Official Misc Photography Crew, Part V "Do you even shoot?"

[dakensta]

Oh I love it! Here's mine from the other day.

Very nice. Widow skimmer isn't it?

[dakensta]

Got this critter today.

[zknarc]

Long time no post.
Got a Sigma 105mm f2.8 DG OS Macro last week. I like it. Here's a dragon fly.

Nice work. There are lots out here and holy chit they look impossible to shoot because they don't stay still for more than 2secs.

[dakensta]

brb taking over 9000 shots, brb 5 shots are good. Thank fork for digital cameras. Back in film days I'd have blown ~$350 in a single afternoon's shooting. truly was the rich man's hobby back then.

[kimm4]

Very nice. Widow skimmer isn't it?

Yes I think so. I got a couple nice shots of a few different ones and some butterflies too.

[dixie_normus]

here are a few macros I captured recently

[CornontheCobbe]

Hello everyone, wow you guys and girls are very skilled at capturing some great shots. Seriously blown away by some of them.

Just got my first camera (a Canon 750D) so I'm gonna stay subscribed to this thread and learn a few things, I'm really enjoying reading through so far.



Gonna go out and shoot a bit tomorrow morning using the standard 18-55mm lens that came with the camera and learn by trial and error.


Can't wait to learn more about this new hobby

[Burtle1]

I have so much to learn. I really need to take some classes. I can’t take much credit for these two pics. Not that they are good by any means. I was more or less spraying and praying

Someone can embed for reps if you’d like. Also seeking advice. I’m trying to get better. Nikon D750 200-500mm f5.6

https://imgur.com/gallery/cL65Q0o


https://imgur.com/gallery/2gSQyXF


Both were handheld. They aren’t crisp. Looks like they are full of noise.

[BlueSasquatch]

I have so much to learn. I really need to take some classes. I can’t take much credit for these two pics. Not that they are good by any means. I was more or less spraying and praying

Someone can embed for reps if you’d like. Also seeking advice. I’m trying to get better. Nikon D750 200-500mm f5.6

https://imgur.com/gallery/cL65Q0o


https://imgur.com/gallery/2gSQyXF


Both were handheld. They aren’t crisp. Looks like they are full of noise.

For the ducks, maybe frame just the two on the right, have them fill the left and leave space on the right. So I think panning the camera to the right would've helped alot. Maybe if you could get a tad lower, or an angle that showed the horizon. Suppose you couldn't really get lower. Water looks a tad odd, did you process the picture and really drop the highlights? a Polarizer would help, it's like it sounds, sunglasses for your lens, just screws on the front.

Same comments for the deer, you have it in the dead center, which sometimes works but I'm not feeling it on this one, place the deer on one side of the frame, with the extra/empty space of the frame being in front of the critter. Then you can mirror image it in processing so that the empty space is on the right, you read left to right, so it feels better when an image reads the same, subject on the left, empty space on the right. But only if the subject is looking or moving in that direction. Hard to explain without images. Maybe some more background would help, hard to know where you are, keep the bokeh in the background, but show the horizon more and the sky.

Also that's just like, my opinion man.

I hate dragonflies. They always attack me. Question for fellow hobbyists. Have any of you moved over to Sony mirrorless? I used one a while back and really liked how small and light it was, plus the image quality and color richness (closer to life) blew me away.

I would only move to mirrorless if I could sell or trade my current DSLR and lenses for the equivalent, not looking to make a switch and lose just for the weight or because it's the new thing.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Taking a Frans Lanting (Nat Geo Photographer) workshop next weekend! Excited....

https://www.instagram.com/franslanting/

[BlueSasquatch]

Taking a Frans Lanting (Nat Geo Photographer) workshop next weekend! Excited....

https://www.instagram.com/franslanting/

$25 if you wear a go-pro the whole time and send me the footage.

Jelly.

[BlueSasquatch]

Two more images from the Night hike in October up one of Colorado's 14ers. I think I took these maybe 8 years ago, on like the Nikon P510, which was a great camera for me at the time, both just sort of snap-shots, no real composing at the time. Not superb or anything, but good memories attached with them. I do need a better computer for processing images, looks drastically different on the 10 year old laptop.

[nvrstopworking]

Any thoughts on the advanced point & shoots like the Sony RX100 MkIII? Been considering that one as a travel camera...

[LinuxJon]

I hate dragonflies. They always attack me. Question for fellow hobbyists. Have any of you moved over to Sony mirrorless? I used one a while back and really liked how small and light it was, plus the image quality and color richness (closer to life) blew me away.

