The Photography Thread

[Midnyte_Sun]

Hi everyone **waves**, being as photography is my second huge interest besides movies, thought I'd come check out this thread. There is some amazing stuff in here, and such a huge variety of types from portraits to landscapes... all sorts! Will probably be good for me to read through it all as I've kinda got stuck in a wildlife/animal rut with my photos.

I'm a amatuer but I get to take lots of photos for my job studying animals in the wild to ID them. At the moment I work with marine mammals... so two shots to show what I'm about and then I'll go back to the beginning of the thread to try and read it all **laughs**

Well done, they look very professional. Do you submit the wild animal photos you take on the field job to your local conservation society for their magazines?

 

[Alistair]

SaF,

I agree. Nice shots; it's hard to do animals and stuff. The best I can do a picture of a lazy old cat, so it isn't much of a challenge. Rest of it is, tho. Kudo's to you on that.

Tomorrow is my second quinceanera and just a tad bit nervous, but as ya know that's a good thing. The only problem is I haven't seen the place as of yet, so I'm thinking for the formal shots use OCF, reflector and Run & Gun when I get inside. I'll try to post some of the shots I get on Sunday since tomorrow will be a long day (Work, and 6 hours for the Quince).

Either way, here is a shot I did with my kid just seeing if I could due fill flash at high noon, and yes he was under shade for I know I couldn't overpower the sun without HSS and messing with ETTL on camera. =) Seriously thinking of buying a cable for those quick shoots, tho.

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

That's a difficult shot, but your flash got all the colors without washing anything out. Looks great!

Alistair, what do you think of the Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8 lens? I'm thinking of getting something like this.

 

[Alistair]

Midynte,

Thanks! Get this in before I head to work and the Quince. At any rate, recall your paying for Canon and some 3rd parties are just as good. I used Tamron 28-75 (And I also have their 70 - 200 so I can nice wide coverage)for that last shot and a few others. Great glass. Despite some people say Canon is a little bit cleaner wide open, tho.

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

Thanks for the link Alistair!

It looks like the lenses are quite comparable; there was some criticism of the Tamron's AF being too slow in low light. I also heard that Canon just released a EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II...but the price tag...$2300 is just ridiculous...it doesn't even have I.S...

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

Sausalito Marina

 

[Alistair]

Midnyte_Sun,

Your welcome (Also nice shot. Love the colours) and yeah, I hear ya, that's why I went with the Tamron's. I'm not as fond of the 28 to 75 as I am with my 70 to 200. Here is a few from the Quinceanera tonight and pretty much straight out of camera. Virtually no editing as of yet. Ya should know for these ones I used the 70 to 200 Glass. =) Your going to be shocked what I shot these at...

1)

Date Time Original 2012:04:06 21:43:27
Exposure Time 1/125
F Number f / 5.60
Exposure Program Manual
ISO Speed Ratings 3200
Metering Mode Pattern
Flash Flash fired, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length 70mm
White Balance Manual white balance
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 60D

2)

Date Time Original 2012:04:06 21:21:53
Exposure Time 1/125
F Number f / 5.60
Exposure Program Manual
ISO Speed Ratings 3200
Metering Mode Pattern
Flash Flash fired, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length 77mm
White Balance Manual white balance
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 60D

3)

Date Time Original 2012:04:06 20:39:20
Exposure Time 1/80
F Number f / 5.60
Exposure Program Manual
ISO Speed Ratings 3200
Metering Mode Pattern
Flash Flash fired, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length 28mm
White Balance Manual white balance
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 60D

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

Considering you used 70mm+ for most of the shots, I am a little shocked you got the flash to trigger like that. How did you set up your shots? Any light stands? Umbrellas?

 

[SaF]

Midnyte_Sun - Hi Midnyte, thanks very much =) no I don't generally submit my photos to random conservation groups, but I let ones I've previously worked with/for use my shots on their websites/publicity material for free, and if a conservation group contacts me and asks to use a shot then I generally say yes (most recently a tapir charity used one of my shots in their 2012 calender to raise money). I also let my local zoo (Edinburgh zoo) use my shots of their animals on their website and in their newletters as they are a great zoo that does a lot of good conservation work.

