Photographers' Union Thread

[major_panic]

Nice, ntalwar, Justin and Lies! I'm really surprised that ISO3200 isn't that grainy - although coming from a 5D, that's to be expected, I suppose.

I recently bought a massive, big, heavy lens: a manual focus lens from the 70s, the Vivitar Series 1 70-210 f/3.5 macro, which weighs about 900 grams but does everything I ask it to, which is excellent. I've tried some macro and some sports shooting with it, so feel free to critique! First, the sports shooting: a martial arts competition I actually participated in:

"And here's me administering a kick to someone's leg..." - I'm the one in blue, in case you were wondering.

 

[major_panic]

And, of course, the macro shots:

 

[God Part III]

She moves in Mysterious Way's

I like this alot, even though it might be a tad too blue. Great shape you got out of it though.

 

[ntalwar]

Nice, ntalwar, Justin and Lies! I'm really surprised that ISO3200 isn't that grainy - although coming from a 5D, that's to be expected, I suppose.

I recently bought a massive, big, heavy lens: a manual focus lens from the 70s, the Vivitar Series 1 70-210 f/3.5 macro, which weighs about 900 grams but does everything I ask it to, which is excellent. I've tried some macro and some sports shooting with it, so feel free to critique! First, the sports shooting: a martial arts competition I actually participated in:

Thanks. Any particular reason you choose the 3rd party vintage lenses? I know some cost less than the Canons. Indoor sports is a tough shooting environment. I'd probably use a wider aperture (if you're not at the widest) and zoom in a bit more to get more background blur - the tables, etc are a bit distracting. What aperture and focus mode (AF/MF) was used for the macro shots?

 

[Justin24]

 

[major_panic]

Thanks. Any particular reason you choose the 3rd party vintage lenses? I know some cost less than the Canons. Indoor sports is a tough shooting environment. I'd probably use a wider aperture (if you're not at the widest) and zoom in a bit more to get more background blur - the tables, etc are a bit distracting. What aperture and focus mode (AF/MF) was used for the macro shots?

The main reason for me was cost - I'm more than happy to have a sharp lens for say around $100 even if it means having to manual focus. Pretty much all the shooting indoors was at f/3.5, 1/100 or so. So you reckon to have tighter shots? Makes sense - just need to be a bit faster I suppose!

And all the macro shots were at 3.5 as well, I'm fairly sure (there might be one or two at 5.6 or 4) and all were manually focused. It's hard to hold 3kg worth of camera steady enough to manually focus, compose and take a photo, but it's well worth it.

 

[major_panic]

Justin - great use of the fill-in flash in the third photo!

 

[ntalwar]

So you reckon to have tighter shots? Makes sense - just need to be a bit faster I suppose!

And all the macro shots were at 3.5 as well, I'm fairly sure (there might be one or two at 5.6 or 4) and all were manually focused. It's hard to hold 3kg worth of camera steady enough to manually focus, compose and take a photo, but it's well worth it.

Zooming in will give a shallower DOF, which is why I mentioned it.

For the macro, I'd probably use a tripod and mirror up mode to maximize sharpness.

 

[mad1]

She moves in Mysterious Way's

OMG!

LOVE IT!

dude, I so want you to photograph me like this.

 

[jets]

I finally got a chance to use my ND filters today.


ND4

ND4 + ND8

 

[ntalwar]

I finally got a chance to use my ND filters today.

Nice - what brand did you get? Try it out on some sunset shots.

 

[jets]

Nice - what brand did you get? Try it out on some sunset shots.

The camera shop recommended Marumi, they say they don't scratch as easily as some other brands. Will be trying (hopefully) some sunsets during the week ahead,

 

[ntalwar]

The camera shop recommended Marumi, they say they don't scratch as easily as some other brands. Will be trying (hopefully) some sunsets during the week ahead,

Are they the square/rectangular graduated type of ND filters? That's the next thing I want to get for my setup, plus a better tripod.

 

[jets]

Are they the square/rectangular graduated type of ND filters? That's the next thing I want to get for my setup, plus a better tripod.

