General Photography Discussion 2

[Racetrackreject]

Back to my normal stuffs- I have the whole series on my FB page, 10fps is heaven!!

[WheresMyWhite]

Great photos and love the top two!

And thanks for reminding me I was going to post one of mine although not the action of yours

A cactus wren working on her nest in a chain fruit cholla this last weekend...

[Racetrackreject]

Great photos and love the top two!

And thanks for reminding me I was going to post one of mine although not the action of yours

A cactus wren working on her nest in a chain fruit cholla this last weekend...

I love it WMW!! Great capture!

[WheresMyWhite]

I love all these desert birds that are perfectly fine using nasty looking spines for perches

I have one of a curved bill thrasher perched on the top of a barrel cactus. He was using spines as perches and kept sliding down and having to re-adjust his grip (I'll have to see if I can find it...)

[WheresMyWhite]

And while I messing with the photo for someone else...

A Gambel's Quail (one of the, IMO, silliest birds ).

[Racetrackreject]

I agree! Quail are the silliest of birds and they even make silly noises.

Great picture! It makes me miss doing more wildlife photography. I guess I need to trek out to one of the parks pretty soon and get my fix. Thanks for sharing!

[Racetrackreject]

Did anyone else enter the Shoot and Share contest this year?

I know it's more for Wedding/Portrait photographers, but I did enter a few photos, 6 or 7, I can't remember. Anyway, they are on round 5 and I'm shocked that I still have a photo in. I guess it's one, but it could be more. You don't really know how many votes or likes you have and the photos are anonymous so no one knows who took them. I've been told that at the end you will get the stats of how many votes each photo received and how far it made it into the contest.

Anyway, the contest is huge, started with over 300k photos and the number gets cut down with every round. There are over $250k in prizes. Anyone can vote and it's free, if you have time you want to kill and you would like to look at some amazing photos. Basically, 4 photos pop up on your screen and you just click on the one you want to vote for.

http://shootandshare.com/photo-contest/

[WheresMyWhite]

RTR, never heard of that site... sounds like what I shoot might not be what they're looking for but still worth checking out

Re the Gambel's... yes silly sounds but I love listening to them as they chatter among themselves or when something is worth an alert. They also, in the evenings, will get up in the palo verde trees for a coffee klatch and those sounds are completely different than the sounds they make when they're chattering on the ground

I am no birder but the Gambel''s I can usually recognize their sounds without seeing them first

[viscountessleftfield]

I entered 50 images in shoot and share. Last year I placed 43rd in the wedding couple catagory, who knows this year!

I wish I could get this Brenzier to load from Christmas eve, it's too big but it's freaking amazing!

[Racetrackreject]

RTR, never heard of that site... sounds like what I shoot might not be what they're looking for but still worth checking out

Re the Gambel's... yes silly sounds but I love listening to them as they chatter among themselves or when something is worth an alert. They also, in the evenings, will get up in the palo verde trees for a coffee klatch and those sounds are completely different than the sounds they make when they're chattering on the ground

I am no birder but the Gambel''s I can usually recognize their sounds without seeing them first

They have all different categories this year, including Pets/animals, Wanderlust, and Personal Work. I did enter 2 portraits, but my others are in Pets/animals/Wanderlust/Personal Work. (butterflies, tree, ground squirrel, dog). I may have entered 8 photos.

I love listening to their silly sounds too! When friends used to come to my parent's farm, they were always worried about, and asking what was making those noises. lol

[Racetrackreject]

I entered 50 images in shoot and share. Last year I placed 43rd in the wedding couple category, who knows this year!

I wish I could get this Brenzier to load from Christmas eve, it's too big but it's freaking amazing!

Oh nice! I'm still in at round 6, which I'm pretty surprised about. Depending on the category, I might have made the top 30% (?). I haven't seen a single photo of my own yet. Granted, I'm not a super voter, but I did spend some time voting yesterday and off and on throughout the week.

Editing to say that I think we're in 7 now and I had another favorite, so I think I'm through to 7.

