General Photography thread

[shingle]

My current weapon of choice is the Sony NEX-5N, last gave it a good workout in Venice a couple of months ago. Have had a play with some of the shots I took there and created some nice subtle HDR style images.

In the second shot I've further edited it to get rid of the crane in the background, I am awaiting a nice big canvas print of the image now.

My flickr - Flickr: bharichie's Photostream

I've started to do a lot of HDR stuff lately, it can be a bit hit and miss, but you can get some unusual results. What software do you use, Photoshop is quite good although I always use Photomatix. Would I be right in thinking for the Florian Cafe shot, that you took one image at the right exposure and then created several more 2 stops either side and then merged them together ?

 

[Birdie Boy]

Thanks for that.

I've just checked my agency/library sales online and nothing from seven sisters has sold recently. It does sometimes happen that they lift stuff off of websites, and then make some excuse that they tried to contact photographers to negotiate a fee.

Do you have a link or a screensaver image, so that I can see.

Cheers Birdie

Hi Shingle, go to http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/downloads/personalize/themes and download the UK themes. 7 sisters definitely there and a Tower Bridge one that may/may not be yours (just going by your London Bridge snap).

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

I've started to do a lot of HDR stuff lately, it can be a bit hit and miss, but you can get some unusual results. What software do you use, Photoshop is quite good although I always use Photomatix. Would I be right in thinking for the Florian Cafe shot, that you took one image at the right exposure and then created several more 2 stops either side and then merged them together ?

I do like HDR stuff, even the over saturated stuff I find pretty interesting. To create all my HDR shots I took a single image Raw file (I only had the single raw to work with as I didn't fancy lugging a tripod around Venice with me and to do the exposure compensation in camera you need one) and created 2 shots under exposed at -1 and -2 and did the same for the over exposed stuff. I then used the merge image option in Elements to create the images I posted. I've tried the same with Photoshop but have the images have too much noise. I am going to tackle the images again at some point with Photoshop but don't want to spend too much time playing with the same image when I am happy with the results already.

 

[Aadam]

I have a Canon 60d with a 50mm f/1.4 lens

 

[shingle]

Hi Shingle, go to http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/downloads/personalize/themes and download the UK themes. 7 sisters definitely there and a Tower Bridge one that may/may not be yours (just going by your London Bridge snap).

Thanks

I have a mac, so unfortunately can't open the folder. Mrs Shingle will open folder tomorrow at work.

Thanks Again

 

[shingle]

I do like HDR stuff, even the over saturated stuff I find pretty interesting. To create all my HDR shots I took a single image Raw file (I only had the single raw to work with as I didn't fancy lugging a tripod around Venice with me and to do the exposure compensation in camera you need one) and created 2 shots under exposed at -1 and -2 and did the same for the over exposed stuff. I then used the merge image option in Elements to create the images I posted. I've tried the same with Photoshop but have the images have too much noise. I am going to tackle the images again at some point with Photoshop but don't want to spend too much time playing with the same image when I am happy with the results already.

I have some saturated HDR examples on my website, mentioned earlier in the thread. They are on my Architecture and Venice pages, you should have no trouble spotting them.

 

[Birdie Boy]

Thanks

I have a mac, so unfortunately can't open the folder. Mrs Shingle will open folder tomorrow at work.

Thanks Again

Try this..

 

[culvers]

Got myself a Canon 500d this year, quite old kit, but got a nice Tamron 70-300 lens too for my budget

 

[perseus]

I have compared the Canon SX40 (bridge camera) with the old Canon 500D with a Tamron 90 mm lens. I don't like either of them. The SX40 is well overpriced and the Canon 500D is too bulky for casual use. But it would feasible with a more modern less bulky lens.

The reviews cannot be relied upon. Some things the reviews say the camera can do is not feasible in practical use and some plainly do not work. Handling the camera is important. Sometimes the buttons are in awkward places. The grip on the Fuji bridge cameras is good.

Depends what you want to take pictures of really. For pictures of a football stadium, I would want one that could fit safely in my pocket.

