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Let’s Talk Photography!
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I shot film when I was a teen in the 70's and used my dad's WWII era Yashica-Mat twins lens reflex camera. It took great pictures but was a pain partly because it weighed about 6 pounds and partly because everything in the viewfinder was reversed. If something in the viewfinder was moving left to right it was actually moving right to left so you had to move the opposite direction to follow whatever you were shooting. Like this one here...
That's the shutter button there on the bottom right front corner of the camera. My first camera that wasn't dad's was a Polaroid Swinger! Took little instant developing B&W photos that were about 21/2" x 11/2".
And my first REAL camera was a Pentax 100. I bought it from a buddies brother in law, I think I paid $100 for it in 1977.
And then I discovered cars, girls and liquor and forgot about photography for a long, long time!
That's the shutter button there on the bottom right front corner of the camera. My first camera that wasn't dad's was a Polaroid Swinger! Took little instant developing B&W photos that were about 21/2" x 11/2".
And my first REAL camera was a Pentax 100. I bought it from a buddies brother in law, I think I paid $100 for it in 1977.
And then I discovered cars, girls and liquor and forgot about photography for a long, long time!
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My passion too...I started as a teen in the 70's as well, shooting my Dad's Zeiss Icon. Considering toying with film again after purchasing a vintage Canon EOS3 with it's clairvoyant "mind controlled" auto focus technology on a whim! After finally getting used to the Canon digital button layout, I'll probably just confuse my brain trying to reteach myself the SLR button placement, currently shooting Canon 7D Mark II.
I don't want anymore gear, just want to learn what I have "really good"..... or course if anyone offered me a fast f1.2 lens for free, I wouldn't turn it down no how! Dream on..
I don't want anymore gear, just want to learn what I have "really good"..... or course if anyone offered me a fast f1.2 lens for free, I wouldn't turn it down no how! Dream on..
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Funny story about my dad's Yashica - He actually had a Leica that he had "liberated" from Germany in WWII but thought it was too complicated so he TRADED it to another GI for the Yashica. Face. Palm.
My gear right now consists of a Nikon D3500 that I bought in March when I decided to give photography a shot again, the 2 kit lenses that come with it (18-55 and 70-300) and two prime lenses that I've purchased separately since. One is a 35mm f1.8 and the other an 85mm f1.8, both are Nikon glass. I've put the kit lenses back on the shelf and am trying to use just the 2 prime lenses.
Of course with digital photography comes post processing. I've dipped my toe in that pool using Nikon's own Capture NX-D but at some point will need to make the move to a full blown editing software. I am going to hate that but it is a necessary evil I guess.
Two photo ops this weekend locally are a wood turners symposium and drag boat races. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum!
My gear right now consists of a Nikon D3500 that I bought in March when I decided to give photography a shot again, the 2 kit lenses that come with it (18-55 and 70-300) and two prime lenses that I've purchased separately since. One is a 35mm f1.8 and the other an 85mm f1.8, both are Nikon glass. I've put the kit lenses back on the shelf and am trying to use just the 2 prime lenses.
Of course with digital photography comes post processing. I've dipped my toe in that pool using Nikon's own Capture NX-D but at some point will need to make the move to a full blown editing software. I am going to hate that but it is a necessary evil I guess.
Two photo ops this weekend locally are a wood turners symposium and drag boat races. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum!
My current camera is pretty basic as far as digital cameras go but I've looked at upgrading it and holy cow, the buttons on the higher end models!! It's ridiculous. There's a button for EVERYTHING. My entry level camera has many of the same features that they have but everything is accessed thru the screen and menus. All of those buttons scare me, lol. I've just now got my brain and muscle memory trained on the body that I have, I can't imagine trying to learn a new camera.
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I'm tagging along. I've gotten some really good shots with no camera at all (iPhones of various generations) which I edited with free software. I feel like if I had learned something about f-stop and aperture and film speed and how they all worked together...I would have been unstoppable.... my husband offered to pay for photography lessons. I should have taken him up on it.
Sorry if this wasn't intended to be a show-off thread...
Sorry if this wasn't intended to be a show-off thread...
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In my teen years I was shooting my dads canon t100 35mm slr. Strutting around Disney World like a world class photographer. I’m currently shooting the Nikon D3500 as well with just the kit lenses. I’m really looking at getting the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8g soon.
This is definitely intended as a show off thread; until it gets deleted for taking up all the server space! I really like the lighthouse picture; good job on that one!
