Ok so this may seem a bit of a boring one to start off with but I figured I would feature it as it does demonstrate the use of some of the current features we have with our X cameras... In this post I will cover the whole set up & show you how I got it from its starting point to the finished edit...

The Fuji 35 1.4 is so sharp even this spike fella is a bit on edge...

As a part of my cactus collection this spike little guy is a great test subject for testing out lenses... His sharp bits are really sharp & there is enough depth to judge the smoothness of the lenses bokeh... Perfect...

The lighting set up for this photo was simple... No need to get fancy here, just an 18 watt bulb in this small desk lamp... The ambient lighting in the room was fairly low too & this is worth noting... I will elaborate on that shortly...

The light was to camera right at 45° up & 45° across from the subject... A typical Rembrandt lighting set up using only one light with little fill from ambient light in the room... This is a great technique for giving the photo that extra pop & level of sharpness... Using one light in this fashion gives contrast & contrast adds to the effect of a sharp image... The image to the right demonstrates the set up...

As you can see this is a fairly warm light but thats no problem for the fuji cameras... WB was left in AUTO & I did not touch it after!

Another factor that plays a significant roll in image sharpness is camera technique... Good focus, shutter speed & aperture all play a roll when you are trying to create a sharp photo but so too does your hand holding ability... My camera settings for this shot were as follows : 1/125th, f2.8, 2500 ISO... Shooting this image at 1/125th was quick enough to avoid any camera shake, on top of that I also made sure to get a good solid base by resting on the desk... I chose to shoot this at photo at f2.8... I wanted enough detail to be in focus to allow the photo to pop but also wanted a fairly shallow depth of field to give a nice effect... ISO was the last setting in the exposure triangle & I simply set it where it needed to be based on the real time exposure preview that these great mirrorless cameras offer...

Some purists may look at the above image & ask 'why is he using the screen & not the EVF?'... Well there are a few reasons... Firstly & most importantly is because for close up work like this, sitting upright & looking at the screen is more comfortable... I have a desk to rest on so it made sense... I can brace myself & remain more stable... Secondly is down to the focus peaking & nailing it... I shot in manual focus & used the AF-L button on the back of the XT-1 to prefocus to roughly where I wanted to be... I then moved the camera in & out while watching the focus peaking do its thing on the LCD screen... Doing this is much easier with the screen than trying to do it with the EVF...

The screen prints above are of all my Lightroom Modifications... These are based on one of a few colour presets I use so please fee free to copy it, use it & post your images in the comment section... Below is a tight crop for all of you who want to see how sharp the cactus really is...

For those people wondering what the image looked like to begin with I have posted a comparison between the RAW file & the final edit... Here you can see just how important post processing is with this example...

Lets wrap this up & cover off some key point that came together to create this photo...

Lighting - For tight work like this were you are trying to create sharp looking images experiment with one light source to give extra contrast...
Use the screen - Don't be afraid of using the screen on the back of your camera... If you can get more stable then go for it...
Post Production - Sharpening has a lot to do with post production... Don't be scared of adding sharpening in post... It will really give your photo the edge it needs...

Anyway people, I hope you have enjoyed reading & maybe have learnt something new... Please put these techniques into practice & share your results below...

As always, please like, comment & subscribe...

Howard

p.s. The next part of this series will feature one of my favourite photos ever... It is a street photo & I will talk about how to become invisible on the street & g into a little detail about panning... Stay tuned...