Author Topic: Photography thread (Read 531797 times)

thejbs · « **Reply #3600 on:** January 4, 2016, 07:18:32 pm »

If I was only allowed one lens for the rest of my life it would be a 35mm (24mm or so on a crop sensor). I shoot 90% of my stuff using one - usually with a second body carrying an 85mm for when I need something longer.

I have 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm 1.4 primes and a 45mm T/S. Don't own a zoom. Using primes has undoubtedly made me become a better photographer.

A great camera to hone your skills on that is now ludicrously cheap given it's capabilities, is the original Fuji X100. Beautiful fixed 35mm equivalent lens, excellent IQ and lovely manual controls. Have seen them go for £300 on ebay! Also, the old classic Nikon D700 is still a fantastic, capable DSLR that you can pick up for a pittance. A secondhand D610 is also a good shout if you want something newer - the introduction of the D750 has meant the price of them has dropped a lot. Both the D700 and D610 are full frame. Sigma Art lenses are the first place to look for cheaper, professional performance full frame lenses.

Filler. · « **Reply #3601 on:** January 4, 2016, 11:29:18 pm »

Really has knocked me out - many thanks again faraway and many thanks Nessy and jbs. I should be going to bed now (or rather gone), so will try to respond properly, at a later date. I did wonder if I should have looked for a 'what camera should I buy thread' thread, but instincts told me to have a quick dip in here, and instincts were right I think. Got some really solid advice, and it's very much appreciated.

Was thinking at work today that maybe I need to rethink this whole b/w viewfinder shortcut I enjoy, and to learn to just 'think' in black and white. When I used to put a roll of black and white film into a camera, I tried to thinkin black and white, even tho I could see in colour. It's just laziness on my part. But I really enjoyed exploring 'what would make a good b/w photo while I panned here there and everywhere' for a good shot.

Lots to look into, and I will look into it all.

When we moved my mum out of her home, I came across a book of photographs from my Dad's side that really bowled me over. The book was about 2 inches thick, and wouldn't have been opened once for at least 40 years - handed down, and living in a box in the loft. Inside were photos from the late 19th century to around 1930's, and they were pin sharp. Deep deep blacks and crystal clear whites - with all the greys in the spectrum there before you. Most were 3x2" photos roughly - 10 a page, all pages filled. And I'm looking at my ultra modern digi camera pics taken 100 years+ later, and they're not fit to be compared. This hasn't helped in my desire to 'up the game' a bit!

thejbs · « **Reply #3602 on:** January 9, 2016, 11:45:26 am »

I shoot RAW but with the picture setting in black and white so everything I see on the back of the camera is in Black and white. I find it helps get rid of distractions. Because I shoot RAW, the resultant images are still colour (only the preview jpg is b/w).

The only downside is the odd occassion when I don't notice a brightly coloured distraction in the background, but I'm usually pretty tuned into that.

thejbs · « **Reply #3603 on:** January 13, 2016, 01:47:53 pm »

I did a wee blogpost of some of our favourite pics we've taken this year. Beware... it's all weddings/engagements.

Full selection: http://goo.gl/w76Of2

KERRYKOP · « **Reply #3604 on:** January 13, 2016, 02:18:48 pm »

Nothing says your special day quite like rusted corrugated sheet metal. Amazing work thejbs.

Quote from: thejbs on January 13, 2016, 01:47:53 pm

Is this the father of the bride seeing his daughter in her wedding dress for the first time? What a gift to that family if so, definitely going beyond your regular wedding photos.

thejbs · « **Reply #3605 on:** January 13, 2016, 02:24:44 pm »

Yeah, the dad was absolutely floored.

That other couple got married in an old grain store. Really cool venue/couple.

zero zero · « **Reply #3606 on:** January 13, 2016, 02:33:06 pm »

Quote from: thejbs on January 13, 2016, 02:24:44 pm

Yeah, the dad was absolutely floored.

