Photography Photography Thread vs. BL Shutterbugs unite!

[hydroazuanacaine]

cool sculptures. looks like some difficult shots because of the lack of contrast that sand gives and a bright background without much sunlight on the front of the sculptures.

i don't know much about digital, but i used a d50 for work. which sounds 10 away from a d40.

 

[sigmond]

i've used the d50, it was a light, affordable Nikon. i remember a lot of event photographers were using it for a while.
yea, all my photos sucked, very disappointing. The sculptures themselves were also not as good this year.

 

[Kaden_Nite]

Bought a new camera recently.
Couple of photos of the locals while we're on the topic .

 

[Bearlove]

Some great photos in this section, Hydro' your photos are amazing!

Not as exciting as the shots above but I take a lot of photos of flowers so

 

[Bearlove]

Thanks for the votes in the Photography contest round - glad you liked the photo.

 

[Bearlove]

i have been struggling to adjust to the current Nikon DSLR i have access to (its not mine). its supposed to be much better than the d40 i bought not long after it came out nearly 10 years ago though thus far almost every photo i've taken has been inferior to what i got from my beloved d40. here are a few pics i took at the sand sculpting contest that convenes each year not far from where i live. [look a lot better full size and uncropped]

What one are you using ? I used to have the D90 but changed to the D600 so may be able to help you ?

 

[sigmond]

its a d3200. ha, i thought you were using the D5k_out_of_my_price_range. i haven't used it enough to become comfortable with the manual setting so i just take photos on aperture priority.

 

[Kittycat5]

I take a lot of nature shots.

 

[Bearlove]

its a d3200. ha, i thought you were using the D5k_out_of_my_price_range. i haven't used it enough to become comfortable with the manual setting so i just take photos on aperture priority.

The Dk range is lovely but like you say very expensive especially for what I need mine to do - the D600 is a nice camera and I have it fitted with a 28 - 300 lens. If your new to the camera it will just take you a bit of time to adjust to the settings - I tend to stick with Manual for most of the shots.

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

going to savannah for a week on monday. absurdly photogenic place. i'll probably shoot primarily slide film this time, where last time i was on an instant kick ...

i might bring my sx-70 specifically for portraits. there's a place there that sells the impossible project film there in savannah, but they don't carry my preferred spectra format (above). nor do they carry slide. fortunately that's easy to travel with. i don't want to risk any film with TSA other than 35mm canisters, because if they start pulling on instant film packs or medium format rolls they're ruined. they're great about canister film at US airports; takes them like 30 seconds to inspect a dozen rolls.

 

[Kittycat5]

Lucky you. Savannah is one of my favorite places.

 

[undead]

nice, undead. last is my favorite because the subject's face is the least obscured. second one is pretty cool too, where clearing the water is so well captured.

Thanks a ton! When I shoot whitewater kayaking, I actually don't think so much about their face as I do about the definition of the water and their boats/bodies. Part of the allure with photography, in my opinion, is that different people will like and dislike different things about each photo. My favorites from those is probably different from your favorites (for a myriad of reasons). It all kind of depends on what you want out of them. Regardless, I love taking photos and I love going through them after an event. I couldn't be more excited that you (as well as others, hopefully) enjoy them as well! I'm sure I'll have many others in the near future.

its a d3200. ha, i thought you were using the D5k_out_of_my_price_range. i haven't used it enough to become comfortable with the manual setting so i just take photos on aperture priority.

If I can offer you a piece of advice (and mind you this is coming from a photographer with ZERO formal training) one of the ways I taught myself to use the manual settings, was by using the preset settings to take photos, for instance Night Mode or Sports Mode, then find the pictures that you like the most out of those and upload them to your computer, then click on the file name and look at the property information. That will tell you the f-stop, the shutter speed, the ISO setting, etc. that ought to give you a good basis for where to put your manual settings. After that, you kind of start figuring it out on your own.

 

[herbavore]

If I can offer you a piece of advice (and mind you this is coming from a photographer with ZERO formal training) one of the ways I taught myself to use the manual settings, was by using the preset settings to take photos, for instance Night Mode or Sports Mode, then find the pictures that you like the most out of those and upload them to your computer, then click on the file name and look at the property information. That will tell you the f-stop, the shutter speed, the ISO setting, etc. that ought to give you a good basis for where to put your manual settings. After that, you kind of start figuring it out on your own.

