This week's excercise

6 photos for doing an Andy Warhol on them in class and/or a puzzle set . This he explained to us as a series of shots which didn't really ID the object and left you guessing. His example was an old fashioned-clamped-to-the-desk-pencil sharpener with a handle to operate it , - he had the maker's ID plate , the catcher for the shavings , a pile of shavings and the holder blades for the pencil.

I've had 2 shots at this and am wondering if this works - needless to say I've not included the final pic as it gives the game away . All are of course well croppped
1)
[IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/Anhelyna/IMGP0677.jpg[/IMG]
2)
[IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/Anhelyna/IMGP0683.jpg[/IMG]
3)
[IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/Anhelyna/IMGP0678.jpg[/IMG]
4)
[IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/Anhelyna/IMGP0679.jpg[/IMG]

well - now if I said what it was that would give the game away

There is a final pic - but that does give it away of course .

Now would you care to explain what you mean by a little soft ? How can I correct that ?

The object does not actually have any sharp edges / lines / boundaries .

I recognised that instantly, but I won't say

Numbers 2 and 4 look a little soft to me.

Sorry just read your reply. Soft as in slightly out of focus.

Thanks for the definition - now I know

I cant tell what it is and I suppose that is some "measure" of your success

As for the softness is it possible that your getting in a little bit too close? Remember your lens will have a minimum close focus distance, try backing off and then cropping the image to get the desired effect, or is cropping not allowed?

Those pics are well and truly cropped so I don't give the game away .

And Father Ted was wrong with his guess . umm sort of

Now as to the focus problem - I'll try again tomorrow when the light is good again . To my surprise I did actually have a green hexagon for all those .

The focal length was somewhere about 35 I think ,[ without checking ] this is the second subject for this excercise. .

The way I've been doing these is to set the 'thing' up , switch on using Av , put my Aperture to about 9 and then go well in till it's definitely out of focus and back off till I get the hexagon showing , then back off fractionally again and go in till the hexagon is there. If necessary and it's hunting to focus I'll play with the fstop till it's happy .

I suppose I really should try with the tripod - but I don't have a remote as yet and with my dodgy hands I could upset it after setting it up , as I pressed the button.

Maybe I should be trying manually - but I'm twitchy about that as I really don't know what to set first for that - fstop , shutter speed ?? ISO [ one or 2 I did this afternoon were at 1600 to my surprise ]

Err - Hyper focusing ??

Gently does it please

Are you using tubes or close-up lenses? You ought to be able to get these images pin sharp. The simple background is good and the lighting nice and even.

Regards,

Andrew

Ooops

Didn't see the bit where you said they were cropped, I really must start reading these posts and pay less attention to the pics

Cant you use the self timer with the camera on a tripod?

Andrew - I'm using my 18-55 Kit lens - no option , it's that or the 50-200

At present that has to suffice - no money for expensive lenses at present .

Lighting has astounded me - there are 3 windows in that room - on 3 external walls.

Hmm - self timer - will need to read up on that

I know the feeling and you've got more than enough for most pruposes with your existing lenses, but as you're so into your course and obviously enjoying it and learning so much, I would urge you to get yourself a cheap set of K-mount extension tubes off e-bay.

I bought some for about £6.00. They're non-auto, of course, but it really doesn't matter as you just keep shooting and adjusting shutter speed (not aperture!!) until you get it right! You can get a brilliant cable release from there as well... I warn you though, you'll become hooked!

Best wishes,

Andrew

You can get a set of manual tubes for about £6 off eBay and they do work although totally manual. Bit crude maybe but as I say they work and they are cheap.

Mike

Now I am reading properly

Forget the cheap extension tubes, they wont have a coupler for stopping down the aperture, and as niether the 18-55 or 50-200 have aperture rings youd be shooting wide open, not an ideal situation for what your doing.

Great minds think differently on occasion Andrew

Not this time..., Alan. You're absolutely right: of course, I was forgetting that neither of technoidiot's lenses has an aperture ring! I never use my only auto-focus lens for macro work (all my other lenses are, of course, capable of being stopped down.)

Glad you were aware enough to spot this dozy oversight. Great mind? I don't think so!

Best wishes,

Andrew

Auto tubes are also quite expensive I believe.
The best option might be to get a 50mm lens from Ebay and a reverse ring and reverse mount the lens on your camera or get those cheap extension tubes.
That's the cheapest way to do macro photography i believe.

As for manual mode it's actually quite easy with pentax because of the green button.
When you press the green button the camera will automaticly set the correct exposure.
Now in the menu you can say it must act like Av, Tv or fully automatic when you press the green button.

I've it set so that the green button acts like Av, so basicly you aim at something and take a metering by pressing the green button.
Then you take a shot and see how it is.
You know what the effects are from f-stop, shutter time and ISO to come to a good shot, I'm sure you can do it now.

AHA - so in fact that's what I've been trying to do without realising it - it just seemed logical that if it wasn't happy at a particular f stop then change it till it was happy