Camera Labs

I'm new to DSLR although I've been shooting underwater with an Oly C-5050 for several years, topside shooting is way different from UW.

I just got an E-520 and a 14-42mm kit lens to start. I was sitting here reading the posts and started shooting things around my desk. I thought these turned out OK. Barely cropped, otherwise right out of the camera. I see now I should have washed them better!

1/80 at f/5.6 ISO100 42mm

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Dee
Olympus E-520, Zuiko 14-42 f/3.5-5.6 ED, Zuiko 25mm f/2.8

Well congratulations on your new kit.

As far as the shot; well, I mean it's not a bad shot.

It's a very sharp image. But it's a bit hard to critique, because I'm not too sure what to critique it on.

The colors are normal... Not cold, not warm. Not exactly the most saturated, but you fired a flash so it was artificially light. The composition is basic. Composing the entire subject in the frame. Not bad if that was what you wanted to go for.

Is it 'eye catching', well not really. Perhaps next time you can try and get closer and change your perspective to a more 'unique' view. Perhaps zooming into the grapes and having the stem in focus at the front, with the grapes in the background blurry...

Or take on or two grapes off, and set them some 2-4 feet in front of the rest of the grapes, and focus on the single grapes and position them on the side of the frame with the rest of the grapes blurred in the middle left area of the image.

All I'm saying is get your creativity going and continue to take pictures.

Best!
-Sean.

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Very good advice there Sean.. actually great advice.

As far as composition concerned.. Sean had some good ideas and really the bottom line is to try something new.. new angles.. blur.. depth of field and stuff like that make a shot more interesting.. also try to NOT use the on board flash it gives glare and highlighted regions.. what you want to do is get better composition (i particularly like the idea of the 2 grapes on the right in focus and the lump in the background out of focus) and use a tripod.. if you dont have a tripod what i often do is get your focus on those 2 grapes then once its focused just lock focus.. or hold the half shutter and then lay the camera flat on the table and take your shot.. this way you wont have to use your flash and you wont get camera shake.. because we all know indoor shots are hard to achieve.. so slower shutter speeds are going to happen indoors.. thats why you need the tripod/table.. no flash is the bottom line.. give it another try!!

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Nikon D80/MB-D80/ ML-L3
AF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6, AF 50mm f/1.8D
SB-600
Vivtar 2800
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~Dan Nelson~

Sean and dan are right, and I'll add that the light used (the on-board flash) is totally unflattering. And also, the grapes look pretty nasty, grapes tend to look dry, unless they're wet (duh...) but they look super dry sometimes, I would have misted them with some water. Also the broken stem on the far left, is INCREDIBLY distracting.

thats just my 2 cents
jake

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Jake O'Connell, 40D Crew
Canon EOS 40D | 28-135mm IS | 50mm f/1.8 |Vivitar DF 383 | Vivitar 285hv
My Flickr
my Blog
"Photography isn't so much about the results as it is the collective experience, your interactions with people and with the world"

Thanks guys and I totally agree it needs lots of help. I appreciate the time you took with with all your tips. This was an unplanned shot. I just happened to be holding the camera when hubby set these grapes on the tray in front of me so I just took a pic. I supposed I should have prefaced the whole thing with the fact that I was surprised at how decent an image it is on P mode with no forethought and no critique was needed....I know how bad it is compared to what everyone else here submits.

Next time I get grapes I'll give it a serious try using all your tips.

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Dee
Olympus E-520, Zuiko 14-42 f/3.5-5.6 ED, Zuiko 25mm f/2.8