I never thought of that--genius! I used to use an old film camera--completely manual because, well, they all were manuals back then. I am not technologically talented so it was always a struggle for me. When I switched to digital it was mostly to document my kids while they were growing up and I became very dependent on automatic settings. Now, many years later I would like to go back to manual but I find it really confusing. That seems like the perfect way for me to transition back to understanding what exactly I am doing and why.

 

[undead]

You're exactly right. Like I said, I had zero formal training. I taught myself almost everything I know about photography. I've had a few tips along the way from other photographer friends, don't get me wrong, but the overwhelming majority of things I've learned were by poking around the menu on my own. So, don't think of anything I suggest as law, obviously, but I'm more than happy to share things that I've found or have been told along that way that work for me.

I can honestly say, that I genuinely love my photos. If other people don't, I'm ok with that. People like different things and art is subjective. Do I want everyone to love my photography, hell yeah I do, but I know that not everyone will so I shoot for myself first. I figure I'm gonna be more critical of my shit than anyone else, because I know everything that went into a shot, so I know if I JUST MISSED something or if there's something in the frame that bothers me that maybe nobody else even notices. So I figure if I can take photos that I love (being as staunch a critic as I am of my own stuff) then there's a good chance it'll be well received by other people who like the same type of stuff. And if not... then fuck em.

Oh yeah, and with digital photography... learn how to read the histogram. You'll be amazed at how much it'll help you if you're shooting in the sun and can't rely on the LCD screen.

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

I know if I JUST MISSED something or if there's something in the frame that bothers me that maybe nobody else even notices.

feel you on this.


hasselblad's new medium format camera is priced at $32,995 without a lens. and it's no longer efficient for fujifilm to distribute 4x5 velvia 50 to the usa.

damn, the h5d-200c is $45k. with a little pop-up flash. i've seen a video of it being used, and the multi-shot modes takes many seconds, which must mean it can't be used to shoot a subject with even the slightest movement (like a portrait). the photographer was saying the 200c was the first version where the multi-shot mode can be used outside during the day because previous models were so slow our movement around the sun would show in the photo.

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

super excited about p30 from film ferrania. it's a motion picture film re-purposed for still, like cinestill 800t and 50d. this one is b&w like what old italian movies were filmed on. i think it will be absurdly beautiful in medium format. 4x5 would be amazing. hope it's somewhat affordable.

my entry in the photo contest is 50d, and here's 800t through a nikon fg with 50mm f/1.8 series e lens ...

the remjet layer is removed to be suitable for c-41 processing, which means its anti-halation properties are gone. hence the glow from the lights.

even more exciting, kodak is re-releasing ektachrome. that's no kodachrome, but i'm thrilled to just have another real slide film. what i really don't want to happen is for it to cut into fuji's e6 films and take all of slide film down. because my lab just stopped processing e6. it's on its way out. which is tragic.

slide film is so pretty. absurdly difficult to scan and no one keeps their screen accurately calibrated anyway. fuji's velvia 50 through an olympus xa ...

that one is overwhelmed by the sky's warm colors. i'll find a better example when i get home.

i have my dad's old kodak carousal projector. works perfectly. kills me seeing how beautiful the slides are when projected versus what i can get out of my scanner and photoshop.

unfortunately there is no way to process that kodachrome.

i just bought a nikkor 105 f/2.5 ai-s after accidentally selling my ai version while craigslisting high, but next on list is a nikkor 50mm f/1.2 ai-s. so fucking fast. will be much fun. you can actually buy them new. i've never bought a piece of photography equipment new. with them still being made, i'm sure i can find one used in great condition. because the price difference between new and used equipment is wonderful.

what would be really fun is the 58mm f/1.2 noct-nikkor, which is aspherical, but out of my price range at +$3k used.


super 8 is also on my list. but it's $75 dollars for 3 minutes of (negative) film when you include processing and scanning. i'd want to wait for ektachrome (positive), which will certainly be more expensive, to also be able to project. better love what you shoot. save that for girls in flowing dresses.

