The *Official Photography Thread*

Really? i totally disagree. i think the raw red out of the camera from nikon is disgusting. i feel like Nikon is praised for their blues. Canons reds are really nice though. even on raw files

 

Here is some from today with the new lens.
loving it so far!


Cali Kids getting up by TheyPhotographic.com, on Flickr


sun rays by TheyPhotographic.com, on Flickr


ipad photographer by TheyPhotographic.com, on Flickr


security by TheyPhotographic.com, on Flickr


straight. sugar by TheyPhotographic.com, on Flickr


pier by TheyPhotographic.com, on Flickr


DOF test by TheyPhotographic.com, on Flickr


Test by TheyPhotographic.com, on Flickr

Mind you they are mostly sharpness and DOF test shots today

 

Thank you for the help better understanding HDR photos

 

I've seen Nikon image sensors do really strange things to blues. Especially deep blue car paint.

I think a lot of the problems are due, at least in part, to the way Nikon gathers R,G, & B on the sensor (patterns R,G,B layout). Canon has a slight edge and has for some time. This matters because, at least with Canon and Nikon sensors, each pixel can only collect R,G or B and these are munged together in software to form images.

The holy grail was supposed to be Foveon. This is supposed to work more like film in that each pixel can capture R,G & B and it does work pretty well however, there are only two camera brands with the sensor today. Sigma and Toshiba--neither of which have commanding market share or are used in large qty's by pros.

 

i agree straight out of the camera, canon has better colors for the most part

 

Just got the NIK SilverEfex pro plug in for lightroom/aperture/photoshop.
heres a shot from it

The JW by TheyPhotographic.com, on Flickr

 

Thats what I'm saying man.... Nikon loves red, as in it over-saturates the shit out of them. Thats why if I'm shooting anything artistic, I wont shoot in anything but RAW.

 

I don't remember if Nikons have user settings but if they do, what happens when they're set to neutral? Keep in mind, these settings would affect jpeg's only.

 

got a couple lightning photos i'd like some helpful criticism on...

one issue i been having with lighting photos is, where do i focus? it's hard to find a good focal point at night, and after kicking myself in the ass after a few photos, i switched over to manual focus but still seems like finding a good focal point for lightning is tricky..any tricks/tips?

from a storm near denver 7-12-11...ran these through lightroom to fix some exposures and draw out the lightning some more...







this was my money shot, a tripod set up properly would have helped this out more...but with it raining hard, inside the truck has limited sturdy areas to shoot from


this one turned out pretty good...this was at a trailhead on a mountain overlooking denver, a car had turned his lights on during my 20 sec exposure and created some crazy shadows, added with the low clouds, this photo came out...

 

For lightning, it's probably best to put the lens in manual focus mode then focus the lens at infinity and back it off just a hair. I'm not 100% sure but it looks like there's camera shake too? If you're not on a tripod, you should be (and using a remote).

 

I think he was shooting from in side his truck, so it would be tough to fit a tripod, unless you used the passenger side seat and floor board to place the tripod.

NYCO, I found this article on shooting lighting it might be of some help to you

http://www.photohowto.info/how-take-lightning-photos

 

Then a bean bag on the window or even a window mount would be better than hand holding.

English must not be this person's native language There's a whole slew of lightning sites. Weatherscapes has some hints too.

Always cool to see lightning. Too bad we don't see much where I live.

 

correct, was shooting inside the cab from the driver's seat.. i was able to put my camera on my camera bag for some photos and others i tried to use my gorilla tripod to help out, but still couldn't get it as still as i wanted..

thanks for the link!

yea manual focus seems to be the way to go, i'll have to try the infinity and back off a bit and see how that goes...seems like a good place to start without any good focal points as a reference in the dark

yea the shake is one thing i need to figure out..hard to set up the tripod inside the cab and can't be outside when it's raining...


anyone have a good technique for inside the cab tripod/stabilizer setup? any macguyvers here?

 

window mounts wouldn't work if it's raining...camera would still get wet, so the setup would have to be inside the cab...


that's a nice site too...thanks..bookmarked it for future reference

 

you could wait until the storm passes over you to set up your camera or set it up under your cap

 

waiting for the storm to pass would have missed all the lightning this go around...

but under my cap...hmmm if it isn't too windy out that would be a good idea...(softop without the windows in)

 

Or find a sheltered spot to shoot from.

I have a rain cover for my camera-it's from a company called Lightware. It's for long lenses but you get the idea. There are other weather resistant covers from companies like Kata that are better suited for short lenses.

Depending which body/system you're working with, something as simple as a bath towel or one of those hotel shower caps would be enough to keep water off the camera in a light rain and that might be all you need.

As long as you're nearly hand-holding, you're going to see shake so maybe the car window you do this or for interior work, a smaller tripod or even a suction cup mount.

 

Here are some of my photos, taken with cameras ranging from a point and shoot canon to a canon 5D MII.

 

There is user settings, but it still blows em out a bit. I can deal with the reds in Lightroom... its just doing the tonemapping where I have issues.

Focus your camera for your scene. Hold it there, I tighten my aperture for increased depth of field....which is also good if you're doing time lapse. This shot, however was not. Lightning was striking very consistently, so I just held the button down, full auto.

Different strokes for different folks