Pixie-Izzie Project 52, Week 2

[IzzieK]

Freaking cold yesterday so I decided to stay home instead of going out and this is what I got -- part of my bookcase. Loaded RAW image in On One, saved as PSD then worked it on Photoshop a little bit. Now I have the problem of Barbara Ponder with too much noise because of the extra shutter speed and too high ISO. Until I get my new lens this week I will stick with my 50mm. And my room is dark-ish so I concentrated on low light shooting upping my ISO and/or SS to get a clearer shot. I want to learn more buttons on this camera to get me more acquainted with shooting without looking...

[cuilin]

i like this, bookshelf shots are always an interesting peak into someone else's life. a step to the right would have helped you square up the shelf a little more, it appears to have been taken at an angle rather than straight on. with a tripod you could have dropped the iso as low as possible and used a longer shutter speed, that should reduce the noise. your bookshelf makes for a good photo, i think this one has a lot of potential.

[IzzieK]

i like this, bookshelf shots are always an interesting peak into someone else's life. a step to the right would have helped you square up the shelf a little more, it appears to have been taken at an angle rather than straight on. with a tripod you could have dropped the iso as low as possible and used a longer shutter speed, that should reduce the noise. your bookshelf makes for a good photo, i think this one has a lot of potential.

Thank you...I like your thoughts...but I was thinking that my shot on the tripod ones (before this ones) sucks. And I am dealing with low light (no light actually) here on a cold cloudy day outside and 6 feet of space between my desk and the bookshelf...I tried different shutter speeds. I was itching to touch the EV (which I left to 0) but did not. So I upped my ISO as I fiddled with the SS combination. The only light I have was very meager and mostly coming from my screens. This is actually a two shot merge and I lost my little airplane clock and about 9 books to the right. I will try again and shoot wider. My bookshelf in my den is a relic hand-me-down from my husband whom I had shoved downstairs in the now-his-den ex-formal receiving room and the wood itself holding the books is crooked in the middle. In my effort to straightened the shot, I lost many books. Maybe I should try it with lights and about 3 or 4 shots instead so I can get the whole shelf to the end of the clock...I think I will do a reshoot. Thank you for commenting and critiquing. I really do appreciate it very much..

[cuilin]

you mentioned not fiddling with the ev., but adjusting the shutter speed and iso, so by that i'm assuming you're shooting in shutter priority? if that is so then no amount of fiddling with the shutter speed or iso will give you a brighter image. you would either have to increase your ev or switch to manual mode and adjust your settings. the reason why it looks like it was shot on an angle is the shelf above slopes to the right and the magazines are more out of focus than the books next to them even though they stick out further, though i know what you mean about old bookshelves warping over time.

maybe try stepping back (if possible) to get more of the shelf in your shot, squaring everything up as much as possible in camera and the cropping in post so it looks like a panorama. the airplane clock sounds sweet!

[HaseebM]

I have been wanting to take pictures of my book collection but they are so untidy. Nicely done!

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, I like to do the same with my DVD collection, it reveals a lot (and then the rest is just speculation) about one's personality.

[Mark von Kanel]

The only thing a shot of my bookcase would show is that we dont dust!!! Id have gone for the tripod though, to reduce the noise, im not sure i understand how the use of a tripod can make a shot "suck" can you explain?

[HaseebM]

The only thing a shot of my bookcase would show is that we dont dust!!! Id have gone for the tripod though, to reduce the noise, im not sure i understand how the use of a tripod can make a shot "suck" can you explain?

She probably meant this one looks better than the one's taken on a tripod, not the use of a tripod as such.

[wilgk]

Nice Izzie, indeed I agree at how the bookcase can be a very interesting glimpse into someone's life & interests. & snapping a pic of the kindle just wouldn't have the same appeal!

[IzzieK]

you mentioned not fiddling with the ev., but adjusting the shutter speed and iso, so by that i'm assuming you're shooting in shutter priority? if that is so then no amount of fiddling with the shutter speed or iso will give you a brighter image. you would either have to increase your ev or switch to manual mode and adjust your settings. the reason why it looks like it was shot on an angle is the shelf above slopes to the right and the magazines are more out of focus than the books next to them even though they stick out further, though i know what you mean about old bookshelves warping over time.

Beth...I seldom use Shutter Priority or Aperture. I am so used to using my camera on manual. Only on special circumstances will I use Shutter Priority -- on an air show. Somehow in my mind before they have no use for me. I like hard work. I thrive on it.

