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

[Sandmang27]

First shot doesn't do much for me, but I like the other ones, nice work.

Anyone have any idea what to expect for Black Friday? I am in the market for a D500, I can find them used on Ebay for $1,000-1,200. They are $1,500 new from Amazon or Nikon.

Torn between buying one now, and waiting for Black Friday deals, I have a trip in December, so It could wait until then.

Thank you, I really liked the 10-18mm it made a huge difference.

I really like the way the 90D is looking. I think it's a pretty decent upgrade from my 80D and I'll be picking one up. Not sure if the 7D mark ii is even an option anymore.

I would just wait if you don't need it before black Friday. You will most likely save a lot of money and if they aren't on sale then just buy it then. You'll only miss out on not using it for a few weeks.

[Dominik]

Thank you, I really liked the 10-18mm it made a huge difference.

Just my 2 cents, if you like a wider composition don't be afraid to shoot a pano. UWA exaggerates the size of objects in the immediate foreground and mountains in the distance look tiny. It can be a great creative effect but generally I prefer shooting a pano without all the distortion. Somewhere around 24-35mm on FF in vertical is the sweet spot where you're not shooting a lot of frames. With Sony sensors I don't even bother with bracketing anymore, every now and then I might use a 2 stop soft grad, so that cuts down on processing.

That first shot you posted for example for me highlights when you don't have a strong subject or composition you might as well cram more in and at least it comes closer to the experience of being there.

This time around I didn't even bother with a pano head. I have a panning clamp attached full time on my ball head so I can just level the head and pan. No fancy composition required in a situation like that. Just be there at the right time, nail the focus, exposure, etc. and get enough of it in. Crop later.

[litljay]

Right, thanks for the clarification Dom, I know crop sensors are smaller and give the illusion of reach, a 300mm lens is 300mm on all cameras, the perceived range varies, because of sensor crop. But it's easier to say more reach than a disclaimer sentence, I need to figure out a better. shorter way of saying the same thing I suppose. The D500 is around $1,000 used, so it's pretty expensive for a DX body, could maybe make the jump to FX. I think I could equally find some things enjoyable about a change to M4/3s, it's the wildlife that I enjoy shooting the most, which is what keeps me from M4/3s. I think the D500 would be a good upgrade to the D7100. With eyes on the 200-500mm for the next lens. I could swing for the D750 instead I suppose, but not sure if it would be better just for the sake of full frame.

https://www.flickr.com/people/chadberens/

I had the D750 until my truck was broken into and somebody helped themselves to my camera bag. That sucked. Anyway, I replaced it with the D500. I shoot mostly indoor sports, so the low light performance and fps are what drove me to the D500. Both camera's are better than this dummy clicking away.
I do notice the FOV difference however using my 70-200 depending on where I'm standing. I would think that shooting wildlife though being too close is usually not the problem.

[Sandmang27]

Just my 2 cents, if you like a wider composition don't be afraid to shoot a pano. UWA exaggerates the size of objects in the immediate foreground and mountains in the distance look tiny. It can be a great creative effect but generally I prefer shooting a pano without all the distortion. Somewhere around 24-35mm on FF in vertical is the sweet spot where you're not shooting a lot of frames. With Sony sensors I don't even bother with bracketing anymore, every now and then I might use a 2 stop soft grad, so that cuts down on processing.

That first shot you posted for example for me highlights when you don't have a strong subject or composition you might as well cram more in and at least it comes closer to the experience of being there.

This time around I didn't even bother with a pano head. I have a panning clamp attached full time on my ball head so I can just level the head and pan. No fancy composition required in a situation like that. Just be there at the right time, nail the focus, exposure, etc. and get enough of it in. Crop later.

I always appreciate advice so thank you.

That's a very good idea and didn't think of that. I did shoot some vertical shots and didn't even think about doing a panoramic to replace a wide angle lens. I didn't bring my tripod so everything was shot by hand but I'm sure I could have figured something out.

[Dominik]

I always appreciate advice so thank you.

That's a very good idea and didn't think of that. I did shoot some vertical shots and didn't even think about doing a panoramic to replace a wide angle lens. I didn't bring my tripod so everything was shot by hand but I'm sure I could have figured something out.

