In this thread, we post photos! (Shamelessly stolen from Grifter)
All photos are welcome, though most people post with the intention of receiving criticism so that they can become better photographers.
Please do not spoiler your photos as that defeats the purpose of the thread.
For photography newbies:What type of camera should I buy?
This can't be answered the same for every person. There's little difference in the photo quality between most major brands (Canon, Nikon, etc) so it comes down to price and personal preference. Make sure your camera lets you control settings like shutter speed, aperture, and ISO and preferably lets you capture images in RAW format. Other than that, get a bit of hands on time and see how the camera feels to you. Also remember that if you're buying an SLR, camera bodies come and go but lenses usually last while. For this reason it might be worth it to buy a cheaper body and spend a bit extra on some lenses.
Speaking of lenses, which ones should I buy?
Most kit lenses are a good starting place, though you'll begin to find them more limited once you're more comfortable with your camera. A good entry level prime lens for Canon cameras is
this little guy. Other than that, you'll probably want to pick up a telezoom lens with a macro feature. This should get you set for a long while.
Any good books/sites I should read?
Lots of people recommend
Understanding Exposure or
the first Ansel Adams book. Don't bother buying any book that tells you how to use your specific camera model. All of that information can be found in your user's manual.
How do I become awesome at arting?
The best advice I can give is: keep taking pictures. That being said, don't just randomly point your camera at something and hit the shutter button. Stop for a moment to think about why you're taking this picture. What are you trying to show people? Is the current lighting/angle/etc going to help you show that? If so, proceed. If not, adjust your settings or body to capture it another way.
Resources/Tools:Lightroom - Awesome software for managing your photo collection and editing RAW files.
LR Mogrify - Unfortunately Lightroom doesn't have a border option so use this tool. It also does watermarks and the like.
Canon Firmware Update - Unofficial firmware update that allows more options one some Canon cameras.
Strobist - Fantastic source on getting into off camera lighting. Don't be put off by initial complexities. It'll come.
Flickr - A free photo hosting site. Also has a pro option if you like. There's also a
PA flickr group.
Phorumr - If you're using flickr and Firefox, this script auto generates the code you need to paste into the forum.
Photoshop Pyramid - Helps regulate your daily dose of Photoshop.
A DIY plexiglass frame - Nifty.
DIY Bokeh - A neat DIY to getting bokeh shapes.
There's also a great write up from Pope:
Some Photography Stuff
Types of Lenses:
Prime Lens - A lens with no “zoom.” While this might limit composition choices, it also usually means the lens is “faster” (meaning can achieve larger apertures, usually 2.8 and larger (2.0, 1.8, 1.4, 1.0, etc). The wider the aperture, the more light gets in and therefore the faster the shutter can be which is why primes are considered faster.
Zoom Lens - Any lens that can span a range of focal lengths. For example: 18mm-55mm. There are zooms in every category (normal, telephoto, wide, and macro).
Telephoto Lens - A lens that makes objects in the photo appear larger than they were to the naked eye. This is akin to being “zoomed in.” These lenses are comparable to physically moving closer to the subject. Some distortion can occur in the form of “compressing” the distance between objects.
Normal Lens - A lens where objects in the photo appear to be the same size as when seen by the naked eye. This lenses do not change your perceived distance from the subject.
Wide Angle Lens - A lens that shows a wider field of view than the naked eye. This is comparable to being further from the subject. Some distortion can occur (with a fisheye being an extreme example). Foreground objects appear disproportionately larger than background objects.
Macro Lens - A specialty lens that allows focusing on objects MUCH closer than with other lenses. Favored for all closeups (insects, flowers, etc).
Other Terms:
DOF - DOF stands for Depth-of-Field or Depth-of-focus. This describes how much of the shot is in focus (a plain perpendicular to the lens).
Focal Length - The size of a lens. Controls how “zoomed in” or “zoomed out” the picture is. On a 35mm camera a 50mm lens is pretty ‘normal’ and an 85mm lens is a short ‘telephoto’ and a 20mm lens is ‘wide.’ On a lower-end SLR a 50mm is a little bit telephoto.
Crop Factor - The ratio of size of the field of view between various cameras and compared against a 35mm film camera as the baseline. A typical digital SLR has a crop factor of 1.6 (meaning the field of view of the digital chip is smaller than a 35mm film frame). This affects the field of view offered by lenses. For example, a 50mm lens on a typical Digital SLR (DSLR) would be the equivalent of an 80mm lens on a 35mm film camera. A 200mm lens on a typical DSLR would be the same as a 320mm lens on a typical 35mm film camera.
