Official Misc Photography Crew, Part IV "You're not close enough."

[obmas]

Tomorrow morning I leave for a 5-hour drive, 2 night, solo camping trip to the alberta badlands. Very excited, but also kinda nervous.

Hoping for clear skies overnight and that the crescent moon does not affect the sky too much.

[acrawlingchaos]

Tomorrow morning I leave for a 5-hour drive, 2 night, solo camping trip to the alberta badlands. Very excited, but also kinda nervous.

Hoping for clear skies overnight and that the crescent moon does not affect the sky too much.

Hope his helps

http://cleardarksky.com/csk/prov/Alb...?Mn=meteorites




Clicking on the icon will bring up a link to local observatories that give up to 48 hours astrological weather conditions (cloud cover / transparency / etc) My rokinon 14mm comes in tomorrow and I'm using the site to figure out what locations are my best option. Hoping it will help me get a shot.

[obmas]

oh yeah, and there is a chance of auroras tonight from a M-class solar flare and couple weaker C class

[ShoryuBrah]

Fk the milky way brah, I wanna see some Andromeda shots with that tracker

[pieceofdebri79]

No insurance!

[tunafishriot]

No insurance!

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps98aaebaf.jpg

What a great capture! Don't know what else to say.

[pieceofdebri79]

What a great capture! Don't know what else to say.

Thanks for the compliment, and thanks for the reps, guys! We tried some park shots, but I assured him I'd get better stuff in a studio environment. Still working on getting out of this room, though. Dying to try a wedding. I think I can manage a 'cheapy' one. I've seriously been watching CreativeLive videos day and night trying to make up for the fact that I'm new at this. Feels like it's paying off.

[Dominik]

The sensor from a D4 is pointless without the features of the D4, imo.

It's a novelty item at best for the look at the same cost of the D800 (probably less now that the 810 is here and the used 800s are up for grabs) which I think is an exponentially better camera.

I initially could see the appeal of the D4 sensor in something more affordable as a D700 successor but they pulled a Canon and crippled it.

At that price point, 39pt AF, 5.5fps, one card slot, and no video was really dropping the ball.

Put a D800 or D810 in 1.2x crop mode and you've got 25mp files, 5fps and 6fps respectively, 51pt AF, two card slots, and of course video, not to mention better ergonomics.

Across the native ISO range (100-6400), once you scale 36mp files down to 16mp (or print them at the same size) the D800E is cleaner than the D4 with more fine detail so you apply even more NR in post and still retain plenty of detail.

So like you said, without the D4's key features (11fps, 51pt AF, etc.) to go with that sensor, you'd be better off with a D800.

[KRANE]

Not many unusual items in these parts.

[obmas]

Fk the milky way brah, I wanna see some Andromeda shots with that tracker

I will try to do one with my 100mm macro lens. On a crop it's 160mm, so I think that gets me close enough to frame it in the center. I don't have any lens longer than that though lol.

[Steps2jacked]

The sensor from a D4 is pointless without the features of the D4, imo.

It's a novelty item at best for the look at the same cost of the D800 (probably less now that the 810 is here and the used 800s are up for grabs) which I think is an exponentially better camera.

this is true except the DF will rape the d800/810 in ISO

DF 25600 is same as d800 at 12800
no ****ing joke, its almost 2 stops cleaner.

i would take the df on trips where you need to rely on natty light. keep the d800 for studio and landscapes.

[Dominik]

this is true except the DF will rape the d800/810 in ISO

DF 25600 is same as d800 at 12800
no ****ing joke, its almost 2 stops cleaner.

i would take the df on trips where you need to rely on natty light. keep the d800 for studio and landscapes.

It's nice to have up your sleeve like being able to say your car can crack 200mph but who here is shooting at those ridiculously high ISOs?

I've never needed more than ISO 12,800 with a fast prime or 2.8 zoom shooting weddings or events and that was in extreme examples.

Here's a comparison from Imaging Resource between the Df and D800E with the latter resized to 16mp.

Df @ 12,800:



D800E @ 12,800:



Looks pretty close to me only the D800E image has more detail so you can go heavier with the NR in post. Same shot with more NR applied.

The D800/D800E/D810 sensor clearly owns it at low ISO.

The result is a far more versatile camera despite all the marketing fluff behind the Df. The D800E/D810 is better for landscapes, studio work, and the D810's 15mp 7fps DX crop mode is better than 5.5fps for shooting action in decent light.

Nikon could have made the Df a poor man's D4 like they did with the D700 which had the D3 sensor, 51pt AF, 8fps with grip, etc. Instead they pulled a Canon move and crippled it.

