OCR: Photographers

[Katsurugi]

Hey. I was just wondering if anyone on the forum pursued photography as an interest too. I think that G-T and a couple of others do. But it's been a while since we've had a thread about this. Anyone who wants to get into photography is welcome to post as well! There are some fundamentals that I can explain, but not so much specifics on gear. There's just a lot of gear out there.

Currently, I'm using a Canon Rebel T2 (300x). It's a film camera, despite digital gaining loads of popularity. Though film seems to be a bit outdated, there are a good number of advantages of using film over digital. But in the end, it doesn't particularly matter which format you use. The lens I have to use right now are EF 28 f/2.8, EF 50 f/1.8 and EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5. My favorite films to use as of right now would have to be Kodak Tri-X for black & white and Fujifilm Superia 400 for casual color shots. This weekend, I'll be attempting to shoot with some Kodak Portra 400 NC. Imma going to my cousin's wedding.

Anyway, photography is a great hobby that makes you go out and do stuff like travel or explore. But it is arguably one of the more expensive hobbies. I've already spent around about 500 dollars on everything so far and I'm just beginning too.

If anyone wants to check out my stuff, I made a flickr account just about a month ago.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26002162@N04/

[Neo Samus]

Very impressive! I'm a bit of a photo nut myself. I don't have a professional camera like you do. but I love taking extravagant and artisy photo like the ones in your Flickr page. Actually what I like to do is take B&K photos. I love the amout of depth you can get with B&K, espically when taking photos of people. It seems to bring out more personality and emotion IMHO.

[prophetik]

although he's not around much anymore, samuel morse (tAP, or The Antithetic Paradigm) has done some fantastic photography work in the last few years. check out his site on myspace. he's out in Misawa, being an airman for the US.

[Global-Trance]

Hey nice work Katsurugi. My favorites are Egyptian Exhibit and Snow Recliners.

And yes, I'm into photography as well and it's a very expensive hobby. You said you spent $500? I've spent $5,000. *_* However, the more I spend on this hobby, the more I feel think it's worth it.

Here are a few of my faves I've taken. The rest can be found at http://global-trance.com/ under the photography section.

http://global-trance.com/images/photos/photo1.jpg

http://global-trance.com/images/photos/photo2.jpg

http://global-trance.com/images/photo_shoots/karen_ladouceur/photo4.jpg

http://global-trance.com/images/photos/photo48.jpg



I wish my hobbies (DJing and Photography) weren't so expensive. My physical fitness interest is starting to get expensive too.

[Hemophiliac]

GT i really think that the one from your sig is the best, pictures will never do it justice. way too epic.

[Global-Trance]

GT i really think that the one from your sig is the best, pictures will never do it justice. way too epic.

lol

You can have partial credit for this one.

Full Image
http://global-trance.com/images/photos/photo34.jpg

A one minute walk from my apartment in Santa Barbara gave us this photo op. <3

[Katsurugi]

Very impressive! I'm a bit of a photo nut myself. I don't have a professional camera like you do. but I love taking extravagant and artisy photo like the ones in your Flickr page. Actually what I like to do is take B&K photos. I love the amout of depth you can get with B&K, espically when taking photos of people. It seems to bring out more personality and emotion IMHO.
Keep taking pictures! No matter what camera you have, as long as it's halfway decent, you'll get a good photo as long as you capture the moment correctly. But I find that with professional gear, it's much more versatile so you can adjust for the what you need at a given time. Even if you don't take artsy type photographs, it's always nice to have some sort of souvenir from a vacation or something that has a lot of sentimental value. I feel guilty sometimes when taking those types of pictures with my camera. But I have to realize that it still is a good picture even if I can't directly see its worth at the time. If you check closely, some of my photos aren't even taken with my SLR but with digital point and shoot cameras. :D

Hey nice work Katsurugi. My favorites are Egyptian Exhibit and Snow Recliners.

And yes, I'm into photography as well and it's a very expensive hobby. You said you spent $500? I've spent $5,000. *_* However, the more I spend on this hobby, the more I feel think it's worth it.

I wish my hobbies (DJing and Photography) weren't so expensive. My physical fitness interest is starting to get expensive too.
Yeah, I think there's a lot more money to be spent... But if I spent close to 5000 I think that maybe I would be done with buying lenses and stuff. Still, they could also break and you'd have to re-buy a 1000 dollar lens or something. They're just ridiculous if you ask me. Anyway, the two images you mentioned are my top viewed ones. The exhibit picture was surprisingly more popular than I had initially thought. People in general seem to dig panoramas. They often get a good number of views, but I have a problem of taking panoramas with anything actually interesting in them.

I would like to be able to take pictures of people or even street photography. I've asked a lot of people already, many have said no. Maybe it's my social skills or something, but it's just hard to find someone willing. I did have a friend "model" for me, but we were just mainly hanging out and I was attempting to catch candids. But I often failed. My last resort is to use craigslist to search for models who will trade their time for pictures.

I know more of you people are out there. *cough* McVaffe. Don't be shy!

[prophetik]

lol

You can have partial credit for this one.

Full Image
awesome.jpg

A one minute walk from my apartment in Santa Barbara gave us this photo op. <3

you wouldn't happen to have a hi-rez version of that, would you?

[Global-Trance]

Yea I've bought two L glass lenses which were about the same price as the camera body. It's ridiculous. Also I threw down $400 for just the external flash by itself. I think I will be investing in a macro lens next once I decide I want to buy new camera equipment... Macro lenses, as awesome as they are to use for tiny objects, also give interesting results in modeling shots. :D

[po!]

good stuff guys. here is my flickr page

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wushuplaya/

i only have 1 lens right now.. Sigma 18-50 f2.8. i plan on getting flash next, then the Nikon 85 f1.8. but yea this stuff is pretty expensive

[Global-Trance]

Nice ones Po! I am particularly drawn to your interior shots. Good angles and interesting things to capture.

you wouldn't happen to have a hi-rez version of that, would you?

I'll have to dig it up. It might take awhile! :(

[Katsurugi]

good stuff guys. here is my flickr page

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wushuplaya/

i only have 1 lens right now.. Sigma 18-50 f2.8. i plan on getting flash next, then the Nikon 85 f1.8. but yea this stuff is pretty expensive
I bought a flash as well, but it's not fully compatible with my camera. It's the 430EZ which supports A-TTL, but not E-TTL. I didn't really know that my camera was that modern... Anyway, it didn't cost me too much considering other stuff, about 26 dollars. But the 50mm, or nifty fifty as some people call it, is really a great deal. At least the Canon version has this amazing shallow depth of field and beautiful bokeh to it. Call me a nerd, but I love just looking through the viewfinder and just turning the focusing ring. I hear the Nikon one performs great as well. It's definitely one of the things that the photography industry has got right for a change.

Anyway, I'm looking into buying my younger sister a fully manual camera. Canon AV-1 or a Nikon FE/FE2 with a 50mm. This is going to be her graduation gift. And for subsequent birthdays and whatnot, I can buy her third party lenses. woot. The gift that makes future gifts less bothersome. :D

[po!]

Anyway, I'm looking into buying my younger sister a fully manual camera. Canon AV-1 or a Nikon FE/FE2 with a 50mm. This is going to be her graduation gift. And for subsequent birthdays and whatnot, I can buy her third party lenses. woot. The gift that makes future gifts less bothersome. :D

why not a modern digital camera? i know its expensive, but not everybody enjoys developing film and scanning it. plus i'm sure you could find one of those old EOS 300 or Nikon D50 or something for really cheap

[Black Mage]

I actually got my bachelors in photography. Right now I'm working for Ritz camera, so in terms of equipment, I get to use whatever we have in the store. From the Canon A570 to the Nikon D300.

Here's a few on my pictures.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/ChristmasCard.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/laura3inprocesssmall.jpg http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/laura7inprogresssmall.jpg

An installation piece on mine, composed of 48 individual cyanotypes.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/100_0860.jpg

[prophetik]

i particularly like the snowy one.

[sgx]

My flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25310157@N08/

I got a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT recently...Haven't taken a whole lot with it yet and am just learning about it and photography at the moment. I managed to misplace the lens cap to the stock lens already though...wonderful.

[Lizz]

dA, because my flickr just has random crap on it -> http://bluelblock.deviantart.com/
flickr just for the fun of it -> http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizz_rinker/

I use an old manual film Nikon and my beloved Canon EOS 20-D. I bought the camera (or rather, my parents bought it for me) in early 2006. I'd like to get a macro lens but unfortunately I'm lacking the moneys for that. I threw down $400 for the external flash alone :<.

And ten bucks when I misplaced the lens cap at a formal event. Stupid evening dress not having pockets...

[Global-Trance]

Haha... crazy. Lizz we have the same camera and we're also practically next door neighbors. How coincidental. Also good pics!

[Flik]

I shoot photos for fun, but usually only when on an adventure of some kind. My wussy arsenal is a Nikon FM with a 24mm Vivitar, 28-80mm Tamron, and a defunct 200mm telephoto, as well as a Nikon D50 with stock lense.
When I shot film I almost always used Velvia 50. Fantastic film for doing my long exposure photography. You can see some of my work at http://directorflik.deviantart.com

I haven't done anything in quite some time. Hopefully I can get back out there someday and do something new.

[Katsurugi]

why not a modern digital camera? i know its expensive, but not everybody enjoys developing film and scanning it. plus i'm sure you could find one of those old EOS 300 or Nikon D50 or something for really cheap
She wants one. There is just something about digital that kind of bothers me. Old school film ones are fully mechanical and some can be used even without a battery, albeit with a limited shutter speed. Technically, they should last a lifetime and repairs can be made with moderate ease. However, with digital ones, fixing them could be a problem especially if yours is an older model. Even over time, you will have to be forced to purchase a new digital camera as over use of the sensor will make it more hypersensitive to light. In film cameras, the sensor is the frame of film itself which is switched out with every picture you take. Of course this is just an observation that I have made with the current state of technology. Maybe later there will be another jump in nanotechnology to help make better digital cameras. Even if my sister does take more pictures with her digital p&s rather than the film camera, I'd feel better investing in something that retains a better longevity. It's all good.

I'm getting ready for my cousin's wedding. I have some Tri-X 400 and Kodak Portra 400 NC locked and loaded. I'll let you know how it goes. I also have to find a more convenient place to have my Tri-X developed other than sending it out to a friend in Belgium... but considering it's relatively cheap for international mail and he does it for free... it's also quite a deal! :D

I managed to misplace the lens cap to the stock lens already though...wonderful.


And ten bucks when I misplaced the lens cap at a formal event. Stupid evening dress not having pockets...

