PF Photography: Tips, Tricks, & Photo Sharing

[Andre]

I know someone who uses the e500 and I'm not impressed by the quality...=( that's why I chose my cam even though it was more expensive.

Well it's about a par if you'd compare the score of both latest (E510 instead of E500) judged by the experts:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40x/page27.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse510/page31.asp

So it's indeed an excellent camera.

Personally, I'll looking a bit at the http://www.dpreview.com/shop/merchants.asp?id=sony_dslra300 since I it seems that I can use my old Minolta lenses again.

 

[larkspur]

I think that that taking pics of the landscape is quite different from taking pictures of animals. I can't usually compose a shot. (I wish there was enough time to though) I have to wait awhile sometimes and I think it pays off.

Yes, landscapes are different from wildlife photography but good composition is still required. Just zooming in on your subject has changed the composition of the shot. You probably do a lot of through the lens adjustments that affect the final composition without realizing it.

 

[matthyaouw]

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9175/polarwarsbywhitepegasusek4.jpg
I swear this bear has some sort of skin problem.

And an attitude problem! Great shot!


Has anyone much experience with night photography? I gave it a proper try for the first time last night with mixed success. How do you deal with the wide range of light intensities that you find? I found that a lot of shots were too dominated by light sources (streetlights etc) if i had a long enough exposure to illuminate the details of a scene. There was also an unpleasant orange hue in many shots, which i could eliminate somewhat by a shutter speed/aperture a little less than the display on my camera advised, but at the expense of underexposing the scene a tad. Any tips? Am i missing anything obvious here?

Here are a couple of my better shots:

 

[larkspur]

And an attitude problem! Great shot!Has anyone much experience with night photography? I gave it a proper try for the first time last night with mixed success. How do you deal with the wide range of light intensities that you find? I found that a lot of shots were too dominated by light sources (streetlights etc) if i had a long enough exposure to illuminate the details of a scene. There was also an unpleasant orange hue in many shots, which i could eliminate somewhat by a shutter speed/aperture a little less than the display on my camera advised, but at the expense of underexposing the scene a tad. Any tips? Am i missing anything obvious here?

Here are a couple of my better shots:

Those turned out great! Night shots are difficult to expose correctly and many people will take bracketed shots and then combine in HDR. I took a few late evening shots a while ago. I didn't know about bracketing at the time or I think I could have had better results.

 

[matthyaouw]

Those turned out great! Night shots are difficult to expose correctly and many people will take bracketed shots and then combine in HDR. I took a few late evening shots a while ago. I didn't know about bracketing at the time or I think I could have had better results.

Thanks! They are few among many though- most aren't worth seeing. I guess that's the advantage of digital- I can waste as many shots as I like on experimentation without having to shell out for film/printing. I've not tried HDR yet but I'm sure I'll give it a go at some point.

I love the picture of the bridge. The reflection and the angle is great.

 

[Mech_Engineer]

Basset Attack!

 

[Mech_Engineer]

A little resemblance...

http://www.masterpiecepumpkins.com/Graphics/AlfredHitchcock%20%20_orig.jpg

 

[larkspur]

Basset Attack!

Love those! My fav is the smiling one.

 

[larkspur]

M&Ms Pastels

Light tent macro lens shots from today.

 

[GeorginaS]

Light tent macro lens shots from today.

I just love that, larkspur.

 

[larkspur]

I just love that, larkspur.

Thanks!

 

[larkspur]

Black and White Rose

I don't have much experience with b&w photography. Thought I would turn this pink rose into black and white...
What do you think? more contrast needed?

 

[turbo]

There is a lot of grain and banding in the image that I see, larkspur. I realize that there are a lot of artifacts involved in processing, and lots of the images I post here suffer from similar faults. That said, I love the composition, and the dynamic range is nice.

I'm still learning how to deal with DSLRs, so if you can improve this image, I would be very grateful for any hints as to how you pull it off. I'm a film dinosaur.

 

[larkspur]

The banding showed up when I downsized it to 650...not sure how to fix it.

 

[turbo]

That might be a clue, larkspur! Maybe I should try downsizing the image first, then applying any processing (brightness/contrast) to see if that reduces the artifacts. Thanks!

 

[larkspur]

Here it is after flickr downsized it no banding:

 

[Holocene]

I know these aren't anything "special". Hope I can share though.

 

[larkspur]

I know these aren't anything "special". Hope I can share though.

I enjoyed these Holocene. Thanks for sharing.