That shot is immense. Really enjoyed your work mate.

thejbs · « **Reply #3607 on:** January 13, 2016, 02:53:48 pm »

Cheers, Zero Zero. This is my fave. My wife took it. The bride's Gran bought her the dress and lent her some jewellery from when she got married. She was looking in the door at her granddaughter getting ready and it just got too much for her. It kills me.

Chakan · « **Reply #3608 on:** January 13, 2016, 02:55:06 pm »

Very powerful photos. You're very good mate.

Ycuzz · « **Reply #3609 on:** January 13, 2016, 03:33:39 pm »

As mentioned, the dad one - brilliant! (I got two daughters, I'm probably gonna end up like that). Same with the grandma, very very good.

Keep up the good work.

BSBW · « **Reply #3610 on:** January 14, 2016, 06:18:58 am »

I've entered this one into our beginners class comp.

BSBW · « **Reply #3611 on:** January 14, 2016, 06:25:54 am »

Sydney Dusk and Dawn on the same day, different locations.

BSBW · « **Reply #3612 on:** January 14, 2016, 06:26:37 am »

AndyInVA · « **Reply #3613 on:** January 20, 2016, 01:35:23 am »

Bsbw- I consider that a truly beautiful image

Nessy76 · « **Reply #3614 on:** January 20, 2016, 11:53:59 am »

Quote from: BSBW on January 14, 2016, 06:26:37 am

Dawn

Lovely shot mate. Only thing I'd say is that maybe if you cropped from the left slightly, there'd be more of a balance to the skyline, but that's being picky. Well done.

thejbs · « **Reply #3615 on:** January 21, 2016, 09:07:07 pm »

Quote from: Nessy76 on January 20, 2016, 11:53:59 am

Lovely shot mate. Only thing I'd say is that maybe if you cropped from the left slightly, there'd be more of a balance to the skyline, but that's being picky. Well done.

Agree totally.

Cropped and straghtened (and tweaked) it for you. Gives it much better balance.

BSBW · « **Reply #3616 on:** January 24, 2016, 11:27:59 am »

Thanks for the edits, it's all subjective. here's another quite recent one of Circular Quay

thejbs · « **Reply #3617 on:** January 24, 2016, 12:19:10 pm »

Much better composition there. Better balanced. Well done.

There's a few wee simple rules or guides with landscapes/cityscapes that can make your images infinitely better. For me, straight horizons and a sense of balance (visual weight) in the composition are, 99% of the time, a must - although, I personally tend to bend the rules more in my work which is primarily non-landscape.

A lot of the time this can be easily fixed in post, like the one I changed for you - the image was lovely, it just needed tweaked a tiny bit.

farawayred · « **Reply #3618 on:** January 24, 2016, 11:18:34 pm »

A couple of pictures from last night, Joshua Tree Nat'l Park, CA.

Sunset...

...and moon rise over the arch. Unfortunately, the sky wasn't clear in that patch, but hey-ho, next time.

AndyInVA · « **Reply #3619 on:** January 27, 2016, 03:14:30 pm »

not brilliant compared to other stuff on here

i just like having my own image I can use as my screen saver

Pistolero · « **Reply #3620 on:** January 27, 2016, 04:27:07 pm »

Love this thread.

farawayred · « **Reply #3621 on:** January 27, 2016, 05:37:00 pm »

Andy, I miss the snow the pine forests... But you got buried this year...

AndyInVA · « **Reply #3622 on:** January 27, 2016, 05:50:52 pm »

Quote from: farawayred on January 27, 2016, 05:37:00 pm

Andy, I miss the snow the pine forests... But you got buried this year...

I went skiing last weekend to West Virginia. The snow on the branches was very pretty.

Lady_brandybuck · « **Reply #3623 on:** January 28, 2016, 05:23:04 am »

A few from my recent trip to Panama and From the city where I live now in Mexico

Ciudad de Panama

The Bridge of the Americas, connecting Central America with Southamerica

The Pacific Ocean

Mexican's street art

Sunset in Mexico DF

Independence Angel

Ycuzz · « **Reply #3624 on:** January 28, 2016, 09:38:13 am »

Very cool Lady B, thanks.