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I find my kit lens 18-55mm gives the most wonderful bokeh backgrounds under the right circumstances. I use it more often than my L lenses now. My only prime is a older Canon Nifty Fifty 1.8mm, it's really good in low light and didn't break the bank. I'm favouring the lighter lenses these days over packing a telephoto. SaltyPhone I know you will enjoy yours if you get one!
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Elkwatcher that's a very nice shot was that with the 50 or 18-55? I'm having trouble nailing my exposure; I'm getting pretty good with my focus and composition. Both pics here are the uneditied jpeg. Ive been working with LR on raw files for about a month and trying to get the hang of that has me almost bald now 
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Phones today have pretty amazing cameras built in but there's no substitute for a dedicated camera, whether it's mirrorless, DSLR or film. Phone cams are getting better and better but to get the shallow depth of field and that sweet bokey you're going to need some separation between the lens and the sensor and a flat phone just can't provide that. Yet. I imagine that there are software tricks that can be employed to simulate the effect and you'll see those on high end phones some day.
My camera is of the crop sensor variety which affects the FoV by a factor of 1.5 as well as the DoF/aperture relationship by that same factor. My f1.8 will have the DoF of a f2.7 and a 50mm lens will give an as though it were a 75mm on a full frame. Still quite usable but not the same as a full frame. It does give me more "reach" though with the telephoto lenses which I kind of like.
SaltyPhone , your LR experience, how has that been? I can't imagine teaching myself something like that, are you using a tutorial?
My camera is of the crop sensor variety which affects the FoV by a factor of 1.5 as well as the DoF/aperture relationship by that same factor. My f1.8 will have the DoF of a f2.7 and a 50mm lens will give an as though it were a 75mm on a full frame. Still quite usable but not the same as a full frame. It does give me more "reach" though with the telephoto lenses which I kind of like.
Shooting in full sun is brutal. It's doable for wide panoramas and really tight closeups but that's about it, in my opinion. I either get blown out backgrounds or subjects that are underexposed. There's just no happy middle ground.
I know a guy who shoots for a living and he just bought one of the 18-55mm AF-P lenses, refurbished, for $69. He's using it on a full frame camera so he gets the full 18mm and says it's one of the sharpest lenses he has for that focal length.
SaltyPhone , your LR experience, how has that been? I can't imagine teaching myself something like that, are you using a tutorial?
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Beautiful s the exposure on both well done. Your flowering bush has a real delicacy about it and the crosses are powerful with the pov you chose to shoot at. I shoot in manual now using the built in light meter to get it right and use exposure compensation for mood. Everything is an experiment for me as I am self taught just from reading. You can do some incredible edits working with raw files, you'll soon have it under your belt! LR is my go to, with Affinity Photo being second, it is almost a Photoshop clone. I try to get it right in camera first though.
The hardest part for me now is my eyesight is changing and I am bothered with an opaque floater that makes focusing difficult. I rely on back button focus ( assigning a separate button instead of using the shutter button ) And a new pair of glasses probably wouldn't hurt either...
The rose is shot with 18-55mm kit.
pescado Verde That's a good deal! I use crop sensor and full frame Canon's, and the kit lenses are only compatible with the 7DII crop sensor being EFS which is a drag. Sometimes I forget and grab the wrong lens when I'm going out and the whole day goes down the tubes. I used to pack everything but found most of it was never used, so now challenge myself to shoot entirely with one lens, unless I'm going somewhere with a purpose that needs two.
I hope Thunder_o_b will find the thread too kallililly1973
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One thing I do like about the Nikon is that they use the F mount across just about every camera body since forever. Well, they have a "micro" 4:3 but that's something completely different, the lenses are tiny, lol. Nikon makes lenses for the DX size sensor but they still work on the FX bodies but the camera will recognize them and produce a cropped . But the lenses still work.
I went to shoot a volleyball scrimmage this past weekend and took just one lens. Same with a horse show last week. I may take 2 lenses if I go to the drag boat races this weekend but I would prefer to get by with just the 85mm. It gives the same FoV as a 127mm which for me makes it pretty useful for a lot of stuff. Might take the 70-300, it's pretty compact. Slow, f6.3 at 300mm, but outdoors should be fine. I think if I buy one more lens, probably a f2.8 200mm, I'll be done with the GAS for awhile.
Speaking of eyesight, I absolutely have to depend on the autofocus because of my poor vision. Being a blind photographer is....tricky.
And about back button, I switched as soon as I found out about it. Anyone who's older like myself and ever had a camera pre-digital/autofocus days was used to the focus being a separate operation from the shutter release anyway so it's much more natural for me than having it in the shutter release button.
