What camera do you own?

[GIMH]

No expert on this topic Craig. But they are great pics.

[Jamee999]

Originally Posted by Uppercut

That's some stunning photography!

I got a pretty good camcorder for christmas. Unfortunately the one thing i can't take a picture of with it is itself, so i can't post what it is in this thread. The zoom's 37x max so it pretty much doubles as binoculars.

Mirror?

[Langeveldt]

Tip Craig, keep that water line level, otherwise great pics.

These were taken with my Sony Ericsson mobile phone..

[Scaly piscine]

Will get a good photo of one of these little sods some day.




Blackcap bird, usually seen spectating IPL matches after a brief frenzy of activity.

[Bracken]

Originally Posted by Craig

Thoughts? Any feedback will be appreciated.

Nice work. I'm a huge fan of nice sunset shots. I reckon the last shot on the first post is the best of the lot- the extra sharpness shows the reflection of the setting sun, which sets the whole shot off well.

A few of mine...

In response to the original question, I have Nikon D90 and D60 DSLRs, and I have a Canon 960is point and shoot that I carry around everywhere. I also shoot with an old Canon AE1 35mm SLR on occasion.

[Craig]

I really need a tri-pod myself. With a 300mm lense on it, it can make it hard to hold the camera still to take a photo right. That said, I never had the space to carry such an item anyway.

[Bracken]

Yeah, a decent tripod comes in handy.

They don't have to be all that big, though. You can get a compact Manfrotto tripod for around $150, which is made of carbon fibre (ie. next to no weight to carry around) and folds down to about a foot or so long. Another option is a Gorillapod. The flexible legs wrap around any convenient tree or post or whatever, and they are easily slipped into a camera bag.

For twilights and other low-light stuff, they are invaluable. Image stabilisation only goes so far.

[Craig]

BTW I really like the first (my favourite) and and the last photo's of the four that you put up. The other two are pretty good as well.

EDIT: A few people have told me I should photography for a living, or has that as a goal to be able to make money from it. Obviously it is a lot of work and time, it is always good to have something to aim for. I already have a few contacts)

[Anil]

some wonderful pics here...

[Son Of Coco]

I'm looking to get a macro lens (followed by a telephoto) and was wondering if anyone had any advice...


Looking at the Canon 100mm and the Sigma 150mm at the moment. Have heard good things about both, but with me travelling a bit am leaning towards the Canon at the moment.

[Langeveldt]

Originally Posted by Craig

EDIT: A few people have told me I should photography for a living, or has that as a goal to be able to make money from it. Obviously it is a lot of work and time, it is always good to have something to aim for. I already have a few contacts)

Don't want to be a huge downer on it, but it takes a heck of a lot of luck, even if you have the gear and the idea.. I mean I am not nearly the best photographer that I know, yet I make more money than anyone I know, which can't be right..

[Craig]

Originally Posted by Langeveldt

Don't want to be a huge downer on it, but it takes a heck of a lot of luck, even if you have the gear and the idea.. I mean I am not nearly the best photographer that I know, yet I make more money than anyone I know, which can't be right..

Oh yeah I certainly agree with you. I was never saying it would be easy

[Son Of Coco]

Originally Posted by Craig

Oh yeah I certainly agree with you. I was never saying it would be easy

This website might be useful for you Craig:

http://photography-on-the.net/

It's a photography forum where you can post up any questions you have and get an idea of how good some of these guys are as well as ideas for your own photography. I think it's a good idea to see what some other people do sometimes and go out and do the same thing yourself to add techniques etc to your photography.

I've been slack since getting the 40D, I've taken lots of photos but I haven't really tried to push myself to get better. I've spent a lot of hours today on this website though looking at shots and lenses (which is dangerous as I'm now considering getting a couple in the next 2-3 months which will cost me about $2000 all up. Will cover my needs for a little while though I think). Talking about spending this much on lenses makes me feel a bit like the golfers I used to see and mock at the club who had expensive clubs and no talent

I would like to know how some people get the rich colours etc in some of their shots. Is it through filters or mucking about post-production to get things right.

[Bracken]

Originally Posted by Son Of Coco

I would like to know how some people get the rich colours etc in some of their shots. Is it through filters or mucking about post-production to get things right.

Probably a combination of both, as well as adjusting the on-camera settings.

For example, I find that the auto White Balance gets it right most of the time, but I adjust the warmth of the light according to what look I'm going for. If I'm shooting sunsets, I'll warm the shot to A1 or A2 (amber), which deepens and brightens the reds and oranges of the sunset. I generally like the cooler, blueish hue when I'm shooting under moonlight, so I'll adjust it to B1 or B2 (blue).

I have no idea how the Canon options work, but on my Nikons you go into the white balance menu, select "auto", and there is a sub-menu to fine-tune the auto setting. On the D90, I can do it using the WB button on the back of the camera, and adjust it using the thumbwheels. I'm sure there would be a similar control on the Canon.

You can achieve the same thing in PP using photoshop or GIMP or whatever, but I generally find it easier and quicker to do it before I take the shot.

Give that a try, and see if the results are what you're looking for. You could also try changing the saturation control to "vivid" or "more vivid" if you're looking for deep, heavily saturated colours. Just be careful you don't go too far, or the colours will look a bit cartoony and unrealistic.

[Langeveldt]

Originally Posted by Son Of Coco

I would like to know how some people get the rich colours etc in some of their shots. Is it through filters or mucking about post-production to get things right.

If you have photoshop, and you have a slightly washed out look to your photos, try mucking around with levels and curves, I think it is under edit