Photography 101

[lowrydergrower]

hey b.self I know you might take this as lazy and the cam I have coming seems to be an alright camera from what I read but I guess I just want your opinion of it so is this an ok lens?

Type Zoom lens - 6.3 mm - 31.5 mm - F/3.0-4.7 .Focal Length 6.3 mm - 31.5 mm .Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 35 - 175 mm

 

[B. Self Reliant]

It's tough to say just by the numbers. There are so many things a camera needs to have. . . but it doesn't look like the lens will limit you more than any other point & shoot camera would.

I wouldn't worry so much about the camera just yet. Find a killer subject, place it in some killer light with a nice background, and if you're really feelin' crazy use a reflector. After all that worry about the quality of the images your camera makes.

Trust me!

 

[lowrydergrower]

Thanks bud it was my first investment into photography so to say it has always deeply interested me and it is just really cool that us at icmag have you here that we can come and talk to you about it you rock man!

 

[GreatLakes THC]

B. Self Reliant, WOW. What an awesome thread. I've just skimmed it so far, and need to go back and read things in detail, but I'm really impressed. You put a lot of effort into your posts and I'm sure that it's to the benefit of many aspiring snappers. I say snapper's cause that's all I really am at this point. I hope to be able to someday take some fine shots like the likes of you and Doobieduck. Well even close would be nice. Well even semi-efficient would be nice. Hehe. Anyway this thread really inspired me already to get a good camera. I wish I had known some of what I've already gleaned from this thread before I started my test grow. It makes my shots look very amateur. Humbling. I hope to be able to pick your brain and learn something from you when I can get a good camera and equipment to start taking some nicer shots. Thanks for this thread.

GreatLakes THC

 

[BudZad7]

Nice Photo Info

Nice Photo Info

Hi All! This is Very informative! Wide angle lenses with f2.8
give a good DOF.....How about a new camera body, with an older lens
ex: Canon 7D with Nikon prime ais lens 35mmf1.4, cropped to 56mm on
1.6x sensor, all manual, and the camera seems to work best in AV on the dial,and liveview on to focus..etc F2.8 is the sweet spot for video,
I do a test shot with grey card for white balance, shutter @ 50, iso 100/200 at about 6'~10' from camera,this is outdoor lighting in the shade....pic quality is med fine jpeg 8mb for all tests..usually it's set to
fine jpeg 18mb..Raw is the Best quality, but takes longer to process &
download, some photographers say to convert raw to tiff files, because
jpeg will be altered, and tiff will stay same as original file....after editing
Everyone noticed a difference with the Nikon lens on the 7D, the pictures look like I remember from back in the 70's the quality of the
image.....>>>>>>

 

[Ramius]

Quite honestly, I've never used the macro feature on a point & shoot camera. I'd imagine it's rather limited due to aperture constraints, but with a good tripod I bet you could get some good images.

Here's my Canon PowerShot A480 point & shoot macro shots I've taken in the past. I took them in a well lit area on my windowsill getting as close to the bud as I could without losing focus, turned out pretty well

 

[DoobieDuck]

Ramius good job with that point n shoot. Nice presentation too! DD

 

[Ramius]

Thanks Doobie

 

[420ish]

nice write up and very easy to understand.my only beef is only nikon or canon?i bought my pentax so i could afford good glass for alot less money.thanks for the all the work put into this!

 

[B. Self Reliant]

nice write up and very easy to understand.my only beef is only nikon or canon?i bought my pentax so i could afford good glass for alot less money.thanks for the all the work put into this!

Canon & Nikon certainly aren't the only good choices out there. . . just the first brands I typically recommend. Have fun shootin'!

 

[azad]

I read through this post and then decided to buy the book PHOTOGRAPHY.
Im gona give the reccomended chapters a good read and look for a good digi camera.
I cant thank you enough for the great info...Always remain in harmony..azad

 

[B. Self Reliant]

Pullin' Tubes at B's

Pullin' Tubes at B's

Gettin' ready for a Friday night! There's not many mature gals to choose from around my place right now, but I managed to find a couple good lookin' locals who were down to pull some cheese logs, so we we got down to business. . .