[Boakey]

Godaddy was going to charge me $90 to renew my domain since it expired (Wife and I combined accounts so payment didn't go through on time) and since a domain is free with hosting most places, I told godaddy to fist themselves.


Go check out my new site brahs, let me know what you think. Kept it simple because that's the style I like.

www.codylerephotodesign.com

I like it. Simple and easy to navigate. Slide show is a nice touch.

[VmissileX]

Been feeling limited with 24mm for landscape. Just ordered a Rokinon 14mm. Last purchase before my girlfriend kills me.

GL Bro.



Gonna shoot some event stuff today. Some interesting bands/music has come down to bethlehem and i'm interested in capturing as much as possible.

[pooshda]

I have been wanting to pursue professional Photography (and Cinematography) but my financial situation has never allowed this to become a reality with 3 kids and struggling to find enough work (I am a freelance designer) so it's been a bitch, My credit sucks so I can't get a loan for the equipment either... this thread makes me sad haha.

Someone help me figure out how to get $3000-4000 quick so I can buy my Lumix GH4, Leica 42mm f1.2, and a few other general purpose lenses to get started.



Feel free to retain me for graphic design jobs, will work for Camera... at least I am not shooting for the 5D MKIII any longer, GH4 is half the price!

[KRANE]

I have been wanting to pursue professional Photography (and Cinematography) but my financial situation has never allowed this to become a reality with 3 kids and struggling to find enough work (I am a freelance designer) so it's been a bitch, My credit sucks so I can't get a loan for the equipment either... this thread makes me sad haha.

Someone help me figure out how to get $3000-4000 quick so I can buy my Lumix GH4, Leica 42mm f1.2, and a few other general purpose lenses to get started.



Feel free to retain me for graphic design jobs, will work for Camera... at least I am not shooting for the 5D MKIII any longer, GH4 is half the price!

Well given you've eliminated the two most obvious choices you could try perusing a generous benefactor -- or several in the form or crowdfunding. Even so, you'd need to have a well constructed plan (not to mention talent) in mind or something to show them to encourage those kinds of contributions.

Other than that, you could try signing up for a course at your local community college/technical school which should get you the use of their material and equipment. Provided they have a decent program?

[pooshda]

I consdiered crowd-funding from colleagues or anyone who could spare $10 but I don't know how to approach that and I don't want to feel like a beggar which is essentially what that is. Good ideas though, have definitely crossed my mind. I feel I would be an amazing photographer in time I just need to get setup so I can spend all my waking hours shooting and developing my skills, I used to have a few decent video cameras but had to sell them to pay bills (lol).

I do have the #1 Breaking Bad video on YouTube (if you search "Breaking Bad") that shows how interested I am in video editing (more of a dedication example considering it's 2 hours long) but it was some of my earlier editing attempts so has it's fair share of sloppiness. I've shot a few other family videos and edited them to be pretty fun too, if I had the equipment I would be out there doing this all day every day and by next year probably shooting weddings professionally one of my goal for another freelance gig).

Another dream of mine has always been to edit movie trailers or highly acclaimed television series but that doesn't involve any camera work at all.... lol.

[pooshda]

lol, I keep going back to video in my posts despite this being a Photography thread... I really would love Photography just as much I just have a special place in my heart for Cinematography/Editing which is why I keep bringing it up, also why I think the GH4 would be an excellent camera for me to handle both with. Knowing that the camera could be paid for by shooting and editing 1 wedding bugs me too, I need the camera first unfortunately haha.

[ShoryuBrah]

Someone help me figure out how to get $3000-4000 quick

Oh if it were that easy.

[pieceofdebri79]

^ "gay for pay" is all I can come up with? I haven't exactly ruled that out on my quest for a Hassleblad.

[VmissileX]

the only realistic advice I have to gain 3-4k $ in a short period of time is to start picking up a high paying side job.

I tutor math on the side and that helps save. I'm sure some of you guys could do well selling your photographic skills.

[pooshda]

I can easily whack out the money for the camera, trouble is finding projects... I charge $50-80/hour for design but one of my biggest clients (DraftKings) hired someone in Boston so all of that work I got from them eventually died down to next to nothing and it's been a bitch. I need to find more clients and projects and I'd be golden, that's just the tricky part

[M0tibation]

I transferred all my domains off of GoDaddy to NameCheap. Easier management, cheaper, and never have to worry about renewing with a promo code just to get good prices. You actually save more if you keep your domain long term with NameCheap. GoDaddy is great for people who buy domains and plan on selling it within the year since new .com registrations can be had for a couple of bucks. Renewal is where they screw you over. WhoIS privacy is also easier to manage through NameCheap and is actually done through the their own control panel and not the Domains By Proxy 3rd-party garbage that GoDaddy pushes on you. I was tired of logging in through a separate account.

