Photographers' Union Thread

[major_panic]

something like this?

I actually don't like to much those type of pictures, this was basically my first test shot with the 5D II, and at first I just wanted it in b/w but I wanted to highlight the eye, I guess it could be done with layers, but there has to be other ways

This is a ridiculously cool photo. How did you get that effect? (has no photoshop skills)

And if you don't mind me asking, what are people shooting with? I'm shooting with an old 300D so any ISO I use above about 400 becomes quite evidently grainy, which is disappointing but I suppose par for the course for an old camera.

 

[Justin24]

Major panic shooting pictures when the sun is at its highest point makes pictues look washed out. Many photographers tend to avoid shooting from noon to about 3pm. If you do shoot I recommend a lens hood and a neutral density filter which allows you to shoot in direct sunlight with out the washed out look. Be advides though your photos may look blueish but photoshop can fix that. A great site to learn how to use photoshop is Free Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Fireworks, Bridge, and Golive Video Tutorials :: Welcome to Tutvid.com. I have a dslr dvd guide that I will be burning each chapter and uploading to youtube. It explains apertur, macro and many other things for beginners and intermediate photographers.

 

[stammer476]

Hey folks. Thought I'd introduce myself.

I started taking up photography as a semi-serious hobby about a year and a half ago. My dad was a photographer growing up so I always admired the skill. I own a Nikon D40 and I pretty much just stick with my 18-200mm VR lens for everything. I just got a flash (SB400) two months ago, so I'm playing around with that.

I'm reading about as many photography books as I can right now trying to learn more. I'll stick around this thread and learn as much as I can from the many photographers here who are much more talented and experienced.

I live in Asia now, so I'm surrounded by good photo opportunities. Here's some of what I've done:

But my favorite subject, by far, is my daughter:

And where you can find everything else: Flickr: Downtown Chinatown's Photostream

 

[stammer476]

Can anyone recommend some good online sites or blog entries explaining aperture? That's where I have the most trouble.

This may sound kind of dumb, but the explanation that really "clicked" with me about aperture was to think of your lens like your pupil. When you want to see far away, you squint. So the smaller your aperture, the further your focus (and also the more light you'll need).

Don't know if that helps, but it helped me.

 

[Justin24]

nice work stammer where have you been hiding lol

 

[Mofo]

This is a ridiculously cool photo. How did you get that effect? (has no photoshop skills)

And if you don't mind me asking, what are people shooting with? I'm shooting with an old 300D so any ISO I use above about 400 becomes quite evidently grainy, which is disappointing but I suppose par for the course for an old camera.

sorry for the late reply, I was out of town for a couple of days, about the ISO, it all depends on the camera, with the 5D I could get away with big prints at ISO 1000/1250 and get really good results and with the 5D II, I've still haven't print anything but from the samples I saw the quality is amazing at 3200 or 6400, and you can step it up even higher...I started with a 350D and also the best I could get was at 400 ISO, so yes it all goes with the model...

Stammer the first picture of your daughter is simply amazing!!!

 

[ntalwar]

I'm really impressed with the ISO 3200 samples I've gotten with the 5D Mark II. Great to shoot handheld with confidence in available light when there's no tripod or with moving subjects:

 

[major_panic]

Tried out a mate's prime 50mm lens yesterday, and completely loved it. I'm now looking to buy one - it is amazing for portrait photography. Photos will come later.

 

[jets]

The 5d MkII is nice !

My dad has just come back from Coonabarabran in western New South Wales where there is almost no population (and almost no light pollution). Just near the Anglo-Australian telescope.

There is also a small private observatory that lets you attach your camera.

They're a bit noisy, but...how often do you get to do this !

I don't know details for the telescope, but these are 1600 ISO at 60 seconds.

 

[ntalwar]

Tried out a mate's prime 50mm lens yesterday, and completely loved it. I'm now looking to buy one - it is amazing for portrait photography. Photos will come later.

I have that lens - it's nice quality lens for a good price. If you have a chance, try the 85mm f/1.8 - I love that lens for portraits and concerts. It's highly rated as well. I took the shots above with it (at f/1.8) - it's great for low light shots.

