official photography thread

[098Mindstate]

Just bought an SLR and I was wondering if someone could give me some pointers on how to get skate shows so the subject is in focus while the background is blurry, I had someone stand in the spot where they would slide/trick and then focus on them and then switch out to manual but when they got to that spot -- still blurry....


sports setting didn't even work and I finally gave up.


any help appreciated!

[Blix]

Just bought an SLR and I was wondering if someone could give me some pointers on how to get skate shows so the subject is in focus while the background is blurry, I had someone stand in the spot where they would slide/trick and then focus on them and then switch out to manual but when they got to that spot -- still blurry....


sports setting didn't even work and I finally gave up.


any help appreciated!

What are the shutter speeds you`re using? You need fast speeds to freeze the movement, use the largest aperture(lowest number) and go up in ISO if you`re not getting suitable speeds, you`ll need 1/500 and faster.
You can also use another trick, try panning with the camera and use slower speeds, like 1/30 and slower(experiment), follow the skater in the viewfinder and continue the movement after pressing the shutter. Done right you can capture the skater sharply with a cool blurry background that gives a sense of speed, you can also combine this with using the cameras built-in flash.

[VertigoJ]

Lexx, Reala is fun stuff. Thanks for all the links! I'm trying to finish off this roll of TMAX so I can get on with developing it. :P

[Crappysurfer]

[jay cagney]

what started off as a bmx shoot, quickly turned into some weird portraits.

[jlmitch]

Really weird.

[LeSueur264]

I dig the lighting jay, especially the red tint going on in the 2nd shot.

[lexx]

Jay, love the bubbles popping on the second one. On a whole very odd.

So I got chatting some guy in work about Olympus OM cameras and about how I really miss my OM2n. Most of the stuff on my blog was shot with the OM2n, but I sold it earlier in the year to buy the nikon 35mm f2. I really miss having such a quiet and light camera for candids and the low light work I spend most of my time doing.

So anyway, I told this guy that I was on the look out of the an OM and unexpectedly he called me up later that day and pretty much begged me to come around and have a look at his kit. He said he had an OM4Ti with a few lenses, I said I didn't really want an OM4Ti and I couldn't really give him what it was worth but he insisted I come round.

Yesterday I caught a bus a few miles out of town to see what was what, and what I found was a full system of untouched lenses, filters, motor winder, flash guns, everything. I was a bit blown away at all these perfect lenses and I was adding it up in my head as worth well over what I could give. But I sat there and listened to his life story for over three hours - about how he met his wife "you young guys wont believe it but it was love at first sight" and how she died "She wouldn't let me come visit, it was too painful for me and it was too painful for her."

The truth was he'd never really used any of the stuff, and I was there because he wanted it gone. His wife had bought everything for him new as birthday and Christmas presents. He'd never had the heart to tell her to stop, and she never seemed to notice he never really used any of it. It broke my heart to see him pour his life out over that stuff, so now I have a shelf full of OM paraphernalia which I paid almost nothing for. He told me that what I didn't take he'd just throw out, so I took it all.

And now I'm sat on all this stuff, and I feel like I'm going to hell because some of it's already gone on e-bay to cover what I paid for it. I'll keep the lenses I'll used when I get another OM2n - like the 35mm shift lens worth around £500, if not more.

No photos though. I didn't have the balls to ask if I could take a photo, though I did get an idea for an amazing project. I thought I'd share this story anyway. Anyone want to buy a camera?
Olympus OM4Ti + 50mm f1.4 complete kit on eBay, also Olympus, 35mm SLR, Film Cameras, Photography (end time 04-May-09 20:46:03 BST)

[VulgarDisplayCFH]

Omg... I want it sooo bad..

[Blix]

Wow Lexx, that`s pretty amazing!

[lexx]

I couldn't do it. I made the mistake of playing with the camera and I had to cancel the auction.

I wanted an OM2n not an OM4Ti, but damn when I read the instruction manual and played around with the lenses it would be madness to sell unless I have to. I'll get rid of the lenses I wont use - 300mm F4, 500mm mirror lens, a couple of slow zooms. but I'll keep the fast primes and of course the shift lens. If I can I'll get rid of the flash guns too. Hopefully I can make my money back on the stuff I wont use.

[pete..]

some recent ones except for the first

[nokeboarder]

pete i love the fourth one down it's really cool, kind of combining urban elements and nature in one pic good work!

[tomlarry@hotmail.com]

[budds51]

accidental blurred....i like it though

[jlmitch]

pete i love the fourth one down it's really cool, kind of combining urban elements and nature in one pic good work!

I agree, love that.

[aaronaftershock]

one more fan of that fourth one, epicccc!
id love to get a nice camera but i don't have the resources right now...
has anyone used the sony a350?

[pete..]

Since you guys like them so much here's a few more not as good ones from the same place

[lexx]

I was a fan of the fourth, but the first of these second pics posted is the best by far.

aaronaftershock, the A350 takes good pictures. Good value for money in terms of features and the lenses are cheaper than Canon and Nikon. Downside is viewfinder is a bit small, the camera is very heavy compared to other similar models and it is very plastic feeling.
Advantages are the image stabilization built into the body (can be a negative too but on a whole a plus) and the main thing is that the sony cameras are the only SLRs that have a truly functional live view on the back screen. What's also cool is you can get some really good but cheap Minolta lenses second hand.

If you can get hold of one I'd buy the A300 which is sold exclusively in the UK by Jessops (who I work for) because it's the same as the A350 but with 10 instead of 14mp and around £100 less.

[pete..]

I was a fan of the fourth, but the first of these second pics posted is the best by far.

too bad the sky's blown out.