X-T2 image quality opinion

I am beginning to learn my X-T2 and loving it so far. Thought of sharing a photo which I like and wanted to know your opinion

I think this is perfect. But as an expert what you would have done to make it perfect for you? You can answer anything related to camera settings to composure. (But please no new hardware suggestion :-D)






Taken in Kitchen

I like the light falling on the mortar and pestle, and sort of like the red object, leaning in the opposite direction as the pestle.

But the background is cluttered and confused!

Mark Scott Abeln said:

I like the light falling on the mortar and pestle, and sort of like the red object, leaning in the opposite direction as the pestle.

But the background is cluttered and confused!

Click to expand...

I agree - particularly the b/g immediately behind the pestle (which a slight composition adjustment could resolve).

--
...Bob, Bovina NY
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"Well, sometimes the magic works. . . Sometimes, it doesn't." - Chief Dan George, Little Big Man
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobtullis/
http://www.bobtullis.com
.

My initial reaction was "What's that red thing?" then "What's that yellow thing?" So I'd say the background is too busy.

A tripod or something steady to rest the camera on would allow a much longer shutter time. This would make the high ISO unnecessary.

Selvavm said:

I think this is perfect. But as an expert what you would have done to make it perfect for you? You can answer anything related to camera settings to composure. (But please no new hardware suggestion :-D)


Taken in Kitchen

Click to expand...

As long as you think its perfect and it achieves the look you were hoping for, that's all that matters.

The composition is too cluttered for my own liking - the red thing on the left (chair back?) is quite distracting, as it the sink in the background. This can be remedied to some degree by cropping (although this tends to emphasise the yellow bucket in the background which is also quite distracting):





--
Confused of Malvern
'The greatest fool can ask more than the wisest man can answer'

Selvavm said:

I am beginning to learn my X-T2 and loving it so far. Thought of sharing a photo which I like and wanted to know your opinion

Click to expand...

My first question when looking at a photo is "what is it a photo of?" This seems to be picture of a pestle and mortar so I can't see any value in the red thing - indeed, I can't even see what it is. Ditto the metal thing at extreme right.

Even cropping them away leaves a very fussy background. I'm not saying there should be nothing to give context but there are a lot of things here that distract - for example, the bright orange container and the shiny bright specular highlights; these could easily have ben removed. The black shadows don't help either.

And a simple matter of elementary technique - I'd ensure that the camera was upright. Yours is tilted several degrees down to the right.

But those are all comments on the picture as taken; I'd have moved around to find a more harmonious scene than this.

Selvavm said:

I think this is perfect. But as an expert what you would have done to make it perfect for you? You can answer anything related to camera settings to composure. (But please no new hardware suggestion :-D)


Taken in Kitchen

Click to expand...

--
---
Gerry
___________________________________________
First camera 1953, first Pentax 1985, first DSLR 2006
http://www.pbase.com/gerrywinterbourne
[email protected]

You've had advice from five of the best contributors to DPR. I appreciate that you're still learning and that you don't want any more hardware, but a tripod is not hardware, it is ESSENTIAL. With a T2 + 18-55 it does not need to be heavy and expensive or new, just good enough to enable you to keep the camera still. A tilt head is a good idea.

Start with the plus: taking a photo with differential focus and side-lighting is good technique, and if that is why you like the photo, then you have a good eye.

Then the minus: look at your composition on the rear screen and move anything that takes the attention away from your subject: red chair, yellow bucket, shiny reflective things behind the pestle.

Then you set ISO 200, Aperture Priority Auto and choose an aperture to give you the depth of Field you want, then let the camera choose the shutter speed. Use the self-timer (find on the Q mode) and use the ten second delay. This allows the camera to settle from you pressing the shutter release. In the same situation as your photograph, ISO 200 would give you a shutter speed of about 1/6th second and much better image quality. But 1/6th is too slow for hand-holding the camera, so you need a tripod. It will outlast your T2 - mine is over 40 years old.

Come back with an even more perfect photo, please.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Now I understand, background is also more important in composing.

Quick question - if I have constraint on location, can I use low f-stop number to improve composure?

Lenshoodie said:

You've had advice from five of the best contributors to DPR. I appreciate that you're still learning and that you don't want any more hardware, but a tripod is not hardware, it is ESSENTIAL. With a T2 + 18-55 it does not need to be heavy and expensive or new, just good enough to enable you to keep the camera still. A tilt head is a good idea.

Start with the plus: taking a photo with differential focus and side-lighting is good technique, and if that is why you like the photo, then you have a good eye.

Then the minus: look at your composition on the rear screen and move anything that takes the attention away from your subject: red chair, yellow bucket, shiny reflective things behind the pestle.

Then you set ISO 200, Aperture Priority Auto and choose an aperture to give you the depth of Field you want, then let the camera choose the shutter speed. Use the self-timer (find on the Q mode) and use the ten second delay. This allows the camera to settle from you pressing the shutter release. In the same situation as your photograph, ISO 200 would give you a shutter speed of about 1/6th second and much better image quality. But 1/6th is too slow for hand-holding the camera, so you need a tripod. It will outlast your T2 - mine is over 40 years old.

