a good camera, but so far the iPhone has been it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschaaf Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 9 hours ago, mguerra said: It is extremely easy to become a very good photographer very quickly. Read Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure". In literally one day you will understand a tremendous amount about the subject. His other books are also excellent. I am not necessarily speaking to those who have posted in this thread, but to anyone reading this thread who may be interested. https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Fourth-Photographs-Camera/dp/1607748509/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1480390657&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=understanding+exposure I've read through this book a few times... I'm still at square one lol. Here are my quick Photoshop attempts: Edited the whole image first and cropped down I tried tweaking the top bun a bit to reduce the white. Might be a bit overboard: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted November 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 Changed my lighting around a bit and definitely got my brain more together. Getting better but not there yet. These were last night's pictures straight off the camera with no editing. The only thing I did was resize them down to 1024 x 682 to be more Internet friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted November 30, 2016 Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 Your camera lets you bracket too.. One shot saves one step up and one down. Once in your computer you can choose which you like. I have one of these and they are awesome to see better and in the sun.. LCD 3 inch diopter viewfinder screen magnifier https://www.google.co.id/search?q=LCD+3+inch+diopter+viewfinder+screen+magnifier+for+Sony+A6000&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia8feH6dDQAhUHu48KHY-2CSYQ_AUICCgB&biw=1283&bih=780&dpr=2 This is the one I have.. and love http://www.ebay.com/itm/Neewer-S4-3X-Optical-Magnification-Viewfinder-for-Sony-a7-a7R-a7II-a7S-NEX-7-/381481905935?hash=item58d217ef0f:g:hrQAAOSwMtxXsRz0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...