Handheld works fine if you've got enough light. Just switch on grid lines in the viewfinder and make sure you've got around 30-50% overlap. Vertical/portrait is usually the best choice to use the full width of the sensor and maximize vertical FOV in one pass but if you've got something moving across the frame like waves then landscape can be a better choice.

I shot a landscape handheld once with two different compositions in landscape orientation with no thought of a panorama at the time and couldn't decide on which one I liked more. Years later on a whim I wondered what would happen if I tried stitching them in software and to my surprise it worked perfectly. There was about 25% overlap between the frames and that was enough.

Anyway it just gives you more options. Some of the best panos will come from using a long lens where the mountains in the distance or whatever look great with say 200-300mm but you can't get enough in at that focal length. Shooting a pano solves the problem. It's also the solution to producing large detailed prints without having access to medium format.

[theACEofSPADES]

What do you guys use to back up your files? I use a portable external HD but that's it. Kind of paranoid it will break or I'll lose it.

I could pay an extra $5/month for 1TB storage with LR but then I can't back up my videos, and of course I have to pay for it monthly. Any recommendations?

[StackingPlates]

What do you guys use to back up your files? I use a portable external HD but that's it. Kind of paranoid it will break or I'll lose it.

I could pay an extra $5/month for 1TB storage with LR but then I can't back up my videos, and of course I have to pay for it monthly. Any recommendations?

I would recommend a tertiary backup system, with a minimum of one located off-site (e.g. not at your house).

A common setup could be external hard drive (primary), network SAN (backup), Amazon Photos (tertiary). I like Amazon because they do not manipulate your RAW data and you get unlimited storage as part of a Prime membership. You may have to look elsewhere for video storage.

At a minimum, have copies at your house and in the cloud.

[theACEofSPADES]

I would recommend a tertiary backup system, with a minimum of one located off-site (e.g. not at your house).

A common setup could be external hard drive (primary), network SAN (backup), Amazon Photos (tertiary). I like Amazon because they do not manipulate your RAW data and you get unlimited storage as part of a Prime membership. You may have to look elsewhere for video storage.

At a minimum, have copies at your house and in the cloud.

I never knew Amazon had online storage, I will defiantly look into that.

[asianboy23]

anyone shoot portraits...if so, how do you go about finding spots/locations to shoot at?

[Dominik]

Sam, a little too much post processing in some of those lake shots. The unnatural hues aren't doing much for me.

Perhaps with the second and third shots but I saw some incredibly vibrant lake colors in NZ's South Island from "glacial flour" which on a clear day especially shot with a polarizer would look fake to anyone who's never been there. I'm sure many locations in Canada are no exception.

I grew up seeing NZ tourism commercials thinking "it can't look like that." Then I went there.

[Sandmang27]

Sam, a little too much post processing in some of those lake shots. The unnatural hues aren't doing much for me.

I think you're talking about my pictures.

I did boost the colours on the second and third shot, especially the third shot of the river and you're right it does look very fake I probably should have toned it down a bit.

But the first one I hardly touched and there are lakes and rivers that flow turquoise in the Rockies.

I remember the first time I went out west and saw the mountains a few years ago, everything looks fake even when you're standing right there. One of the first thoughts I had was it looked like someone put up a painting of a back-drop like one of those old western movies.

If you haven't been out there I highly recommend it.

[Dominik]

You probably have a point. I went to Capri with my ex-gf a few years ago and I thought the images online had been doctored. It was weird seeing color like that which you wouldn't see even in Fiji. I'll have to try getting out there one day.

If you ever find yourself in Capri, don't have sex on the beach late at night. So many ****ing rocks...

I've been there and that's a good example. Looks like Photoshop fraud until you actually see it.



The Great Barrier Reef here in this state looks fake until you see it. Again I grew up seeing this tourism stuff thinking it must be fake until I took a 2 hour flight there. Looked out the plane window and Ho Lee Fuk it's real. Took a boat out to the islands and the sand is like nothing I've seen before.



There's also a freshwater lake here that looks like a pool. Here's some dude's home video that looks straight out of the camera and makes the point.