LOKKO · « **Reply #3625 on:** January 31, 2016, 08:19:48 pm »

Been wanting to get this shot for a while and its the last photo I got with my 60d, picked up a 6d but now I have no lenses saving for a 17-40mm can't wait to get back out taking photos

Decomposing by -LOKKOPHOTO-

outlaw_nas · « **Reply #3626 on:** January 31, 2016, 08:27:44 pm »

Evening skies

Elmo! · « **Reply #3627 on:** January 31, 2016, 09:01:49 pm »

Couple of pictures of the sunrise I took a couple of weeks ago in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. Not the best quality camera but worked out quite nice.

telekon · « **Reply #3628 on:** February 1, 2016, 02:10:04 pm »

Quote from: AndyInVA on January 27, 2016, 03:14:30 pm

not brilliant compared to other stuff on here

i just like having my own image I can use as my screen saver

Nice!!

zebenzui · « **Reply #3629 on:** February 2, 2016, 08:11:55 pm »

Got lucky being stranded there at the bottom of a munro the perfect time. Pity I only had a crappy phone camera to hand.

outlaw_nas · « **Reply #3630 on:** February 2, 2016, 09:42:38 pm »

Another morning in Yorkshire

BSBW · « **Reply #3631 on:** February 3, 2016, 10:41:07 am »

Here's one from a class I attended at the weekend

mobydick · « **Reply #3632 on:** February 4, 2016, 07:39:35 pm »

Quote from: zebenzui on February 2, 2016, 08:11:55 pm

Got lucky being stranded there at the bottom of a munro the perfect time. Pity I only had a crappy phone camera to hand.

Cleaned it up for you a bit, hope you don't mind.

zebenzui · « **Reply #3633 on:** February 4, 2016, 07:55:49 pm »

Quote from: mobydick on February 4, 2016, 07:39:35 pm

Cleaned it up for you a bit, hope you don't mind.

Cheers, I'm saving that. A pity I took the photo in bad dusk light.

Crosby Nick · « **Reply #3634 on:** February 4, 2016, 08:16:18 pm »

Quote from: BSBW on January 14, 2016, 06:26:37 am

Dawn

Superb that. I bought a print of a similar Sydney sunrise when I left the place but it doesn't look as good as that.

Crosby Nick · « **Reply #3635 on:** February 4, 2016, 08:19:56 pm »

Quote from: Lady_brandybuck on January 28, 2016, 05:23:04 am

Never seen Runcorn Bridge looking so good.

KERRYKOP · « **Reply #3636 on:** February 4, 2016, 08:49:06 pm »

Quote from: mobydick on February 4, 2016, 07:39:35 pm

Cleaned it up for you a bit, hope you don't mind.

Needs more dry ice

Lady_brandybuck · « **Reply #3637 on:** February 7, 2016, 03:29:03 pm »

Some from the weekend

SONY DSC by Lady Brandybuck, on Flickr

DSC02834 by Lady Brandybuck, on Flickr

SONY DSC by Lady Brandybuck, on Flickr

AndyInVA · « **Reply #3638 on:** February 8, 2016, 01:53:41 pm »

Little Fluffy Clouds

The composition just came out nice.

rob1966 · « **Reply #3639 on:** February 8, 2016, 02:07:16 pm »

Took this at work at the weekend, aluminium blocks waiting for the train to Germany. There is steam coming off as it was raining and they are still hot.

Not much of a picture, but for me the story behind is interesting. If you've ever wondered what happens when you recycle your cans, here's the answer.

These aluminium blocks weigh between 26,100 and 26,400 kg each, each one is made from 1.5 million recycled aluminium cans. I was one of 5 drivers picking them up from the plant and dropping them to be put on a goods train to Germany, we moved 24 during the day.

By the end of the shift there were a total of 54 blocks waiting to be moved. Thats almost 1 and a half million kg of aluminium blocks made up from around 81 million drinks cans. The blocks will then be used to create things such as body panels for Jaguar, alloy engine blocks, more drinks can etc.