It seems as if people have trouble with lens caps. I haven't lost mine yet, but maybe it's just a matter of time. But I did manage to lose a circular polarizer... it wasn't too great though. It was a simple coated Hoya one. I hear that the multicoated ones Hoya makes produce much better results. Inevitably, I'd have to make the investment anyway, right? Circular polarizer is probably my favorite filter then followed by neutral density. If only I could find an ND filter for my A520, then that would be pretty cool...

[nookster]

Awesome.Photothread!

Some truly good stuff in there. I especially dig Black mages' stuff. Beautiful.

This is my (temporary) site.

nik.dphoto.com

I use an old analogue Pentax K2 (love it) and a Nikon D50 (not as romantic, lotsa timesaving)

Feedback is immensly appreciated :D

[Black Mage]

For those of you who are fortunate to own a DSLR (it's ironic that I work at a camera store, yet don't have one, myself) I want to make one huge lens recommendation. Get yourself a good 50mm (or 55mm) lens. Something that's around f/1.2 to f/1.8. No zoom, please. Trust me, this is the one lens that everyone needs, but one one buys. With one of those lenses you can shoot pretty close, lightning fast, and you can get an awesomely shallow depth of field.

They start at $99 for a Canon 50mm f/1.8 and $129 for a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8.

Trust me, they may not zoom, but they're the best value you can get in a lense.

[prophetik]

Awesome.Photothread!

Some truly good stuff in there. I especially dig Black mages' stuff. Beautiful.

This is my (temporary) site.

nik.dphoto.com

I use an old analogue Pentax K2 (love it) and a Nikon D50 (not as romantic, lotsa timesaving)

Feedback is immensly appreciated :D

your site is awesome, and currently bookmarked. awesome work!

[Black Mage]

Some truly good stuff in there. I especially dig Black mages' stuff. Beautiful.

Thanks, nook. I took a glance at your site, you got some kick-ass work there!

Here's some more of my past "Holgagraphy."

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/My%20PHotographs/l_bf825a67feec7c2f293ee7c31342990a.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/My%20PHotographs/l_2edb53b5560916fdc95ccf9f71d04938.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/My%20PHotographs/l_f100509f2350e693e0eb3e6b468c80f2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/My%20PHotographs/l_45c8ff52fe6ce787d3208006cd6efb08.jpg

[Vurez]

I've got a Canon Digital Rebel XTi (my first Digital SLR though I've used analog SLRs before). It's pretty nice - a lot better than my other cameras. I haven't gotten any other lenses for it yet. I'm looking to get one of their image stabilizer lenses and a macro lens as I like to do extreme close up shots.

[Salluz]

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/ChristmasCard.jpg
Wow, I haven't seen a pic this good in years!

I do photography as well, but I'm lacking a good camera.

[Blake]

Awesome.Photothread!

Some truly good stuff in there. I especially dig Black mages' stuff. Beautiful.

This is my (temporary) site.

nik.dphoto.com

I use an old analogue Pentax K2 (love it) and a Nikon D50 (not as romantic, lotsa timesaving)

Feedback is immensly appreciated :D

I absolutely love your nature stuff and demand moar.

[po!]

For those of you who are fortunate to own a DSLR (it's ironic that I work at a camera store, yet don't have one, myself) I want to make one huge lens recommendation. Get yourself a good 50mm (or 55mm) lens. Something that's around f/1.2 to f/1.8. No zoom, please. Trust me, this is the one lens that everyone needs, but one one buys. With one of those lenses you can shoot pretty close, lightning fast, and you can get an awesomely shallow depth of field.

They start at $99 for a Canon 50mm f/1.8 and $129 for a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8.

Trust me, they may not zoom, but they're the best value you can get in a lense.

the thing is, 50mm isn't a "normal" lens on digital. a 35 or 30 or 28 would provide the equivalent view as 50 on full frame sensors. those lenses are quite a bit more expensive than the 50

anyways, i've pretty much made up my mind that my next lens will be the 85 f1.8, since i've got the normal range covered already. it wouldn't make sense for me to get a 50 or a 35

[maestermatt]

here is some of my work i've done.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8797668@N08/

[Razberi]

I'm no photographer, but I always have my phone on me:

http://a874.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/15/l_76ce10c52febcf5d903238816e9bb6b1.jpg

Taken from my back doorstep.

http://a15.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/116/l_e9833c6796613b6dfda785377ee625ee.jpg

This is how Portugal welcomed me.

http://a234.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/101/l_0f0d19479dc3bf320d720cd139d3e351.jpg

I was hoping not to get my brother in this shot.

http://a960.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/5/l_60d3dea53fa3c22f4dd6cfbaad7e258f.jpg

Frosty.


They're a small size because Myspace wrecked them, they are bigger as raw image.

[Razberi]

http://a737.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/23/l_dc5f2100ab406664335dc95efd931028.jpg

Purpose wood haze.

http://a789.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/4/l_b5b1047868646f52986c7e3cc1584fb4.jpg

Personal favourite of the horse.

http://a729.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/24/l_5b850c68637cee2deb770eff4671baf8.jpg

I got up so early to take this.


http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o130/Raz64/DSC00586.jpg

Taken tonight.

Sorry for the double post.
VB is one weird forum engine.

[Global-Trance]

This is great to see a lot of different styles of photography around here. It's awesome.

I have a small handful of photos I took awhile ago in a studio environment but they are "Not Safe For Work" if you catch my drift. They are, however, meant to be artistic.

If you're not 18 or whatever, please don't go poking around here. I do want to share these; just not with those who shouldn't be looking at these.

http://global-trance.com/post

Feedback welcome.

[sgx]

My flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25310157@N08/

I got a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT recently...Haven't taken a whole lot with it yet and am just learning about it and photography at the moment. I managed to misplace the lens cap to the stock lens already though...wonderful.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/2443840023_9b406ddeff.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2392/2481957881_25f72913bf.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2409691270_2d782b366a.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/2382067274_74d978c02b.jpg?v=0

[Vurez]

Here are a couple of shots I took a few years ago up in Maine. They were shot with my old Powershot S50 which is basically a point-and-shoot with limited manual options.

http://www.vurez.com/pics/Maine1.jpg

http://www.vurez.com/pics/Maine2.jpg
This one turned out interesting as the crevice wasn't that big at all (the width was about 8 inches).

http://www.vurez.com/pics/Maine3.jpg

[Vurez]

And here are some shots from the Digital Rebel XTi. These look a lot better in their full resolution versions - lots of detail.

http://www.vurez.com/pics/pansies.jpg

http://www.vurez.com/pics/statuefountain.jpg
This one was edited quite a bit in photoshop - mainly the colors/lighting.

http://www.vurez.com/pics/waterleaf.jpg

http://www.vurez.com/pics/fly.jpg

[Vurez]

Awesome.Photothread!

Some truly good stuff in there. I especially dig Black mages' stuff. Beautiful.

This is my (temporary) site.

nik.dphoto.com

I use an old analogue Pentax K2 (love it) and a Nikon D50 (not as romantic, lotsa timesaving)

Feedback is immensly appreciated :D

Those are excellent nookster!

[Maco70]

Throw my name on the pile.

http://www.maco70.deviantart.com/gallery

[Global-Trance]

Hey Vurez what lens were you using for the macros? Those are great!

This is great to see a lot of different styles of photography around here. It's awesome.

I have a small handful of photos I took awhile ago in a studio environment but they are "Not Safe For Work" if you catch my drift. They are, however, meant to be artistic.

If you're not 18 or whatever, please don't go poking around here. I do want to share these; just not with those who shouldn't be looking at these.

http://global-trance.com/post

Feedback welcome.

Still looking for some feedback here and on the photos on my website if anyone can offer any.

[po!]

Still looking for some feedback here and on the photos on my website if anyone can offer any.

back from work now so i can click on the link :-P

i think 690 is the definite standout of those pics.. great shot. the posing on 522 is kinda awkward. she looks like a corpse or something.. but maybe that was what you were going for

[The Tiger]

I generally focus on animals and wildlife, with a specific interest in tigers. My goal is to use them as a means to educate people about endangered species. You can view my page at http://hewhowalkswithtigers.deviantart.com

http://tn3-2.deviantart.com/fs24/300W/f/2007/328/6/b/The_Tale_of_Two_Wolves_by_HeWhoWalksWithTigers.jpg
http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs21/300W/f/2007/264/1/a/A_Tiger__s_Joy_by_HeWhoWalksWithTigers.jpg
http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs22/300W/f/2007/321/4/1/New_Life___Nadya_by_HeWhoWalksWithTigers.jpg
http://tn3-2.deviantart.com/fs20/300W/f/2007/229/a/4/Rainbow_Dance_by_HeWhoWalksWithTigers.jpg

[McVaffe]

I realize that this is probably the most cumbersome way to show off pictures, but since I didn't think my stuff was really good enough (yet) to set up a dedicated site for, I ended up putting all my stuff from the past few years on my MySpace page.

For anyone interested, here is the link

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=170331848

Sorry about it being a pain, need to set up a flickr account sometime... when my stuff gets better hopefully!

[Vurez]

Hey Vurez what lens were you using for the macros? Those are great!

Thanks. Believe it or not it's actually the lens that came with the camera. It's an EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 lens. Some of the pics are misleading though as they were cropped a bit (especially the fly pic).

Here are two more macros. The flowers were only cropped a little bit on the top and bottom. The bumblebee shot was cropped a little bit more but not as much as the fly pic.

http://www.vurez.com/pics/pinkflowers.jpg


http://www.vurez.com/pics/bumblebee.jpg


Still looking for some feedback here and on the photos on my website if anyone can offer any.

I pretty much agree with po!. Unfortunately, I can't give much critique aside from what po! already mentioned. All I can say is they all seem to have good contrast and a nice use of lighting.

[Skummel Maske]

For those of you who are fortunate to own a DSLR (it's ironic that I work at a camera store, yet don't have one, myself) ..

Twice the irony! I'm in the exact same position! In fact, I don't have any cameras at all. I've planned getting myself a cheap DSLR, but other things keep taking priority.

[Ray Falling]

I'm a photographer I guess. But I don't aim to be some kind of professional.

As most noobs, I do sunset photography mostly, though I haven't held the camera in a long time now due to the business in life. I have a hand full of cat photo's as well, and I enjoy catching rays falling through clouds (hence my username) and other natural scenes.

My work is in no way unique or whatever, but I do get a lot of energy from it and I love most of the things I got so far. It is in it's own way perfect to me.

You can view my works on http://rayfalling.deviantart.com/gallery. I also use my pictures in space scenes and textures.

I just like to capture things that look beautiful to me at a certain moment. Usually photos of such a moment help me to remember particular times of my life and inspire me when I look back on it later on. Especially the past 4 years have been very difficult and photography has helped me a lot in dealing with setbacks.
I even met my girlfriend through my photography.