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

couldn't wait ...

three minutes / 50 feet of color negative film arrives monday.

 

[Jabberwocky]

That is truly a thing of beauty!

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

thanks, i think so too. told myself i wasn't going to become a gear head, but new formats are so much fun. don't even mind the hunt to find it cheap and quality. like honorable hunters don't shoot what they don't eat, i don't buy what i don't shoot. a cool looking camera does affect the work in a way, because i get like a .01 percent rejection rate when asking to photograph strangers. this girl glared at me before suddenly switching to a smile and saying, "yeah, but only because i like your camera" ...

guy i bought the super 8 from only had a only a landline. original owner. meticulous about caring for material items like people from that depression generation often are. he was real proud about having taken the batteries out before putting it in storage -- i appreciate it. everything on it seems to work, even the meter. for something from the early 70s, it's mint as it gets. found a working projector, but it's in neighboring city. a sibling lives in that city, and i'm thinking about asking them to pick it up for me (which i'm trying to not make a habit of). both the camera and the projector cost less than a single film cartridge.

on the note of asking to photograph strangers, i'm curious about anyone else's ethics who likes street photography? i almost always ask before taking a photo. the few times i haven’t , the subject was aware and did not indicate they were uncomfortable. i used to explain how the photo was going to be used, but no one really cares so i cut that bit. i know a lot of photographers don’t ask, and i’ve seen some great photos of people i doubt ever knew they were being photographed. one was of a young mcdonald’s employee staring out the drive-through window, which is double whammy in my book because that’s not just a not consenting participant, it’s someone trapped in place versus in public on their own. the mcdonald’s girl is one of my all-time favorite examples of street photography.

 

[Jabberwocky]

thanks, i think so too. told myself i wasn't going to become a gear head, but new formats are so much fun. don't even mind the hunt to find it cheap and quality. like honorable hunters don't shoot what they don't eat, i don't buy what i don't shoot. a cool looking camera does affect the work in a way, because i get like a .01 percent rejection rate when asking to photograph strangers. this girl glared at me before suddenly switching to a smile and saying, "yeah, but only because i like your camera" ...

guy i bought the super 8 from only had a only a landline. original owner. meticulous about caring for material items like people from that depression generation often are. he was real proud about having taken the batteries out before putting it in storage -- i appreciate it. everything on it seems to work, even the meter. for something from the early 70s, it's mint as it gets. found a working projector, but it's in neighboring city. a sibling lives in that city, and i'm thinking about asking them to pick it up for me (which i'm trying to not make a habit of). both the camera and the projector cost less than a single film cartridge.

on the note of asking to photograph strangers, i'm curious about anyone else's ethics who likes street photography? i almost always ask before taking a photo. the few times i haven’t , the subject was aware and did not indicate they were uncomfortable. i used to explain how the photo was going to be used, but no one really cares so i cut that bit. i know a lot of photographers don’t ask, and i’ve seen some great photos of people i doubt ever knew they were being photographed. one was of a young mcdonald’s employee staring out the drive-through window, which is double whammy in my book because that’s not just a not consenting participant, it’s someone trapped in place versus in public on their own. the mcdonald’s girl is one of my all-time favorite examples of street photography.

You really lucked out with that! That is how I am with vintage vinyl equipment and my pre-paintball gun markers I restore - the hunt is part of what makes the final result so special.

On the subject of consent, I think this is a very, very worthwhile conversation. I honestly have only thought about it so much; my experience is most slum photography. Some environments there is a general understand of implied consent, such as where people already aware is full of photographers (particularly of the less ethical variety). Other environments are inherently more voyaristic, such as more guerrilla style stuff taking pictures in corporate/legal/institutional settings.

When I'm in the barrio or skid row I will (almost) always ask for permission, particularly because a lot of the photography I used to do was of gang members and the open air drug trade. I also always found it interesting how taking a picture of a tent encampment is at once somewhat exploitive but also, by bringing the members of the particular community into the project, dignifying. I think things are much more ethical when the means are taken into consideration just as much as the ends in a particular project.

I never thought so much about pictures of people at work, where their work lands them in a kind of in between space in the public-private dichotomy. Very interesting food for though, the McDonald's girl