Bonsai photography with iPhone?

[Starfox]

Problem with more megapixels on a small sensor like a phones is it will increase the signal to noise ratio which will make the images grainier for finer detail, by zooming in it only increases the issue and this does show up more in lower light situations. That and the fact most phone cameras don't have a RAW setting so they tend to pre process the image in the phone which isn't always optimal.

That doesn't mean you can't get good pics on a phone but yeah I agree, more mega pixels is not the best option.

Personally I think I agree with @Paradox that outside on a bright day but in the shade is a pretty good way to do it, I also like to take pot pictures outside.

 

[Starfox]

To add to that even by increasing the ISO you are again increasing the signal to noise ratio so if you find your images are to noisy you could try taking multiple shots and then stacking them to average out the noise.

Best defense is still going to be to have your scene sufficiently lit to begin with.

 

[Adair M]

I would suggest otherwise
Using your legs to move towards or away from the subject will give better results imo

That's the way I used to do it, lol!

But, by standing back and using telephoto you get a better "portrait". Less of the photo will be in sharp focus. Thereby creating a feeling of "depth".

Professional photographers do it this way. I've seen Joe Noga at work, and he has his camera back, maybe as much as 15 to 20 feet back away from the tree, and uses telephoto lens.

 

[Chopsie]

That's the way I used to do it, lol!

But, by standing back and using telephoto you get a better "portrait". Less of the photo will be in sharp focus. Thereby creating a feeling of "depth".

Professional photographers do it this way. I've seen Joe Noga at work, and he has his camera back, maybe as much as 15 to 20 feet back away from the tree, and uses telephoto lens.

The minute you increase the focal length camera shake will appear. Now I'm not saying it's wrong it's just making things difficult.
A telephoto lens will always be a compromise, it will have its sweet spot but I would suggest a good prime lens as you'll get best picture quality .
A prime lens is fixed so you yourself become the zoom moving towards or backwards .
I would suggest a professional photographer would use the right tool for the job. A telephoto lens isn't the tool needed imo
It will work tho perhaps it was his best lens? I wouldn't attempt it with my telephoto lens as nice as it is, it weighs nearly 7lbs (3kg)

 

[Chopsie]

P/S adjusting your aperture will give you your dof

 

[GSCarlson]

Well lit, but not direct sunlight, and a non-distracting background, and you are better than 90% of the photos people post.

 

[Jason Crump]

I would suggest otherwise
Using your legs to move towards or away from the subject will give better results imo

A zoom does more than make the picture bigger or smaller. It also compresses the depth of the image. A zoom will also make the image look closer to what you see when looking at the picture. The iPhone for example has a 28mm lens. The human eye has an ~43mm lens (not really a lens but whatever). When zooming in the tree's features in the photo will more closely match what you are seeing. Overall, zooming in a bit will make the pictures, if crisp, look better.

This only applies if you can keep the camera steady. If the camera is moving you will get worse pictures zoomed in than normal.

 

[twisted trees]

Without getting technical the average Joe just needs to play around with whatever they have, phone or camera. Try a few locations, different backgrounds, different settings, etc. With some diligence you should find out how to take a fine picture.

 

[Victorim]

As the youngest of my little ones had come about, and back then the opportunity came about (was in electrical/tech retail back then) to grab a system camera for dirt cheep (Sony nex 550). A system is like an SLR but with out the R. Tiny for the power and shots it can give.

Once you start using a quality camera it's like night and day, so if it's going to get good use, go for it mate. Go test some in shops.

But if you there with a tree, your phones in your pocket.. the camera is inside somewhere and is the battery charged..

Anyways... Too many ciders have made me forget the point I was working towards so I'll leave you with that..

 

[Victorim]

An actual camera takes better low light pics than a phone camera. Use as much light as possible then when using the phone. Use a white or Neely white background in the brightest room in your house. I use the edit function on the phone with good results. I took this with my phone.
View attachment 156139

That pot is amazing. Where from?

 

[twisted trees]

That pot is amazing. Where from?

I received it as an award from a bonsai show. It's made by MC Squared Pottery.

 

[flyinmanatee]

Can someone take 4 photos with their iphone of the same damn tree with variables of 2 distances and zoom/not and a constant of the same lighting? Then the discussion can start all over again...I mean settle it once and for all.