I don't know details for the telescope, but these are 1600 ISO at 60 seconds.

Nice shots- always wanted to try astro. I wonder what the focal length on that scope is.

 

[Justin24]

Ok so I have the nikond200 its a 10.2million mega pixel camera. How big can I print?

 

[Diemen]

these kinds of things are easily searchable on google, Justin.

But since you asked...

Native resolution works out to about 12x18 or so. You should have no problem printing up to 16x24s if you want though. Hell, I've printed a few 20x30s and even a 24x36 from my 8.2MP 20D, and they came out pretty darn well.

 

[major_panic]

To keep this thread ticking over, some photos I took with my friend's 50mm f/1.2 lens:

I'd never gone to anything as high as 1.2 before, so this was a real learning experience for me. But the room was dark, and so this worked really well.

I'm also looking to make a little flash diffuser thing for my pop-up flash - another friend was using one, and it seems to really make a huge difference.

 

[Justin24]

Some Model photos I took last night

 

[ntalwar]

To keep this thread ticking over, some photos I took with my friend's 50mm f/1.2 lens:

I'd never gone to anything as high as 1.2 before, so this was a real learning experience for me. But the room was dark, and so this worked really well.

I'm also looking to make a little flash diffuser thing for my pop-up flash - another friend was using one, and it seems to really make a huge difference.

Really nice lens. Try some outdoor shots with it if you get a chance (nothing against food ).

For flash, I would recommend a Speedlite unit. That will really improve the shots.

 

[Cactus Annie]

That's just reminded me, I need to get my film in my camera developed.

 

[Liesje]

This may sound kind of dumb, but the explanation that really "clicked" with me about aperture was to think of your lens like your pupil. When you want to see far away, you squint. So the smaller your aperture, the further your focus (and also the more light you'll need).

Don't know if that helps, but it helped me.

Good way of explaining it!

I shoot a lot of dog portraits (for fun, not for other people) and try position the dog or myself so the lighting is deal but sometimes have a DOF problem. I like bokeh and I like shallow DOF but sometimes the dog's face is so deep, either the tip of the nose or the ears are slightly out of focus. We had a discussion about this on a blog with someone who is a professional dog photographer, and she has had the same problem.

Like so....this is the first pic I took on manual on my new camera, lol. A quick snap of my dog standing still for 2 seconds. Not something I want to print, the colors here look true to what I saw and it's just a quick snap so no need for me to post-process. The dog's eyes are in focus but the tip of the nose is not quiet (more obvious on the original).
Exif data:
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/4.8
Focal Length: 122 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

Critique and tell me what I should have done differently

 

[ntalwar]

I shoot a lot of dog portraits (for fun, not for other people) and try position the dog or myself so the lighting is deal but sometimes have a DOF problem. I like bokeh and I like shallow DOF but sometimes the dog's face is so deep, either the tip of the nose or the ears are slightly out of focus. We had a discussion about this on a blog with someone who is a professional dog photographer, and she has had the same problem.

How many feet are you from the dog, and how many feet is the dog from the bushes? Try to vary those - they are important factors. Also try up to f/8 for portraits (depending on distance to subject).

 

[Liesje]

Generally I am 10-20 feet away (I'm thinking in terms of my backyard and where I stand when the dogs play). If I'm too close I can't use that lens (like my 55-200VR lens). In that pic the dog is probably 8 feet from the bushes.

How far away should I be?

 

[ntalwar]

Generally I am 10-20 feet away (I'm thinking in terms of my backyard and where I stand when the dogs play). If I'm too close I can't use that lens (like my 55-200VR lens). In that pic the dog is probably 8 feet from the bushes.

How far away should I be?

Nikon's site says the minimum focusing distance for that lens is about 3 feet. To use a smaller aperture (e.g. f/6 to f/8) and still get the bokeh, I would get in a few feet closer and use a more distant background (e.g. 20-30 feet).