Despite not wanting to be a professional, I would be interested in knowing what a good camera would be for me, since I want one of my own and I want it to fit my needs.

What I'm looking for is a digital camera with high mega pixel count, good zoomlens and the option to add other lenses/filters. Good range of ISO.
Something that can stand being pointed directly at the sun and have a variety of functions.

It also needs to be uhm...I think the English name for it is solar reflex? Price range around 300 - 400 Euros.

[Black Mage]

Nothing artistic, today, just a couple of snap-shots of our neighbor's pooch.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/My%20PHotographs/l_60925ab451d12ce3e082906853590984.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/My%20PHotographs/l_450871767e602949dcef55cea1cd0c60.jpg

[Blake]

Wow I love it.

[Kureejii Lea]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/2443840023_9b406ddeff.jpg?v=0

Wow. Something about the colours here is damn striking. Cute puppy, too (yes, as far as I'm concerned it's a puppy).

Anyway, I can't say I really know what I'm doing in terms of photography, but that doesn't stop me from pretending I do. I have a wonky Pentax. That's about all I know.

http://www.bumbleking.com/skies.jpg

http://www.bumbleking.com/flute.jpg

http://www.bumbleking.com/echo.jpg

[prophetik]

those were taken in ontario? quite multi-cultural, if you ask me.

mage, i love those pooch pictures. the first one is really fun =)

[The Pezman]

Any tips for not losing a camera? I believe I've lost two now. I want to take more pictures (not that point and shoot stuff, though) but need to devise a way to basically handcuff the damn thing to myself (which I would literally consider doing if a handcuff could fit on the camera).

I've seen enough photographs of sunrises to eliminate the need for me to ever see an actual one again (though I imagine I will), and what I love about yours, Kureejii, is that everything else is completely black. I've never seen that before.

[Maco70]

Any tips for not losing a camera?

That's one of the weirdest things I've ever heard.

I keep mine in a case which never leaves my palms.
When it's out of the case, I always have the string thingie around my wrist.

[The Pezman]

Thing is, you're talking about a camera like this:

http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuimages/large/c930-1300-mainxsilver-ca.jpg

Whereas I mean a camera like this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512YXSJWB5L.jpg

Just a little harder to hang onto.

[Maco70]

If I put out the money for a camera like that, it would never leave my sight.

Put it on a neck strap.

[Jillian Aversa]

I've been doing this as hobby since high school. Here are a few samples - some portrait, some landscape.

http://soundtempest.net/jill/photog/betweenthefence.jpg

http://soundtempest.net/jill/photog/autumnlake.jpg

http://soundtempest.net/jill/photog/newenglandwinter.jpg

http://soundtempest.net/jill/photog/window.jpg

[Katsurugi]

All right. So by means of random luck, I have an opportunity to take pictures of a girl that I do not know. But she wants to have portraits taken of her in a sort of sexy sort of way. From the e-mails we have been exchanging, I think we're on two different levels. Though she wants to have something like Maxim/Victoria's Secret type photos, I don't think she actually knows what it takes to get them. I am in the midst of compiling a list of ideas and poses. I am quite familiar with the Victoria's Secret catalogue. Don't ask.

If anyone has done any sort of work like this before, that'd be absolutely perfect. Most likely not though... still, if you have a pose that you really like of fashion models, don't hesitate to post or link me to them. I'm also looking for some classic pin up model poses as well.

[Palpable]

Thing is, you're talking about a camera like this:

http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuimages/large/c930-1300-mainxsilver-ca.jpg

Whereas I mean a camera like this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512YXSJWB5L.jpg

Just a little harder to hang onto.

I recently lost one of the former (SD600, in fact) and was thinking about getting a bigger camera like the latter just so that I don't lose it. :<

[prophetik]

All right. So by means of random luck, I have an opportunity to take pictures of a girl that I do not know. But she wants to have portraits taken of her in a sort of sexy sort of way. From the e-mails we have been exchanging, I think we're on two different levels. Though she wants to have something like Maxim/Victoria's Secret type photos, I don't think she actually knows what it takes to get them. I am in the midst of compiling a list of ideas and poses. I am quite familiar with the Victoria's Secret catalogue. Don't ask.

If anyone has done any sort of work like this before, that'd be absolutely perfect. Most likely not though... still, if you have a pose that you really like of fashion models, don't hesitate to post or link me to them. I'm also looking for some classic pin up model poses as well.
why are you quite familiar with the victoria's secret catalog?

[Global-Trance]

All right. So by means of random luck, I have an opportunity to take pictures of a girl that I do not know. But she wants to have portraits taken of her in a sort of sexy sort of way. From the e-mails we have been exchanging, I think we're on two different levels. Though she wants to have something like Maxim/Victoria's Secret type photos, I don't think she actually knows what it takes to get them. I am in the midst of compiling a list of ideas and poses. I am quite familiar with the Victoria's Secret catalogue. Don't ask.

If anyone has done any sort of work like this before, that'd be absolutely perfect. Most likely not though... still, if you have a pose that you really like of fashion models, don't hesitate to post or link me to them. I'm also looking for some classic pin up model poses as well.

You might want to clarify with her what she wants and what you're capable of and work out an agreement. She's not going to let you take pictures of her if she is wanting something and you wanting something else.

[Katsurugi]

why are you quite familiar with the victoria's secret catalog?
I told you not to ask! Actually, I browse through that and other magazines to get a good idea of how photos are taken. Images are on every single page. Advertising is a powerful force that you can learn from even if you're not purchasing their products. My sister gets them and also other magazines like Vogue and In Style. She gives them to me when she's done with them.

Don't worry, G-T. We're going to be discussing stuff and exchanging pictures and things like that on Friday. I've already stated what I'm capable of and what level of photography I'm currently at. I've already shown her some of my images and I think we have some sort of understanding already. It's all good. We're going to meet on Friday.

[Skummel Maske]

So, I finally took a picture I'm really proud of! There was a huge forest fire further uphill from where I live, and the sky that night was basically any photographer's dream.

http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs25/i/2008/161/4/3/The_Fires_of_Heaven_II_by_Velakhar.jpg

And a link (http://velakhar.deviantart.com/art/The-Fires-of-Heaven-II-88137375) to it on DeviantArt.

[prophetik]

wow, skummel, that looks awesome!

will you be printing that? because i *might* be interested in it.

[Skummel Maske]

Oh, I've never really thought of the print option at DeviantArt, but I suppose it would do no harm at all :)
And thanks for the compliment!

[Katsurugi]

So yesterday was probably the worst day in my "career" as a photographer. My model was supposed to meet me at Coney Island at 3 PM. I had to stop off at school and then take the PATH train into Manhattan and then take a subway train to Brooklyn. All of this probably took me about 3 hours and 30 minutes. I arrived late. I was glad that she didn't arrive yet as I hate to keep other people waiting. I call her and find out where she is and she's being very vague. At some later point in time, she says that she'll arrive at 5. All the meanwhile, the sun outside was fairly good and constantly taunting me. Anyway, long story short, she never arrived. It was around 6:30 when she was about 15 minutes away. By then the sun had gone and it became very hazy out. There was no point in taking pictures at all that day. I have better things to do rather than sit in a subway station for an hour and a half. Maybe this is why I never shot portraits before. People suck. I should probably stick with my landscape and architecture stuff.

:(

[The Pezman]

I'm thinking of (finally) getting a new mid-to-high end camera to replace the one I lost/got stolen in Spring '07. I can't remember the specific model, but I was thinking the cheapest one with a full 35 mm sensor, so that the picture I see through the lens is what actually gets taken. Can't remember which model it is, though.

[Global-Trance]

So yesterday was probably the worst day in my "career" as a photographer. My model was supposed to meet me at Coney Island at 3 PM. I had to stop off at school and then take the PATH train into Manhattan and then take a subway train to Brooklyn. All of this probably took me about 3 hours and 30 minutes. I arrived late. I was glad that she didn't arrive yet as I hate to keep other people waiting. I call her and find out where she is and she's being very vague. At some later point in time, she says that she'll arrive at 5. All the meanwhile, the sun outside was fairly good and constantly taunting me. Anyway, long story short, she never arrived. It was around 6:30 when she was about 15 minutes away. By then the sun had gone and it became very hazy out. There was no point in taking pictures at all that day. I have better things to do rather than sit in a subway station for an hour and a half. Maybe this is why I never shot portraits before. People suck. I should probably stick with my landscape and architecture stuff.

:(

Sorry to hear this happened, but it does happen. I do have to say the lack of punctuality on both ends is a bit unprofessional but it's a bit more forgivable when both parties are late. When the models take things seriously (and are quite gorgeous) then the pics are worth it with whatever hassle it takes to get it to happen. I know from experiencing how these things are when it turns out great or turns out less than satisfactory.

[Soodey]

My dad has a really nice Nikon DSLR and my sister has a pretty Nice Sony Cybershot, I have nothing :( so I just use theirs. I don't have much online, but here are some pics I took while in Italy that I'm particularly fond of.

http://www.sourcekills.com/albums/album09/DSC01542.sized.jpg

http://www.sourcekills.com/albums/album09/DSC01706.sized.jpg

http://www.sourcekills.com/albums/album09/DSC01858.sized.jpg

[The Pezman]

Yes, Italy is a fantastic place. I must go back there...

[Skummel Maske]

Oh, I love the atmosphere in that second one! The rays of light and the statue, really nice.

[Black Mage]

Wow, I can't believe this thread got buried so deep! Time for some grave digging of a worthy thread...

About a month ago I bought a new Canon SX10 IS, one of the best super-zooms out there, and I have been putting it to good use (with the help of my new 21.5" widescreen monitor I got for Christmas, super sexy)...

I've been using Adobe Lightroom 2, lately. I like the "photography-centric Photoshop" nature of the program.
http://fc00.deviantart.com/fs38/i/2009/002/4/6/Parkway_Snow_by_DerHexenmeister.jpg (http://derhexenmeister.deviantart.com/art/Parkway-Snow-108118187)



And yes, I've also been experimenting with Photomatix Pro 3 to do some HDR stuff. I think this is one of my better results. The thing I've noticed about HDR, is that it's hard to nail that exact moment when an image is at its peak, without going overboard with the HDR-ification.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/IMG_0247_8_9-1.jpg (http://derhexenmeister.deviantart.com/art/Mushrooms-HDR-108122754)



No real tweakage on this one...just cookie-y deliciousness!
http://fc21.deviantart.com/fs39/i/2009/002/7/5/Mrs__Santa__s_Magical_Cookies_by_DerHexenmeister.j pg (http://derhexenmeister.deviantart.com/art/Mrs-Santa-s-Magical-Cookies-108121145)

[jmr]

My parents gave me a Pentax K200D (http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-Digital-Reduction-18-55mm-3-5-5-6/dp/B0012Q72IY) for Christmas. It's quite the step up from the camera they gave me last year (http://www.amazon.com/A830-Digital-Camera-Optical-Black/dp/B000QG65PW) (which happens to be the same brand name as our washer and dryer... if that's not the sign of a cheap camera I don't know what is!). I'm still figuring out the ins and outs of SLR photography, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

Here's some of the shots I've taken since Christmas:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/3141579383_17d1d8f819.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffmr/3141579383/)
Shot from my bedroom window using my Dad's telephoto lens. (currently used in my sig!)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3112/3161276381_01ac72195a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffmr/3161276381/)
Mom's Christmas Village Miniatures

And here are a few I've taken with my old camera:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3055/3066421021_310e4a03f8.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffmr/3066421021/)
Shot this one on a rainy night while walking home from work.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3287/3099521224_65ee1576d1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffmr/3099521224/)
The Christmas tree in my apartment.