 

[music~maker]

I take pictures of my trees with my iPhone all the time. It's my primary camera for recording progress on my trees.

A few tricks I've found:
- Contrast between the tree and the background is extremely helpful. Put the tree in front of a wall, a fence, a large piece of cardboard, a screen, something. Green on green yields crappy photos. Experiment until you find something you like. I often take pics of my trees against a gray garage wall that's in my yard. Can't overstate what a difference this makes.
- Tap the screen to set a reference point for the phone camera to set the light levels. This makes an enormous difference!! Try tapping a bright part of the frame, then try tapping a dark part of the screen. You'll immediately see the difference.
- Take a bunch of repeats of the same picture. Then when you sync to your computer and can see them on the full screen, choose the best ones.
- Either zoom in or move forward or back so that the tree (or the part of the tree you want to photograph) fills the frame.
- Make sure you aren't facing the sun when you take the picture. It makes it hard to get a good shot. I find late afternoon or early morning shots usually have decent lighting and come out well.

Here's an album of some photos that I literally took today with my iPhone: http://imgur.com/a/bJA39

The first is a little blurry because I moved a little when I took it, and only had the one shot from that angle. The rest came out better.

Can you take better pictures with a full-blown SLR? Absolutely. Is the iPhone a very passable option for taking regular bonsai photos? Without question.

 

[Starfox]

Can someone take 4 photos with their iphone of the same damn tree with variables of 2 distances and zoom/not and a constant of the same lighting? Then the discussion can start all over again...I mean settle it once and for all.

Well here is a start, that said I am using a Moto G5, an iphones camera will be inherently better than mine. In fact the newer iphones have two lenses to use a bit of digital trickery to fight this exact problem. Although this should highlight my point with zooming in using phone cameras.

First pic is standing close, second standing back zoomed in.



Quite a noticeable change of quality.
But that is how digital zooms work, they just basically enlarge the un-zoomed image and crop it.
This loss of quality you wont get with an optical lens as it remains a true image.
My conclusion at least is with a phone no zoom, with a camera with an optical lens then it is probably a better idea to.

The unzoomed pic is really good however.

Like I said the iphone 7 camera system is better, you would expect it to be a 4 times the price, but still the same principle applies.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Under most conditions, my iPhone 7 camera does a poor job...or maybe it's me, but I'm ok with an actual camera.
Here was the test area, at 8', 16', and 24':

8', wide, and zoomed to fill frame:

16', wide, and zoomed to fill frame:

And 24', wide and zoomed to max:

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Now, with a decent camera, I actually prefer to stand about 25' back and zoom in with a 55-250 mm zoom lens:

With a standard lens, 18-55 mm, the depth isn't as great; or the background is in focus like the foreground. Here is a shot wide and zoomed to fill the frame:

Here is a shot from behind the red X, showing the distance to the bonsai, and a zoomed-in shot.

So, look at the background, which is the point of zoom-lens photography; it creates a good depth of field, and allows the subject to be in focus.

The other improvement with photographing from a distance is the improved viewing angle. Too often, people photograph trees from too-high an angle, look down into the tree. This is not usually a flattering or useful view. These shots are at 8', 26', and 35' back:

 

[twisted trees]

...I mean settle it once and for all.

...right...

 

[Adair M]

Now, with a decent camera, I actually prefer to stand about 25' back and zoom in with a 55-250 mm zoom lens:
View attachment 156321 View attachment 156320
With a standard lens, 18-55 mm, the depth isn't as great; or the background is in focus like the foreground. Here is a shot wide and zoomed to fill the frame:
View attachment 156323 View attachment 156324
Here is a shot from behind the red X, showing the distance to the bonsai, and a zoomed-in shot.
View attachment 156328 View attachment 156324
So, look at the background, which is the point of zoom-lens photography; it creates a good depth of field, and allows the subject to be in focus.

The other improvement with photographing from a distance is the improved viewing angle. Too often, people photograph trees from too-high an angle, look down into the tree. This is not usually a flattering or useful view. These shots are at 8', 26', and 35' back:
View attachment 156324 View attachment 156320 View attachment 156329

Brian, do you have the iPhone 7, or the 7 Plus?

The Plus actually has two optical lens. The second lens is more telephoto, and works similiar to your example. Of course, it's still no match for a good camera.