Nice shot of the marina, lots of good lookin boats in there.

Alistair - thanks, animals are tough in motion but once you account for that its hard to go wrong with a lot of subjects, you can get away with alot if you have a charismatic subject I've found!

Loving the portrait shots you've posted, the fill in flash is just right on the one of your little boy. I'm trying to learn more about flashes and portrait photos (my sis and boyfriend's sister are both getting married this year and I've been asked to unofficially take shots of both of them! no pressure) so its good to see the details of you shots. Have learnt about flashes but have very little opertunity to try them out.

I'm hoping that taking people photos is more or less like animal ones, get the eyes right and the rest of the composition will follow...

anyway, dolphin shot from last summer's work:

another tiger shot from the zoo, I love these guys:

 

[Dr Lee]

that tiger photo..... Wow

 

[Red Mask]

We have some great photos here! Keep it up everyone!

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

Dang, the chances of getting that Dolphin shot.

 

[Alistair]

Considering you used 70mm+ for most of the shots, I am a little shocked you got the flash to trigger like that. How did you set up your shots? Any light stands? Umbrellas?

Bounce my friend. Bounce. I had to use the flash for the most part on manual, but I did use ETTL, tho. Just since I was moving around, and I did have really low ceilings and the venue was way to small for me try to do OCF. When I did do the court at the park I did end up using the OCF reall fast as only had a half hour to do all of the shots, if that. Tomorrow or later I'll post one of my first shots to figure out how everything looked. I just thought ya might be shocked how high of an ISO I had to shoot at, and still clean despite I haven't done any noise reduction.

Here is a quick example me using bounce flash, which you can see if ya look at the ceiling, and how low it was as I was only crounching a little bit. Also, I didn't gel my flash for the tungsten which you can tell since it's more green in the back, but since I was overpowering it I wasn't worrying about it to much as you can see.

Alistair - thanks, animals are tough in motion but once you account for that its hard to go wrong with a lot of subjects, you can get away with alot if you have a charismatic subject I've found!

Loving the portrait shots you've posted, the fill in flash is just right on the one of your little boy. I'm trying to learn more about flashes and portrait photos (my sis and boyfriend's sister are both getting married this year and I've been asked to unofficially take shots of both of them! no pressure) so its good to see the details of you shots. Have learnt about flashes but have very little opertunity to try them out.

Your welcome and thank you! Despite all the animal attempts I've done have been pretty horrible, and not as clean. Despite the Rebel I was using had horrible Focus tracking, but it could have been the glass too. Maybe I'll attempt again one of these days when I visit the zoo or what not. Either way, keep up the good work on the critter shots. It's amazing, espically that dolphin one; excellent clarity.

Your welcome for showing the settings, I find it easier for people who do that to learn, IMO. Or at least look at the EXIF data which does come in handy, thus why I keep it intact. It's not as hard as made as it is made out to be, what the challenge is try to bounce correctly, and gelling. (I used 2 1/8th CTO gels to give them a "glow"). I do like the look of straw gels, but I haven't got the hang of them as of yet.

Just practice. If gets really hard put the flash on ETTL, and put it at a 45 degree angle on the flash head with the bounce card out and ya should be good. Feel free to ask any questions, I don't mind helping out for the people who really want to learn stick with it (I'm still a amateur by a mile myself and been shooting for about a year).

We have some great photos here! Keep it up everyone!

Yes, I agree!

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

Bounce my friend. Bounce. I had to use the flash for the most part on manual, but I did use ETTL, tho. Just since I was moving around, and I did have really low ceilings and the venue was way to small for me try to do OCF. When I did do the court at the park I did end up using the OCF reall fast as only had a half hour to do all of the shots, if that. Tomorrow or later I'll post one of my first shots to figure out how everything looked. I just thought ya might be shocked how high of an ISO I had to shoot at, and still clean despite I haven't done any noise reduction.