I shoot with an a6500 and love it. Part of me wishes I'd waited until the A7iii came out, but I've honestly gotten a ton of great shots. I don't know that FF would make much difference, except for with high ISO stuff

[zknarc]

Any thoughts on the advanced point & shoots like the Sony RX100 MkIII? Been considering that one as a travel camera...

Good but too small to not drive you insane to use seriously.

Look at sony A6xxx line instead.

[nvrstopworking]

Good but too small to not drive you insane to use seriously.

Look at sony A6xxx line instead.

Lol.... ya, I was wondering about the size. I’m 6’5” so I imagine that it might annoy me if I felt like my hands were too big for it.

Will have a look at the A6xxxs... How’s the kit lens on that? If I’m going to get into buying lenses I’d rather wait and get a decent DSLR....

[Dominik]

I don't know that FF would make much difference, except for with high ISO stuff

FF ISO has the edge but unless you have a full frame with 50mp+ a 24mp crop sensor will beat it on pixel density which helps with capturing fine detail and that makes a difference with wildlife and macro photography. So you win some and lose some.

A couple of key FF advantages are more wide lens options and shallow depth of field with a wider field of view.

Myths that continue to be parroted: FF has "less depth of field for nicer bokeh" and crop has more reach. Bullsh!t on both. Crop doesn't have more reach. All it's doing is cropping away the corners to create the illusion of more reach.

You can prove this by using crop mode on a full frame camera.

The difference is you can't get as much in the frame at a given focal length and camera-to-subject distance. So you have to back up to get the subject in which brings more of both the subject and the background into focus hence the nicer looking bokeh on FF.

In other words with an 85 1.4 on full frame in vertical you can get a nice head and shoulders portrait with shallow DOF @ f/1.4. On a crop sensor you've got to back up or you'll only capture the subject's head. Hope that makes sense.

[Dominik]

Any thoughts on the advanced point & shoots like the Sony RX100 MkIII? Been considering that one as a travel camera...

Looks good to me and you can't beat a Sony sensor. Some will say a phone is good enough or push the mirrorless option but unless you're happy with a pancake lens (and for travel you won't be) you'll either have a bulky camera with a zoom or be lugging around several lenses and potentially miss shots when changing them.

Compact still has its place IMO despite its rapidly shrinking market share.

[LinuxJon]

Myths that continue to be parroted: FF has "less depth of field for nicer bokeh" and crop has more reach. Bullsh!t on both. Crop doesn't have more reach. All it's doing is cropping away the corners to create the illusion of more reach.

You can prove this by using crop mode on a full frame camera.

This is true, but crop mode on something like the A7iii is a tiny MP count. If you're talking about something like the A7Riii, absolutely.

[rynnp]

Any thoughts on the advanced point & shoots like the Sony RX100 MkIII? Been considering that one as a travel camera...

especially since im into videos and vlogging i think i may look into a point n shoot like the rx 100 m5 or g7xii
theyre pretty good cameras tbh.


but i also wanna save money to get the a7iii lol.

[Dominik]

This is true, but crop mode on something like the A7iii is a tiny MP count. If you're talking about something like the A7Riii, absolutely.

That's what I mean about pixel density. Crop has the clear advantage unless you're shelling out the big bucks for a high MP full frame sensor and even then it's either slightly behind (for example D850 in 1.5x DX crop is 20mp) or even.

Crop typically means smaller files and higher fps which is more practical for most jobs.

[chino3]

I havent shot in years. Sadly life got in the way. But bust out the 40-70 this weekend

[nvrstopworking]

Looks good to me and you can't beat a Sony sensor. Some will say a phone is good enough or push the mirrorless option but unless you're happy with a pancake lens (and for travel you won't be) you'll either have a bulky camera with a zoom or be lugging around several lenses and potentially miss shots when changing them.

Compact still has its place IMO despite its rapidly shrinking market share.

Thanks for the input Dom. Basically my situation is this.... I used to have a Canon 60d a few years ago and enjoyed it. Ended up selling it and just using my phone (which was fine for IG and printing out 5x5 or at most 10x10 shots).... I find myself wanting to make bigger prints these days though and a phone just isn’t going to cut it anymore... plus I really miss the night shots that you can get with a DSLR and a tripod.

I figure I could either spend $800 or so and get the Sony point and shoot... or spend twice that and get a used Canon 6d with a 24-105 lens (which I imagine would last me longer). I’m mostly into landscape and architectural photography with a bit of street.

Additional thoughts?

[Dominik]

Thanks for the input Dom. Basically my situation is this.... I used to have a Canon 60d a few years ago and enjoyed it. Ended up selling it and just using my phone (which was fine for IG and printing out 5x5 or at most 10x10 shots).... I find myself wanting to make bigger prints these days though and a phone just isn’t going to cut it anymore... plus I really miss the night shots that you can get with a DSLR and a tripod.

