The Photography Thread

[Gareth C]

I'd add that the software you use to process raw files can make a big difference to noise. For example if I process the pictures from my D80 in Aperture the noise is quite digital and can be unpleasant while if I use Photoshop its far more "organic". Doesn't so much change the level of noise but the appearance of it.

Very true. I have taken to using Capture One (with occasionally a little bit of Photoshop) and it does a great job.

[MartyG]

Got this one on the way home. It was brighter than this, but by the time I found somewhere to park up, it had started to fade a little.

[Alastair]

The bottom bit of that shot looks just like the corrupt RAW files I was getting a while back Marty Nicely done though, I like it.

Been out with the Pentax at lunch, amazingly bright viewfinder. It's
almost like being in the shot (is this what full frames are like to use?). It's strange trying to visualise what the shots will be like in BW though. Using film certainly made me try to get each shot right a lot more. I took 14 in an hour. Had I had the digital I think I'd have at least doubled that with a load of wasted shots.

Also, ISO 400 is too fast for me, I'm used to shooting 100 and as the sun was out all shots were at around 1/2000 and that was even using apertures like 11 rather than 2 like I usually like.

[MartyG]

The bright f1.7 lens on it will help a lot too, but yeah, my F90x viewfinders seem huge compared to that of the D50.

[Extra Terrestrial]

That is stunning.

[Alastair]

We had a work cricket match yesterday. I didn't play (dodgy shoulder ) so just took some pics. The 70-200 isn't really long enough for cricket and I wasn't super bothered about getting amazing angles etc as it was just for fun but I did catch the one attached.

Look closely and you'll see the ball past the stumps and both bails in the air!

EDIT - wow, the forum compression is awful, it's sharp of course on the actual file

[Extra Terrestrial]

I managed to find the bails after a minute of squinting my eyes at the screen!

Nice capture.

[Alastair]

Physics dictates they are most likely to be behind the stumps and also above so the top right quarter is a good place to start!!

[Alastair]

A couple of new additions to my street furniture series:



This one is intended to be VERY dark but there is detail there. If your monitor isn't properly calibrated or maybe you're on a work/limited laptop screen I guess it may look like crap.


Hopefully tomorrow there will be some proper B&W film additions too!

[Alastair]

Can't get my B&W film processed and scanned until Monday now. Lab's not open tomorrow and I still have 7 shots to use before I drop it in.

Was mostly cloudy today so I actually managed to get some shots with the aperture as low as 2.8, shutter was still at 1/2000 though!

[saif]

Hi
Obviously loads of people here use flickr to store their photos and stuff. Could anyone explain to me if its worth it if I have a picasa account already and why? The fact that Picasa is on and offline is pretty handy. What do you guys use for offline cataloguing?

[MartyG]

Picasa

And yes it is worthwhile having a flickr account. Flickr is more than just online storage, there's a massive online community behind it, groups, friends, forum discussions and ....

Intrestingness

[saif]

Is there anything beyond "community" though? I'm not too interested in more "social networking" (is there an even geekier term?) so I want a tangible benefit really. I've noticed there are links to people that make things from your pics which sounds kind of decent.

[Alastair]

What do you expect from a photo hosting site Saif? If all you want to do is store online in albums etc then I guess Picasa is probably for you as you can do it on and off line easily.

Used the modern cam with 50mm f1.8 lens to get a shot of the vintage cam with 50mm f1.7 lens!

[saif]

Nice cam!

Cheers for the info, I don't really know whaat to expect from a photo site so was just wondering.