Aperture - The aperture is the size of the opening of the shutter when it fires. It is measured as a fraction (so that 4.0 really means 1/4.0 and 16 means 1/16 and 1.8 means 1/1.8). The smaller the number, the wider the aperture. The wider the aperture, the smaller the DOF and the more light that gets in so the faster the shutter needs to be set.
Shutter Speed - How fast the shutter fires. Conventional wisdom dictates that a camera can be handheld at a shutter speed equal to 1/x where x is the focal length of the lens. For example, if shooting with a 100mm lens, you can handhold the camera up to 1/100 sec. Anything slower (1/50 sec, etc) would need to be balanced on a tripod or monopod or other stabilizer.
ISO - How sensitive the chip is to light. The higher the ISO, the faster the shutter can be set at. ISOs over 200 can start to introduce digital noise (comparable to film grain) with more noise coming from higher ISOs.
Exposure:
There are 3 major factors that affect proper exposure: ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture. Adjusting any of these factors affects exposure unless compensated for by either of the other settings.
For example, take the “sunny 16 rule.” The sunny 16 rule is a generalized rule of thumb for achieving proper exposure in sunny conditions. It states that you set the shutter speed to 1/ISO (ie - if using ISO 200 then set the shutter to 1/200 sec), then set the aperture to 1/16 (f-16 or f/16). So a proper exposure would be ISO 200, 1/200 sec, F/16.
Now if you wanted to change the shutter speed because you are using a 300mm lens and don’t have a tripod you could set the shutter to 1/400 sec. This would unbalance the above equation, so you could then compensate by raising the ISO to 400. Now you have ISO 400, 1/400 sec, F/16. Both this setting and the one above give the same exposure.
Depth of Field:
Depth of field is affected by two details: aperture and distance between the camera and the subject. Of these, aperture is the factor that gets manipulated most often when trying to change depth of field. The wider the aperture, the smaller the depth of field. When a lens is “wide open” (using the widest possible aperture, the smallest number) is has the smallest DOF. This is useful for blurring backgrounds and drawing focus where you want it. On the other hand, the smallest possible aperture (anywhere from F/16 on most lenses to F/22 or even F/45 on some lenses) gives the longest DOF. This is most useful in landscape photography where the ideal is to have ALL of the scene in focus.
Distance between camera and subject becomes an issue when shooting Macro photography specifically. When the lens is w/in mere inches from the subject then even a “normal” aperture like F/5.6 can yield a small DOF (a scant couple millimeters). To get all of a macro subject in focus it is usually necessary to shoot a F/8 or F/11 or smaller. This results in slow shutter speeds (see above) unless additional light is brought in (ie - from a flash). Slow shutter speeds increases the chance for motion blur (especially on a breezy day or when the subject is animate, ie a butterfly).
Here are a couple of articles by Ken Rockwell. they are a good read if you are interested in getting into professional photography. You've probably heard it all before though.
Why Photography is Not a Profession.How to Become a Professional Photographer.What Makes a Professional Camera.
His head is fairly far up his arse, but he is making money as a photographer. So whatever really.
KABLOOOOOOOOOM
Posts
My Portfolio Site
My dad's old boss gave it to him as a present, and he hasn't touched it in decades. I mentioned an interest in photography and he fished it out for me. Seeing how it's been in it's case, it is still in good condition and I'm sure it works. I'm not bothered by the fact that it is old, but d'ya reckon I can take good pictures with it?
Is there a lens? Having a lens is handy.
Also, it more than likely is going to need a good cleaning, lubricating and adjusting if it has been sitting for some time, as well as replacement light seals. You'll need new batteries in order to use most features, such as higher shutter speeds and light meter, but it can be shot up to 1/90 without battery power. Occasionally, and I just ran into this on a Yashica Lynx 5000e the other day, using a two battery system often the batteries will short one another out and leave a good deal of corrosion. If this is the case, standard household vinegar will eliminate visible battery corrosion, but internal corrosion may still be a problem.
Give it a test and let us know.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Some stuff from my foundation year photography class:
My pups, as seen on holga film:
Sunset, two photos taken with a digi, PSed together
Some photos from this camera I got from lomography.com, takes four sequential photos in a row, all on the same picture:
Taken with an (ex)girlfriends fisheye from lomography:
http://kvitella.carbonmade.com
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=91454
I have elements 6
Dear satan I wish for this or maybe some of this....oh and I'm a medium or a large.
Not '[PHOTO] everyday'.