[Ray Falling]

I purchased a new camera last Summer. A Canon EOS 450D. I haven't really been able to try it out much, and when I did i didn't get the results I wanted (much to learn still).

My gallery on deviantart: http://rayfalling.deviantart.com/gallery/

Most of my works are simple nature photographs. I'm not so much interested in making technically perfect pictures, but rather I want to capture moments that inspire me.

[Salluz]

I've taken better pictures, but these are what I have for now. I don't mind helpful critique, even though I believe I know what I could do better.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr177/salluz/100_0423-1.jpg (http://s481.photobucket.com/albums/rr177/salluz/?action=view&current=100_0486.jpg)

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr177/salluz/100_0486-1.jpg
The rearview mirror closer to the photographer's perspective was an accident, but if you notice, it's adjacent to the other driver's rearview mirror.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr177/salluz/100_0679.jpg
I coulda' got a cleaner shot. It was pretty cold that day.

[Black Mage]

My parents gave me a Pentax K200D (http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-Digital-Reduction-18-55mm-3-5-5-6/dp/B0012Q72IY) for Christmas.

Dude, NICE! Pentax makes an excellent camera, and the K200D is one of their best. Did you shoot those with the 18-55 kit lens? Wonderfully shallow depth-of-field on those macros, especially if it is the f/3.5-5.6 lens.

And yes, GE cameras are pure trash. Similar can be said for Kodak, Sanyo, Samsung, Polaroid, etc.

[jmr]

Did you shoot those with the 18-55 kit lens? Wonderfully shallow depth-of-field on those macros, especially if it is the f/3.5-5.6 lens.That's the one. I've only got two lenses as of now, the Pentax kit one, and my father's old Rikenon 135mm 1:2.8 telephoto.

And yes, GE cameras are pure trash. Similar can be said for Kodak, Sanyo, Samsung, Polaroid, etc.I dunno, my old old Kodak digital camera wasn't THAT horrible for it's time.

[Salluz]

Kodak's straight... that's what I used for the above. If you want pro photography, there are better choices, like Pentax, Canon...

[1337 1]

I got an SLR for my birthday just last month, maybe I can get a few pointers. :-P

My parents bought my the Olympus E-520, with a twin lens kit. I've still got a bit of money left from my birthday, so I'm thinking of getting at least one good accessory for it. I'm leaning towards a remote, although if I start doing more inside work, I might go for a better flash. What does everyone else recommend? Its my first SLR :P

[K.B.]

Thanks OP and thanks Black Mage for bumping this. Some of the pics on this thread are amazing. I'm going to have to check out these accounts. I sense many future desktops originating from this thread.

I should take my camera in the woods next time I'm out. Haven't done much since high school, but I think I got decent at b&w so I know I'd enjoy picking it up again. I have a hand-me-down slr, a pentax, but it's in great condition and I love it. Only problem is no darkroom... sigh.

[jmr]

I'm leaning towards a remote, ...If you just want to trigger the shutter, try using a universal tv remote. I discovered my old RCA remote (http://www.doityourself.com/invt/6599773) could be used to control my Pentax; I'd imagine Olympus isn't that different.

If that doesn't work for you, DealExtreme sells some (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12530) camera (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12532) remotes (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5469) that are much cheaper than the official ones (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005105N/ref=nosim/olympus08-20).

[Katsurugi]

It's surprising to see this thread still alive. There's not too much news for me. I've been going through "stuff" so I haven't been too active with my hobbies. I did buy myself a 85 mm f/1.8 for the holidays. I guess I get to play with that.

Have a cat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/Katsurugi/036_1A-1.jpg

[1337 1]

If you just want to trigger the shutter, try using a universal tv remote. I discovered my old RCA remote (http://www.doityourself.com/invt/6599773) could be used to control my Pentax; I'd imagine Olympus isn't that different.

If that doesn't work for you, DealExtreme sells some (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12530) camera (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12532) remotes (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5469) that are much cheaper than the official ones (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005105N/ref=nosim/olympus08-20).

Nice, I never would have known about this. Thanks for that :)


Have a cat.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v444/Katsurugi/036_1A-1.jpg

I'm just waiting for someone to lolcat that picture.

[m68030]

A few of mine:

http://fc70.deviantart.com/fs29/f/2008/142/f/9/Grinding_by_m68030.jpg

http://th08.deviantart.com/fs25/300W/f/2008/127/2/4/Egret_egress_by_m68030.jpg

http://fc58.deviantart.com/fs27/f/2008/142/5/e/The_Window_by_m68030.jpg

http://th02.deviantart.com/fs27/300W/f/2008/092/0/6/Lauren_by_m68030.jpg

More and full size images here: http://m68030.deviantart.com/gallery/

[po!]

I've still got a bit of money left from my birthday, so I'm thinking of getting at least one good accessory for it. I'm leaning towards a remote, although if I start doing more inside work, I might go for a better flash. What does everyone else recommend? Its my first SLR :P

u gotta get a FLASH! i find that a flash is probably the most important thing you could carry around.. it's also not just for indoors.. it's essential outdoors too. check out Strobist if you wanna see what you can do with flash.. see Lighting 101

http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/

i do update my Flickr page.. but obviously i don't post the pics in this thread..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wushuplaya/

[Raziellink]

http://fc16.deviantart.com/fs38/i/2008/357/4/7/Metal_Gear_Solid_2_Figure_by_Spriggan_Razzy.jpg

http://fc64.deviantart.com/fs39/i/2008/357/f/b/Street_Fighter_Vega_by_Spriggan_Razzy.jpg

http://fc35.deviantart.com/fs39/i/2008/357/2/5/Capcom_vs_SNK_2_Haohmaru_by_Spriggan_Razzy.jpg

http://fc13.deviantart.com/fs38/i/2008/357/6/c/Street_Fighter_Necro_by_Spriggan_Razzy.jpg

Please, keep in mind i have to work with http://pan.fotovista.com/dev/5/5/00041255/l_00041255.jpg , and not something as fancypants as most of you! :P

[Salluz]

A goal for everyone to set: GIT NOO CAMERAZZZ!

[Global-Trance]

I'm getting enough mileage out of my Canon EOS20D, thank you very much.

[Salluz]

OK, so it's a personal goal.

[Black Mage]

A goal for everyone to set: GIT NOO CAMERAZZZ!

Been there, done that, kicks f@cking ass.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/2931462039_de7eb5b52e.jpg?v=0

Love my SX10. I am especially fond of the super marco mode, which sports a minimum focusing distance of 0cm.

[Atomicfog]

Wow, so many spectacular photos in this thread. I really enjoy jmr's, G-T's, and Black Mage's in particular, though most of the pictures in this thread are really good.

I'm more of a videographer than a photographer, but my Canon HV30 has a pretty decent photo mode aside from it's 1080i video. It's also got a fair amount of manual settings to fiddle with. Here are a few photos I took while I was out rock climbing:

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x50/cim0ta/IMG_0938.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x50/cim0ta/IMG_0923.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x50/cim0ta/IMG_0889.jpg

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x50/cim0ta/IMG_0943.jpg

[Black Mage]

Wow, I've never seen a diamond-shaped lens flare, before.

[Emunator]

Sure, why not? I've been doing amateur photography for about 3 years now; I'm pretty much bare-bones when it comes to equipment, I've just been running around with my Canon Rebel XSi, the kit lens, and a half-broken tripod for the most part :P Currently I don't even have a charger for the batteries, so I haven't been photographing much of anything lately.

http://emunator.deviantart.com/gallery/

Here's a few of my faves - I do some post-processing but with these particular pictures they're straight out of the camera with nothing but a bit of cropping done :)

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs41/i/2009/035/3/3/Spotlight_by_Emunator.jpg

http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs44/i/2009/179/0/b/Phoenix_Rising_by_Emunator.jpg

http://fc07.deviantart.com/fs37/i/2008/247/2/5/White_Whale_by_Emunator.jpg

http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs46/i/2009/202/4/3/The_Great_Divide_by_Emunator.jpg

[Harmony]

Ohhh, I had forgotten about this thread and I've been looking for an excuse to share this. My friend and I decided to try to figure out what this whole "HDR" things is about, and this was one of my first attempts. Not exactly the best use of HDR because I think the dynamic range was fairly limited to begin with, but I LOVE the result! I call it "Tools of the Trade" :)

http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~blbush/Pics/ToolsOfTheTrade_HDR_small.jpg

Nikon D70s, 50mm, f4.5, 3 exposures in 1EV increments

[Black Mage]

The first three are from my trip to Lake Powell, this past June. The last is one of better food pr0n photos (it's blood orange marmalade).

http://fc00.deviantart.com/fs49/i/2009/187/5/8/Main_Channel__Pre_Storm_by_DerHexenmeister.jpg

http://fc00.deviantart.com/fs48/i/2009/177/3/0/Cove_at_the_Rincon_by_DerHexenmeister.jpg

http://fc07.deviantart.com/fs46/i/2009/177/1/5/Rainbow_Bridge_Approach_by_DerHexenmeister.jpg

http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs42/i/2009/075/4/6/Blood_Orange_Marmalade_by_DerHexenmeister.jpg

[big giant circles]

There are some really great pictures in here!

GT, you've got some great ones on your site.

http://global-trance.com/xhtml_photo58.php <--Little Mermaid FTW :)

[Ferret]

So tell me honestly, what does everyone use? I'm curious to know. Personally I've got a digital camera (which at its highest resolution only allows like 325 pictures on a 2 gig xd card); I know the "professionals" like Kroze and Salty use digital SLRs, but what about 35mm or (heaven help you) advantix?

Recommendations for which to use would naturally vary depending on the circumstances and there's no single best choice so far as type, though some would argue that at least there is a single best choice for model in each type... Most of us, I'm sure, are casual picture-takers who only have a passing interest in anything serious. We bought our cameras so we could capture memories of family and friends and special events.