43rd is pretty freaking awesome!! lol

I will admit, I don't' get Brenzier. I've read about and it and seen it, but I still don't get it..lol.

[Racetrackreject]

I just saw one of my photos while voting. It was actually the one that I had felt was the photo still in. There is another that I hoped was still in, but oh well. It's in the Wanderlust category.

[viscountessleftfield]

I am still in the contest. OMG, how!?!?

And, I'm interviewing today with a local studio that shoots environmental school portraits and pays $35/hr, they only book weekday mornings and if I get this it would take a lot of pressure off me with booking and let me slow down a bit. I really want to pull the business back a lot and shoot as an associate for other studios for a little while.

[Racetrackreject]

I am still in the contest. OMG, how!?!?

And, I'm interviewing today with a local studio that shoots environmental school portraits and pays $35/hr, they only book weekday mornings and if I get this it would take a lot of pressure off me with booking and let me slow down a bit. I really want to pull the business back a lot and shoot as an associate for other studios for a little while.

That's awesome! Way to go VLF!

I'm pretty sure I'm out, but the one photo that I'm pretty sure was in the longest may have made the top 20 or 30% since it was in the Wanderlust category, which is one of the smaller categories.

That sounds like a plan, and those kids will be so lucky to have a real photographer doing their photos, and not just someone who can push a button.

I'm looking at adding another facet to my photography as well. My SO's sister wanted to do some boudoir photos for future hubby, so we looked around for a photographer that did that type of photos and we couldn't find anyone. I ended up doing them myself for her and it was a lot of fun and turned out well. I'm thinking about adding it to my portrait sessions and seeing if there's any interest. I have lighting and all that for shooting indoors, I'm just not a fan of using it, or more specifically, carrying it all around. lol

[WheresMyWhite]

In a former life, the hubby of the lady that used to style my hair did only elementary school photos and the occasional high school portrait. Good $$ for him. He had his own printers so didn't have to pay to ship photos out. When I started use her, he did film and had a second hand processor and started going digital with nice Epson 9 color (I think it was) printers.

No weekend or evening work. He stuck with elementary schools because parents are more willing to pay for cute photos for the refrigerator and the grandparents which diminishes as the children get older.

VLF, great news on the school portraits. I am sure you'll like it and having a bit more personal time for yourself and the little one

[WheresMyWhite]

VLF, RTR, et al

I'm looking for thoughts, opinions, suggestions, etc.

In a few weeks I'll be going to an aircraft museum and will be wanting to take photos of some the aircraft. Most are outside, a few inside.

I am planning on taking my f2.8 14-24 as well as my trusty f2.8 70-200.

I will be there from about 9:30-12:30 (right, not ideal light conditions ).

Other than fussing with exposure compensation, any other suggestions on how to make that late morning/midday sun less "bright"? Would you try to shoot with sun behind you or 90 degrees? I've fiddled a bit before with backlighting and if the sun is bright, it doesn't usually come out.

I'd like to be as pre-pared as possible before I get there as I don't know if I'll be able to make it back. Museum is 3 hours away (one-way). I'm taking a tour so someone else will be doing the driving For me, this museum is a bit of a bucket list trip so I want to make it count

TIA!

[Racetrackreject]

VLF can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe what you are going to need for outdoors is fill light and a reflector, something to remove the shadows that are being cast. Then you can bring down the exposure without losing parts of the image. You can also shoot with the sun at an angle behind, but off to the side, with a wider aperture.

Indoor shooting is not really my thing, but I'd probably grab something that opens to at least 1.8 and wing it...lol. The ceilings are going to be too high to bounce anything off of and many museums have rules about using flash. You could use a reflector to bounce what light is available maybe? Idk. I really dislike shooting indoors. lol

Sounds like a fun trip WMW!! I want to shoot airplanes so badly, and I tried at the air show, but I didn't know you can't get within like 1000 feet of the aircraft now, so that didn't work out like I had hoped.