How did you approach/learn the post processing aspect of digital?
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I use the Digital Photography School link You searched for lightroom - Digital Photography School as a resource, also bought Scott Kelby's book on LR and watch Youtube's. I've edited for a few years in free Nik software which is excellent. The worst part of LR for me is managing the files, as if anything is moved outside of the program it doesn't know where the s are. Now I'm getting smart and naming the s... try and find something you've lost that is a numbered file. I like to do creative editing... Still trying to learn layers to make composites.. one of the easiest photo editors I've trialed is Photoshop Elements and it hasn't the cost of Photoshop. Yes, I'm an editor junky.
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I shot and developed black & white for a long time when I was young and digital was exotic. Nikon F-1 and F-4 bodies mostly, but I did have a Cannon AE-1 for a while back in the late 80s. That one was stolen, and I lost a huge amount of film with pictures of an entire western pacific cruise on an aircraft carrier. I had s of the Bataan trail and gun emplacements on Corregidor. All kinds of strange stuff in Thailand, "Crossing Over" ceremonies where wiggly pollywogs become Trusty Shellbacks, shots from the top of Mt. Fuji. The Iranian coast guard as they "escorted" us through the Straights of Hormuz. I'd give my right arm to get that film back.
Anyway, now I shoot a Nikon DX (D-3100) digital and am looking to get a full frame body, as that is where all the good lenses are. I just bought a couple of Yongnuo lenses (35mm prime and 50mm prime) and have been having some good luck with those. I also have a Yongnuo speed light, but it doesn't get much use.
Anyway, I like taking pictures.
Anyway, now I shoot a Nikon DX (D-3100) digital and am looking to get a full frame body, as that is where all the good lenses are. I just bought a couple of Yongnuo lenses (35mm prime and 50mm prime) and have been having some good luck with those. I also have a Yongnuo speed light, but it doesn't get much use.
Anyway, I like taking pictures.
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Thank you. That's Montauk Lighthouse on the end of Long Island. You might have seen Haystack Rock before. Microsoft uses a photo of it for one of the default backgrounds for Windows. It was 35 degrees on the beach that day and the snow was just melting from the edges of the beach when we got there, and the ocean was steaming. The shrimp was in my aquarium, but I liked the colors.
I have a Nikkon D80 with a 200mm portrait lens. That was it for a while and I got some cool photos with it. Then we got a 35-80mm auto lens and I use that mostly now.
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I post on another forum and there is a photography discussion thread there also so when I started back into this I posted there and heard about post processing and how powerful it can be with digital s. I was not yet ready to get LR or another subscription product but I got curious and found Nikon's Capture NX-D which obviously is designed to read Nikon's RAW files perfectly. I've tinkered with it a bit but that's about it.
As for file management, I'm aware of the need for some organization in that area and brought it up on that other forum. Nobody responded, lol. I guess they didn't want to admit that their system wasn't perfect.
I've had to manage databases at a job I had years ago so I have a little bit of an idea of structure but right now I discard most of my s anyway after reviewing and playing with a few in NX-D. I save a couple as JPEG but that's about it.
Thanks for the reply, I may revisit this topic to pick your brains.
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Jerome O'Neil How heartbreaking to lose that roll of film with all the amazing content it held. I took a trip to Portugal when I was younger and one of the border guards exposed my film going through customs. I still have 2 AE-1's good camera's in their day and even now. Seems like I am the lonely Canon shooter here!
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It was more like dozens of rolls of film. We were gone for six months on that cruise. Someone lifted the whole bag right out of my shop. Camera body, lenses, speed light, and all of my film canisters waiting to get back to the states so I could develop them. Gone. I was heartbroken. Heck, that was close to 30 years ago, and I still am!
I often think about getting another film body, but film is getting pretty scarce these days. I used to love printing, though.
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I bought a dark room setup when I was a senior in HS from a classmate. B&W was all I could afford to do but had a blast with it. Used the big vanity in my mom's bathroom as my work space. I did not develop my own film but had a teacher who would do it as his house. Good times. I miss the quality of the 21/4" negatives.
Film can still be had and there are plenty of places to get it processed too. Some of it is old stock but I think that's part of the fun, not knowing exactly what you're going to get with it.
Film can still be had and there are plenty of places to get it processed too. Some of it is old stock but I think that's part of the fun, not knowing exactly what you're going to get with it.
