One of my firsts with DSLR - Guitar

[mandude]

This is 1 from a bunch of random pictures taken my first time with a DSLR. My friends camera, its a Lumix GH1. He has the basic kit 14-42mm f3.4 very bleh lens. I found a macro attachment in his bag.

Be nice! Its my first time with an SLR!

[Levi1990]

It's a nice shot for one of your first DSLR pictures.

My critiques on it though, it's a little bit under exposed. Try taking it into Adobe Lightroom 3 or Adobe Photoshop CS5 and lighten it up just a little. Also, that out of focus black object in at the top of the frame is pulling my attention away from the guitar itself. Try cropping just below that and it should make for a stronger image. Also, watch your ISO. It looked to be a bit grainy. Maybe back the ISO off to about 200-400 and put it on a tripod for the slower shutter speeds.

All around nice shot though. Love the detail in the bridge and guitar string ends. Good job.

[mandude]

Thanks! You are right, I will crop that top part out. Its my couch lol. Strange cuz my couch is brown. Yeah his camera is weird I am used to the Canons, even though I had everything set to manual it would change settings anyway. I know the ISO was not more than 500. I slower shutter would have been good (i wasnt sure how to do it on his camera).

Also still kind of new to the techniques, Can you describe more what you mean by it being under exposed as I was going for a more darker/more contrast image (over exposure causes too many whites). I thought it was a good thing with somewhat under exposure, but if you could tell me which parts you think would look better if it was not under exposed

cheers

[Levi1990]

Thanks! You are right, I will crop that top part out. Its my couch lol. Strange cuz my couch is brown. Yeah his camera is weird I am used to the Canons, even though I had everything set to manual it would change settings anyway. I know the ISO was not more than 500. I slower shutter would have been good (i wasnt sure how to do it on his camera).

Also still kind of new to the techniques, Can you describe more what you mean by it being under exposed as I was going for a more darker/more contrast image (over exposure causes too many whites). I thought it was a good thing with somewhat under exposure, but if you could tell me which parts you think would look better if it was not under exposed

cheers

No problem. What I was meaning it is underexposed because you're loosing detail in the front part of the bridge where the colored string ends are. The whites look nice because you have detail in them, but you're losing detail in your blacks. It's a simple fix. I'm assuming you have Lightroom or Photoshop when I say this, but you could dodge and burn the bridge to make it lighter and do the same for the overall guitar and keep the rest of the image contrasty and how you like it.

If you do not mind, I took the photo in Lightroom and am going to give you an example of what I'm talking about. In no way am I posting the picture as my own All copyrights go to mandude and am in no way trying to pass this off as my own.

[Anbesol]

Overall, the lines intersecting in the frame inhibit the fluidity of the image. The little bit of color detail lost mostly in shadow in the front. There are a lot of shapes/lines objects in this one all competing with each other in not good ways, more subtle detail and angle may help, more focus on subject matter. etc.


That Lumix is not a DSLR, its a CSC. A damned fine camera. "Macro converters" attached to kit lens are going to be of a pretty poor quality.

IF you want a KILLER macro setup on that camera, get:

Canon 50mm f/1.8 FD
Canon macro focus converter FD
Canon FD to M43 adapter


All of which can be found in used market for an entire cost under $80-$100. But, you have to manually control aperture and focus (in macro, manual focus is a prerequisite anyway).

[Frog]

I like the angle of the guitar.
You need a solid or more subdued background, I think. Cropping it only cut off the guitar neck.
I'd like to see more dof. A very shallow in focus at front of the bridge but it loses focus quickly after and even before.
Experiment with different apertures to see how much you want in focus.
You've got the right idea, just need to try different settings and find a better background.

[chuckdee]

Little underexposed....what's the focal point? Not sharp enough, imo. Maybe have the strings run off at more of an angle.

[sid9221]

I like the exposure, makes it seem a bit dark and mysterious.
Personally I would focus just a couple of centimeters further than where you did to bring focus to the tension on the strings rathers than the coloured screw thingy's...