I took the less expensive option & got round filters that attach directly to the lens. Only $A40.

 

[achtung_girl]

hey guys, any tips for shooting fireworks?
ok I guess you need a tripod. And settings?

I just tried it yesterday and this is what came out

 

[beli]

Today I attended a Louise Mann workshop on how to take abstract pics in camera. This is my fav.

 

[Justin24]

Today I attended a Louise Mann workshop on how to take abstract pics in camera. This is my fav.

One Word

"Gorgeous"

 

[Liesje]

hey guys, any tips for shooting fireworks?
ok I guess you need a tripod. And settings?

For fireworks, I use a tripod and a remote shutter release. I also set the camera to manual focus. Usually my exposure is 1-3 seconds long, aperture like F16-22, ISO 200. Ends up looking like this:

 

[achtung_girl]

^ok thanks! I think with 1s exposure it is easy to capture the explosion but of course I need a tripod. I have a small one for my canon, (I could put it on a wall) but you could only fix it under the very left side of the camera, so that it'll nearly fall over to the right. kinda unhandy.

 

[beli]

One Word

"Gorgeous"

Thanks for the compliment.

 

[beli]

For fireworks there are often wheely bins to lean on if you dont have a tripod. Ive done a lot of shorter exposure hand held and got some good pics.



I like this one for the movement.




1/80 sec handheld. Again I like the movement.




And smoke.

 

[jets]

Great advice from beli & Liesje

Now fellow photography buffs, can you help me out....by voting for my photo ?

The Weather Channel - Photo Gallery - September 2009

Its on page 1, 3rd photo on the left (its this one...)

Thank you (in advance !)

 

[mad1]

Beli, I love the last one, they all look amazing thou!

JUSTIN!!!!!!!! any more unusual pose shots?

 

[beli]

Thanks for the compliments.

Jets, Its late and maybe I've lost the plot but I cant work out how to vote. What do I click on please?

 

[last unicorn]

Beli and Lies, I LOVE those firework pictures

I'm only lurking in this thread because I'm getting myself a new camera and want to try everything out. So far, I've made all kinds of different pictures with my Canon, but not fireworks. I don't have a tripod, either, but I've heard from many others that it really helps with taking pictures of fireworks or generally by night.

 

[Liesje]

^ depends on the length of the exposure and whether you have a ledge handy to set the camera on. Mine are often 3 second exposures, there's no physical way a person can hold a camera still that long. Even pushing down the button jiggles it, which is why I set the manual focus and use a remote for the shutter. If you are using a higher ISO you can take shorter exposures and do hand-held (like shooting a concert).

My old camera was a point-and-shoot and I didn't have a remote, so instead I set the focus and then used the timer to open the shutter. Lunar eclipse, 1.6 seconds:

 

[Justin24]

Beli, I love the last one, they all look amazing thou!

JUSTIN!!!!!!!! any more unusual pose shots?

as of right now no . But I have a Themed shoot coming up in October. Alice in Wonderland

This is the hat I hope to win off Ebay.

I have some others from the shoot.

 

[jets]

Thanks for the compliments.

Jets, Its late and maybe I've lost the plot but I cant work out how to vote. What do I click on please?

Hi beli, I was the one who lost the plot & posted the link after I had voted..

The Weather Channel - Photo Gallery - September 2009

Try this one, there should be a "vote now" under the photos

 

[beli]

Hi beli, I was the one who lost the plot & posted the link after I had voted..

The Weather Channel - Photo Gallery - September 2009

Try this one, there should be a "vote now" under the photos

Cool. Thanks. Ive worked it out. It seems to be a cache thing. When I opened a different brand of browser and went to www.theweatherchannel.com.au and clicked through, it worked. Yay! I voted. I hope you win.




If any Australians feel like voting for me, I have the above pic in the finals of the Smile Centro competition. Australians who vote are in the running for a $5000 shopping spree. Voting closes on Sunday. We are giving you 5,000 reasons to 'Smile'!

My photo is in the Western Australia - Warwick category.

 

[Liesje]

beli I love your Flickr stream!