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Off the Grid
Off the Grid
Ductyl


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Lamp (Basic Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-550D Rebel T2i
Lens: Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM for Canon
Location: Basement (Seattle, WA)
Date: Jan 17, 2011
Aperture: 1.4
ISO: 400
Shutter: 1/13
Date Uploaded: Jan 18, 2011

I had to pul the battery from my car for this shot, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Lessons learned:
The Sigma lens struggles with autofocus in low light. This is to be expected. The unexpected (and frustrating) part, is that it lies about autofocus in low light. I had to toss a whole bunch of pictures because the autofocus beeped along just fine, but when I reviewed them later they were clearly not focused.

Also, when your camera is on a tripod and you're unscrewing a filter over a cement floor, make sure you hold onto it. Luckily it was just the $10 UV filter.

Statistics
Place: 22 out of 90
Avg (all users): 5.6705
Avg (commenters): 7.6667
Avg (participants): 5.3846
Avg (non-participants): 5.7903
Views since voting: 829
Views during voting: 285
Votes: 176
Comments: 6
Favorites: 0


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AuthorThread
01/26/2011 10:47:45 AM
Originally posted by franktheyank:

Hey Justin, excellent idea for the challenge. Really nice DOF with your 1.4. Perhaps it's a little on the yellowish side from the incandescent bulb. After reading your comments I'd like to make a suggestion. As long as you were using a tripod you should have set the lens function to manual focus. Then switch on the live view function on the LCD of your camera, zoom in to the detail you want in focus, manually focus to that spot, and voila. Are you using a cable release as well? You can always go with the timer instead if you don't have one.


Thanks Frank, it is yellow from the incandescent bulb, I was shooting with just this bulb and one other of the same style for fill lighting. If I had it to do over again, I'd shoot with a nice bright bulb (these are 40W and very inefficient, so they don't really throw much light at all) with a cardboard gobo to keep the light from overfilling the background and shoot it in B/W. I tried going B/W in post, but the contrast just wasn't there between the wall and the lamp.

I am using a cable release for these, and I have a loupe that I'll start using for focus after reading your suggestion. Thanks for the advice, and thanks everyone for the kind comments and votes!

- Justin
01/26/2011 10:18:21 AM
Hey Justin, excellent idea for the challenge. Really nice DOF with your 1.4. Perhaps it's a little on the yellowish side from the incandescent bulb. After reading your comments I'd like to make a suggestion. As long as you were using a tripod you should have set the lens function to manual focus. Then switch on the live view function on the LCD of your camera, zoom in to the detail you want in focus, manually focus to that spot, and voila. Are you using a cable release as well? You can always go with the timer instead if you don't have one.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/23/2011 11:31:49 PM
Very lonely feel to this. I like the environment, and the solitude of the subjects. Great color composition as well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/22/2011 09:50:09 PM
Oh! I love the ruggedness of this... and the ingenuity! (not voting)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/21/2011 10:59:22 PM
This is quite a scene! I can't help but feel that this would have been fabulous in b/w.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
01/19/2011 09:51:56 AM
love the background in this, the brick wall, the old door with paint peeling, the window it all works! especially with the sepia....your subject is great - I really like this image
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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