General Photography thread

[brightn'ove]

Thanks, I have an iMac at home, so do I need CS6 AND Lightroom for playing with the photos? As a 'student' I can get them at discounted prices so happy to acquire whatever software necessary. Things currently open in iPhoto, and Apple seem keen for me to buy Aperture, but I am not so sure.

You definitely do not NEED CS6, the new lightroom 5 is bloody fantastic though and definitely worth the price (around £100 i think?). If you can afford Photoshop go for it, its an incredible piece of software, very steep learning curve though.

 

[shingle]

Thanks, I have an iMac at home, so do I need CS6 AND Lightroom for playing with the photos? As a 'student' I can get them at discounted prices so happy to acquire whatever software necessary. Things currently open in iPhoto, and Apple seem keen for me to buy Aperture, but I am not so sure.

I have an imac too, and you can pretty much do everything with lightroom, it's getting more advanced with every version. I still use lightroom 2 and it's brilliant so you can imagine what the current lightroom 5 must be like. Lightroom 5 costs just over a hundred quid, I shall be upgrading when I can get around to it. Just get Scott kelbys lightroom 5 book on amazon, he writes really well and takes you through every step

 

[brightn'ove]

I have an imac too, and you can pretty much do everything with lightroom, it's getting more advanced with every version. I still use lightroom 2 and it's brilliant so you can imagine what the current lightroom 5 must be like. Lightroom 5 costs just over a hundred quid, I shall be upgrading when I can get around to it. Just get Scott kelbys lightroom 5 book on amazon, he writes really well and takes you through every step

Lightroom 5 is a massive improvement over Lightroom 4, you'll be blown away upgrading from Lightroom 2!

 

[shingle]

You definitely do not NEED CS6, the new lightroom 5 is bloody fantastic though and definitely worth the price (around £100 i think?). If you can afford Photoshop go for it, its an incredible piece of software, very steep learning curve though.

Beat me to it.

 

[shingle]

Thank you, just scanning through your shots in this thread some cracking images

Cheers

 

[Triggaaar]

My twilight effort from a couple of weeks ago.
...
This one is F4.8, exposure time 1/25 sec.

Nice - You may have been better with f8 or f11. Your lens will probably be sharper at that aperture anyway (lenses generally are sharper when stopped down a bit), and for that type of shot, a bit more depth of field sharpness would be good. You'd have ended up with the same photo, just a bit sharper (if keeping the same speed, you'd have needed a higher iso, which I'm sure your camera could handle).

Canary Wharf shot 10x Neutral Density Filter .....105 seconds at F22... ISO 50

Nice.

Take your point Trig, unfortunately though lots of unsightly building work going on further to the right.

Fair enough, I thought that might be the case. Always the way.

Lightroom 5 is a massive improvement over Lightroom 4

Really? I haven't upgraded yet, wasn't sure if I'd bother - what has improved with Lr5?

 

[brightn'ove]

Really? I haven't upgraded yet, wasn't sure if I'd bother - what has improved with Lr5?

Well if you have photoshop it isnt really anything new (obviously) but its nice to have it all in lightroom. There is the new Radial mask, you can now brush the spot healing tool around like on photoshop. Also there is a new section which corrects perspective, which is incredible, almost too good as i now can't stop using it.



Personally i've always been a photoshop nerd, i've been using it since Photoshop 7.0 and I can do pretty much whatever i want with it, but having these options in lightroom means you don't have to individually open up every file in photoshop now and with lightroom 5 i find myself reaching for photoshop even less.

 

[Goldstone76]

Lightroom essential and I would suggest steering clear of Photoshop unless you want to do special effects. PS is a complete waste of money if your needs are more basic. Head for Adobe Lightroom, Elements (slimmed down photoshop) and I would also suggest checking out Nik Effex plug ins..

 

[Jack Straw]

Very nice Graeme. West Pier beautifully framed behind the Palace Pier.

Thanks Al. The West Pier framing was intentional, however the girls with the phone was just luck and I think it improves the photo. I also took loads of rubbish that evening too!

 

[Doc Lynam]

View attachment 46370

Taken somewhere over the Atlantic on the way to Iceland

Really unique picture nice one.

 

[Doc Lynam]

View attachment 46374

That would look great blown up and framed.

 

[Triggaaar]

Well if you have photoshop it isnt really anything new (obviously) but its nice to have it all in lightroom. There is the new Radial mask, you can now brush the spot healing tool around like on photoshop. Also there is a new section which corrects perspective, which is incredible, almost too good as i now can't stop using it.