[WheresMyWhite]

When I was younger (much) went to an airshow when I lived in CA (and shooting film to date myself and got some great photos of jets in the air (Blue Angels) including one that without the forget-the-name thing that advanced the film as long as the shutter was pressed of the two Angels that were flying at each other (each probably at 350mph or so, I'm guessing) and got both those bad boys in the frame Don't know how I did that.

The "indoors" are in hangers so probably not much to bounce light off of but I am assuming (bad sometimes I know) reasonable overhead lighting. I shoot raw so white balance isn't a concern. But yes, if it is all straight overhead light, don't know how shadows under the aircraft will play out. 2 are in hangers, 6 are outside. How the heck do you get a reflector that will remove shadows from something that is 50' long?? I have some small reflectors but I don't think they will work to put enough light out to fill shadows on something big. These aircraft I should be able to get up close to since they aren't active any longer. In looking at the museum overhead again, looks like some of the outdoor ones may also be challenge because they're parked next to other aircraft.

Thanks for the suggestion of behind but an an angle. I don't know how the aircraft are oriented with respect to where the sun will be so suspect some "fiddling" will be required.

I'm not an indoor girl but that's were the aircraft are that I am most interested in photographing (there are others I want to see but have about 6-7 I want good photos of).

We're also going onto Davis-Monthan AFB for their "Boneyard" tour (AMARG as it's called). Old aircraft that are stored there for parts. If you Google Maps Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Aircraft Boneyard (not the actual base) it will bring up the overhead of all the aircraft that are retired there. This URL should work (I hope)

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Davis-Monthan+Air+Force+Base+Aircraft+Boneyard/@32.1675525,-110.8614518,895m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x86d665089308f641:0x442f3d7bca07237a!8m2!3d32.1675525!4d-110.8592578

The desert is a good place to park them as not much rain and mostly fairly dry air

If I get some good photos, I'll post them

[Suzon]

Sorry I've been radio silent lately. My life is just going a million miles an hour with closing down a business, helping the new owner start up the way he wants it, getting animals ready to ship, getting a house ready to sell (in the Bay Area that's like a complete cosmetic renovation with staging, paint, landscaping...oy). Anyway, I'll be back in action soon, but in the meantime:

I have, does anyone want, two Canon lenses. I don't want to take them to the "rain forest" because I don't use them and I'd have to pack them in rice to keep them from molding in storage.

1) 18-55 EFS
2) 75-300 EF

The 18-55 is actually a little workhorse. I shot a crapload with it before upgrading to L glass.

Just let me know and I'll get them shipped off to whoever wants them.

[Canyon]

Suzon, I don't need lenses. But, good luck with transferring your business, shipping the animals, and sprucing up and selling your CA home!

Have you already fixed up the fixer-upper in OR?

[WheresMyWhite]

Suzon, you certainly have your plate more than full!

We are, when you get settled in, expecting photos of the new digs in Oregon

Thanks to all the home search/reno shows on TV, seems like many of today's buyers want all the trimmings on every home they see

FWIW, when I had my home listed a few years ago, my REA had a professional photographer take my photos and she did HDR which, IMO, make the rooms look a little better by giving them some "depth" rather than the usual flat image. I don't think she fancied them up at all other than merged the multiple images into a single photo.

[Suzon]

Suzon, I don't need lenses. But, good luck with transferring your business, shipping the animals, and sprucing up and selling your CA home!

Have you already fixed up the fixer-upper in OR?

The fixer-upper is currently gutted. And because this is a thread about photograph, here's a picture of the entire inside:

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Obviously, we still have a long way to go. We'll be living in an RV for at least a year.

[Suzon]

Thanks to all the home search/reno shows on TV, seems like many of today's buyers want all the trimmings on every home they see

FWIW, when I had my home listed a few years ago, my REA had a professional photographer take my photos and she did HDR which, IMO, make the rooms look a little better by giving them some "depth" rather than the usual flat image. I don't think she fancied them up at all other than merged the multiple images into a single photo.