 

[turbo]

Nice. That middle one looks similar to Kingsbury Pond - a place where my friends and I often stop for a bite and a breather when riding.

 

[lisab]

Here it is after flickr downsized it no banding:

WOW :!) that's a cool pic!

 

[larkspur]

WOW :!) that's a cool pic!

Thanks Lisa!

 

[larkspur]

And an attitude problem! Great shot!


Has anyone much experience with night photography? I gave it a proper try for the first time last night with mixed success. How do you deal with the wide range of light intensities that you find? I found that a lot of shots were too dominated by light sources (streetlights etc) if i had a long enough exposure to illuminate the details of a scene. There was also an unpleasant orange hue in many shots, which i could eliminate somewhat by a shutter speed/aperture a little less than the display on my camera advised, but at the expense of underexposing the scene a tad. Any tips? Am i missing anything obvious here?

Here are a couple of my better shots:

Have you taken any more shots lately?

 

[Evo]

My older daughter Spawn took this picture of a bird the other day. She's just learning to use the camera, a Canon G9, amazing detail on the feathers.

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/7873/ezekiel491fr7.jpg

 

[Andre]

Amazing picture and a nice camera, Evo, But colors should not be discouraged.

 

[Ms Music]

Light tent macro lens shots from today.

That looks like something I would do! Actually, I was going to photograph m&ms about 20 some odd years ago. I was going to take about 3 to 5 pounds of m&ms and then make a puzzle.

I am interested in hearing what tricks you guys have for night time photography too, I have failed so far. The only way I can take a shot is with the camera's built in settings of fireworks or nighttime. I can't seem to do ANYTHING with my manual settings, which is what I need to use my remote control, so most of my photos come out slightly blurry from manually pressing the shutter. I miss the days of shutter cables! I need to take classes, but haven't been able to yet.

 

[Andre]

Well, it all depends on the camera for night shots, Ms Music, but a tripod is mandatory. The good old remote control cable can be replaced by the self timer function (2 sec is nice). Exposure modes as per camera but 5 -15 sec and F: 8 at 100 ASA is to be expected. be sure to check the white balance.

 

[matthyaouw]

Here it is after flickr downsized it no banding:

Fantastic pic. Leave the contrast as it is- it's perfect.

Have you taken any more shots lately?

No, nothing since the last ones I posted. I've just not had the time lately

My older daughter Spawn took this picture of a bird the other day. She's just learning to use the camera, a Canon G9, amazing detail on the feathers.

http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/7873/ezekiel491fr7.jpg

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Great pic. The detail is amazing.

 

[matthyaouw]

I am interested in hearing what tricks you guys have for night time photography too, I have failed so far. The only way I can take a shot is with the camera's built in settings of fireworks or nighttime. I can't seem to do ANYTHING with my manual settings, which is what I need to use my remote control, so most of my photos come out slightly blurry from manually pressing the shutter. I miss the days of shutter cables! I need to take classes, but haven't been able to yet.

I don't have a remote or similar either, so all mine were taken with a 2 second delay on the self timer like Andre suggests. If gives you plenty of time to get your hands off the camera before it shoots.

 

[Ms Music]

I never thought about the self timer. Thanks guys! Too bad I didn't know that for the moon eclipse, I got some great shots, but they are all slightly fuzzy. Now I can't wait for the next (visible) full moon to try it out!

 

[larkspur]

My older daughter Spawn took this picture of a bird the other day. She's just learning to use the camera, a Canon G9, amazing detail on the feathers.

Nice details, you can even see the iris and pupil. Good catch light too.
I would love to see the color version.

 

[neutrino]

I present to you, Her Ubiquitousness Columba livia.
(click for larger picture)

 

[larkspur]

I present to you, Her Ubiquitousness Columba livia.
(click for larger picture)

Nice shot nutrino. A pigeon in that setting looks like a beautiful bird.

 

[neutrino]

Nice shot nutrino. A pigeon in that setting looks like a beautiful bird.

Thanks.

There are a ton of them around my house, and I almost never take their photos. (Apart from the times when I shoo them away to try and get a decent high-speed shot of them flying.)

 

[turbo]

Nice bird shot neutrino! Here's a picture of Sugarloaf and some neighboring mountains of western Maine, as seen from the road that I live on. I just took a load of garbage to the dump, and took my cameras in case I saw any of the eagles that live along the river. No birds, but the scenery looked good.

 

[neutrino]

I can clearly see that spring is in the air...the land seems to be lagging behind, though.

Your house has the best views. :)