Thanks for the link. I guess it's inevitable I'll get it, might as well do it sooner than later.

 

[shingle]

My twilight effort from a couple of weeks ago.
Upgraded from Nikon D80 to D7100. Slowly getting the hang of it.
Please if you wouldn't mind, could you put your camera settings of your shots posted as this I believe helps us novices to get some idea when taking similar shots.
This one is F4.8, exposure time 1/25 sec.

Quite a nice shot JS, although the pier looks out of focus due to your wide aperture, although this can sometimes be a nice effect. Do you use a tripod?
Regarding aperture you should be at F8 or even better F11, but this in turn would increase your shutter speed making it 1/5 sec or 1/2 sec which means you couldn't hand hold, you could up your ISO but doing this would increases digital noise , which you could control in Lightroom/Photoshop.......it's all a compromise mate.

 

[Jack Straw]

Quite a nice shot JS, although the pier looks out of focus due to your wide aperture, although this can sometimes be a nice effect. Do you use a tripod?
Regarding aperture you should be at F8 or even better F11, but this in turn would increase your shutter speed making it 1/5 sec or 1/2 sec which means you couldn't hand hold, you could up your ISO but doing this would increases digital noise , which you could control in Lightroom/Photoshop.......it's all a compromise mate.

Thanks Shingle. I did use a tripod, but now can't remember whether I had the camera on M, S, A or P mode! (Getting old). Haven't got to understand the ISO bit yet, so I'll be reading up on this. I think I've got the gist of shutter speeds and aperture, so hopefully I'll soon have the missing bit of the jig-saw sorted and be a proper photographer?!!

 

[Jack Straw]

Whilst I'm at it, the "Golden Hour" this evening corresponds with low tide, so what with the nice skies at the moment, perhaps an opportunity to take advantage of these aspects for reflections and silouhettes by the sea in Brighton?

 

[BHAZiggy]

I hadn't noticed this thread. Photography is my hobby. My 1st DSLR was a canon EOS 450D. I had the kit lens and the entry level canon 50 mm and 55-250 entry level zoom. I have since , over time, upgraded to an EOS 7D with EFS 15-85 mm USM. I have added a Canon EF 85 mm 1:1.8 USM prime that I absolutely love. I've also recently invested in a Newner battery grip at around 1/5th of the price of a Canon one. and I am stunned by the quality. It does everything the Canon does but is made of plastic instead of metal.

 

[black & white seagull]

It needs updating, but you can see a selection of my pics on my website:

http://www.squarepictures.net

 

[Titanic]

My twilight effort from a couple of weeks ago.
Upgraded from Nikon D80 to D7100. Slowly getting the hang of it.
Please if you wouldn't mind, could you put your camera settings of your shots posted as this I believe helps us novices to get some idea when taking similar shots.
This one is F4.8, exposure time 1/25 sec.

I haven't had an SLR since owning, and loving my Pentax SFX... very tempted by a D7100... how are you getting on with it? And would you recommend it?

 

[brightn'ove]

Thanks Shingle. I did use a tripod, but now can't remember whether I had the camera on M, S, A or P mode! (Getting old). Haven't got to understand the ISO bit yet, so I'll be reading up on this. I think I've got the gist of shutter speeds and aperture, so hopefully I'll soon have the missing bit of the jig-saw sorted and be a proper photographer?!!

ISO is like film speed, essentially it is the sensitivity of the Sensor. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive the sensor, which means that you're shutter speed and aperture do not need to be as fast/wide. The problem is that higher ISOs produce more noise, the best ISO to stick with is ISO 200 (as you're using nikon) as it means that you get maximum detail in both the shadows and highlights. Usually you will need to bump up the ISO if you are in low-light situations, such as being indoors, or in the evening, however if you use a tripod, you'll be ok because you can use a slow shutter speed to compensate for the low-light. Changing your ISO should be the last resort after changing your shutter speed and aperture to compensate for the light, so if you find that after adjusting Aperture and Shutter speed you still can't get a sharp photo (hand-held) then you'll either have to use a tripod or increase your ISO.

Hope that makes sense

 

[shingle]

OK CHAPS

This is sent out to all the NSC photo community, lets see what is your favourite image that you've shot. Hobbyist, Semi Pro, Pro etc

After 25 years here's my favourite, taken at the Palio in Siena, Italy

Also, commercially here's my most profitable image