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hob · Post by **hob** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:16 pm

i have seen some of these images before on an italian forum with lessons on how to use photoshop to enhance images

pity i dont understand italian

i really must learn how to use paintshop pro

great images and plants btw

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:21 pm

hob wrote:i have seen some of these images before on an italian forum with lessons on how to use photoshop to enhance images pity i dont understand italian i really must learn how to use paintshop pro

great images and plants btw

Step 1: shot in RAW mode

I use Photoshop CS2 and the control you have over a RAW image compared to a JPEG is awesome.

Personally, i don't like to *doctor* photos that much, but when they turn out as breathe taking as Andrea's, i may have to look deeper into this as well !!!

hob · Post by **hob** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:31 pm

i'm not really into doctoring them that much either, usually crop adjust the contrast a bit and sharpen a bit is as far as i get.

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:11 pm

Thats pretty much all i do too.

I like to keep the *art* of it with the shutter button clicks, not the mouse clicks

But i sure do like looking at the mouse click art

Antonio_P · Post by **Antonio_P** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:17 pm

Photography is my nr.1 hobby and I tell you that Photoshop makes miracles!
But I haven't reached Andrea's level...

You need at least a SLR camera on a tripod and a setup of flash heads and reflectors... I guess...

lordarutha · Post by **lordarutha** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:24 pm

Photography is one of my favourite hobbies too but I still have a lot to learn. One thing I did read recently to get that nice black background is to get one of those black buckets the florist's use, cut it in half from top to bottom but keep the base intact.
I have yet to try it but his pics were almost as good as these.

hob · Post by **hob** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:32 pm

2 metres of black cloth and a tripod are a good starting point along with 2 4 foot daylight tubes, i'm getting into flash and reflectors at the moment and looking at buying a really good macro lens

lordarutha · Post by **lordarutha** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:32 pm

As for needing an slr, thats only if you want to do really fine macro work otherwise most digital cameras will take perfectly good shots. I still use a 50 year old zeiss lens on my Sigma SD10 and the quality is amazing. A tripod is a must but all cameras have the screw fitting in the bottom to fit. It is a universal size too which is handy and a tripod can be bought from as little as £15. A shutter release cable or remote is also essential to keep the pictures crystal clear. Not a cacti but here is one of my better shots.

hob · Post by **hob** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:36 pm

lordarutha wrote: A shutter release cable or remote is also essential to keep the pictures crystal clear.

or use of the self timer to allow the camera to settle before the shutter operates also a minimum use of the central stem of the tripod

lordarutha · Post by **lordarutha** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:39 pm

Why didn't I think of that! darn camera salesmen.

hob · Post by **hob** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:48 pm

Daiv we have kidnapped this topic somewhat

can you split this off into a topic on plant photography in the free for all section?

mughal113 · Post by **mughal113** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:48 am

These are always on my wishlist...
1. An SLR.
2. Professional grade tripod
3. Good quality macro lenses

Currently I'm doing with my old Canon S60 5MP which has a built in macro mode and a fast shutter (1/2000 s) to compensate (a little) for what I've not got yet

lordarutha · Post by **lordarutha** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:06 pm

A good slr to look at is the nikon d40. These new are around £260.00 and that is with an 18-55mm lens.

A cheap tri-pod £15 - a very good one manfroto etc £120 upwards.

Macro lenses.. you dont need one, you can buy reversing rings or extension tubes which do a great job. I even have some really old bellows (about 35 years old!)which I can use on my sigma SD10.

This was my first attempt at macro with my minolta x700 film camera and extension tubes. Pic is a bit grainy as its been scanned from a photo.