Photography

[Equin]

Originally Posted by baseballboy828

Oh and you'll want to keep the 18-55 around, but you'll want to use it when you see its results next to the 50-135.

Not want to use it you mean? The DA* 50-135 is in a completely different class quality wise than the kit lens. 18-55mm is probably a better all purpose lens size though, guess I'll end up buying a better one in that range later.

[bendrucker]

That's what I meant. 2.8 glass is addicting.

[notabadname]

You will definitely love shooting with the 2.8! Plus, that is a pretty flexible range. Enjoy!

[Yuiichi]

Just went on a "photography trip" yesterday with one of my friend. Definitely cool shooting with another guy. Here's the photoset: click for flickr.

Constructive criticism/comments welcome. I know I'm not anywhere near the league of BBB or notabadname, but I enjoy going out and snapping some shots.

[notabadname]

Always enjoy looking at other peoples images. My favorite of those would have to be the "situational" composition of the "thin ice" warning, in a grassy field or bog. In my opinion, I would say you have an eye for interesting subjects. My biggest suggestion would be towards the composition of the subjects. In general, you are positioning your subjects in the center of frame. As much as I hate rules, and they truly do deserve to broken in the right situations, "the Rule of Thirds" is one of the easiest composition rules to follow and get better results quickly. In the case of the "ice" sign, I may have captured it in landscape orientation instead of portrait, with the blue sign falling on the upper 1/3 line (which it does) and the vertical center of the sign falling on the left 1/3 of the image. This would be even more pleasing to the eye, as well as bringing more attention to the grassy "irony" of the image.

Again it is really just a "rule-of-thumb", which I break myself. But the human eye, and mind, and the way it is pleased by certain elements of composition in photography and graphics are well studied, and worth observing when there is no other "artistic" reason to deviate. Here is a good link, with some very good examples on it of composition. There are other good rules too that relate to contrast, perspective, diagonals and more. The more you incorporate these concepts into your images, the more pleasing they will be to more viewers.

Here is one link I like (and there are many more, but this is very well illustrated) :

Yongbo Jiang’s Weblog » Blog Archive » Rule Of Thirds

Thanks for Sharing Yuiichi, and Keep on Shooting !

[studioprisoner]

Photo set from the weekend, my sisters Canon EOS 400D Digital was used, it was my parents 25th wedding anniversary party, great weekend

25th Wedding anniversary in Bendigo (Jess's Camera) - a set on Flickr

[bendrucker]

I managed to get a reservation to go see Moose Peterson speak today at B&H Photo in New York. For those who don't know, Moose is a very famous wildlife photographer, who does a lot of workshops and teaching. Should be a lot of fun. I will report when I get back.

UPDATE: It was awesome. B&H's event space is very small, but it was filled. The presentation went for two hours. Moose had a lot of great things to share. Really glad I went.

[Opus]

Originally Posted by baseballboy828

I love B&H. The only thing to remember is that it's closed (and does not accept online orders) on Friday night and saturday because of shabbat.On Sunday or any weekday, if you have a chance, just go in. If you have any ineterest whatsoever in photography, you'll be amazed. Great store.

I did not know the reason they closed for orders at those times. Very interesting. I agree with you on the Great store comment. I have used them for years and will spend a bit more just to order from them due to the excellent service I have always gotten from them. Been looking for the right external Hard Drive on B & H. I envy you for being able to go to the store in person.

If I ever get the chance to upgrade to a DSLR it will more than likely come from B & H. I really like your photo site. I will be hitting you and everyone else here for advice when it comes to making that pick for a DSLR. I am strictly amateur and I love MACRO. Can not decided if I want to go with the Sony A350 so I can use my old Minolta 35mm lenses or just make a clean break and jump to Cannon. What would you recommend? Remember AMATEUR/Hobby.

Have you ever been here? I like this sight for camera information.

[bendrucker]

B&H is really an awesome place. I don't actually buy things in the store, since the sales tax adds a lot to the purchase cost. So generally I will have things shipped via UPS, avoiding sales tax since I am in New Jersey. I also get free shipping from the NAPP, so the price on the website is the price I pay, no added shipping or tax.

Whether you should switch to Nikon or Canon depends on the value of your Minolta lenses. If you have some expensive, high quality lenses, its worth keeping them and using Sony cameras. If your lenses aren't worth much, I'd consider trading them in to B&H for some store credit. If you have a couple decent lenses and a body in good condition, B&H might give you $150 or so which you could keep as cash or put towards another purchase. If you decide to abandon Minolta/Sony, I'd recommend Nikon. I know you mentioned switching to Canon, but check out Nikon's offerings. Nikon has some good low end bodies that are very cheap and are of great quality. I can pretty much recite the Nikon section of the B&H catalog in my sleep, so I'd be happy to offer you advice if you need it.

In regard to myself, I finally bought myself a D300 last week (along with the MB-D10 battery grip). And all I can say is wow. I had to put off the purchase forever, so it was really satisfying when it finally arrived from UPS. For high-speed shooting, this camera is ridiculous. I'm not shooting sports the majority of the time, but I'd say it makes up about 15% of my work. The D300 shoots 8fps with the battery grip and 8 NiMH batteries. Add to that the SanDisk Extreme IV CF cards I use with it, and you get a hybrid between a machine gun and a camera. I created a quick sound clip for anyone who wants to hear what the full burst sounds like. Check it out here. It's been raining and Thanksgiving has kept me busy, but I'm looking forward to shooting with the D300 this weekend and really giving it a thorough test.

[Opus]

Originally Posted by baseballboy828

Whether you should switch to Nikon or Canon depends on the value of your Minolta lenses. If you have some expensive, high quality lenses, its worth keeping them and using Sony cameras.

In regard to myself, I finally bought myself a D300 last week (along with the MB-D10 battery grip). And all I can say is wow. I had to put off the purchase forever, so it was really satisfying when it finally arrived from UPS. For high-speed shooting, this camera is ridiculous.

Congratulations on your new D300. I know that Nikon is like the Gold standard. But I consider in more of a Pro line. D200 would be a stretch for me and I might would have to start with the D40.

That Sound file is WICKED. What is the FPS on that thing? WIth all the other high end stuff you have on it, is there a buffer limit on the rapid fire mode?

I bet you can not wait to take that thing out and test it as you mentioned. Please share some of your test shots. Perhaps put them up in a gallery on your site with a link.

Have fun, hope the weather breaks and you get some awesome shots.