Anyway I think to a certain extent even with stunning locations like this we need a polarizer and a little artistic license to juice up something two dimensional just enough to compensate for not being there. There's no question it sometimes goes too far when the greens go nuclear but it's something to keep in mind. Even phones are cranking the contrast and saturation so when someone says #nofilter there's a good chance it's still been enhanced to some degree.

Something I've found is the larger you print the less you have to tweak an image. With the glut of refined images these days to grab someone's eye on Instagram with an "OMG THAT IS AMAZING" reaction at low res it's got to be pretty special and probably dripping with Photoshop fraud. Print an image with medium format detail 80 inches across or display it on a large 4K display and you don't need to do much because it'll almost feel like being there. Just my 2 cents.

[Dominik]

Actually all this has got me thinking if photography as we know it is dying.

Of course there will always be a demand for beautiful printed images and content for websites but will the average person these days with the attention span of a goldfish want to look at a handful of images you shot of a location or will they just fire up a 4K video on their massive TV shot with a drone that shows more of the location in ways that can only be seen by air? Throw in timelapse, audio, and music to stimulate their senses and how can an image compete?

It can't.

[theACEofSPADES]

Anyone here ever used PLEARN? I'm looking for some good LR tutorials

[Sandmang27]

Actually all this has got me thinking if photography as we know it is dying.

Of course there will always be a demand for beautiful printed images and content for websites but will the average person these days with the attention span of a goldfish want to look at a handful of images you shot of a location or will they just fire up a 4K video on their massive TV shot with a drone that shows more of the location in ways that can only be seen by air? Throw in timelapse, audio, and music to stimulate their senses and how can an image compete?

It can't.

I don't think it's dying but videography is definitely taking over and dominating media. The biggest difference for me is that photography is all about capturing a special moment, a single point in time. This makes it very suitable for the short/shorter attention span that we are all developing because you don't have to sit there and watch a longer clip in order to get the feeling of the area, or animal, or event that was photographed.We still hang up pictures and have backgrounds on our phones and computers and a photograph is well suited for that.

But with a video you need to dedicate a longer amount of time, even if its 5 seconds, in order to get the same feeling from it. Sure you can get more out of the video but you have to still watch some boring or uninteresting moments in between the breathtaking ones. I think that's why thumbnails are so important, you can have an amazing video but no one will look at it if the thumbnail is boring.

Obviously I'm biased and that's why I take pictures and not videos but I find a nice shot of an eagle in mid flight in perfect focus with it's wings fully open a lot more interesting then a video of the same thing.

There's advantages to both but I think photography still has a pretty unique market and is a good way to attract peoples attention.

Anyone here ever used PLEARN? I'm looking for some good LR tutorials

I haven't used them but I have managed to get a pretty good grasp of LR through free tutorials and videos on YouTube. I don't think LR has anywhere near the detail as PS so I personally think spending money on a LR tutorial would be a waste.

[Dominik]

I don't think it's dying but videography is definitely taking over and dominating media. The biggest difference for me is that photography is all about capturing a special moment, a single point in time. This makes it very suitable for the short/shorter attention span that we are all developing because you don't have to sit there and watch a longer clip in order to get the feeling of the area, or animal, or event that was photographed.We still hang up pictures and have backgrounds on our phones and computers and a photograph is well suited for that.

But with a video you need to dedicate a longer amount of time, even if its 5 seconds, in order to get the same feeling from it. Sure you can get more out of the video but you have to still watch some boring or uninteresting moments in between the breathtaking ones. I think that's why thumbnails are so important, you can have an amazing video but no one will look at it if the thumbnail is boring.

It's good to hear a different take on it. I certainly hope that's the case because I love photography. I love capturing a single moment like you said. It could be a unique wave formation, something that only happened in that moment and it becomes part of that image.

When I was in Tokyo looking to get a shot of the Rainbow Bridge at night there were these boats passing across the frame that would have just been colorful streaks of light during a longer exposure. For whatever reason two of them stopped right where I wanted them to, just dropped anchor for maybe 2 minutes, I shot my pano, and then they were gone again. It wouldn't have been as special without those boats in the foreground as another point of interest.