We live in one of the hottest markets in the US. And it's young start-up entrepreneurs and the like doing the buying. So yup, they want all the bells and whistles....and an easy commute. We've painted inside and out, bought new appliances (we did not put in new countertops. Sorry, you can add your own stone), refinished the floors, landscapers start next week, then staging. I'll post the pictures when it's listed.

I've seen some nice HDR real estate photos and then I've seen some really horrible crunchy madness. Don't know how they get re-hired with that kind of product.

[WheresMyWhite]

What I've seen when I was looking for possible "new to me" homes was some atrocious "furnishings" .... dirty dishes on the kitchen counter, dirty dish cloths hanging on the dish washer handle, clothes all over the bedroom.

If I was either the seller/owner or selling agent, I'd have not posted photos at all over some of the photos I saw

I was very happy with the HDRs of my home (and as you know, I'm not always an HDR fan ). Just enough post to give the room 3-D/depth but not "artificial" looking. And yes, my seller REA helped "stage" my house using the furniture I had (extra went in the garage). Fortunately, my neighborhood was targeting a slightly older market so no need for the reno-to-the-nines. A nice lady with two boys bought mine. I've often wondered if she still lives there and how much of my landscaping she kept

Hardly wait to see some in-progress on the OR house. Looks much larger with everything inside gone. Gonna make any of the windows larger? I forget, is it a one or two story?

[texsuze]

Jumping in on this thread. Me, not a photographer, but for those who can make it down to the beautiful Texas Hill Country at the end of the month (I know, very late notice ), our Wings Over the Hills Nature Festival will again have a nature photography workshop given by Ruth Hoyt. She's a professional nature photographer based in deep South Texas. Here's our festival website: www.wingstx.org And Ruth is: www.ruthhoyt.com
PM me if you need more festival info or accommodations info, since lodging fills up rapidly in the springtime.

[Racetrackreject]

So this happened at a Rough Stock event I was shooting. They called it Soccer Bull.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2W0zATry4s

I also have the whole series in photos:

https://www.facebook.com/johnnie.pierce ... 915&type=3

One from the whole series, and yes there is a person inside the bubble

[Jan & PJ]

I haven't been on here for a while and I see I have a lot of catching up to do! Just skimming through it looks like there is a lot of great information on here. Does anyone print their own prints? I'm looking at getting a decent printer and leaning towards the Epson P800? Anyone have any first hand experience with those? If you have a printer and love it, what do you have?

[WheresMyWhite]

Jan & JP, I'll be interested in seeing comments on the printer. No, I can't justify the cost but always like to learn more. I would be curious what you'll be using the prints for? Fine art sales or portrait-type photo packages or ??

For your viewing pleasure

[Gwen]

Jumping in also - I don't have a printer, I've always relied on Social Print Studio and Artifact Uprising for the times when I've actually been able to decide what the heck to print! I am semi-seriously considering a digital frame - they make them much nicer than they used to, so they look gallery-like instead of clunky:

https://meural.com/?gclid=CNzctrrAxdMCFZaFswodly4J5g

Anyone have any experience with that type of thing?

Suzon, good luck with the move and I'd love to see photos of the space as you finish the renovations! We are going to be undertaking some major stuff this summer, we've never done anything more than paint before, I'm bracing myself for myriad unexpected delays and rising budgets...

[Gwen]

I'm loving that spring is here, so much inspiration all around! It's fun to feel the creative urge again, it's been on hold a bit.

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[Suzon]

We're completely moved. Finally! That means we're living in an RV trying to figure out how to start renovating the house. In the meantime, I'm starting to take photos again. I'm hoping to be able to really start to focus(pun intended) on my camera again. Here's me focusing on my horses.



Got this one of Tempi the other day when it wasn't raining.

[WheresMyWhite]

Yay! How does it feel to be divested of the business and a bit more out of the big city rat race???

We are, of course, expecting photos during the renovation. Living in an RV, you are a far stronger person than I

[Jan & PJ]

Jan & JP, I'll be interested in seeing comments on the printer. No, I can't justify the cost but always like to learn more. I would be curious what you'll be using the prints for? Fine art sales or portrait-type photo packages or ??