You're talking to the 6400 shooter here lol. I didn't think this was an issue because the pics looked like it was a low light area to begin with and you had to use a higher ISO. That's why I wondered how you got it so bright on the shots with being 70mm+ away. I shot two weddings for friends (thank god I wasn't the photographer) and the pictures were still dark, even with a camera flash. Bouncing flash..got it, lol.

 

[Alistair]

Midnyte_Sun,

Hahaha. Shooting that high? Wow. I didn't even realize, and your using a good flash? Even if ya pointed it straight on ya should been good, and had enough power unless your 20 miles away. Basically I meant I was bouncing, and using manual was the zoom head. I was going between 35 to 70mm on the flash head, depending where I was and where the people while using BFT (Black Foam Thingie; Neil Van Nierk).

It's a little trickier using the BFT, but I really love the colors it gives once you correctly gel and the flat lighting that sometimes camera flash can look when it's on the camera axis.

 

[Midnyte_Sun]

Good flash? You kidding me? I use camera flash . I haven't bought any triggers, mountable flash, umbrellas, reflectors, or anything. The two weddings I took pics for, the families thanked for me them, even said they were professional, but what do they know! The camera men at their weddings had a good $8K in hardware at their disposal. At times I waited until they'd shoot a shot, so I could borrow their light lol!

I think they appreciated I took photos of almost every table. The camera men at their wedding wanted $1.50 for every photo he took and he took over 1,000 photos. They wedding couple was forced to choose the photos they wanted, and it was only 100 photos. When they saw I took over 350 extra photos, they were ecstatic..and they said some of mine were better than the photographers since I knew who all their closest friends were. Plus I printed it for them for free as their wedding gift.

 

[Alistair]

Midnyte,

Hehehe. I'm not trying to start a war here, but I will say this, tho. Yes, on camera (Even pop up) can produce good images, but what I'm saying is a full blast on lighting. There is no dynamic or shape to it or soft and this is kinda hard to explain. Your just going have to look up flat lighting to understand what I'm getting at.

That's awesome they are happy, and that's the important thing. The problem is the professional will sometimes take crappie pictures, and personally, I think the ones I've posted still suck. I use it to improve since I'm still a amateur by a mile. The difference is when a pro does it, they live off of it so more time they put into it more money they lose.

For example, the ones I took of about 200 photo's and narrowed it down to about 150 after blinkies, horrible focus or flash didn't go off I'm giving her about 40 to 50 to choose from besides the main court ones I took since I did it for about half price. That's just how it works, man. Time is money. =D Granted if I did a horrible job (I did okay) I wouldn't charge her for the extra processing time to correct it. I'm doing this to build my port, but I still want something for my time and effort. =D This is why I try to get it right in camera first. Here is a guys work that I really, really admire: http://phamphotos.com/

Hope that makes sense, and not trying to start a war here.

 

[Alistair]

Strobing with my Son tonight as I wanted to see how fast I can set up while the sun was going down with one flash, to the left at half power about 3 feet from him through a 45 umbrella. I think it was at 50mm on the flash head and used 1/4 CTO Gel set on cloudy balance with a little bit of upping on the temp.

1)

Date Time Original 2012:04:09 20:22:30
Exposure Time 1/250
F Number f / 3.20
Exposure Program Manual
ISO Speed Ratings 250
Metering Mode Pattern
Flash Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length 28mm
White Balance Manual white balance
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 60D

2)

Date Time Original 2012:04:09 20:22:08
Exposure Time 1/250
F Number f / 3.20
Exposure Program Manual
ISO Speed Ratings 250
Metering Mode Pattern
Flash Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length 28mm
White Balance Manual white balance
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 60D

 

[Red Mask]

This image is from the annual Zombie Walk in Sydney, Australia (2011). I shot it with a Nikon F100, using Kodak's Tri-X film. For a long time now I have never gotten decent scans of those shots, because it was too expensive to get a proper job done. Now -VOILA! Here's a sample of one of them!

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

^^^Snow White is creepy haha.

Playing with toys.

 

[Duke]

^^^Snow White is creepy haha.

Playing with toys.

It looks like that toy soldier got his guts blown out.

