official photography thread

[Blix]

one of my favorite pictures

I understand why, a great mood going on there. I`d try to recover those blown highlights in the waves and straighten the horizon though...

[Blix]

Here`s a portrait a little(26months old) fellow I got to know a few days ago, we spent some quality time on a swing and after that he let me take this portrait of him

[V.B]

[circle]

penis!!!!!!

[Camel]

How about this one? Taken with the wide angle in portrait. Give his lean a little more curve.

C

[V.B]

[V.B]

HDR generally makes me want to kill myself and others. That fake tilt-shift "make everything look like a miniature model" BS that was popular a while ago also makes me want to buy a gun, too. Also, pictures of bicycles, long exposure pictures of traffic at night, roadkill, blurry black and white with weak tones, and most pictures of people irritate me.

Shooting raw, on the other hand, rules if you know what you're doing with it. After-the-fact white balance correction is a lifesaver, and sharpening is the illy.

And selective color still sucks. Take a picture like this, where there's only one color in the composition: http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/WORKS..._MAN_17_05.jpg.

Why doesn't anyone like HDR?

[Mystery Bob]

I already have a nice film camera, but I want a dslr. I'm getting sick of paying to get film developed and the time it takes. I know how to develope it myself but thats not an option.

I'd recommend skipping the single lens reflex and getting a Canon S3-IS. Since it is last years model you can get it freight free from Dell Home for around $250. It's 6mgpx is enough and it shoots video. I added a soft bag, an aluminum lens protector (which enables filters), a polarizing filter and rechargeable batteries and have less than $350 in the whole package. The SLR weighs too much and is too bulky, especially if you put on the longer zoom lens. The super-zoom Canon will save you $700- $800 and has many great features including up to an hour of video (if you add a 2gig Sandisk for about $40). It can shoot manually, shutter or aperture priority, can be set for special circumstances with one dial and gives great pictures. The zoom (internal) goes from wide angle to the equivilent of about a 450 on a SLR but without the heavy weight. I'm admittedly a snapshot/portrait kinda shooter. Below are a few of my favorite friend photos of the last few months on Maui:

Noah with his new (but rusty) 1947 Harley Davidson Knucklehead (no flash)

Jaz

Michael from Pa'ia Tako fisherman

Natalia from Moscow

"Magic" Shinzi

[Mystery Bob]

I appreciated many photos you folks shared here. I like most of the work of Lexx and a bunch of others but these were my 7 favorites below:

Lovesauce:


Williamewart:


Subsole:


MelifontMonk:


Wells:


Blix:


Blix:


Blix:

[Mystery Bob]

great 6 minute piece of time-lapse video of Istanbul

It took the videographer Gençten two and half years to complete this project! He shot 90,000 frames and only used 10% in the finished video. He spent 6 months just to get the sun and the moons orbits in the right place. Over a quarter of a million have already viewed this. It takes a minute to get the screen, doesn't start automatically, so hit the go button. Enjoy....

[neuros]

Just to add to what Mystery Bob is saying... the S3 IS is a great fixed lense camera if you can't spring for a DSLR... In fact, the pictures it takes can be much better than what he's posted (go to flickr and look for pictures by camera model). It's adjustable to hell and the CHDK firmware makes it just as feature-rich as some of the $$$ Canons.

[Wells]

It's like longboards: sure a sector 9 is good enough for most beginners; but when you really get good it'll start to hold you back. When you want to invest in something quality you go with an Earthwing or, in photography, an SLR.

[BrianWilde]

[VertigoJ]

There's some great work on here!

I'm just getting back into photography. I prefer to shoot with film, I enjoy a challenge. I am planning on taking a photography course at a local arts center... I can't for the life of me remember half of what I learned in my high school class, and I'd love to get in a darkroom. Here are some of my pics, if you're interested...

Flickr: Hello//Vertigo's Photostream

[Mystery Bob]

It's like longboards: sure a sector 9 is good enough for most beginners; but when you really get good it'll start to hold you back. When you want to invest in something quality you go with an Earthwing or, in photography, an SLR.

If you buy an expensive skateboard for your first board, it may well get beat up running into curbs, sliding down storm drains, etc. How long does it take to 'get really good'? I'm not convinced better construction will help you much the first year. After awhile you'll know which one you want to invest bigger buck$ getting. By the time a beginner who invests in an expensive SLR has mastered it (it doesn't happen overnight) there will be newer/better technology to be purchased. I believe the compact, lighter camera can be initially easier to master. What will they get the first year for an $800 larger investment?

[Mystery Bob]

Got some good ones in your photostream VertigoJ. This one is neat:

[revelation2]

It's like longboards: sure a sector 9 is good enough for most beginners; but when you really get good it'll start to hold you back. When you want to invest in something quality you go with an Earthwing or, in photography, an SLR.

Sector 9 makes great boards. What the ####?

Besides, the camera shouldn't matter. You or I should be able to take just as great pictures with a crappy 35mm as we can with our fancy schmaltzy dslrs. All we pay for is convenience.

You seem to have this misconception that a good camera will take good pictures. That's rediculous. A good car can't drive itself. Neither can a good camera take phenomenal shots. Ansel Adams himself said that the single most important component of a camera was the twelve inches behind it.

"the best wide angle lens? two steps backward and look for the ah-hah!"

I'm out for now...being in this thread makes my stomach churn and my insides grumble.

[subsole]

[lexx]

I'm out for now...being in this thread makes my stomach churn and my insides grumble.

thing is, wells has already proved he can take a good picture. you just keep talking about your indigestion, all we've seen of you is the #### you're throwing up

[Wells]

A hammer on its own doesn't drive in a nail; but it makes it much easier than using something else. A million-dollar paintbrush won't make you Van Gogh; but it'll make creating your masterpiece easier. It's nice to have the right tools for the job you want to do.

Edit: also, this "all we pay for is convenience" line is absolute BS. If all I cared about was convenience I'd be rocking the camera phone, not the full-size SLR. I want clear, sharp raw images that I can process and print 11x16.5; so I go for the DSLR.