Sony DSLR "Picture of the day"

[Peekayoh]

What f stop should I be shooting this at? I bumped the Iso to 400 to get the speed up a little.

Thanks
Frank

As wide as possible to limit DOF and isolate the subject, while still retaining sharpness; a tall order.

[laydros]

I've been biting my tongue and trying not to be the bad guy but....

Focus; You missed it.
Exposure: Under
Colour balance; good job you said it was a ketchup bottle.
This is a pretty mundane subject so unless you get the basics right, a "keeper" it is not.

Anyway, to illustrate the point(s) I took a pic of our Ketchup Bottle at a similar distance and under similar lighting conditions. You can right click the image for XIF which is
ISO 800, 1/40th, f2. I did not do any sharpening.

Sorry to be brutal and If I missed the artistic point, I apologise in advance.

No apology needed. I think you and I have different ideas on what a photo should be, but you are really the only person in this forum that consistently provides the type of photographic advice we need. We talk so much about what lens to buy next, we don't hear enough about what settings or skills to use, so I appreciate that.

This wasn't one of my favorite shots out of the bunch, but after someone on flickr requested I add it to a group, I figured there was more there than I originally thought. Now I kinda think that guy was a little off his rocker.

I do think there is a big composition difference in the shot that you took and mine because of the background. I kinda saw it as the ketchup bottle being a thing amongst this table "landscape" where you saw a ketchup bottle, and that was it. I should have used a smaller aperture so that he focus was on the ketchup, and everything else wasn't completely out of focus.

Nevertheless, you are right. The shot was a little too underexposed and probably soft, even in the version I pumped up. And I didn't execute the composition properly.

Maybe sometime I'll post a bunch of other peoples pictures off flickr that I like, and see if you like them or not. Might give me a good idea if I am misjudging my own shots, or if you and I just have very different ideas of a picture. Agreeing to disagree is fine, but if I can't be my own editor, I have a big problem.

[Peekayoh]

Jason, happy I didn't offend and you're absolutely right about different views and what we see in a picture.
I do try to see what the photographer saw when I look at another's work, not always with success. As you point out I'm a bit too "literal" in my preferences.

[seanhoxx]

For Peek...So this shy bird gets a ride to the pub from this bloke that drives a lorry. The weather is bad so she has her wellies on with her mac, once in the pub she orders a shandy and heads off to the loo. Then she steps into the garden and fires up a fag, the publican serves the pint, and asks if she wants to tuck in, the bangers and mash arent bad, the champ's a bit off and the bats were baked this morning. She says she will just have a fry up.
And they say we both speak English LOL! Did I mention my mother grew up in Northern Ireland and I have friends and family all over the U.K.

[Peekayoh]

Eeh bah gum, mucker, in't that just like a Bird, Shandy and Capstan.
And yes, I know you're a shillelagh man, begorrah.

[dbatapbr]

The rosette spoonbill was bathing, it was just at a great angle to be able to see under the wing. I will get the EXIF info for you later. I am at work at the moment. I see all of the photo's coming in here, and the great critiques and I think of the photo's I would like to send, but that would be in another forum since they were before the sony.

[dr4gon]

Enough talk, how about a picture?

And what it looked like last week:

[laydros]

Enough talk, how about a picture?

And what it looked like last week:

Me like, me like!

You are having a blast with that micro lens. So cool to see the before and after.

[dr4gon]

Sure am! Easy to find subjects to shoot.... tack sharp lens (my kind of lens since I LOVE pixel peeping!), and everything (well many things) come out looking so cool when they're much bigger!

[seanhoxx]

That is the Sony 100mm macro right? that is some cool looking shots you been putting up, going to start calling you drmacro!