 

[SaF]

that tiger photo..... Wow

Thanks Dr Lee =) that particular tiger at Edinburgh zoo is a real show off, and with only one eye he's a pretty distinctive photo subject!

We have some great photos here! Keep it up everyone!

This image is from the annual Zombie Walk in Sydney, Australia (2011). I shot it with a Nikon F100, using Kodak's Tri-X film. For a long time now I have never gotten decent scans of those shots, because it was too expensive to get a proper job done. Now -VOILA! Here's a sample of one of them!

Yeah I am in love with the portrait stuff here! So good...

That zombie pic is fantastic! Love the little evil snow white ^-^

Dang, the chances of getting that Dolphin shot.

Playing with toys...

hehe its tough but you've just got to practise and know what settings will work in those conditions. I've been working with marine mammals for a fair while now and taking photos of them is part of the job (to ID individuals for population counts) so have had plenty of practise!

Like the toy soldier shot, shooting toys is always good fun, I've whiled away many an hour messing around with my transformers and my camera!

Your welcome and thank you! Despite all the animal attempts I've done have been pretty horrible, and not as clean. Despite the Rebel I was using had horrible Focus tracking, but it could have been the glass too. Maybe I'll attempt again one of these days when I visit the zoo or what not. Either way, keep up the good work on the critter shots. It's amazing, espically that dolphin one; excellent clarity.

Your welcome for showing the settings, I find it easier for people who do that to learn, IMO. Or at least look at the EXIF data which does come in handy, thus why I keep it intact. It's not as hard as made as it is made out to be, what the challenge is try to bounce correctly, and gelling. (I used 2 1/8th CTO gels to give them a "glow"). I do like the look of straw gels, but I haven't got the hang of them as of yet.

Just practice. If gets really hard put the flash on ETTL, and put it at a 45 degree angle on the flash head with the bounce card out and ya should be good. Feel free to ask any questions, I don't mind helping out for the people who really want to learn stick with it (I'm still a amateur by a mile myself and been shooting for about a year).

Thanks Alistair! I love shooting the dolphins, they are so much fun to be out with. More than compensates for having to clean the sea spray off everything afterwards!

Really love those shots of your son and the toy car, the warm tones from the sunset and the flash settings all work perfectly together. I think the one where he's getting out of the car is my fav, such a nice moment/pose captured.

Clear glass is an absolute must for zoo photos and its completely outside of your control, which can be frustrating. If its getting in the way alot, try shooting at the very edge of the glass pane, I often find that there are fewer scratches/smudges there as people automatically go to the center of the veiwing window and mess that bit up! Then you can use the old 'low DoF' trick to focus beyond a small amount of scratches. No helping smudges though >.<

Good focus tracking is very helpful, I go to bird of prey shows to practise tracking with action as not much is faster than a stooping falcon. This also means there is no interference from glass/enclosures getting in the way to cause drift. Zoos are really great for practising and getting to know what settings work for when you're shooting in the wild!

Think I'll post what settings I can on my shots too if people find it useful... and thanks about the portrait/flash tips, its just very hard for me to find opertunities to practise! I've done some stuff on family holidays/birthdays but no shoots when the main aim was for me to get good pics of everybody...

My shots for today... went to a different zoo over the weekend and haven't downloaded them yet so will have to post some old stuff...

Wild Oystercatcher taking a bath in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
Date Time Original: Apr 17, 2011, 3:14:33 PM
Exposure Time: 1/640
F Number f / 5.6
Exposure Program: Manual
ISO Speed Ratings 200
Metering Mode: erm dunno this one!
Flash: no flash
Focal Length 180 mm
White Balance: Manual
Make Nikon d200

Adult male humpback whale (ID: Tear) breaching, off the coast of Massachusetts, USA
Date Time Original: May 26, 2009, 7:39:03 PM
Exposure Time: 1/640
F Number f / 8
Exposure Program: aperature priority
ISO Speed Ratings 200
Metering Mode: erm dunno this one!
Flash: no flash
Focal Length 160 mm
White Balance: probably the 'sunny' preset option
Make Nikon d200

