The *Official Photography Thread*

Uh, it might help if I click and go to Youtube and read the description, but what is it?

 

http://www.pmgadgets.net/product_info.php?cPath=51&products_id=77

"The PatchMaster 4in1 Trigger is an extremely sensitive device to detect lightning events designed to help photographers to take lightning photos during day or night. The device has been designed based on microcontroller technology and has a response (lag) time in microseconds level. This is more than enough to capture the lightning events."

"The PatchMaster 4in1 Trigger is an extremely sensitive device to detect sudden sound events such as breaking glasses, popping balloons, exploiding items etc. Sensitivity can be adjusted from 1 to 999. You can also set the “delay” parameter between 0 and 1000ms. So your camera can be triggered with a delay after sound event is detected. "Single" and "Continuous" modes are avaliable to decide if your camera will need to be triggered for each detected sound or need to be triggered just after the first detected sound."

"The PatchMaster 4in1 Trigger is an extremely sensitive device to detect events that breaks the laser beam. Device can be used to take water droplet photos or anything which passes in front of it. You can also set the “delay” parameter between 0 and 1000ms. So your camera can be triggered with a delay after breaking the laser beam."

"The PatchMaster 4in1 Trigger can be used for timelapse photography as well. You can set both the interval and exposure from 1 sec to 1 hour. You can also set the limit of photo you want to take. "

"• Extremely sensitive optical sensor to detect lightning events
• Response (lag) time in milliseconds level
• Sensitivity adjustment for Lightning and Sound modes
• “Delay function” for Sound and Laser modes
• "Single" and "Continuous" mode selection for Sound mode
• 1 sec to 1 hour selection range for both interval and exposure in Timelapse mode
• User friendly menu with color LCD screen
• Optical isolated output to fully protect your camera from any potential harms
• Hot shoe mount for mounting the device directly to your camera
• Microcontroller-based design
• 2 outputs for triggering either your camera or external flash"



http://www.pmgadgets.net/videos.php

 

damn! looks awesome!

 

i know right!

will reduce my wasted photos during storms...plus the added feature of a time lapse is nice too

 

yea and its pretty cheap..

i think ill get one with my camera this summer. Its a good way for time lapse and other stuff

 

good read. here is what I was hoping to try to tell you, in a picture format(grabbed from your link):



basically, after 1/250s, your shutter gets in the way of exposure. what was noted in the article, was that they were using radiopopper triggers which enable the user high speed sync.

with the camera's high speed sync speed, as noted above, the limitations are at 1/250s. the action is, the flash goes off when the shutter button is depressed so there is a little lag time for flash peak power.

with using radio triggers(pick your brand, radiopoppers, pocketwizards, etc), the flash is fired before the shutter opens, so peak power is present when the shutter is opened. (each speedlight/monolight/strobe have different durations)

it's still a little complicated for me(I've messed with it, but haven't used it too much), but it is great for capturing action shots and for capturing thin dof shots in the bright daylight.

does that help explain it a bit?

 

So I am very much a beginner at this but I am hoping this summer I will take more time to learn more about my camera and know how to take better shots. I have a Nikon D7000 because I lost my D70. Okay I left it in a cab when I got back from Miami. Any how hopefully I will learn from reading more of this thread. Here are some of my favorite shots from past trips and feel free to help me out with suggestions. Thanks.

 

Nice shots, but from my amateur opinion, I think you need to work your angles more. Lots of these are dead on shots.

Take your hallway picture. You could have made it much more ominous feeling if took it from lower and off to the side more to give the feeling of it being larger and less forgiving. Also it seems a little over exposed.

 

the statement is correct.

However, shooting at a fast shutter speed than 1/250s, you will not capture the timing of when the flash will have peak light output if you do not have any triggers that allow higher sync speeds than 1/250s. ultimately, the flash will fire before the shutter opens(this can be adjusted via the firmware/software I believe) so when the shutter is open you get optimal flash exposure.

yes, the x100/s has the ND filter feature built in(which I believe just compensate for the overall exposure, I could be wrong), but also Zack is using OCF to control the exposure of his subject, and in this case using some type of trigger to perform high speed sync.

to achieve what you want(properly exposed subject with a thin DOF), you would need to install neutral density filter/s on your lens, open to max aperture, and set your flash power accordingly. this is not a set it and forget setting, but more of a feeling out process. you could get away with ND filters and using your flash, but once you get into higher shutter speeds(faster than 1/250s <-- the fastest rate foryour d300, and generally most dslr's), then you would have to invest in some radio triggers that are high/hyper speed capable.



pocketwizard mini tt1 and tt5
radiopopper px system

zack arias is definitely flexing the muscles of the x100s in that instagram link you posted though

(sheesh, so much editing of this post)

edit: more links on high speed sync

http://pixsylated.com/blog/smashing-pumpkins-with-high-speed-sync-gang-light-part-2/
http://www.prophotonut.com/2009/08/17/high-speed-sync-with-the-new-pws-pictures-and-technique/

 

Nice I can learn from this thread! Sub'ed. I have a Cannon Rebel T3i and only a kit lens.

 

Some okay pics I took with the iphone 5...





I really want a Nikon 5100! Haha

 

^wow

 

I'm assuming that's a bad "wow"...

 

Nice, man! Keep shooting with that for practice and you'll be ready for that DSLR. Turn on the grid lines if you want to cheat with learning rule of thirds for a bit ha.

I just switched to the i5 and I'm a big advocate of Android. I have to say, I'm still most likely going back to Android after this phone . . . but the camera is definitely what I use the most!

 

Thanks! Yeah, I just took those pics real quick. I usually try to use the grid to line my pics up prefectly...

I had an android before this and wanted another one. But at the time the Galaxy S3 was the newest one and it had already been out for a while, so I went with the iphone. My mom bought an S3 and I compared the cameras and the iphone does better with overall and on pictures with a lot of light, but the S3 does better in low-light conditions.

 

s4 is out soon but don't want to derail this thread with phone banter ha


You learning yourself up on photography skills before you even get a DSLR? You can easily start now, and when the limits of your phone are holding you back and you finally get a D5100 or whatever it'll be a great relief to have more to learn and grow into again ha

 

Also with iPhone 5:

 

I like the location... overcast,the trees, nice reflective water, beaten trail... it's a sweet location

 

I wrote a big ass post with my experience, but did not compute so here are some links that I have found regarding high speed sync. high speed sync is basically a factor when you remove your external flash from your camera. since you have yours attached, and are using super fast shutter speeds, this is not an issue. your methods are just affecting overall exposure. that said, I think you can find a more creative way, with what you have already, to make that shot the way you want it(remove your external flash and use CLS. the d300 supports this )

anyway, here are some links supporting what I was saying earlier, but is clearly not what you are experiencing since your flash is ATTACHED to your camera.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nikon_d300_users/discuss/72157614072985740/

http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=5071

http://darrellyoung.blogspot.com/2011/10/understanding-your-nikons-flash-sync.html

edit: I normally dont shoot with a flash or OCF normally, which is why I'm a little rusty on this subject

 

IMG_0376.jpg by Unvail Photography, on Flickr


IMG_0372.jpg by Unvail Photography, on Flickr