Then you've also gotta ask yourself whether to stay glued to your camera all the time or go out and let someone else take the pictures of you being silly so long as you enjoy yourself...

Thoughts, anyone?

[Salluz]

Excellent stuff
Overall I'd say that they're awesome.

[Alexis]

I was up on Mt Washington a few months ago, happened to have my camera with me, so I messed around with the panorama mode a bit. I didn't really touch it up though, just threw it together in photoshop. It's huge though (like ridiculously so), so I'm posting a link. Pittsburgh is so beautiful at dusk!
Taken with a Canon S5IS

Pittsburgh! (http://www.alexiskitchen.com/images/panoramapittsburgh.jpg)

[Black Mage]

So tell me honestly, what does everyone use? I'm curious to know. Personally I've got a digital camera (which at its highest resolution only allows like 325 pictures on a 2 gig xd card); I know the "professionals" like Kroze and Salty use digital SLRs, but what about 35mm or (heaven help you) advantix?

I use a Canon SX10 IS. It gives me a lot of control over my photos, while still being relatively small; and the 20x optical zoom (35mm equivalent 28 - 560mm) is a nice plus, too. Also, the video quality is good and sound quality is surprisingly excellent. I'd love to have a Canon 5D Mark II and a 50mm f/1.2L, but my finances won't allow that anytime soon.

(Speaking of the 5D Mark II, has anyone read the rumors about the 7D?)

As for film, I believe that it will hang on to the professional/artistic photography niche for a long time, though it will soon die out as the consumer market is concerned. I love digital, but I am a firm believer that as black and white photography goes, film and wet process are forever superior to digital. I mean, sure you can run an image through Photoshop and make it look like it's selenium toned, but it's not. It's simply mimicking the color of selenium. Likewise for sepia, palladium, gold, and uranium toned silver gelatin prints.

And if anyone still uses an APS (Advantix) film camera, dear god just run it over with your car. You'll be doing yourself (and photo lab techs, like me) a major service.

[Rozovian]

Black Mage, your third pic is amazing. Beautiful even light and some really cool rock formations. :D

[Global-Trance]

There are some really great pictures in here!

GT, you've got some great ones on your site.

http://global-trance.com/xhtml_photo58.php <--Little Mermaid FTW :)

Oh hey thanks! My site has all old work and I'm just too lazy to put up new stuff. I hardly come by these parts anymore but I'm glad I popped in randomly.

[Flik]

I'm getting back into my photography a bit more again. I use a Nikon D700 now (quite the jump from my old D50). Even with the stock lens I'm getting some great shots.

Here's one I like that I got when the Fargo air show was going on.

http://directorflik.deviantart.com/art/Blue-Angel-134397780

I've got a lot more pictures to start showing. I should stop being lazy and upload them.

[Black Mage]

I'm getting back into my photography a bit more again. I use a Nikon D700 now (quite the jump from my old D50). Even with the stock lens I'm getting some great shots.

Now that's a camera!

[anthonium]

Black Mage are you using macro lens?

I've recently purchased a Canon EOS Rebel XS to start off with photography as a new hobby. So far I only have the default 35mm lens kit and using default settings however I want to get better and use my own ISO settings and exposure and all to have more control over my pictures. There's not much to take pics of here in miami (as far as landscape goes) to get sweet pictures so in the meantime I'm practicing with the easiest of things, plants and flowers...not exactly the most manly thing but meh....I'm just starting out. :p

Any tips would be welcomed.

http://static.zooomr.com/images/7950422_434a332d0f.jpg

http://static.zooomr.com/images/7950401_z511235636.jpg

[Flik]

Best thing to do with your DSLR before you get into the bad "Auto" habit is put it in manual and simply start messing around.

Go outside during the day. Set your ISO for 200 or so. Set your aperture to it's fastest setting (likely 3.5), and start your shutter speed off at 1000. Take a picture. Look at the result. It's likely going to look somewhat dim but still visible. Slow the shutter down a bit (go to a lower number). Take a picture again. Compare your results.

Keep changing those three settings to see your varying results. Eventually you'll start to understand which settings work best for what lighting situation you are in. If you want to capture a fast moving object you need a fast shutter speed and the most light into the lens you can get. ISO will likely have to go up depending on the lighting. Don't forget you can also manually set your white balance.

Right now the only automatic setting I make high use of is auto focus. It's a real blessing when capturing a lot of fast moving subjects.

You'll be able to do a good bit with that 35mm lens, but you'll certainly want to get into a variable lens of some sort. If you're strapped for cash, take a look at some of the lenses by Sigma or Tamron.

Not sure if that helped you much. I'm just spouting things off...

[anthonium]

Sounds like good advice to me. I'll try it out and I'll stick with the 35mm lens however you say in the long run look into something else but that depends on the type of photography no? Macro for small things, Telephoto for things really far (good for taking pics at a sports event I guses), wide angle lens for I guess landscapes? So many to choose from!

[Flik]

Well, like I said a good variable lens will give some flexability if you're into multiple types of photography. The lens on my camera I believe is 24-120mm. This lets me get some nice wide shots as well as some very useable telephoto shots. Since my camera is full frame it's true 24-120. Any digital camera that is not full frame suffers from the crop factor. Not the worst thing ever, but you'll never have the full focal length of the lense at your disposal (24mm would end up being something like 35mm).

When I was shooting film I had a varying degree of lenses. I had a 50mm prime, a 24mm prime (prime means it's a fixed length), a 24-80mm and I think an 80-200mm telephoto. I had a lot of fun with that 24mm. I still use that 50mm on my new camera for some really nice depth of field effects.

Edit: As for macro photography, some telephoto lenses also had macro modes in them. The 200mm I had (well, still have but it's broken) had that mode so you get some really nice closeups. I'm sure there are more specialized lenses, but I have not looked into them.

[Katsurugi]

!?

My thread is still alive. D:

[Black Mage]

Black Mage are you using macro lens?

Actually, I don't even own a DSLR (though I do have a Nikon FM10 and N60 35mm SLR's), I shoot with a Canon Power Shot SX10 IS (http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/11/canon-powershot-sx10-is-review.jpg). Technically it's a point-and-shoot, but it gives me almost as much control as I'd get with a DSLR (it even has manual focus), minus the interchangeable lenses. For my macro shooting, I just switch into super-macro, one of my favorite settings. In that mode the camera has a minimum focal distance of 0mm, so I can actually focus on the lens glass.

I'd love to get a good DSLR (EOS 5D Mark II), but my SX10 is a good value for what it can do and what I can coerce it to do. At the moment, though, I can't really justify blowing the better part of my life savings on a 5D MkII.

I really wish I could get some sort of a digital back for my FM10 (http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/htmls/models/images/FM10Big.jpg), though...that would be kick-ass, having a completely mechanical/manual DSLR!

[Harmony]

Actually, I don't even own a DSLR (though I do have a Nikon FM10 and N60 35mm SLR's)...I'd love to get a good DSLR (EOS 5D Mark II) Why are you thinking of switching from Nikon to Canon for your SLR system?

[Drack]

Actually, I don't even own a DSLR (though I do have a Nikon FM10 and N60 35mm SLR's), I shoot with a Canon Power Shot SX10 IS (http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/11/canon-powershot-sx10-is-review.jpg). Technically it's a point-and-shoot, but it gives me almost as much control as I'd get with a DSLR (it even has manual focus), minus the interchangeable lenses. For my macro shooting, I just switch into super-macro, one of my favorite settings. In that mode the camera has a minimum focal distance of 0mm, so I can actually focus on the lens glass.

I'd love to get a good DSLR (EOS 5D Mark II), but my SX10 is a good value for what it can do and what I can coerce it to do. At the moment, though, I can't really justify blowing the better part of my life savings on a 5D MkII.

I really wish I could get some sort of a digital back for my FM10 (http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/htmls/models/images/FM10Big.jpg), though...that would be kick-ass, having a completely mechanical/manual DSLR!
Neat! I also shoot with an SX10. You may be interested in making it EVEN MORE like a DSLR by using CHDK (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK). With CHDK it can shoot raw (in the standard DNG format), use very short or very long exposures, and do pretty much everything a DSLR does except swap lenses.

It's certainly made me a better photographer.

Oh, and here are some pics of mine
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3550477187_66af57caee_b.jpg
Beppu, Japan. I need to crop the head out from the bottom, lol. When I read the wikipedia article for it, at first I thought someone posted my pic there when I saw the pic they had. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Beppu_umijigoku.jpg)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3550421565_899855c3af_b.jpg
Also Beppu, Japan.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2143/3534064163_fdffbc39f8_b.jpg
Pics like this one are the reason I don't use auto white balance.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2005/3530770788_76bdc447f6_b.jpg
This last pic (of a Red Shouldered Hawk in Wakulla Springs, FL) suffers a lot from JPEG compression. Took it before I got CHDK and the cropping made the artifacts even worse >_<. Still one of my faves. I have plenty more if you want to see em.

[Black Mage]

Neat! I also shoot with an SX10. You may be interested in making it EVEN MORE like a DSLR by using CHDK (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK).

Sweet! I knew thay had that for the smaller powershot cameras, but didn't know that they had it for the SX10. I'm going to give it a try!

[Black Mage]

Drak, do you shoot into CRW, CR2, or DNG? I've tried CRW, but nothing reads it, not ever Adobe RAW converter. I've tried activating the DNG, but it keeps saying to run a badpixel script?

[Dunnowhathuh]

Nice stuff. I might as well chime in with something too:

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m293/dunnowhathuh/Picture052fixed.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m293/dunnowhathuh/IMG_8790sharpersmaller.jpg

http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m293/dunnowhathuh/overthehedgesmaller.jpg

[Black Mage]

Time to resurrect this thread again!

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_-IUYg6XC95U/S1Ncc8S8wKI/AAAAAAAABcI/gpjeQoosv9A/s800/IMG_0331-2.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_-IUYg6XC95U/S1Ncd25bs4I/AAAAAAAABcQ/IziUpQYLTqI/s800/IMG_0379-2.jpg

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_-IUYg6XC95U/S1Nce2UJRlI/AAAAAAAABcY/RziHhzsk9iA/s800/IMG_0385-2.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_-IUYg6XC95U/S1NcfczZbpI/AAAAAAAABcg/YKGVFBkbFoI/s800/IMG_0392-2.jpg

[Rozovian]

Time to resurrect this thread again!

Looks like somebody likes that weird greenish tint... or doesn't have photoshop. :P

Frost is awesome. Cool use of depth of field, tho at that distance you don't have much choice. The ice and the grate is more interesting that the dirty snow below, a different angle and more grate would have been... uh, great. :D

[The Pezman]

Who can recommend a full frame camera which shoots video?