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Most of my film negatives and prints were stored in a basement that got too damp when I was living in your neck of the woods, in Roxboro. They all melded into one giant collage eventually. I spent a couple hours some years back prying it all apart and was able to salvage a few memories but most of it went into the trash. There was nothing in there I'd call an actual photograph though, just a bunch of snapshots. I think I started snapping my own pictures when I was 13 or so and most everything I'd ever taken had been in that one box. I can remember saving up my yard mowing and paper route money to go buy film for that little Polaroid Swinger.
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I'm seriously considering adding a 70-200mm f2.8 lens to my bag. I've looked at Sigma (a beast at 4 lbs), Tamron and Nikon. Nikon is almost twice the price of the other two. I'm leaning towards the Tamron, someone talk me out of it.
A thief on a ship is just the lowest of the low because it's not a complete stranger, it's probably someone you see occasionally. We had a shared locker for stuff guys in the division had bought overseas. When we got back to San Diego several items were missing and one of our shipmates had been the first one in there and off the ship early that morning. We all knew who it was but couldn't prove it.
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Pescado_Verde I have the Canon L 70-200mm 2.8 IS which is probably the reason I don't change systems as I couldn't afford to start over again. It' beautiful glass and so versatile. With the ring mount on it's gruesome to pack around though. I'm still considering this Cotton Carrier as it can comfortably carry 2 camera's with lenses with the extra belt attachment . There's a Steady Camera attachment also that goes on the belt as well.. lugging a heavy tripod through the bush is not my favourite thing to do now!
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Mama Verde at the park today.
I didn't go to the wood turners deal today but most likely will go to the drag boat races tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Seems like it could be useful to leave your hands free and still carry a good bit of weight. I'm not hiking with gear so it would not be something I need but yeah, gear gets a bit heavy. I'm already learning to shoot with just one lens because I don't like to carry stuff beyond what I absolutely need.
I didn't go to the wood turners deal today but most likely will go to the drag boat races tomorrow. Wish me luck!
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DO. IT.
I like the Yongnu stuff. It's cheap so I have no idea how long it will last, but the equivalent Nikkor lenses are almost 5x the price. The math on that works out to "I'll just buy another one."
Ain't that the truth. I did six months TAD as an MA (Navy version of military police, for those of you following along at home) and there wasn't a week that went by when some sailor was hauling another down to our office because he "stole my shoes" or whatever. And you know it was true, too. On the rare occasion, someone would have written their name on it somewhere inconspicuously, which was nice because it allowed us to actually write the guy up for an Article 15 hearing, but mostly there wasn't anything we could do about is as we had no evidence either way who owned what.
On the even rarer occasion, the thief would come down a few days later to complain because he found himself the guest of honor at a blanket party. There wasn't much we could do about those, either, but no one argued it wasn't justice.
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Oh, absolutely, lol. The background still isn't quite level. She hasn't seen the sun in quite a while and is white as a ghost so I gave her skin a little color. Saturation, contrast, a little sharpness, brought out some shadows. I honestly don't remember all the corrections I made.
Kinda makes me mad though that the isn't tack sharp. Not sure how I missed on the focus. I've looked at it and the only thing I can think of is that the lens/camera body combo is just a hair front focused but the entry level camera I have doesn't have an option to fine tune the AF. I can't do manual focus due to my really poor eyesight so I have to depend on AF.
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Everyone is their own worst critic.
Honestly, I don't think there is anything wrong with the focus. The bokeh kind of starts right at her back shoulder, which is a nice touch. It makes the colors on the front of her sweater really pop against the softer tones of her hair and skin.
If you wanted to clean up the focus without tinkering with AF, just figure out what the camera thinks your f-stop should be, and go one stop smaller. That will increase your depth of field out a bit. It will increase your exposure time, though, so don't shake.
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I was shooting in bursts today because I'd never shot motorsports before and didn't know what to expect or what I might miss or when to expect action. I'll also shoot bursts at barrel races because you never know how the rider is going to come around a barrel. It's spraying and praying for sure but when you don't know what's coming I don't know any other way to get a shot. Shooting the volleyball last weekend was a nightmare, lol. No way to shoot in bursts really and things are moving so fast it's almost impossible to isolate on a player and then have them do something on a particular possession for their team. Kinda weird.
As I learn what I'm watching for I will use more discipline. Other types of horse shows - breed only, hunter/jumper come to mind, don't have the unexpected happen...often. So you can kind of pick the spots where you want to shoot with a little more discretion.
The rest of the boat race pics. Sorry if some seem to be duplicates, I was shooting rapid fire and in looking thru them couldn't decide sometimes which I liked better out of 2 so just converted both to jpegs and I'll look at them again later for some final tweaking.