As for your site, I like that you kept it simple. The only major nitpick I have is the font selection for headers and body text. Those fonts are nice, but they don't really fit the overall minimalistic, clean style. They are a bit too inappropriately whimsical in the presence of your serious logo and footer font. I feel like they should match your logo's font and footer's font instead.

The navigation links text could use some increased tracking/letter spacing. They look a bit bunched up and hard to read. Some of the letters look like they are colliding into each other. I'm viewing through Mac OSX using Google Chromium, just for your reference.

Lastly, I'm not really a fan of the gray borders in the photography and GFX design pages. I think they just add cluttering to the look and detract from Web 2.0 style. For the photography page, I would do a centerized 2x2 grid to display the images, and use bigger images instead of small thumbnails. Maybe have the category names layered somewhere onto the images instead of floating on the side. For the GFX design page, do the same, but keep it a simple 3x1 grid instead. I think the current layout leaves too much whitespace on the right side, making the left feel a bit too heavy.

Other than that, nice photos and graphic design work, mane.

Oh I agree, the fonts are not sticking. I was basically just changing the fonts to see which font controller controlled which content since there is H1-H5 or 6; and thanks for the detailed feedback!

[KRANE]

I can easily whack out the money for the camera, trouble is finding projects... I charge $50-80/hour for design but one of my biggest clients (DraftKings) hired someone in Boston so all of that work I got from them eventually died down to next to nothing and it's been a bitch. I need to find more clients and projects and I'd be golden, that's just the tricky part

Last but not least, there's bartering, and/or a partnership. Hopefully one that has a needs for your services as much as you need what he knows -- and his equipment.

Granted, this might take a while (and you might still need to make some monetary investment), but at least you'll be on the road to success rather than sitting by the wayside waiting for some magic to happen.

[pieceofdebri79]

Quick question, guys. When you use one of those "color checkers" (Xrite or whatever), do those simply effect the white balance slider? Or does it, as I'm expecting, change the color sliders and all that madness? Because if it was just that one slider, that'd be pretty much up to tastes, hence no need for the color checker? Just thinking out loud, really. Not that I'm gonna go buy one of the expensive dang thangs, but I might go to the hardware store across the street and get some color swatches. Better than nothing, right? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

*And I just barely realized what NR means in the context of the previous page's discussion. Y'all and y'all's fancy learned acronyms.

[Dominik]

Quick question, guys. When you use one of those "color checkers" (Xrite or whatever), do those simply effect the white balance slider? Or does it, as I'm expecting, change the color sliders and all that madness? Because if it was just that one slider, that'd be pretty much up to tastes, hence no need for the color checker? Just thinking out loud, really. Not that I'm gonna go buy one of the expensive dang thangs, but I might go to the hardware store across the street and get some color swatches. Better than nothing, right? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Save your money and get a white balance/grey card.

$15 and fits on a key chain.



I also use something called an Expodisc for certain situations. You just clip it on the lens and with a Nikon select Preset white balance, hold the WB button down for a few seconds until "PRE" is blinking, point the camera at the light source, fire the shutter, and if it says "GOOD" then you're done.

[pieceofdebri79]

^ dang, neutral grey is lighter than I expected? But cool, I'll look into that thingy. Thanks.

[digitalchi]

Save your money and get a white balance/grey card.

$15 and fits on a key chain.



I also use something called an Expodisc for certain situations. You just clip it on the lens and with a Nikon select Preset white balance, hold the WB button down for a few seconds until "PRE" is blinking, point the camera at the light source, fire the shutter, and if it says "GOOD" then you're done.

seems nifty...but cant you just play around with the w/b later when editing if you use raw?

[KRANE]

seems nifty...but cant you just play around with the w/b later when editing if you use raw?

Yes, but why when you can get it perfect the first time?

[Dominik]

seems nifty...but cant you just play around with the w/b later when editing if you use raw?

Sure, but in situations where you want accurate WB, it takes a few seconds to shoot a reference frame with something you know is neutral and later put the WB eyedropper on it in post. Done.

It's worth mentioning that there are situations where accurate WB with no color cast would produce a boring shot, like around sunset where generally more warmth is desirable.

Shooting in Auto WB and correcting it in post is fine but it's often a good idea to dial in the correct white balance so you're not guessing later. The fastest way to do it is using Live View.