Male Amur Leopard at Edinburgh Zoo, Scotland
Date Time Original: Jul 17, 2011, 11:42:13 AM
Exposure Time: 1/320
F Number f / 2.8
Exposure Program: manual
ISO Speed Ratings: 400
Metering Mode: erm dunno this one!
Flash: no flash
Focal Length 86 mm
White Balance: manual
Make Nikon d200

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

just for some for fun shots of the latest wwe house show here in belfast, not by best work but not bad for 25 rows from the ring lol

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

 

[Alistair]

This image is from the annual Zombie Walk in Sydney, Australia (2011). I shot it with a Nikon F100, using Kodak's Tri-X film. For a long time now I have never gotten decent scans of those shots, because it was too expensive to get a proper job done. Now -VOILA! Here's a sample of one of them!

Red Mask: For a film user, I love how smooth everything looks. Keep at it!

^^^Snow White is creepy haha.

Playing with toys.

The robot looking one reminds me of Short Circuit. =) The robot in it at any rate. Nice playing around: Nice and clean.

Thanks Alistair! I love shooting the dolphins, they are so much fun to be out with. More than compensates for having to clean the sea spray off everything afterwards!

Really love those shots of your son and the toy car, the warm tones from the sunset and the flash settings all work perfectly together. I think the one where he's getting out of the car is my fav, such a nice moment/pose captured.

Clear glass is an absolute must for zoo photos and its completely outside of your control, which can be frustrating. If its getting in the way alot, try shooting at the very edge of the glass pane, I often find that there are fewer scratches/smudges there as people automatically go to the center of the veiwing window and mess that bit up! Then you can use the old 'low DoF' trick to focus beyond a small amount of scratches. No helping smudges though >.<

Good focus tracking is very helpful, I go to bird of prey shows to practise tracking with action as not much is faster than a stooping falcon. This also means there is no interference from glass/enclosures getting in the way to cause drift. Zoos are really great for practising and getting to know what settings work for when you're shooting in the wild!

Think I'll post what settings I can on my shots too if people find it useful... and thanks about the portrait/flash tips, its just very hard for me to find opertunities to practise! I've done some stuff on family holidays/birthdays but no shoots when the main aim was for me to get good pics of everybody...

My shots for today... went to a different zoo over the weekend and haven't downloaded them yet so will have to post some old stuff...

Wild Oystercatcher taking a bath in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
Date Time Original: Apr 17, 2011, 3:14:33 PM
Exposure Time: 1/640
F Number f / 5.6
Exposure Program: Manual
ISO Speed Ratings 200
Metering Mode: erm dunno this one!
Flash: no flash
Focal Length 180 mm
White Balance: Manual
Make Nikon d200

SaF,

Your welcome. That's one thing I've always wanted to do was swim with some dolphins, or even get to touch one. Someday soon I hope. Haha.

Thanks about the picture with my son. I shot it real quick since I was losing sunlight, but I still did drop it the ambient about 2 stops so my kiddo could stand out more. Despite that he ended up a little hot due to him moving (Don't have a eTTL cable as of yet, next cheap investment, tho). I think it helped I gelled to CTO to "warm" him and what was around him up a bit. Same principle I did with the Quincy.

I've noticed the difference big time on better glass compared to kit glass. Despite I can shoot faster now, but even how detailed some of the shots can be which is a perfect example with my little boy and car after sharpening. The full file you can see every single hair with clarity on his head.

I hear ya on the DoF trick. I've done it a few times cause I had to due to fencing or what not. Still not as good as you, but that might have been me due that I was really starting out. Glass, and the tracking if the body is good helps a lot too. I still have a little bit of hard time in low light with the Tamrons, but that's to be expected I do believe until you get some better contrast for the AF point.

Do you have family that can tolerate as you learn? Even before I do something new, I ask my other half (Even if she hates it) but I work out a deal or something to that effect to practice. Or even use yourself, as I've had to do that one myself too. Just get a good remote shutter release and they are cheapish.

The duck one is amazing! Keep at it, SaF. =O

Evil,

Not bad from that distance. Not at all, and that hot lighting. =P