Photography

[i am travvy]

So other than knives and fishing, another hobby I've started to really enjoy is photography. I've always enjoyed taking pictures with my phone and various point and shoot digital cameras. Recently though I've been really getting into it. I just purchased a Canon Rebel t6i with the kit lense (18-55) and I must say, I love it! I have always shot in manual mode with my point and shoots so it was an easy jump between the two. Right now I am doing a lot of reading on lenses and trying to figure out what all I want. I know we have some people here that take amazing pictures so I wanted to start a thread here about photography. Feel free to post some of your recent pictures and also share some tips and tricks. What are your favorite lenses, what you carry in your gear bag, ect.

Here are a few recent pictures I took and edited.

[awa54]

Looking good! I'd suggest learning the "basics" of exposure and metering, even though all modern cameras handle that automatically, it's nice to know how to override that to get what you really wanted (or to know why you aren't getting what you expected).

Other than that, shoot a lot, look at what other people shoot and maybe try some different lenses out, kit lenses are usually decent, but not fantastic, an upgrade can make a nice difference in the images you are capturing.

this is my Flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/awa54/

[i am travvy]

Thank you! I'm definitely going to pick up a Canon 50 mm 1.8 as soon as I can. I havnt made up my mind on anything else yet. I'm probably going to end up looking to see what I can pick up second hand for cheap. I know I want a macro of some sorts and a little bit higher powered zoom but I know nothing about lenses yet. Lots of research in my future. As far as editing goes, I have no clue what I'm doing! Well, I somewhat do. I'm mostly just making the pictures look good to my eye but I have no idea if they are proper. Oh well.

[remnar]

I would really like to be into photography a lot more than I am, but I don't think that I have enough money. :D Everything related to photography is soooo expensive and it would cut into my other hobbies. I hope this thread doesn't end up costing me money but it probably will. :p

BTW Travvy, the photos look good so far. :)

[Water Bug]

Great photographs! Nice work with the lighting, especially on the glass of quarters and the car.

A 50mm f/1.8 would be a very good lens to have... f/1.8 is fast enough for most use without a flash, and f/22 gives you great depth of field. A 50mm f/1.4 would also be a great choice. The Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 was my all-purpose lens for years for film cameras... I now use the 50mm f/1.4 for a lot of my shooting on my Nikon digital camera.

A lens to save up for would be a 28-70mm f/2.8... this is a very versitle mid-range zoom lens. I'm not sure about Canon's version, but my Nikkor lens is rather large and can get heavy, but it gives me many options.

For longer range zoom, a 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR is something to consider... the only drawback on this is low-light situations; however, the Canon Rebel t6i appears to have a good ISO range, so you'd be able to compensate.

With the lenses noted above and a flash, I can take care of most of my photography needs.

[i am travvy]

Awesome! Thanks for the tip on lenses. Gives me a starting point on some research.

[Evil D]

Everything I've taken for the last couple of years, even everything I've posted has all been taken with my cell phone camera. I wish it had a manual focus option but for the most part I can make it do what I want it to do. I haven't had a "real camera" in many years, my last was a vintage Rebel. Chalk it up as another hobby that I'd spend more time and money on if I didn't already have so many other hobbies sucking up my time and money.

[awa54]

BTW, that 50mm f1.8 is equivalent to an 80mm lens (if you reference 35mm full frame film cameras as the standard) when used on your APS-C sensor camera, a 50mm lens was the "standard" lens on most 35mm film cameras for decades, while an 80mm is considered to be ideal as a portrait lens. Different focal length lenses offer a different perspective and more or less depth of focus, not just more or less "reach". Multiply the stated focal length on a lens by 1.6 to get the equivalent full frame focal length.

a good graphic of focal length: http://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/sup ... how12.html

Don't write off Sigma, Tokina or Tamron lenses either, they're great values compared to Canon lenses and often perform as well as the OEM lenses within their class. A great example of this is the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, which is a very good quality f2.8 standard zoom (on APS-C) for just over half the price of the Canon 17-55mm f2.8.

Long telephoto lenses can be frustrating if used hand-held, since even with good VR/IS/Anti-shake they will produce soft images if you aren't in bright sun, or you're panning to follow a subject. If you're going to do wildlife images, get a tripod, for sports, don't zoom in as much and keep shutter speeds high.

I personally think that it's key to look at the pictures you take and compare them to both the original scene and your conception of what you were trying to capture when you pressed the shutter, then learn what tools or techniques you have to master to make that image match your concept better. Or of course, you can just take pictures and have fun!

[GoldenSpydie]

Thanks for starting this thread, Travvy, and nice pictures!

Photography is one of my favorite hobbies, probably tied with knives, backpacking, and climbing.

For digital photography, I use a Nikon D600 with my old D5100 as backup. I have recently been getting into some film as well, with an old Canon F1, and I am getting ready to try some 4x5 large format film with an old camera my family has.

Does anyone on here do video? Recently I have been getting into high-end video with a Sony FS5 (4k Super 35 sensor recording at 100 Mbps). It's fun to mess around with the FS5--it can do up to 240 fps (played back at 30 fps for super slow motion) at full HD at broadcast spec. Sony just released a raw upgrade that will also allow 4k DCI output and 240 fps at 4k--I'll have to look into an external recorder to do this though.

Here's a few pictures so that you can see what I have been shooting very recently. Landscapes and wildlife are my thing. I will post some wildlife pictures next week.

With a 28-300 lens on the long end, I could make the sunset appear big behind the tree. Most of the rest of these images were done with a Nikon 18-35 lens (keep in mind that the D600 is full-frame--18mm on full frame is the equivalent of a 12mm lens on a crop-sensor camera.)