On this experiment of mine, I have a new camera. I am very naive, neophyte really (or should I say, stupid??? LOL) I decided to play on low light situation here in my room, not touch the EV but only adjust the ISO and Shutter Speed because I only have a 50mm lens, the only lens that is sort of FX/DX but not totally DX (until I get my new lens delivered this Wednesday...) I thought really that I was successful in this ISO/SS and my non-adjustable lens. The lens was on automatic focus, courtesy of an article of a guy who knows his D810 very well I suppose. I followed his settings and adjust some settings of his that I do not like to my own liking.

maybe try stepping back (if possible) to get more of the shelf in your shot, squaring everything up as much as possible in camera and the cropping in post so it looks like a panorama. the airplane clock sounds sweet!

I can't step back...as already been said before I only have 6 feet between my desk and my bookcase and I cannot position myself on the side because my piano is right on the angle of my desk. On the other side is my tv which I connect to my laptop and two printers on the table across the window. Anyway, this is my dressing room too...multi tasking room as my den...sort of.
I am not complaining just I lack space. If I have choice I will have tear down the wall of this room to connect to my teenie weenie studio across this room...I need to divorce my husband first to be able to do this...

[IzzieK]

The only thing a shot of my bookcase would show is that we dont dust!!! Id have gone for the tripod though, to reduce the noise, im not sure i understand how the use of a tripod can make a shot "suck" can you explain?

I think I am more used to using my pano hand held and my feet steady since my film days. I should have shot vertical pano instead because of lack of space. I used my tripod at first but the distance just doesn't do it justice I think...and I am still having problems about my focus point not being able to adjust to my liking, meaning it does not move. It has something to do with the setting in the menu. I have changed several things already I am getting sick of it not doing what I like so I got the camera off tripod knowing I am good at standing up, keeping firm feet on the ground and hand holding pano. I will try to adjust the menu on the camera again and find out...in the meantime, I will upload an edit I did this morning of the same shot on On One...I love this program now...

[IzzieK]

This morning I got a response to my inquiry from On One about upgrading my version from 8 to 9 since I found out yesterday that it can be a stand alone program anyway. I ordered version 8 because I told them that I am using Photoshop CS5. That was late November. Well yesterday I told them I want to go to version 9 even if I have to pay the upgrade to it instead of the $209 regular price. Anyway, On One sent me (no charge) a version 9 including the registration number. It is my lucky day. I installed it this morning and this is my first edit using this program...can you see my Chinese Dictionary...I forgot to straightened it...it has all pin yin pronunciation and Cantonese and Mandarin version too...

[Otavio]

Hi, Izzie. Very interesting shot. I love books! Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

[Barbara Ponder]

Izzie, it's so organized, I only wish mine was so. I love onOne but it is giving me issues with my new camera. Free is always a good thing.

[TonyW]

Izzie, I would have to spend a lot of time tidying up my shelves before doing this.

I had a look at your exif data. It seems to me that your shutter speed of 1/640 is far faster than necessary and you could have reduced it and the ISO as well. Also, to reduce noise you can use the Smart Sharpen tool in Photoshop, if that is in your version. I tried it with this image, admittedly not the raw one, and it does help.

[IzzieK]

Izzie, it's so organized, I only wish mine was so. I love onOne but it is giving me issues with my new camera. Free is always a good thing.

What is your camera? I just got a D810 and I was having problems with Photoshop accessing the RAW files from the camera so I went sleepless for a few nights thinking of how I can get around the problem. Now I am a happy camper.

How can I help you?

[IzzieK]

Hi, Izzie. Very interesting shot. I love books! Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Me too...at my age, I thrive on them...and having the habit of putting things back in the hole they belong to Barbara...and making list and having timers so my food do not burn in the oven...thank you both Otavio and Barbara for commenting. 'Appreciate it very much...

[NorthernFocus]

Nice idea for a shot, Izzie. It's good to keep poking around with the new camera to get comfortable with it. I absolutely love the D810. Don't forget if you're just goofing around you can shoot it in DX or 1.2x mode and have much smaller files to deal with. As a matter of fact until you get your software issues sorted out you could shoot in DX mode and shoot TIFFS and go straight to Photoshop with them.

[ST1]

Congratulations on your new camera Izzie, when you have a bit of spare time could you pop over here and sort out the shelves here please

[IzzieK]

Nice idea for a shot, Izzie. It's good to keep poking around with the new camera to get comfortable with it. I absolutely love the D810. Don't forget if you're just goofing around you can shoot it in DX or 1.2x mode and have much smaller files to deal with. As a matter of fact until you get your software issues sorted out you could shoot in DX mode and shoot TIFFS and go straight to Photoshop with them.

Thanks Dan...I forgot about the DX side it does...thanks for reminding me...'appreciate it...you know what irritated me, when I was looking for Photoshop solution to the RAW file for the camera I kept being shoved to the sales department to buy Cloud. Three sales reps and 2 other wrong person later, I wasn't given any solution at all and was told that they are from Sales. So hubby told me to dump Photoshop because they are now money oriented. I am thinking of it for now but it is such a shame because I had learned so long using Photoshop...