[PROTO·DOME]

Looks like somebody likes that weird greenish tint... or doesn't have photoshop. :P

Dude, I LOVE that tint. I'd even 'shop it in if I had to. ^w^ Sweet photos Mage.

[Hy Bound]

Man, you guys are really talented!

I wish I could afford the all the stuff associated with photography... This looks like a lot of fun.

[ocre]

Amateur photography (and photoshop) enthusiast here. These are some older photos I've taken. Hope ya like 'em.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v416/ocre3/insect2-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v416/ocre3/goats-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v416/ocre3/industry-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v416/ocre3/fireysky-1.jpg

[Black Mage]

The ice and the grate is more interesting that the dirty snow below, a different angle and more grate would have been... uh, great. :D

Gotcha covered.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_-IUYg6XC95U/S1N-nYfw9qI/AAAAAAAABco/A83wEOWmbnc/s800/IMG_0378-2.jpg

[zyko]

exxcellent stuff in this thread. i just recently started taking photography more seriously than just pointing and clicking and there's a wealth of info here.

i'm currently using a nikon d50 i inherited from my late father

[Black Mage]

More from the past Spring...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_-IUYg6XC95U/S1ZFPaMD0yI/AAAAAAAABdI/Qr4KFwWG3-0/s800/IMG_9619-2.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_-IUYg6XC95U/S1ZFQOhu0lI/AAAAAAAABdM/tUPfhSiFm_U/s800/IMG_9609-2.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_-IUYg6XC95U/S1ZFQw14hbI/AAAAAAAABdU/s4og4GjnJVk/s800/IMG_9638-2.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_-IUYg6XC95U/S1ZFRDZKzrI/AAAAAAAABdY/2d67geIQieQ/s800/IMG_9639-2.jpg

[Kureejii Lea]

^ Pretty pretty. The macro there almost gives a kinda painted quality.

Lemme see what I have around... I'm getting kinda sick of my current camera and have been eying the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, but alas... monies.

http://www.bumbleking.com/lea/mossy.jpg

http://www.bumbleking.com/lea/hawk.jpg

http://www.bumbleking.com/lea/maso.jpg

Someone had left this little bear in the doorway of a mausoleum...

[ella guro]

http://www.bumbleking.com/lea/maso.jpg

Someone had left this little bear in the doorway of a mausoleum...

That bear looks like he's waiting for someone who's never gonna come ... :'(

[Salluz]

^ Pretty pretty. The macro there almost gives a kinda painted quality.

Lemme see what I have around... I'm getting kinda sick of my current camera and have been eying the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, but alas... monies.

Whatever you're using, I've gotta get my hands on it.

[Kureejii Lea]

That bear looks like he's waiting for someone who's never gonna come ... :'(

It is pretty lonely-looking. Kinda creepier finding it in person.

Whatever you're using, I've gotta get my hands on it.

Really? It's a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ4. I mean, it's not a BAD camera by any means, but it tends to piss me off a lot lately (my old Pentax Optio had far better macro capabilities, and no matter what I try to increase the shutter speed, it still seems to blur anything moving) and I want something with an actual manual mode now.

[Salluz]

It is pretty lonely-looking. Kinda creepier finding it in person.



Really? It's a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ4. I mean, it's not a BAD camera by any means, but it tends to piss me off a lot lately (my old Pentax Optio had far better macro capabilities, and no matter what I try to increase the shutter speed, it still seems to blur anything moving) and I want something with an actual manual mode now.
I have seen better, usually in the Canon series.

[Black Mage]

I finally went and got a small camera. I love my SX10, but it's hardly convenient to just have with me when I'm about. If I'm planning on shooting photos, it's great, but I just never have it with me, so I decided to get a point-and-shoot. After much debate and playing with cameras at work, I settled upon the Sony DSC-WX1.

http://www.gadgetlite.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/wx1-front.jpg

I love the 10 shots per second (at full res), the hand held twilight more, and three-stop auto bracketing. The auto white balance is average, but the custom white balance is spot on, even at night in my room with mixed very yellow incandescent and green fluorescent. The 720p video mode is also pretty impressive, and the 5x optical zoom while shooting movies is a nice plus.

The ISO range is not as broad as I should ideally like (160 to 3200), but it's enough to cover 90% of me needs. I also sacrificed one thing I would have liked...a dedicated macro mode, but the Intelligent Auto mode does a good job of switching to macro when needed. And I still have my SX10 for doing some killer macro.

Is it the best camera I could have gotten? No, but the best camera is the one you have with you, and this is a lot easier to carry about than a biggish super zoom camera.

MY final determination to get this camera? Sale price + Employee Discount + Sony Associate Purchase Program = drop in final price from $339 to about $130...BOOYEAH!

Now I just need a DLSR...

[Maco70]

I hate you a little bit for getting that camera so cheap. I got the Cybershot H20 recently, but not for even close to that price.

Nice camera though, I really like Sony.

Lucky me got a free DSLR camera from my brother in law. It's a Digital Rebel circa 2003. It's huge, I can't afford any new lens, and the H20 is better in many ways. But it's a DSLR, and it was free.

It's liberating really.

Canon: http://www.digitalreview.ca/cams/pics/CanonRebelXTsilver.jpg

H20: http://www.pma-show.com/news_images/0483_sony-cybershot-h20.jpg

[Black Mage]

A random shot I took this afternoon of a sniffer of Laphroiag 10 Year Scotch.

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs245.ash1/17273_513775060532_203100142_30490361_2403645_n.jp g

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

http://luke.markdittmer.org/image034.jpg
http://luke.markdittmer.org/image102.jpg
http://luke.markdittmer.org/image142.jpg
http://luke.markdittmer.org/image153.jpg

Nikon D90 w/ 50mm 1:1.8D. Using it to shoot my upcoming ocrmv.

[Harmonious Dissonance]

www.redgage.com/prism


The pictures are mainly mine, The articles are my mum's.

[Monobrow]

"Hi guys, I'm no Photography but here are some cool pics I have taken"

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2598/180/11/768938953/n768938953_1394833_3502723.jpg

Grand Canyon

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs208.snc1/7520_150831043953_768938953_2520589_4853474_n.jpg

Mexican Sunset

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs108.snc1/5075_98362158953_768938953_1890390_6202790_n.jpg

Fossil Springs

http://monobrow.arnoldascher.com/Pictures/BackRiver/justmissedit.png

Savannah

These are the low-res facebook versions *_*

[Monobrow]

http://monobrow.arnoldascher.com/Pictures/tranquility.png

Kentucky

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs193.snc3/20034_260347563953_768938953_3208202_7265408_n.jpg

Miyagi

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs149.snc1/5534_124349713953_768938953_2254582_7123345_n.jpg

Honeydew, CA

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs129.snc1/5534_124349938953_768938953_2254614_7783564_n.jpg

Crater Lake


p.s. I looked through this thread and I think this is awesome. It's always great to see other people's perspectives... And photography is the closest thing we have to seeing out of someone else's eyes.

[ocre]

Beautiful shots, Mon. :)

[Harmonious Dissonance]

Beautiful shots, Mon. :)

Seconded. .

[The Biznut]

Some of my cooler shots. Most of these are with my Canon T1i with the standard lens (18-55mm)

The Lake behind my parents place back in october, hasn't been this smooth for all the years we have lived there.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4365126187_f548d73f0a_b.jpg



A crack in the ice, taken same day.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2752/4365127685_9b22443de2_b.jpg



Me, same day.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4365130727_6ac07e507e_b.jpg



random feather, same day.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4365350423_658ae9c7c0_b.jpg

[The Biznut]

Family and Friend gathering on the lake the next week. Wet snow tried to ruin our day, but thanks to some creativity, we prevailed.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4365357609_3592033906_b.jpg



Clint takes a jumphttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2778/4366098432_65f9c36690_b.jpg


The Competition heats up... yeah. I said that. No photoshopping involved.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/4366105066_c46102eaca_b.jpg


And here is the last time I ran a red light.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4365363097_0290081fd5_b.jpg


A Few More on my Flickr. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/47632152@N06/)

[SoulinEther]

Something about jumping on mattresses on ice/snow with skates on.. is cool. A little more so when the mattress is on fire.

[zyko]

wow, skate jumping over mattresses on fire is TOTALLY the WIN.

[Katsurugi]

Who can recommend a full frame camera which shoots video?
Full frame? I don't know of one yet, but the Canon 7D is pretty packed with video features. It has a crop factor of about 1.6x.


(Obligatory D: that my thread is still alive.)

[Flik]

Full frame with video? Something like a Nikon D3S would be pretty nice. I thought about getting an HD video capable FX body, but decided that I'd rather focus purely on still photos for now, so I stuck with the D700. Granted having the HD capability would be pretty neat.

Also, make sure your pockets are vomiting money if you want a D3S.

[The Biznut]

Also, make sure your pockets are vomiting money.

Definitely going to use this analogy in the future :-)

[Black Mage]

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC00028-3copy-1.jpg

[The Biznut]

Cool picture!

[Black Mage]

Here's one I printed at work today.

It's a quadriptych of 12in x 36in giclée panels. The total size is 54in x 36 in (including the 2in gaps). I think I may make another and try and sell it.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC00178-2.jpg



http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC00180-2.jpg

[The Biznut]

That is really cool Tom. The spaces seem to really add to the picture, it makes me really look at it to get the whole picture, appreciate it a bit more maybe. I should try that sometime. How expensive would it be to print something like that?

[Black Mage]

How expensive would it be to print something like that?

I can't speak for other places, but at a ritz camera you could expect to pay $40 for each 24x36 (I printed it as two big prints then cut them each in half) and about $30 to mount each 24x36 on foamboard. So for the whole thing you could pay about $140, unless you haggled them down. You could also go with four 12x36 banners, which cost $10 each. In which case the whole thing would cost about $100.

The main difference is how each is printed. I did mine on an Epson Stylus inkjet. Whereas the $10 option would be off a toner-based printer. I actually tested that method, and it came out pretty well, but I decided that I had the Epson at my disposal, so I went for it.

You could also probably save some money by mounting it somewhere else, like a framing shop or something.

[Black Mage]

Went shooting in Salt Lake City this weekend, with some friends. I managed to come back with some good stuff.

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs515.snc3/27018_515034102402_203100142_30527810_772112_n.jpg

http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/hs495.snc3/27018_515034227152_203100142_30527835_8108109_n.jp g

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs515.snc3/27018_515034341922_203100142_30527840_6448879_n.jp g

This one I make into a triptych measuring about 27in x 36in. I think I can market it pretty easily in this area.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/TempleTriptychMockUp.jpg

[Rozovian]

The triptych is especially impressive. :D

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

Just left my tripod on the streetcar. Need a new one now.