Both fine art and portraits. I'm looking at the P 800 because it says it can handle canvas and I would like to be able to do some smaller canvases myself.

[Racetrackreject]

I don't know about that model specifically, but I will share my experience with the Epson photo printer that I purchased. While I felt that it worked great the few times that I used it, I found that I didn't use it as much as I thought. In fact, about 6 months went by between print jobs and when I went to use it, it wouldn't work. It was less than a year old at that time.
I can't remember the model it was, but it was not the cheapest photo printer and it had good reviews online, however; I decided that it's just easier to lab print everything at the moment.

WMW- Lovely photos! What did you shoot them with lens-wise? Love the crispness throughout.

[WheresMyWhite]

Jan & PJ, thanks. Was just curious. One of these printers would fit in the drool category that would be fun to have but would I get my $ out of it (which is why I was asking how you planned on using it ).

Same kind of envy when I see the 'birders' at the Desert Botanical Garden and see the what I am guessing are 1200mm or longer lenses on some of the cameras and an aperture wide enough for me to crawl inside

RTR, thank you. 70-200 on my D750. Was messing with ISO adjustment in a better attempt to learn when to use exposure compensation and when to use a different ISO . The Gilded Flicker was tough with the silhouette against a blue sky and while only 8:00 or so in the morning, already the sun was fairly bright. Couldn't get the sky really blue in LR, any suggestions? (It could be there just wasn't enough blue in the image to bring much out, have to go look again )

I'm also working through some videos on how to use the histogram more effectively for landscape photography

[Racetrackreject]

Just wanted to post my funny woops real quick.

What happens when you get to an event and the pen is too small to use your 70-200? You whip out your 50mm and pray. lol. #sorrynotsorry I'll try to post a few bullriding action photos that I shot with my nifty fifty in a bit. lol

[WheresMyWhite]

Kinda like having my 150-600 on and seeing the absolutely perfect flower shot 5' away

That must have been one small pen!

[WheresMyWhite]

Best from this weekend (at least IMO ).

The flower is from an Echinopsis candicans. It's a night bloomer and the blooms are often pretty much gone by 10 the next morning. This flower is about 8" in diameter

[Suzon]

WMW...Wow!

[viscountessleftfield]

We're mid wedding season and crazy busy.

But, word of warning to those that use black rapid straps or the black rapid screws. Loctite them in and replace them annually. Both my primary bodies appear to be totaled from a screw failure. I'm trying to figure out what would replace my beloved d700 right now. My 80-200 and 50 1.4 also ate it and are for sure total losses.

[WheresMyWhite]

VLF, Not familiar with the 'rapid straps'. Is there a particular brand?

Suzon, thank you However, I can't take all the credit... mother nature had her hand in that flower for sure. The one in my back yard is hot, hot pink that I haven't figured out how to get good photos of because the pink keeps blowing out the sensor Tried messing with exposure compensation but no joy yet. I'll take any and all suggestions

PS on those night bloomers... what is also cool is that their pollinators are moths not bees or birds.

[viscountessleftfield]

Black Rapid is the brand name of sling straps. They screw into the tripod mount. I use a different brand harness, but have black rapid screws that hook to my harness.

I'm still at a loss which camera replaced the D700.

[Racetrackreject]

Love the photos WMW! Beautiful!!


VLF- I can't remember if you like the D750 or not, but most everyone that I've talked to seems to love it. My full frame is older, D610, but I love my crop, the D500. I don't know how it would work for you since I"m not a big portraiture photographer and I still tend to use my full frame when I do shoot portraits, but the D500 has turned out to be my dream camera.

I haven't forgotten about posting my 50 mm rodeo shots, I'm just always on the wrong computer when I check in here.

[viscountessleftfield]

My D750 is great, but it's not the heavy, sturdy steel pro body the D700 was. Looks like both are totaled, so I guess it'll be a new D750 and a new something I can't decide on at this point.

