Anyone into Photography?

[Cafe_to_go]

This past week I bought a Nikon D7000 and the 35mm 1.8 lens for low light pics to add to my collection, I am learning photography and its becoming an expensive hobby like many hobbies. For now I am not trying to make a buck, since I really don't have any experience, the few parties I have photograph I have done them for free. So what gear do you have and what can you share about photography (tips, tricks, do's & dont's, anything goes)?


Here is the gear I have so far:
Nikon D90
Nikon D7000
SB-600
50mm 1.8
35mm 1.8
18-55 & 70-300mm kit lens that came with the D90 (i hardly use them)
18-105mm kit len that came with the D7000
11-16mm Tokina wide angle lens
Misc. stuff softbox, umbrella kit, camera bracket, and tons of memory cards


Things I need:
a good tripod and lots of experience.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/51103704@N03/5308411815/#in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51103704@N03/5314439443/#in/photostream/

 

[boingk]

Nice shot of the house, took me a second to realise it was lowlight. Might want to try using a wider apeture and shorter exposure time though, it'll give a bit more feel to the image. If you have things to clean the can come off as sterile.

Anyway, your gear sounds pretty good. Mine is only very basic - I've only got a Fujifilm 8MP pocket digital and a refurbished manual Fujica STX-1N (SLR) from '83. I have a standard variable 50mm lens and also a 70~120mm for it. Other gear includes a remote cable-release and a few tripods of various sizes, although nothing too flash. The cable release is brilliant in low-light conditions as it allows you to control the shutter without any interference with the camera whatsoever, giving very crisp images even in near-darkness.

I find the quality )and if not quality, certainly the 'feel') of film has still to be bested by digital. I mean, I could spend thousands on a digital setup and get very good, professional results, but theres no point as I do this solely for myself. If I need quick shots for the net or sharing then I'll take my perfectly capable compact digital... but otherwise I'm a manual film guy all the way.

Cheers - boingk

 

[teddpage]

Wow I'm totally jealous of the d 7000! I'm waiting for a body only version to become available. I currently use a d80 with a tamron 18-270mm lens. Really wana get the 7000 and a few more specific lenses like a wide angle, shorter zoom and eventually a 70-200vr. I love shooting racecars and that's THE lens to have.
Only advice I can give is shoot a lot and buy a few photography magazines and books. I learned mostly by just playing around with settings and see what happens to image quality. Ill post some non p-shopped racecar pix when I'm at a computer instead of my blackberry.

 

[Uncle Ernie]

Nice shot of the house, took me a second to realise it was lowlight. Might want to try using a wider apeture and shorter exposure time though, it'll give a bit more feel to the image. If you have things to clean the can come off as sterile.

Anyway, your gear sounds pretty good. Mine is only very basic - I've only got a Fujifilm 8MP pocket digital and a refurbished manual Fujica STX-1N (SLR) from '83. I have a standard variable 50mm lens and also a 70~120mm for it. Other gear includes a remote cable-release and a few tripods of various sizes, although nothing too flash. The cable release is brilliant in low-light conditions as it allows you to control the shutter without any interference with the camera whatsoever, giving very crisp images even in near-darkness.

I find the quality )and if not quality, certainly the 'feel') of film has still to be bested by digital. I mean, I could spend thousands on a digital setup and get very good, professional results, but theres no point as I do this solely for myself. If I need quick shots for the net or sharing then I'll take my perfectly capable compact digital... but otherwise I'm a manual film guy all the way.

Cheers - boingk

I suspect that -just as music / recording quality is going away in favor of convenience, so too is the fate of really high-quality prints.

Anyhoo- back OT. I think you have too much stuff. I would recommend a good basic camera and lense and tripod. Then join a group somewhere and take pictures. The group will let you know how crappy that shot is and why- that you thought was so cool! OTOH- you may find things in your photos that you hadn't anticipated seeing, thanks to other's input.
Take a million pictures and find your style, Find what turns you on. Critique yourselrf on technicality as well and subject.

And please please please leave the close-ups of trees to the high school kids.

 

[phrige]

nice,

I love my photography too, but i agree. Convenience = trash.
While I try to shoot film as much as possible, recently I got the Canon 7d. Doubles as my main video rig. and its awsome.
Right now I have the stock 28mm-128 zoom lens, which is not great.
And I'm borrowing a Sigma 50-500mm lens from a friend of mine. The lens is incredible. I've been trying to get into nature photography, birding is what I've been doing mostly with the help of the friend of mine who's lens i'm borrowing. He's a freakin bird photography master. Really this guys work is great.
http://www.fotoportmann.com/birdblog/

I'm still bush league, but here are a few of mine.
http://peter.ox-av.com/Photography/2.jpg
http://peter.ox-av.com/Photography/Bird1.jpg
http://peter.ox-av.com/Photography/Flower.JPG

Oh and didyou say moody tree pictures?! I gotcha Covered!
http://peter.ox-av.com/Photography/MoonTreesm.jpg


They're not all ganna be winners, lol, def would like to see more work people have.

 

[boingk]

Hahaha... love the 'moody tree' picture. Seriously know what you mean about the stereotypical highschool student though.