[Black Mage]

Thank's Roz!

Here are a couple more.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC00246-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/IMG_0432-2.jpg

[The Author]

Figured that if I'd post this in the offtop art thread might as well post it in the community photography thread:

http://img714.imageshack.us/g/img1130z.jpg/

Pictures I took on a roadtrip in my friend's jeep. Not many were taken at a full stop, gotta say I love his power shot, but this makes me yearn for a digital version of my rebel 2000.

[SoulinEther]

Figured that if I'd post this in the offtop art thread might as well post it in the community photography thread:

http://img714.imageshack.us/g/img1130z.jpg/

Pictures I took on a roadtrip in my friend's jeep. Not many were taken at a full stop, gotta say I love his power shot, but this makes me yearn for a digital version of my rebel 2000.

I recommend you try another photo hosting service. Imageshack doesn't make medium-size copies server-side after you upload them, so browsing through your album means downloading the full-size, ~3mb original JPEGs for everything I want to look at (unless I just go by the thumbnails). At least for future ones.

I like the rear view mirror shot with the hanging stuffed animal, perhaps because it appeals to my darker side. And the blur in the second photo makes me feel like I'm in some sort of nightmare: a nightmare in which I'm running scared from Bambi wielding a butcher knife.

edit: and i dusted off an old canon ae-1. bought it a battery so it could work, too, lol. managed to break the 28mm lens already (in my defense it was kind of coming apart already) but there's still the 50mm. if I ever churn out a gem, and get around to scanning it... i know where to go to share it :D

[The Author]

Been using imageshack for so long, forgot it didn't re size for me... I should probably see if I can setup a macro in gimp to take care of the size thing.

[Black Mage]

People give me grief for using Photobucket, but you know what, it's never not worked perfectly well for me. Plus you can easily resize images with it.

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

Biznut I just saw the pictures of skating over a flaming matress.

Fuck Canada is awesome eh? :D

[atmuh]

ok i figure i might as well ask here

what kinda cameras do you guys use as im thinking of getting one myself but there are so many i dont even know where to start

[Black Mage]

ok i figure i might as well ask here

what kinda cameras do you guys use as im thinking of getting one myself but there are so many i dont even know where to start

You looking for a small, easily carried point-and-shoot; a "medium" camera with more manual features and a lot of zoom; or an SLR?

As brands go, stick with the reputable ones...Sony, Nikon, Canon, and Olympus are my top four. Fuji is okay, as is Pentax, but do yourself a huge favor and avoid all things Kodak, GM, HP, Sanyo, Samsung, etc. Kodak Easy Shares are especially crappy, though favored by the unknowing, and elderly.

If you're looking at point-and-shoots, take a good look at what Sony has to offer. I have the WX1, and love the thing (auto bracketing, 10 shots per second at full res, and Sony's hand-held twilight mode). Sonys have great low-light performance and excellent color balance. The W330, W350, WX1, TX1, and HX5 are all great and go from $170 to $399-ish. Canon also has some good cameras, like the S90.

Next up you have your super zoom cameras, which are essentially point-and-shoots but with a lot of zoom. Many also have SLR-like options, like shutter priority, aperture priority, and manual modes, which are very helpful. The Sony HX1, Nikon P100, and Canon SX20 are all ones to look at in this category. I have the Canon SX10, also, and think it's a great camera. I especially love the three-stop auto bracketing.

Then there's your SLR cameras. These offer the best image quality (owed to their larger image sensors) and most control-ability. Prices range from $400 for the Nikon D3000 to $38,000 for the Hasselblad H4D-50 MS (drooling right now). The entry level cameras are pretty reasonably priced, but the extra lenses are what can drain your bank account...fast. A good lens can run you anywhere from $140 for a Nikon 50mm f/1.8, to $600-ish for an 80mm f/1.8, to $10,000 for a 600mm f/4 VR. The Nikon D90, Sony A500, and Canon T2i are some good options, here.

Finally, there's the newest category, Micro Four Thirds cameras. These are like mini SLR cameras. They often have a nice old school vibe, aesthetically, and offer the flexibility of an SLR camera in something as easy to use as a pocket sized point-and-shoot, all in the size of a super-zoom camera. It's still an emerging class of camera, but I think it's going to grow a lot in the near future. The Olympus E-PL1 and a good example of this class of camera, and runs about $599.

Also, more photos!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/IMG_0559-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/IMG_0441-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/IMG_0421-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/SpringTriptych1-1.jpg

[Kureejii Lea]

ok i figure i might as well ask here

what kinda cameras do you guys use as im thinking of getting one myself but there are so many i dont even know where to start

Well, I guess a good place to start would be to ask what kind of things you want to take pictures of (general use, like everyday snapshots, or specific things like sports, macro...?) and what price range you're looking at... depending on what you want, you may need to compromise in some areas in terms of features, abilities or even image quality; no camera will give you everything perfectly.

I got a Canon PowerShot SX20 IS for my birthday a few months ago, and while I'm still getting used to it it's pretty nifty. The picture quality is not always as sharp as I'd like, but the 20x zoom is great since I like taking pictures of animals and there are lots of adjustable settings and features. It uses four AA batteries, but the battery life is pretty damn good even with non-rechargeables (my old Pentax would eat normal batteries in about twenty minutes), and if it happens to die you can find AAs pretty much anywhere anyway. The only thing that pisses me off is the retarded clip-on lens cover; I'm amazed I haven't lost it yet.

Here's a shot I took last month of a bird that was pretty far away...
http://www.bumbleking.com/lea/chippingsparrow.jpg

[atmuh]

Well, I guess a good place to start would be to ask what kind of things you want to take pictures of (general use, like everyday snapshots, or specific things like sports, macro...?) and what price range you're looking at... depending on what you want, you may need to compromise in some areas in terms of features, abilities or even image quality; no camera will give you everything perfectly.
ok yeah should have been more specific
id definitely use it when i go to concerts and sporting events (and probably those two would be the most commonly used occurrences)
as far as price im not really afraid to spend a bunch more for better quality
i mean i probably wouldnt spend something RIDICULOUS like over 600 maybe (?) but yeah id love to see as many options as possible with their pros and cons

also thanks for the info so far


and oh yeah most of the concerts i go to are standing room shows so it couldnt be too big

[Black Mage]

ok yeah should have been more specific
id definitely use it when i go to concerts and sporting events (and probably those two would be the most commonly used occurrences)
as far as price I'm not really afraid to spend a bunch more for better quality
i mean i probably wouldn't spend something RIDICULOUS like over 600 maybe (?) but yeah id love to see as many options as possible with their pros and cons

also thanks for the info so far


and oh yeah most of the concerts i go to are standing room shows so it couldn't be too big

As super-zooms go, the Sony DSC-HX1 might be an option. You get 20x optical zoom and Sony's Hand Held Twilight mode, in which the camera does six shot in one second, then blends them together to bring out the details and remove any camera shake. It's about $399, I think.

An SLR would also work better in the low light of concerts, though a long zoom lens with a wide aperture and vibration reduction will cost you close to a grand, if not more (nearly $5,000 in the case of the AF-S VR Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED). If you're going to up on stage (or on the 50 yard line) taking the photos, then you can use something more like a 50mm f/1.8 ($139.99) or a 35mm f/2 ($380-ish).

So really, if you were to go with a Nikon D3000 and a 35mm lens, you'd be at about $650-ish. A Sony equivalent setup would be an A330 with a 50mm f/1.8 for about $630-ish.

[atmuh]

As super-zooms go, the Sony DSC-HX1 might be an option. You get 20x optical zoom and Sony's Hand Held Twilight mode, in which the camera does six shot in one second, then blends them together to bring out the details and remove any camera shake. It's about $399, I think.

An SLR would also work better in the low light of concerts, though a long zoom lens with a wide aperture and vibration reduction will cost you close to a grand, if not more (nearly $5,000 in the case of the AF-S VR Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED). If you're going to up on stage (or on the 50 yard line) taking the photos, then you can use something more like a 50mm f/1.8 ($139.99) or a 35mm f/2 ($380-ish).

So really, if you were to go with a Nikon D3000 and a 35mm lens, you'd be at about $650-ish. A Sony equivalent setup would be an A330 with a 50mm f/1.8 for about $630-ish.
well after talking with someone on irc for a bit and looking at slr cameras i decided that theyre just a little too big for my liking
i started looking at canon cameras and i think i really like this one
http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10051_10051_229151_-1
thoughts?

anyways i may as well share my latest picture from a concert (taken with my iphone no less)
http://i42.tinypic.com/2eezqfm.png
friken love taylor swift

[Black Mage]

The SX20 is a good option, too. I shoot a lot with the SX10, so I'd certainly recommend it. The only reason I haven't mentioned Canon much is that we don't carry Canon at work, so I can't speak from my personal testing of their newest cameras.

Edit: I also love that the SX10 and SX20 both have hot shoes. While I wouldn't recommend throwing a 430EXII speedlight on there (which I have done before, see also Nikon P6000 w/ SB900 (http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/5071_509809946652_203100142_3034676.jpg)), but it works wonderfully with a Gary Fong Puffer diffuser (it's not just DSLRs).

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC00337.jpg http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC00338.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC00339.jpg http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC00340.jpg

[Black Mage]

I finally have something approaching a portfolio and sales website for my photography.

tomhamiltonphoto.com

It's kind of cheating, hosting the domain at godaddy which immediately redirects to a site from a template and hosted at wix.com...but I have no web design skills to speak of, so it will have to do for now.

[atmuh]

oh i forgot to post that i got that camera maybe ill take some pictures or something soon
well i definitely will at a concert this tuesday

oh and the lens cap doesnt stay on at all is there something i can do about this besides glue it on since i dont think thats a really good idea

[BlackDragonSoul]

i use to take a lot of black and white photos in school. i did love taken pictures and i hope i can get back into it once i get myself a camera

[Flik]

Snapped a photo of my old puppy while visiting home.

http://www.deviantart.com/download/165113594/Happy_Woof_by_DirectorFlik.jpg

[Harmonious Dissonance]

These Two I took at our local park. (One of them, Anyway)
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii262/goldenmoss/101_0043.jpg
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii262/goldenmoss/101E0083.jpg

And these two I took from my house:
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii262/goldenmoss/101_0425.jpg
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii262/goldenmoss/101_0396.jpg

[atmuh]

i took this with my new camera today

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3646/bridgey.jpg

[Kenogu Labz]

Not bad, there! Nice lines. :D

If your lens cap isn't staying on, don't try to jury rig something; you're more likely to end up scratching your lens that way. I think they sell extra lens caps (though for a relatively high price).

