Love a cup of coffee

[azzajay77]

Hi all. Just bought a new Kiss x4 (EOS 550D) and playing around with my 50mm f.18

I knew to this whole Bokeh and 50mm lens thing and haven't done much if any of this sort of photography before.

I had this idea in my head of a cool sort of photo, am still trying to work out if they turned out how i first pictured it. I think they're O.K. but would appreciate thoughts on how i could of made these look better.

Edit .. Ok rules are read, apologies won't happen again !

Exit
Canon 550D
F1.8
1/40sec
ISO 100
exp bias 0
focal length 50mm
metering mode Pattern
No flash

Conditions were early afternoon taken inside on the kitchen table, the coffee cup was rested on a number of whilte A4 sheets of paper to give a contrast to the brown coffee beans. The light was coming in to the left through a window next to the table.

My questions. Is the apperture i used too wide?

Is the focus in the right spot to set the image off ?

Have i made the image too 'white' in post processing? ie now the cup doesn't stand out very much?

Post processing involved adjusting curves, colour balance and sharpness.

Apologies again for the oversight. Hope this extra information helps.

[windrider86]

At the top of each page is a link for the critique sections rules/guidelines. They tell you what you should be including (or not including) in your posts.
Thank you in advance for reading them and editing your post!

[windrider86]

Yes, parts of it are too white as you've lost total detail in the cup. I might have used a smaller aperture so more of the photo was in focus.
Very cute photo tho!

[NotQuite]

i can't quite tell but it appears to me like some of the beans on the foreground were affected by motion blur. also those out of focus beans on the top right hand corner are unescessary and as they are close to the junction point between the horizontal third and the vertical third your viewers eyes are naturally lead there, you could try and edit them out post processing, and although you are creating dead space i think it's better as it encourages the eyes to look elsewhere for detail. also if you shoot with RAW format try playing with the white balance a bit so the cup doesn't look so over exposed. especially to see if you can get more detail on the handle. i do like the lighting on the beans though. also i like the composition, how you provided a visual representation of "loving a cup of coffee". nice work...

[azzajay77]

Thank you for your comments. Good to see another Aussie too!

[Roshenk]

I am fine with the DoF and the beans are an interesting image...but the highlights of the cup are totally blown out and that is a distraction to me. It looks more like a lightsource then a cup.

I would use PP to increase the contrast and lower the brightness in that area if you can

[azzajay77]

Hi. I just tried to have a quick play then in PS and was unable to get anything to work. It wasn't shot in RAW and the cup is just too way overexposed. Nevermind. Thanks for the feedback will be something that i'll keep an eye on next time i decide to do something like this again.

[Roshenk]

Originally Posted by azzajay77

Hi. I just tried to have a quick play then in PS and was unable to get anything to work. It wasn't shot in RAW and the cup is just too way overexposed. Nevermind. Thanks for the feedback will be something that i'll keep an eye on next time i decide to do something like this again.

Don't sweat it...we only learn from the mistakes we make. Also, remember it is always best to shoot in RAW+Jpeg when you can.