Geeeeezz :rotate:
IT'S A HORSE!
ANYWAYS
ALL of the other crits, concerning lighting and positioning, and cropping, were brilliant. Thanks dudes. It was actually really helpful. I don't have any white foam core, but I do know where to get it. I'll be picking it up, soon. Also, what was I going to say? Oh, yeah, the model decided she wanted "water" involved with her photos someway, so I thought of the river that runs through the town immediately. Rennie's Mill, folks, is polluted and gross. This girl was a trooper. And she listened when I said "open your mouth a bit", "close your mouth a bit", "look to the left, and up a bit", and all of the other annoying commands I'm usually giving, which was refreshing. I love it when people listen and aren't all giggly and shy.
MORE PHOTOS.
A couple of points:
1.) "Photo nerds," will tell you why a photo doesn't work. Everyone else will just tell you that it doesn't work or tell you that they like it because they're your friend/relative/don't know any better.
2.) You do realize that you can stop the lens down to increase your depth of field right? There really was no call for shooting at f/1.8 outdoors during the day time if not used for a very specific reason and with the utmost attention to focus. At any rate, that's no excuse for poor focus. It's not that the focus is off by a sliver of a centimeter, it's that it's just plain out of focus, and it doesn't take a 100% view or pixel peeping to see that, and full frame isn't going to make as much of a difference as you're hoping it will. Better to stop down.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Things that have caught my interest recently.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
Did I ever tell you I like you? Well I do. Good post.
I picked up two books - "The Moment It Clicks" and "Minimalist Lighting". Started on Minimalist lighting, good stuff. I'm also going to order my strobe kit... *braces for hit to wallet*...
Some daylilies I happened upon while at the Carolina Raptor Center:
My niece, Jianna:
My other niece, Jayna:
not sure if i've posted this one before:
These photos were taken roughly 7 years ago.
actually, running back into lightroom, It seems I was using 2.8. Which isn't as bad. And also, it wasn't daylight, it was 9 o'clock and I was losing light. I agree, though, about the small aperture.
I shoot with a 50 1.8 on my film camera, too, and I love it, because of the giant viewfinder and the lower focal length. That's what I meant by my "breathing room" comment... it's not a magic wand, but a 50 on a ff would give me a (to the eye) less shallow depth of field.
Stumbled on this thread and I was just scanning a few prints I made last week. Crits welcome, I'm pretty new at the whole thing. so now for the photos: on tmax B&W 100 and 400 taken with an old Konica Autoreflex T3
Here's my thread there.
Basically, I'm a 19 year-old who is going to Europe this next year who needs a camera. I go to a school that's big on photo and all my friends are photographers, and I've spent enough time with them and with their cameras to know I'm actually interested in getting a DSLR for the trip. Only problem is, I don't know too much about cameras. I'm going to be moving around a lot, and taking a lot of relatively close-range architecture shots, although I'd really like to do portraits too. Probably going to be wanting some landscape shots as well.
So, what is a cheap ($400 or less, ideally - I know I'm getting it used) solution to what I need? Can someone point me in the right direction? I hear good things about the Rebel XT and the D50 - anything else I should know?
Dear satan I wish for this or maybe some of this....oh and I'm a medium or a large.
Raptr profile
Dear satan I wish for this or maybe some of this....oh and I'm a medium or a large.
Went to pick some blueberries with wifey & friends and figured I'd test the flash with some of the product at home.
Flash to the left side of the apple. Bounced it off the white wall to the right of the picture.
Here are some pictures I took during Kelby's photowalk event. The event started by the breaking of the strap on a full frame Canon with 34lb L lens. The owner was lucky, as the only visible damage was just a light scratch on the outside of the lens.
I haven't been here in a while, here is some new and newish stuff.
swdee: the shot of the kid upside-down is fantastic.
Almost expect to see a t-rex stomp by or something.
Raptr profile
Forests are hard to shoot because there is just so much going on. You should try isolating a single subject in pictures like these or waiting for some interesting light streaming through to make the picture more dynamic.
DeviantART|Flickr
I wish I would have picked a different perspective, but when I'm drunk, and riding a bicycle with 600 strangers, I'm lucky if I even pull out my camera and figure out how to use it.
I'll spare you guys the shots of random girls stripping at the bar afterwards...
Oh Happy Thursday bike rides you are so wacky. Are the Denver ones full of Burning Man people too? I know the Boulder ones certainly are.
and a super-closeup:
My Website | My "photo-a-day" 2010
DeviantART|Flickr
Oh man, he looks sooooo happy.