The Photography Thread

[Alastair]

Currently deciding if I should sell my 400D for a 40D, or just live in debt and have the back up body ...

Regardless eyeing up the tammy 17-50 2.8 to replace my kit lens as I cant afford the fast canons and cant justify paying the premium for a lens I wont use as much as the long zoom.

40D only, who needs a tiny little toy camera when you have a big metal beast?

Tamron is great, I love it, got it for the same reasons you state, it is a premium for a lens that simply isn't any better at producing images just because it has Canon painted on it. Fair enough, the Canons are built better but the Tamron isn't exactly shonky.

Why do I bother spending thousands of pounds on gear though when the G9 can produce images of that quality? Please tell me Tommy that that gig was in a really bright location and was well lit and easy to take shots in.

Great work though.

Dan, that last shot has a very nice film look to it, good job.

[spagmasterswift]

I really have to force myself to post in here, you lot are off the chain!!

Was a frustrating lunchtime yesterday. All this chat about RAW made me release that I should leave the Automatic safety zone and go manual - there is a lot you have to do to get a picture let alone a good one, innit >_<

Anyway, here are a few from outside the Tate Modern - again...







Any tips on getting lightening right? I play around with the shutter speed and the ISO then review, but when its sunny outside its proving hard to see the screen well enough to judge if I've got it right. Also, any tips on getting colourful pictures, is that directly linked to shutter speed/ISO or do a lot of you guys tinker with your pics with software?

[Alastair]

Use the histogram mode when reviewing Spags, you want all the info to be roughly central and not peaking off the top at all.

Good:


Bad:


As for colour, if you expose correctly and the colour is there in real life then it should show OK, I do (as do the other guys I guess) post process most of my shots though and adding a little saturation can help (don't overdo it though). I find the RAW options like exposure, brightness and shadows etc are where I do most of my work though.

[fuse]

Why do I bother spending thousands of pounds on gear though when the G9 can produce images of that quality? Please tell me Tommy that that gig was in a really bright location and was well lit and easy to take shots in.

Great work though.

Ditto! That's a very tidy little shot, please make me feel a little better about the dent in my wallet and tell me the conditions were perfect

Dan, love the grand canyon shot! The contrast of the trees on the left against the background is stunning

[spagmasterswift]

Use the histogram mode when reviewing Spags, you want all the info to be roughly central and not peaking off the top at all.

Thanks Alastair, will look into this 'histogram'

[funkydan]

Dan, love the grand canyon shot! The contrast of the trees on the left against the background is stunning

Thanks dude, I appreciate the love

Dan, that last shot has a very nice film look to it, good job.

Thank you mate, kind of you to say so!

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Is it just me, or is this thread getting more popular everyday? I mean that in a good way as there is so much talent here - I get so inspired when looking at what you guys are doing, what you are buying and how you see things. We all have the same goal - to take great pictures and we all help each other do that! The community feel in this thread is awesome and I love it - keep up the amazing shots dudes!

[Ish]

It does seem to be one mighty love-in! My favourite thread by far

[PeteJ]

Yeah it is a pretty awesome thread, I often go back to the start to see how things have progressed. I think a lot of us have come a long way over the years.

I've just bought a new PC so should now be able to open images without the whole thing falling to pieces. Yays! Does mean I can't buy Ish's magic lens for a little while longer though

[spagmasterswift]

You boys have been very friendly and helpful - its safe to say if it wasn't for this thread I doubt I would have taken the plunge and bought a DSLR. BIG LOVE AND BEAR HUGS TO YOU ALL!!1

[Alastair]

[funkydan]

The way I feel! (links to safe you tube vid)

[Magnakai]

To be fair, it's always been a big hippy love-in! *hugs all round*

It's great to see someone who's interested in photography buy a camera and then progressively get better and better with it until they're producing some really impressive stuff. Winky and Fuse are just the latest examples of people who are producing some genuinely impressive stuff.

[TommyG]

Agreed, this is a great thread that i've never really posted in but always kept a close eye on. Now I have the G9 I hope to post more pics and get better at using all the manual settings the camera has, as well as after production (no idea where to start there)

In regards to the comments about the pic of the guy playing the guitar, yeah it was a well lit room, i have a few other pics from the same venue, this one is ok, again i haven't touched the image which i think would benefit from cropping to start with.



Oh and this afternoon whilst viewing a house with my girlfriend i saw a bee in a flower and managed to quickly snap this... (the estate agent ran away from it and thought i was strange for taking the picture lol)



Then later on in the day i took a walk in the local park and took this shot... i think it's ok, but i'm really struggling to understand how and where to focus on landscape shots, any tips?

[spagmasterswift]

Love your Bee shot man, its looks dirty to me for some reason >_<

Really pissed off the missus on the train home last night after discovering I can switch the camera to black&white. Its not the best shot that I took (its too dark innit), but captures her fiendish Sudoku addiction nicely.

[funkydan]

That's a cracker Spags - I like the hand movement! You should send it to a stock photo library (like Alamy) as they love that kind of stuff