Anyway it's a shame people typically see photography as something that should be free much like music and there's less time spent appreciating each image — they keep scrolling. With free 8K wallpaper available for download why would anyone want to buy a print these days if they can just download something straight to their 60"+ TV? Everything just seems more disposable than it used to be because there is so much more content out there. I've accepted that and these days simply enjoy taking photos for myself and above all enjoy the experience of actually being out there. Coming away with photos is a bonus.

[mingrey02stg2]

Actually all this has got me thinking if photography as we know it is dying.

Of course there will always be a demand for beautiful printed images and content for websites but will the average person these days with the attention span of a goldfish want to look at a handful of images you shot of a location or will they just fire up a 4K video on their massive TV shot with a drone that shows more of the location in ways that can only be seen by air? Throw in timelapse, audio, and music to stimulate their senses and how can an image compete?

It can't.

I see what you're saying but I feel like video lacks the "emotion" of photos. Take the 9/11 tribute videos for example... they're a mix of video and stills. When you see the still shots of those firefighters all caked in debris with their blank stares into the camera, you just feel something... something that a video of the firefighters walking around with the same debris lacks. Same with engagement shoots, newborn shoots, and others- there's a lot more emotion in a photograph than in a video of the same. That's just my take.. I feel like a great photo activates a different part of the brain than a video.

[Dominik]

I see what you're saying but I feel like video lacks the "emotion" of photos. Take the 9/11 tribute videos for example... they're a mix of video and stills. When you see the still shots of those firefighters all caked in debris with their blank stares into the camera, you just feel something... something that a video of the firefighters walking around with the same debris lacks. Same with engagement shoots, newborn shoots, and others- there's a lot more emotion in a photograph than in a video of the same. That's just my take.. I feel like a great photo activates a different part of the brain than a video.

Good points. When you think about it photography often has a lot to do with what you don't see in the frame — what's left out creates the magic. I've been to busy locations where there were a couple of minutes to get the shot in certain light before people appeared and with video you'd see (and hear) those people and it completely kills the mood. In those situations a well composed image will have a greater impact.

[LieutenantGains]

Anyone here ever used PLEARN? I'm looking for some good LR tutorials

Phlearn is wonderful, I've used it a lot. The guy that runs it is Chicago-based too, I've shot with some of his interns who are all super talented.

Finally remembered my Flickr password so catching up on a couple months of uploading now.


Lamborghini Diablo by Gary Hebding Jr., on Flickr

[LieutenantGains]

[Sandmang27]

Are those your cars or your friends cars?

[LieutenantGains]

Are those your cars or your friends cars?

People from around the area here in Chicago.

[Sandmang27]

What's the current status on mirrorless cameras? Good enough to transition away from legacy designs or not yet?

I think the biggest thing holding back mirrorless cameras is the lens selection. Sure you can put DSLR lenses on with an adapter but I'm pretty sure you lose features of the mirrorless system.

They just don't have a big enough selection of lenses imo to switch over now.

[Sandmang27]

Oh, right. I remember facing that problem 2 or 3 years ago with Sony's A series. Didn't Nikon and Canon get into the game last year? I remember reading a press report that Canon wants to focus on the future of the camera and thus mirrorless will be the future someday.

Yes, Nikon has the Z series and Canon has the M series which are their mirrorless options.

They both have adapters which give you access to their full line-up of lenses but I remember hearing that they aren't fully compatible so some features don't work. I'll have to go searching again to see exactly what but I believe it has to do with auto focus, the electronic viewfinder and maybe even general image quality.

[iloveus]

BMPCC 6k or Panasonic S1H?

BMPCC 6k: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...et_cinema.html

Panasonic S1H: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...s_digital.html

[LieutenantGains]

[LieutenantGains]

[jmelanson]

[JustThatBrah]

My London brahs, what are some good hidden locations to shoot?

[M0tibation]

Trying to get back to being active again on here... been a minute or two. I'm working full time as a self-employed architectural/real estate photographer/videographer now but still try to get my landscapes in.

Here's from early Fall in Colorado in September.