Also, the price of the camera. I went out on a project with a professional photographer using a Canon 5D using some Canon lens (now thought better than the Sigma) and I bet he got some decent shots. However, I am inclined to think I might be able to get a good enough standard for publication in magazines using my SX40. Not good enough for National Geographic though.

There are still things I were doing on a film camera back in the eighties that would now require a high price professional DLSR, lens and flashguns costing £ five figures.

Test subject: try taking a picture of Marsh Marigold, or a Buttercup and see what you get. The auto-focusing can be poor on a low contrasty subject so the option of the manual focusing using the barrel on the lens is the great advantage of the DLSR. Then trying taking the same subject in poor light or on a windy day.

The Canon 500D with a decent lens gives a greater depth of field, smaller aperture, than any bridge camera.

 

[shingle]

Try this..

View attachment 32464

Cheers

 

[perseus]

Flickr is good with the EXIF details of the camera used. But it does tell the story of the missed shots. The Canon SX40 can take good shots, but it does not tell of the missed ones when the camera fails to focus.

I think the Panasonic DMC-TZ8 (for instance) can get better or as good shots than the SX40 from comparing efforts. It costs just over £100 and fits in your (or my) pocket. Better for football stadium shots.

110.00 - Panasonic Lumix TZ8 Digital Camera - ElectronicsPrice.co.uk

 

[perseus]

Any other camera recommendations? I don't really want to lug a huge bag of lens around.

 

[Aadam]

What's your budget?

 

[Brightonfan1983]

...if you want to persuade folk that you are a "good photographer", throw most of your photos away. Only a small percentage will be more than just a record of what happened.

I second this. The difference in showing someone 10 of the best of the best photos form your last holiday, as opposed to getting them to look at all 100, is, not only for them, but so much more satisfying for you too.

 

[StonehamPark]

I have a Canon 60d with a 50mm f/1.4 lens

Love the pic,
Back at you!

 

[Brightonfan1983]

Flickr: cgarethy's Photostream

I've taken some liberties and added the Flickr accounts here, as contacts on mine. I have to say though that the quality on show from what I've seen is jolly high. Prepare for some relentless "How did you do THAT?" questions...

 

[Aadam]

Love the pic,
Back at you!

Very nice. I have a lot more, this was one of the more tame one

 

[Crackpot]

Canon 5d Mk2

24-105 basic walkabout
16-35 quirky
14 vanishing points,wide angle
28-300 Amazing amazing lens,but heavy for walkabout
100 macro. For close-ups,and fast streetshots
85 prime. The portrait lens!
100-400. Not used as much as the better,sharper 28-300

Covers most situations on the streets.



And Photoshop CS6,Nik Software bundle (silver Efex2 is the b/w converter) and Auto FX bundles for playing around once the photography is done.

 

[shingle]

Canon 5d Mk2

24-105 basic walkabout
16-35 quirky
14 vanishing points,wide angle
28-300 Amazing amazing lens,but heavy for walkabout
100 macro. For close-ups,and fast streetshots
85 prime. The portrait lens!
100-400. Not used as much as the better,sharper 28-300

Covers most situations on the streets.





And Photoshop CS6,Nik Software bundle (silver Efex2 is the b/w converter) and Auto FX bundles for playing around once the photography is done.

Very interesting comments re 28-300 vs 100-400. I was toying with the idea of getting the 100-400, but can't justify the expense at the moment as this lens would be a luxury. How do you find the silver efex 2?

 

[Crackpot]

Very interesting comments re 28-300 vs 100-400. I was toying with the idea of getting the 100-400, but can't justify the expense at the moment as this lens would be a luxury. How do you find the silver efex 2?

I bought the 100-400 when I first got the camera,with a 24-105 on the front end. Soon discovered the limitations of the bigger lens for street photography....can't get the nearby images most of the time...but can use the 28-300 when prowling the streets for most eventualities. One advantage of the 100-400 though is that you can use it with 2x extender,which isn't possible with the 28-300,but you lose a fair bit of sharpness. I leave the 100-400 at home most of the time. And,when you have the 28-300 on,you attract a lot of attention. A lot.

Sliver Efex2 is as complicated as you want it to be. There's 38 presets,so immediately you have many options of how you want the image to be. Then you can tweak areas for specific manipulations. Its a great plug in.