[WheresMyWhite]

VLF, thanks Tripods tend to frustrate me (sitting in a chair and not willing to invest in a w/c tripod setup ). I do have a long aftermarket strap so the camera can sit on my lap with the strap around my neck to ensure it doesn't end up on the ground inadvertently (and my strap uses the hooks that the Nikon strap uses.)

The above were with my D750 and the 70-200 f2.8 Nikon lens. I've been happy with the combination but as RTR said, I don't shoot as many shots as a pro nor do I do portrait type work...

[WheresMyWhite]

A slightly related question.

I have a flower similar to the above that is a hot, hot pink. I have yet to figure out how to get a good photo of it as the pink seems to blow out the sensor in the D750. I actually get a slightly better photo on my iPhone

I'd tried messing with exposure compensation (next project is fussing with ISO).

*Any and all suggestions would be more than welcome.

I have a bunch of buds (bunch probably 20+) but many will bloom on the same night and be good only for the following morning to shoot. Trying to get my ducks in a row now for when they bloom.

[viscountessleftfield]

I'm renting a D500, hubby rented it, loved it except the battery issue. I'm torn between the D810 and D500 being a 'replacement'

[Racetrackreject]

I'm renting a D500, hubby rented it, loved it except the battery issue. I'm torn between the D810 and D500 being a 'replacement'

Depending on which battery issue, it's not an issue anymore. If you're talking about only using Nikon batteries, then yeah, that's an issue still. If you're talking about it eating batteries in minutes, that has been solved if you make sure to use Nikon batteries that have Lion20 instead of Lion1 on the back.

WMW- in LR, there are a number of things you can try. In the HSL tab, you can use the sliders to tone down the specific color. If you try that and it's not looking better, you can also try adding the opposite color in like green to offset magenta or cyan to offset red. Another thing you can try is to use the adjustment brush to adjust just the flower. Bring down the highlights, play with the exposure, pull down the pinks and maybe even try to desaturate it a bit.
I get this issue a lot because so many of the guys wear bright colors, and I haven't found a specific one thing that works for every photo yet, so I tend to end up playing around with them. While I haven't played around much with frequency separation, I also wonder if there are some things there that would work as well.

I am tripod adverse. I hate them, I've even tried monopods, but it's a big fat no. lol Yes, I'm the crazy person that lugs around a 70-200 2-8 and camera with a grip for 8-10 hours a day unassisted..lol.

[WheresMyWhite]

RTR, thanks for the suggestions Would have never thought about dressing up the green to tone down the pink and yet I should have thought of it. I think I haven't messed around enough, based on your description, in post wanting to try to get a better photo in the camera first. I have a bunch of buds getting ready so I'll see if I can get something I'm happy with

For landscape a tripod would be nice but I make do. VR and fast shutter speeds can be your friend

VLF, I don't shoot your volume (# of hours and shots per hour) but I have the L-ion20 batteries and can get hours of out them (and I use AF usually at full (not infinity-5m) and VR).

[viscountessleftfield]

I'm renting a D500, hubby rented it, loved it except the battery issue. I'm torn between the D810 and D500 being a 'replacement'

Depending on which battery issue, it's not an issue anymore. If you're talking about only using Nikon batteries, then yeah, that's an issue still. If you're talking about it eating batteries in minutes, that has been solved if you make sure to use Nikon batteries that have Lion20 instead of Lion1 on the back.

Hubby had both issues - since we were told it takes the 'black batteries' like the 750 we didn't bother to rent extra batteries for her, so it only worked with the one battery that came with it. Bummer, since we needed three video capable bodies at that wedding! I rented an extra battery and it comes with two Lion20s now, we were the first peeps to rent the body from our local store so we worked the kinks out last year for them.

WMW - I get about 3000 shutter clicks on the 750 out of cheap off brand batteries, I keep my screen off, I'm usually on manul with AF. I get about 5000 on the 700 gripped up with two batteries. It'll pain me to buy Nikon batteries if we go D500, but I love the Wifi capable cameras, and I love the flip screen, and the AF system, and I hate the 810 with a passion.