I would probably recommend people starting out go for a fully manual film camera. You get to know what does what and how important every setting is. Its a really steep learning curve but well worth it. Now, take a look at the following picture of my '83 SLR:

If you don't know what all those dials and settings are for then you need to relearn.

As an aside, here are a few random shots I've taken using my digital:

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i233/boingk/DSCF0001.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i233/boingk/4-1.jpg

Cheers - boingk

 

[jeunemotard]

I have a canon XS
efs 18-55mm
ef 50 mm 1.8
and battery grip

 

[teddpage]

These shots were taken with a Nikon D80 and Tamron 18-270mm 3.5-5.6 lens.

A few of my faves. Last 2 pix, the mazda's love shooting flames out of the tailpipes and the bmw's brake rotors were glowing in that corner during the last part of the race...LOVE IT!

 

[teddpage]

Jeunemotard...love the long exposure pic of the highway! I need to play around more at night with mine...really cool pix can be had.

 

[cb750dude]

I have tried,
All I have is a Canon Power Shot S2 IS
I took these back in 07 down in Evansville,In. At the air and water show during the freedom fest.
As you can see I have a hard time keeping up with boats and planes at 180mph+
Also some where zoomed in to far and the camera kicked into digital zoom which sucks.

 

[jeunemotard]

Jeunemotard...love the long exposure pic of the highway! I need to play around more at night with mine...really cool pix can be had.

thanks I wanted to take this pic since the first time I v'seen long exsposure shots , when I got my camera and I understood how to play with manual mod I went on the bridge and used the rail on the sidewalk as a tripod lolto snap that pic

Now whats missing is a nice tripod so many times I cursed my self for not having one

 

[teddpage]

yea tripods are real handy when shootin like that. ive been renting a 70-200 nikon lens and using a monopod at the racetrack too. helps take the weight off a bit with that long lens lol!

 

[Rocan]

theres another photography thread in the member art section....

I'm into it a bit myself; just haven't been taking much shots lately as I'm feeling seriously limited by my ancient Olympus c-2500L

built in lens sucks, and small sensor size makes anything but broad daylight shots iffy. but i really cant spend the money on a proper SLR setup...

Have considered shooting film, as its super cheap, but dont want to spend the time developing.

macros amazing on it though!

about the best i can do under low light without flash/getting noise (this camera gets noticable noise at just 200 iso...)

i dont have any moto pics... should snap some. i do have some bicycle pics that i dont have uploaded though.

 

[mysta2]

I don't get many opportunities to watch touring car races... but I do enjoy them when I do, and I've always wondered...

...what those three lights behind the side intakes signify. Anyone?

 

[mysta2]

With a better lens, and obviously centered, that would be an amazing shot... looks insane. Super cool!

 

[cb750dude]

Ya with a proper camera I could have nailed some killer shots! I cant get used to the delay on my Canon

 

[teddpage]

mysta

the bmw in that pic is a GT car in the American Le Mans Series. The 3 amber lites just in front of the rear tires designates what position the car is in. Obviously it only works for the top 3 drivers in each class though, and there are usually at least 3, mostly 4 different classes racing on track at the same time. SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH LIVE!!!

 

[mysta2]

When I see trees, recognizable cars, and right turns I just call it touring cars because I don't know any better. I'd love to see a race like that, closest I've ever come was a JGTC exhibition race that I had to fly to California for, under hard braking the backfires almost knocked the wind out of you... Awesome!

 

[phrige]

Wow, awsome pictures.
You guys have a lot of stuff that I've never had a chance to photograph before. Fast Cars, Old WWII planes are incredible.
I def gatta get some more interesting bike shots goin.

Abandon Airport Taxiway

I've been shooting a lot of the "iffy" subject stuff.
Nice flowers and wildlife. It can get super Cheese real fast.. hopefully ive been at least coming close to the walking the fine line.

You guys have def brought some inspiration to shoot some cooler stuff, like Fast Cars in thier natural environment. Thanks!

And totally agree with ya Mysta, those plane pics flying low above the water are insane. Would love to see more like that.


(my photoblog/personal site)

 

[miob]

Hey people!


A photography thread, it was about time (I wasn't aware of the one in the members art section untill I read this thread)! Some really nice pics in this thread.


I read a lot about expensive camera's and lenses here, but I think I got a cheaper alternative . I use a second hand Canon EOS400D body with OLD lenses. The lenses I use I bought for just a handfull of euro's (that'll be two hands of dollars ). Using an steel ring adapter you can use eighties lenses, the only thing is you have to focus manually.


Example shot with a 1980 Karl Zeiss Sonnar 200mm F2.8 (it weighs about 2 kgs/4 lbs):

It's also an example for how hard it is to focus manually, it's just a little off....


And with a 50mm F1.8:

And a 22 mm F1.8:

All done for the price of your average point and shoot camera and that's with only me behind the camera. I'm improving every time (at least, I think so myself), but I'm no means 'good' probably not even average. It's the lenses that make a difference.


Sorry btw for the watermarks in the photo's, though I see it as a big compliment when people like my photo's, I had a few issues with people using my photo's for promotion without asking.