Come back with an even more perfect photo, please.

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your feedback.

Since, I take photos mostly for family celebrations, I have space constraints. So, I didn't invest in tripod yet.

Is there any alternative to tripod which is small and handy? Like a hand grip which functions as stabiliser?

Selvavm said:

Thanks everyone for your comments. Now I understand, background is also more important in composing.

Click to expand...

As a photographer, you "own" everything inside of the frame. So a background can distract from your intended subject.

Selvavm said:

Quick question - if I have constraint on location, can I use low f-stop number to improve composure?

Click to expand...

Yes, that can work, if the background is far enough away and if the lens can open up enough. There are some other factors as well.

An alternative is different lighting, so that the subject is well lit and the background is not. Slight shifts in camera or subject position can give you a better background. Also, you can use fabric or something else large enough to block the background.

Selvavm said:

Lenshoodie said:

You've had advice from five of the best contributors to DPR. I appreciate that you're still learning and that you don't want any more hardware, but a tripod is not hardware, it is ESSENTIAL. With a T2 + 18-55 it does not need to be heavy and expensive or new, just good enough to enable you to keep the camera still. A tilt head is a good idea.

Start with the plus: taking a photo with differential focus and side-lighting is good technique, and if that is why you like the photo, then you have a good eye.

Then the minus: look at your composition on the rear screen and move anything that takes the attention away from your subject: red chair, yellow bucket, shiny reflective things behind the pestle.

Then you set ISO 200, Aperture Priority Auto and choose an aperture to give you the depth of Field you want, then let the camera choose the shutter speed. Use the self-timer (find on the Q mode) and use the ten second delay. This allows the camera to settle from you pressing the shutter release. In the same situation as your photograph, ISO 200 would give you a shutter speed of about 1/6th second and much better image quality. But 1/6th is too slow for hand-holding the camera, so you need a tripod. It will outlast your T2 - mine is over 40 years old.

Come back with an even more perfect photo, please.

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your feedback.

Since, I take photos mostly for family celebrations, I have space constraints. So, I didn't invest in tripod yet.

Is there any alternative to tripod which is small and handy? Like a hand grip which functions as stabiliser?

Click to expand...

There are table tripods, which are around six inches (15cm) high and work the same way as larger tripods. Again, look for these second-hand. A monopod, a single pole, will steady the camera down to about 1/4 second, but you have to hold it all the time.

Selvavm said:

Thanks everyone for your comments. Now I understand, background is also more important in composing.

Quick question - if I have constraint on location, can I use low f-stop number to improve composure?

Click to expand...

Composition, not composure.

Composition is the way things are arranged in the picture so that can be changed only by moving the camera.

However, sometimes a picture can be improved by blurring the background - but it's usually better to keep the background un-fussy before thinking about blurring it.

Selvavm said:

Thanks everyone for your comments. Now I understand, background is also more important in composing.

Click to expand...

Background can have many functions in a picture, it literally "sets the scene".

Selvavm said:

Quick question - if I have constraint on location, can I use low f-stop number to improve composure?

Click to expand...

At some point in time, budding photographers realize that the background can be blurred by the use of narrow DoF (Depth of Field) created by opening the aperture. For some, that is how far they get, and it is indeed a useful tool, but it has its limits since it is created by wide apertures (expensive) and distance between subject and background (most rooms are not big enough), and long focal lengths (both expensive and space constrained). Luckily, there are other and better ways.

First, you must learn to see the background. If the picture was taken in your kitchen, you probably didn't notice all the distracting things at all. When you are aware of the clutter, you can change your point of view by moving around until you get a cleaner shot.

Perhaps this is not possible, not enough, or it takes you away from the good light. Then you can rearrange the objects in the background, move them out of view or cover them up. Nobody has mentioned the tablecloth, but it's rather noisy as well and could have been changed to something more quiet.

An alternative or supplement is light. Even if you use natural light, you can manipulate it. You can block the light from hitting the background or alternatively, nuke the background into oblivion with light from a powerful speedlight. The latter takes a lot of light and is not what I'd suggest for a beginner, but done carefully, it can work.

I wish you good luck and good light - and good backgrounds.

Selvavm said:

I think this is perfect.


Taken in Kitchen

Click to expand...

In that case, go win a Pulitzer or try to sell it.

I would try different lighting, a more pleasing background and foreground, but I have yet to reach perfection.

It will help if you know how to compose the image (frame aesthetic)....and shift (or remove) the background or foreground items till you get what's needed. If you're not sure what works, take the image anyway, look at it on a decent monitor and you might spot the issues with the photo yourself and learn from it (learn what not to do)....and repeat,

Good luck.

Did you really intend to show the price mark on the mortar?

IMHO, nothing in a picture is neutral. It either adds or subtracts. If you analyse pictures with that mindset, you begin to understand your own vision.

Thanks!

Looks like I have to consider background as well.

I am an amateur photographer and wanted to learn photography.

You guys teach me a lot.

The problem here is that you're looking at the object and not seeing the whole picture.

That's you you have many comments regarding the background.