 

[Liesje]

K, thanks! At the moment the bush is all I have since it's an evergreen and we don't have leaves until late May or June 3 feet seems really close, I don't think I've ever been able to focus that close with that lens besides with my macro adapter on it (but the closer I am to the dogs, the more likely they are going to run and jump on me or lick the lens!).

 

[Liesje]

Is this one better? I was much farther from the dog than the previous pic, but and the background was farther back as well. Light was kind of bright but these women asked us to snap a headshot of their puppy and they wanted him to look nice and red/yellow. F/5.3, 1/640, 145mm.

When I look at the original of this one, the face seems to be equally in focus (rather than the nose or ears slightly out)

But then this one, the nose is out of focus (f/5.6, 1/500, 200mm)

This one turned out OK I think but it's from the side so there's not the same depth like there is from the nose to the earset (also f/5.6, 1/500, 200mm)

 

[Mofo]

Justin you should buy yourself a grey card, they are quite cheap!! your white balance is way off in some pics, and the first and second are out of focus probably because of the shutter speed you were using, another tip with the black background the best way to achieve a true black is to put the subject as far as you can from the background

 

[ntalwar]

Is this one better? I was much farther from the dog than the previous pic, but and the background was farther back as well. Light was kind of bright but these women asked us to snap a headshot of their puppy and they wanted him to look nice and red/yellow. F/5.3, 1/640, 145mm.

Those look good. Experimenting with smaller aperture + distant background should help.

 

[Diemen]

Good way of explaining it!

I shoot a lot of dog portraits (for fun, not for other people) and try position the dog or myself so the lighting is deal but sometimes have a DOF problem. I like bokeh and I like shallow DOF but sometimes the dog's face is so deep, either the tip of the nose or the ears are slightly out of focus. We had a discussion about this on a blog with someone who is a professional dog photographer, and she has had the same problem.

Like so....this is the first pic I took on manual on my new camera, lol. A quick snap of my dog standing still for 2 seconds. Not something I want to print, the colors here look true to what I saw and it's just a quick snap so no need for me to post-process. The dog's eyes are in focus but the tip of the nose is not quiet (more obvious on the original).
Exif data:
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/4.8
Focal Length: 122 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

Critique and tell me what I should have done differently

If you stopped down to f5.6 you'd probably get the nose in focus without affecting the background blur too much. I'd also look into framing a little differently. Try composing the shot so the dog's head is more to one side of the frame, rather than in the middle. The rule of thirds comes in pretty handy for that (divide the frame into thirds vertically and horizontally, and try to place your main subject along those lines). It's not a hard and fast rule (sometimes centering the subject gives more impact), but it often will help give the picture a more dynamic feel and help guide the viewer's eye through it.

Here's a quick crop:

 

[Justin24]

Justin you should buy yourself a grey card, they are quite cheap!! your white balance is way off in some pics, and the first and second are out of focus probably because of the shutter speed you were using, another tip with the black background the best way to achieve a true black is to put the subject as far as you can from the background

The background was actually blue. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I used Daylight WB and Tungsten. I kinda like the effect. I also messed around in Photo shop.

 

[Mofo]

The background was actually blue. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I used Daylight WB and Tungsten. I kinda like the effect. I also messed around in Photo shop.

oh for the black background I was talking about the b/w photo, the thing is there's a blueish cast in the 2dn pic, I'd recommend calibrating your monitor to see the true colors you are working/messing around with

 

[Justin24]

Do you recommend a good site to help calibrate my computer monitor? as far as the blueish cast I kind of made it look that way? I don't know why?

 

[Justin24]

The thing is I never intended to shoot anything. My cousin was working on a class project (beginning color photography) and I decided to grab my camera and shoot away.

 

[ntalwar]

The background was actually blue. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I should have used a faster shutter speed. I used Daylight WB and Tungsten. I kinda like the effect. I also messed around in Photo shop.

I agree with the bluish cast on her face. I'm not a PS expert, but a quick way to correct it in PS is to bring up the Levels box and click the white eyedropper on the white of the eye (or another area that should be white).