I figure I could either spend $800 or so and get the Sony point and shoot... or spend twice that and get a used Canon 6d with a 24-105 lens (which I imagine would last me longer). I’m mostly into landscape and architectural photography with a bit of street.

Additional thoughts?

If you've got the budget then a used DSLR is going to be better value for money than mirrorless and of course better quality for landscape and architectural shots.

I agree for low light you can't beat a larger sensor on a tripod. Even if you're only grabbing it a couple of times a month you're going to take shots with it that you'll want to print. The phone takes care of everything else.

6D would be a great choice for landscapes. Its only weak points vs. a 7Dmk2 for example are the 11pt autofocus for tracking a moving subject and frame rate (4.5fps) for action and as you know that's all irrelevant for static subjects.

Also if you're looking for an affordable tripod find one that has a hook that you can hang your bag from to weigh it down. Makes a big difference with longer exposures when there's some wind. An ND filter is also worth buying for shooting waterfalls and creative shots that show cloud movement and with really long exposures making people disappear in tourist destinations. They open up possibilities for some really interesting B&W shots in the day when the light isn't doing much.

[Blueblob]

Is there a website you guys would recommend to order prints from? Moving into an apartment soon and want to get some photos printed.

[BlueSasquatch]

Is there a website you guys would recommend to order prints from? Moving into an apartment soon and want to get some photos printed.

Nations Photo Lab has worked well for me, but I haven't done anything larger than 11x17 yet. Just don't check the box allowing them to do color corrections, a family member did that and it looked awful, I think they just hit auto prior to printing, they don't assume you've already processed it I guess.

[zknarc]

Lol.... ya, I was wondering about the size. I’m 6’5” so I imagine that it might annoy me if I felt like my hands were too big for it.

Will have a look at the A6xxxs... How’s the kit lens on that? If I’m going to get into buying lenses I’d rather wait and get a decent DSLR....

I think this is the VI version but omg I could not live with a toy sized camera:


I'm not super up to date on the sony world, the mirrorless world changes faster than the weather.

[UrbexBrah]

I am having trouble getting straight lines in real estate work. I am shooting with a 5d mark iv and a sigma 12-24 art lens. I use the live view and I see one side is very straight and the other side is slanted ever so slightly. How do I fix this?

Here is an example:




Look at the left side? Its straight. The right side is slanted slightly.

Inb4 casting couch

[Dominik]

I am having trouble getting straight lines in real estate work. I am shooting with a 5d mark iv and a sigma 12-24 art lens. I use the live view and I see one side is very straight and the other side is slanted ever so slightly. How do I fix this?

Here is an example:

[img]https://i.imgur.com/Zy1xfx1.jpg[img]

Look at the left side? Its straight. The right side is slanted slightly.

Inb4 casting couch

Converging verticals. It's also slightly rotated right — you can see this by using the line in the middle for reference and there's some barrel distortion. Without a tilt-shift lens you'll have to shoot slightly wider than the composition and correct the keystoning in post.

It's happening in that example because you're shooting from a higher perspective and tilting the camera down to remove excess ceiling and include more foreground. The problem is if you shoot too low and keep the camera level on the vertical axis it will look unnatural. There is an ideal height for interiors depending on the room being photographed.

The advantage with a tilt-shift lens is you don't have to tilt the camera up or down. You find a height you're happy with for the perspective and simply use shift to include more foreground and less ceiling without throwing away any pixels. Alternatively use a wide lens and correct the converging verticals in post.

Like this. Obviously you will want to shoot wider so you can apply these corrections.

[UrbexBrah]

Converging verticals. It's also slightly rotated right — you can see this by using the line in the middle for reference and there's some barrel distortion. Without a tilt-shift lens you'll have to shoot slightly wider than the composition and correct the keystoning in post.

It's happening in that example because you're shooting from a higher perspective and tilting the camera down to remove excess ceiling and include more foreground. The problem is if you shoot too low and keep the camera level on the vertical axis it will look unnatural. There is an ideal height for interiors depending on the room being photographed.

The advantage with a tilt-shift lens is you don't have to tilt the camera up or down. You find a height you're happy with for the perspective and simply use shift to include more foreground and less ceiling without throwing away any pixels. Alternatively use a wide lens and correct the converging verticals in post.

Like this. Obviously you will want to shoot wider so you can apply these corrections.

Hmm interesting. I have looked at a tilt shift but didnt want to spend the price they are selling for. When I get into larger houses that will help build my portfolio, I will look into renting one. I am shooting houses quickly because they want them on the market fast.

Thank you for your input.