The gal on the left is my new AK-47 mom from Serious Seeds. The plant on the right is one of my last two Sour 60 plants from MDanzig. She should be ready by 4/20, then no more autoflowering strains at B's place. . .


This image was made with an SLR camera set to manual mode, a 35mm lens & (2) Canon speedlights. Both of the speedlights were placed off-camera, one on a bookshelf and one on the floor. Pocketwizards triggered the flash units, which were both set to manual mode. While making this image, I used every principle I've written about in this thread. Think about the decisions I made ahead of time & how they affected the final image. . .

• 35mm lens > dictated perspective
• camera on manual mode > determined the amount of background blur & how much light was needed from the flash units to properly expose the subjects
• house/ambient lights > turned off or severly underexposed to prevent odd color shifts due to varying white balances
• angle/qualities of light > dictated the mood of the image, in this case selective light was used to keep emphasis on subjects. In order to do this, I had to keep the strobe light from bouncing around aimlessly, which was the hardest part of making this image.
• having an overall vision ahead of time > you have to know what you're creating before the rest can happen!
• framing > be aware of where the edges of your frame fall. Would this image be as effective if there weren't clean edges?

If anyone wants to know anything else regarding my process let me know! This is an image of ____________, but you could replace my subjects with almost anything & the shooting/lighting principles would be largely the same. . .

 

[DoobieDuck]

It is always great to see a new addition by you B in this thread and this one a wonderful example of off camera lighting. Great effect, wonderful composition, and those edges are so often missed by many photographers. I purchased a second speedlight this fall and the ste transmitter to work with both mine. I've done very little work with them so far, someday in between being busy and growing...thanks for sharing, DD

 

[B. Self Reliant]

Hey DD! If you get a chance to mess around with them, you'll love 'em! Speedlights are so small and portable you can bring them anywhere and they have power to spare. . . this particular image was shot at f/7.1 & if I remember correctly each speedlight was on 1/8 power.

See ya around. . .

 

[Treetroit City]

Good read B. Of course I'll have to read it again many times to understand it, but that is the goal. Just got new Nikon and have no idea how to use it. In time I will though.

 

[b00m]

Great Informative Thread B
I will be re-reading a lot for reference, Thanks for taking the time to put it all together and share your knowledge with us all

 

[supermanlives]

after reading this i want to sell my nikon d70s. its gonna take me forever to figure it out . my biggest telephoto lens is 1300 and i have a lense doubler. the thing is like a baseball bat

 

[B. Self Reliant]

Third Coast & b00m. . . thanks for stopping by. Any questions fire away.

after reading this i want to sell my nikon d70s. its gonna take me forever to figure it out . my biggest telephoto lens is 1300 and i have a lense doubler. the thing is like a baseball bat

Since you already have the cameras, you could always start with the basics and go from there. Once you understand the relationship between aperture, ISO & shutter speed the rest is easy. Remember, much of what needs to be learned (artificial lighting, use of ambient light, composition, finding a worthwhile subject, etc) is going to be the same regardless of how much your gear set you back.

I can't say I wrote the article to discourage people from using DSLR's, but if you don't have the time to learn shooting in manual mode you'll probably never reap the rewards of owning one.

The good news is that if you do replace your Louisville Slugger with a point & shoot or something else that's smaller, you'll be stoked that you can actually carry the thing.

 

[supermanlives]

manual LOL i get crappy photos in auto mode . i actually get better pics frum my cheap fuji 2mp. yeah its gonna be a big learning curve

 

[Diesel_N_Blood]

Thanks for this thread. I just reread it. Think I'm going to buy that book to really get the benifits of my new used slr. Anyone have a link to lens info. I have a nikon D70s w/ 18-55mm.