Sometimes, simplicity is key. What could be more interesting than a simple rock reflected in a pond under a smoky haze?



Sometimes, black and white helps make a more dramatic image.




But a color image is necessary to show the beauty of alpine reflections at sunrise and sunset.

[ImageX]

I would recommend getting a fast aperture 35mm(fairly cheap) and maybe a wide angle if you like landscapes. Then start saving for a 70-200mm 2.8... which is an absolute must have for any serious photographer... hobby or otherwise. Good glass is expensive but worth holding out for. Buy once cry once is the best advice I can give.

Some random images of mine... no particular dates or order. I shoot with mostly Nikon gear.

[i am travvy]

Awesome pictures both of you!!

I really need to find a place with some nature to shoot. The tree and rock pictures were probably my favorite golden.

[ChrisinHove]

Wow. Nice pics, guys.

Like all blokes hobbies, there is always pressure to get more and more expensive gear, but like sport, it never makes up for ability, either natural or learnt/practiced!

Have fun.

[JT]

As a newbie learning-stage picshooter myself, do not go the route I did, don't buy any lenses before learning to use the exposure, ISO and aperture with the kit lens first. And maybe get photoshop or similar to learn to edit the pics.

And great pics all btw.. I like the landscape ones, and the ladies of course :D

[awa54]

The GIMP is a really decent free imaging editor for windows and linux, also RawTherapee is an excellent RAW file editor, that is also free (not sure which platforms, aside from Win).

As far as Photography being an equipment sport, I'd concur with JT that you should probably be certain that you are going to be serious about photography, before buying a bunch of glass and other accessories... though having a variety of lenses is fun! (don't ask how many I have, I don't know!)

[i am travvy]

im using digital photo professional 4 to edit all of my raw pictures. it came with my camera. im loving it so far. really simple to use. i am 100% getting the canon 50 mm 1.8 either this or next pay check. probably next. im also starting to research other pancake lenses. i love taking pictures of smaller items and objects and making them really stand out. i might be a bokeh fan... lol.

the place i work for had a company picnic at the zoo the other day. the zoo was pretty crappy but i was able to take a couple of pictures. one thing i noticed while i was editing was the pictures i took in bright/moderate sunlight came out really fuzzy while the pictures i took in the shade/overcast came out sharp. i have also noticed that before using my other camera. how can i get better pictures in the sunlight? here are the few images i got to come out halfway decent.






and my favorite one from the day

[awa54]

You're probably having issues with "lens flare" which is caused by internal reflections in the lens, when a very bright light source is in the frame... it might also be over or underexposure, again caused by a bright light source that is tricking your metering system into choosing the wrong settings.

First, don't shoot directly into a bright light source, second, extend your "hot spot" free shooting angles by using a lens hood, or blocking the sun (or other light) with your hand, third, choose lenses that don't exhibit much flare (usually the more glass elements in a lens and the cheaper it is, the worse flare is, but not always...).

I know that some photographers deride "chimping", but checking the image you just shot, then adjusting the framing or exposure to get it right is one of the most powerful benefits of shooting digital instead of film. Remember that the tiny screen on the camera isn't as revealing as a big screen, so zoom in to see details if a pic looks a bit odd, before deciding that you got the shot.

[i am travvy]

I don't know if its lens flare. I'll post a picture here in a bit and yall can see what I'm talking about.

[i am travvy]

okay here is my example. this lil guy wasnt moving at all. image is under exposed. it looks alright but if you zoom in on it it seems to have a haze around it. maybe its just from the fur or i moved just a tiny bit, idk.

[ImageX]

Image blur/out of focus. You were probably zoomed in with slow kit lens.... which stops the lens down(less light let in)... which forced a slower shutter speed(to get more light in)... which opened the door for camera or subject movement. You can compensate with higher ISO to speed the shutter up but this is where more expensive fast aperture lenses can help. They allow more light in and help keep shutter speeds up which means no time for movement or blur. Learn the "Exposure Triangle" and how each setting effects the other. It's a balancing act.

[Water Bug]

okay here is my example. this lil guy wasnt moving at all. image is under exposed. it looks alright but if you zoom in on it it seems to have a haze around it. maybe its just from the fur or i moved just a tiny bit, idk.

Are you using autofocus (AF) on the camera? If so, perhaps the AF sensor is getting confused by the soft, subtle patterns on the animals fur and having difficulty locking in on a solid line or pattern. Thus, what the AF might then do is lock on something with a distinct pattern or lines that it can get a sharp fix on, such a small dark area of fur, a crack in the rock in the foreground, or perhaps the fence in the background. I've found that soft, subtle lines on something such as the animal's fur in the picture can make the AF go in and out repeatedly until if locks onto something... problem is whatever it locks onto may not be what you want to focus on. With regards to the animal in your picture, I usually click my camera's exposure meter to center-weighted, get an AF lock on the animals eyes for a sharp focus then center the animal within the frame and shoot. This is the way I take pictures of people... the rule of thumb I follow is that if you can get a person's eyes sharply focused then the quality of focus for the rest of the person's body will fall into place quite nicely in the picture... I apply the same rule with animals.

Also, are you shooting in Program Mode? If so, you're leaving it up to the camera to determine the shutter speed and aperture settings, which could affect the depth of field and lighting. I usually prefer going Aperure Priority where I select the aperature setting for more or less depth of field and let the camera set the shutter speed, or I'll go full Manual so that I control everything.

Anyway, the above may be possible explanations of what's happening in your pictures. Hope this helps.