Last of this batch.
As I learn what I'm watching for I will use more discipline. Other types of horse shows - breed only, hunter/jumper come to mind, don't have the unexpected happen...often. So you can kind of pick the spots where you want to shoot with a little more discretion.
The rest of the boat race pics. Sorry if some seem to be duplicates, I was shooting rapid fire and in looking thru them couldn't decide sometimes which I liked better out of 2 so just converted both to jpegs and I'll look at them again later for some final tweaking.
Last of this batch.
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Good morning Pescado_Verde. My Scott Kelby book is outdated now for LR4, it's a good go to book for tutorials, one of the only things I don't like about it is the illustrations of the computer menu instruction are hard to see as they are tiny and in a dark grey. He writes well and the instruction is written in a fun way. But like any technical book it can be over whelming. It's a thick heavy 488 page book, not night time reading!
My LR program is a camera software disc with licence that I bought online, not up to date but good enough for what I do, which is mostly learning by poking around and learning by trial and error. I have the attention span of a crow and am easily distracted by bright and new things, so have never really become fully versatile with it. Of all the software that I have it is still my first go to for basic editing though.
When I get stuck in it, I'll google my problem and find a youtube to get me out of it.
The links below I keep on my desk top and refer to often. They are both excellent resources. Hope this info might help!
Post processing : Post-Processing Tips for Beginners
Photography Basics Resource : Learn Photography
Advanced Photography : Advanced Photography Tutorials
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That tutorial link is awesome! I think I'll read thru the sections that I want to read and then make a decision on subscribing to LR. Photographers I know use LR and other options too so I'm not dead set on just one yet but I like what I'm seeing of LR so far.
I bought another camera body yesterday. Sigh. I couldn't resist, lol. Photog friend bought one and sent me the link. It's a Nikon D7500. Factory refurbished by Nikon for about half the price of a brand new one. I got it from B&H which is a well known outlet for cameras and photographic supplies. New toy!! Woooooo!!!!! I should have it in time for the barrel races this weekend, I don't know if I'll use it as my primary camera yet but I'll take it and try to learn as much as I can with it while I'm there. So between that and a 70-200 lens that I'm considering I think that should about do it for me for camera gear for a good long while.
Still not set on the 70-200, there's prime lenses in the 200-300 range that I might also consider as options. Price is going to play some part in the final decision but I do think that I like prime lenses better, generally speaking. I think for the money you're getting better glass simply because the variable focal length lenses have the price tied to the mechanical gizmos that allow it to go from one length to another whereas with a prime lens it's all about the glass and the AF and that's it.
I bought another camera body yesterday. Sigh. I couldn't resist, lol. Photog friend bought one and sent me the link. It's a Nikon D7500. Factory refurbished by Nikon for about half the price of a brand new one. I got it from B&H which is a well known outlet for cameras and photographic supplies. New toy!! Woooooo!!!!! I should have it in time for the barrel races this weekend, I don't know if I'll use it as my primary camera yet but I'll take it and try to learn as much as I can with it while I'm there. So between that and a 70-200 lens that I'm considering I think that should about do it for me for camera gear for a good long while.
Still not set on the 70-200, there's prime lenses in the 200-300 range that I might also consider as options. Price is going to play some part in the final decision but I do think that I like prime lenses better, generally speaking. I think for the money you're getting better glass simply because the variable focal length lenses have the price tied to the mechanical gizmos that allow it to go from one length to another whereas with a prime lens it's all about the glass and the AF and that's it.
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Elkwatcher here's what I ended up doing for post processing. I used the LR tutorial that one of your links led me to and I applied it to the Nikon NX-D software. There's pretty much a counterpart for every single thing LR does. A few things I can't do with Nikon's software is things like sharpen eyes and mess with IG style filters. Well, Adobe Elements has those. So I spent $60 for a copy of Elements off of Amazon. With the two packages I should be able to do pretty much anything that can be done with LR.
Here's the photo of my mom I messed with over the weekend. First is the as it came out of the camera as a RAW file and the second is my attempt today at post processing that same just using the LR tutorial but with my Nikon software. It's not great but that's just me and not the tools. I'll learn it better.
Here's the photo of my mom I messed with over the weekend. First is the as it came out of the camera as a RAW file and the second is my attempt today at post processing that same just using the LR tutorial but with my Nikon software. It's not great but that's just me and not the tools. I'll learn it better.
Random Great Topic!
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