[Kureejii Lea]

oh i forgot to post that i got that camera maybe ill take some pictures or something soon
well i definitely will at a concert this tuesday

oh and the lens cap doesnt stay on at all is there something i can do about this besides glue it on since i dont think thats a really good idea

Is it the Canon? You should just get it in place by pinching the sides (it won't snap in on its own in most cases). If it's not fitted right or something, take it back to the store and ask for a new one.

[Black Mage]

I designed a new polyptych. The square ones would be 24x24 inches and the long panels would be 12X36 inches, so the whole piece will measure about 7.5 x 3.5 feet. I also added a very slight dry brush filter to hide the digital noise from being enlarged to much.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/FlowerPolyptychMockUp.jpg

[Black Mage]

I decided to do a fast mod for my Nikon FM10 to make it into a pin hole camera. I just bought a Nikon body cap ($3) and drilled a small hole into the centre. I then took a small square cut from the top of a can of beans (79¢)and carefully punched a tiny hole in it and used electrical tape (69¢) to tape it behind the hole. The whole thing cost less than $4.50, verses $35 from various photo sites.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs072.snc4/34950_516550842842_203100142_30577530_4647690_n.jp g

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs031.ash2/34899_516550897732_203100142_30577532_4593524_n.jp g

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs070.snc4/34870_516550977572_203100142_30577533_7024207_n.jp g

I went to shot a roll today, and will develop and scan it tomorrow at work.

Edit:

Hrm, I think I need to research my pin hole a bit. They all look blurry like this; and actually, this is probably the best example.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/tom5261_tom5261-R1-005-1.jpg

I think my pinhole was too big.

[ddavis1979]

I am newer on the forums, but I am into some photography, mainly macro shots. I found that instead of spending $200+ on a ring light, that you can substitute a $10 UFO Camping LED light with some very slight modifications.

Visit my gallery at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/ddavis1979

[Black Mage]

I emailed one of my professors from my alma mater with the details, and she confirms that my pinhole was too big. So, time for version 2.0!

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/IMG_0617-2.jpg

Edit: Here are a couple of my better photographs from the new "lens"...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/Pinhole_Test_2-4-Edit.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/Pinhole_Test_2-9-2.jpg

[Ray Falling]

Out of curiosity: what purpose does the pinhole lens serve? Is it supposed to create a specific effect an ordinary lens cannot produce?


Also: I've updated my website. Most of the content has yet to be written, but my photography gallery is already up and running. I also added an Animals category, which it didn't have before because I'm not particularly an animal kind of guy (for no particular reason).

I did get some nice shots of some little bugz0rs the other day when I was walking around a nice natural environment with my girlfriend (+1 forum envy point):

http://www.triiiray.nl/pillars/art/albums/photography/full/PH_ANML_F_0005.jpg (http://www.triiiray.nl/pillars/art/albums/album_animals.html#albumcontrol)

http://www.triiiray.nl/pillars/art/albums/photography/full/PH_ANML_F_0007.jpg (http://www.triiiray.nl/pillars/art/albums/album_animals.html#albumcontrol)

[Black Mage]

Out of curiosity: what purpose does the pinhole lens serve? Is it supposed to create a specific effect an ordinary lens cannot produce?

Pinhole is the purest, most simple form of photography. By learning and understanding it (along with other historical processes) one gains a more rounded understanding of photography; its history, its present, and its future. It also has a certain artistic appeal, giving up some control. With pinhole you get a nearly infinite depth of field and you get loooong exposures. some of mine run into the five to ten minute mark, which I think more properly conveys time, which is an often overlooked spacial element in photography. People are always focused on capturing the moment, a single instant. What about long periods of time? Pinhole gives you the chance to capture a "temporal average" of a place in a span of time. It's more four dimensional, like cubism; which is to say you have the physical X and Y axes, the visual Z axis, and the conceptual time axis, all of which are displayed in a single image, all at once.

A couple of more shots from my last test roll.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/Pinhole_Test_2-14-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/Pinhole_Test_2-23-2.jpg

[SoulinEther]

I designed a new polyptych. The square ones would be 24x24 inches and the long panels would be 12X36 inches, so the whole piece will measure about 7.5 x 3.5 feet. I also added a very slight dry brush filter to hide the digital noise from being enlarged to much.

*awesome thing here*

That is really magnificent looking. How much would it cost to get that printed? Just an estimate even.

[Drack]

So I've gotten really hardcore into photography now. I've posted in this thread way back with some of my shots with the PowerShot SX10 ... but I suffered from GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) and bought a Nikon D90 to replace it. One of my friends was going on a trip and needed a camera, so I cut him a great deal on the SX10 and took the opportunity to upgrade big time.

In the meantime, I've gotten a lot of great shots from both cams since last posting here. Here are some of my best. Click the photos for flickr links.

Moonshine
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3586/3346176319_91d988043a_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchapman/3346176319/in/set-72157618156886482/)
This was shot with the SX10 in Atlanta, GA. I didn't have my tripod handy and I look up to the sky and see this wonder. There's not enough light for a fast shutter, so all I could do was brace the camera against myself, use the camera's image stabilization, and take a good 20 shots and keep the best. I had to turn off auto white balance because the camera was trying to take all the brilliant yellow color out and make it grey.

Popcorn
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4383961026_fc83b083df_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchapman/4383961026/in/set-72157618156886482/)
This is a female Boat-Tailed Grackle I found at St. Mark's Wildlife Refuge. One of the other photographers was feeding the birds popcorn so they stuck around and I managed to get this really good shot.

Star Trails
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4383169305_d4262b759b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchapman/4383169305/in/set-72157623497590508)
This is a star trails photo, which means I used a very long exposure and the Earth's rotation made the stars move, creating lines. This is a 60 minute exposure. It's also using my fisheye lens. Unfortunately the light from the house produced some flare, but it still turned out fine.

This is what the same scene looks like without the star trails
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4383903240_909a07d3f8_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchapman/4383903240/in/set-72157623497590508/)

[Drack]

Osprey at Lake Seminole
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1053/4551881883_c44e3aa562_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchapman/4551881883/in/photostream/)

[Black Mage]

That is really magnificent looking. How much would it cost to get that printed? Just an estimate even.

I'd be looking at about $200, retail. That includes printing and mounting. I'm asking $300 at the moment.

[SoulinEther]

I'd be looking at about $200, retail. That includes printing and mounting. I'm asking $300 at the moment.

Wow.... a bit out of my price range I'd say, but I do hope someone (or many people) take(s) you up on it. It's really magnificent. And now that you've given me an estimate on how much it would cost just to print it, I'm seeing that it wouldn't be economically viable even to make one on my own.. hmm.

[Monobrow]

Taken some amazing shots with our panoramic camera, it was only $140, got it as a shell shocker deal.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs202.snc4/38418_1527952036958_1179409575_1502691_7103842_n.j pg

This is facebook quality for now, but I love this thing.

[Black Mage]

So I have the opportunity to finally get my hands on my own DSLR. My manager is offering me his Sony A550, a 50mm f/1.4, 18-55mm f/3.5 - 5.8, and a 55-200mm f/4-5.6, and an extra battery for (effectively) $400. I don't think I can pass this one up...as much as I am trying to resist the temptation.

Here are a few test shots from my likely-camera-to-be.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC02097-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC02079-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC02076-2.jpg

[Black Mage]

Having started to settle into life in Portland, Oregon, I've started to find time to do some shooting.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5012135007_a433f08f81_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5012116719_25a55b8833_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4917508380_469370af76_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4917507146_169845fee4_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4886661601_7278813364_z.jpg

I'm loving my new A550. I have yet to remove my 50mm f/1.4 lens.

[Bigfoot]

I've been wanting a DSLR for so long. Still don't have one yet. :(

Here are some random photos I've taken over the past couple of years.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/Bigfoot/Pond/pond1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/Bigfoot/Pond/pond9.jpg

A baby Sand Hill Crane and its parents. Apparently these are rare.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/Bigfoot/sandhillcrane.jpg

A lizard on my window.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/Bigfoot/lizard.jpg

A bee gathering from some wild flowers last spring.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/Bigfoot/bee.jpg

[Black Mage]

Some new shots of Steel and Broadway bridges...

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs729.snc4/64905_518930573842_203100142_30650736_7569225_n.jp g



http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs729.snc4/64905_518930578832_203100142_30650737_3609749_n.jp g

[SavageLand]

I did an entire series of photos based on the video game "The Mirrors Edge"
http://www.savagelandpictures.com/2009/10/mirrors-edge-photos-rack-up-407000.html

[BardicKnowledge]

I did an entire series of photos based on the video game "The Mirrors Edge"
http://www.savagelandpictures.com/2009/10/mirrors-edge-photos-rack-up-407000.html

Saw these -- they're awesome!

[The Biznut]

Alright. Ima double post to bump this thread up.

First photo is a jr. high dance I DJ'd back in April.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs138.snc4/37251_404841647659_501842659_4091992_1852158_n.jpg


Next 3 photos are from a music festival some friends and I put on this summer!

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs224.snc4/38556_422660392659_501842659_4522016_6179128_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs238.snc4/39227_422660217659_501842659_4522000_5192629_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs118.ash2/39227_422660227659_501842659_4522002_1857066_n.jpg




EDIT


Apparently this will be a single post until I get my wedding pics up on Facebook!

[Drack]

Thread is back? Awesome! Lemme post a few more pics (click for flickr links).

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1393/5144076687_851d7cd0d0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchapman/5144076687/)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1097/5116194232_07f5ca2317_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchapman/5116194232/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/5144528918_62b65906de_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchapman/5144528918/)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1208/5115591601_78841b9cb7_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottchapman/5115591601/)

[JH Sounds]

Here are some photos I've taken on my iPod touch via Instagram (http://instagr.am/):

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs980.snc4/75333_455426348425_581053425_5480517_682840_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs568.ash2/149051_458054838425_581053425_5528251_6816997_n.jp g

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs492.ash2/76557_461901393425_581053425_5574113_491208_n.jpg

More photos... (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=253932&id=581053425&l=7240d09e3d)

[Black Mage]

Got some new ones for ya.

Portland pano 1
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03543-2.jpg

Portland pano 2
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03534-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03554-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03348.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03370.jpg

[Black Mage]

And a few from Washington Park, above downtown Portland.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03438-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03431-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03407-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03450-2.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/Motzart120/DSC03459-2.jpg

[The Biznut]

This is a fantastic thread, there are some very nice shots of all different styles. Great talent here!

[JH Sounds]

This amused me more than it should have:

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/2125/198999339.png

Note the lower right photo reflecting the 4 train in the glass.

[Txai]

http://i.imgur.com/yAZZi.png

This bust of King João VI was inside a box of glass, so taking pictures of it was kinda difficult.

http://i.imgur.com/pFu4x.png

Best shot so far.