Nice picts there Jon - nice to see all of those again. and with the addition of the last shot with the XTI only goes to show that its not the camera, its the shooter behind the lens.
Basic things like controlling depth of field, exposure, focus, composition are key to making good images. People must work toward mastering the basics before they can move to making art with photoshop.
Jon U does all of his great work well - but they are all built on the foundation of having mastered the basics!
There are a lot of great books out there for learning compositional skills as well as how a camera works. There are also courses available at Gwinnett Tech where basic camera is taught.
The Atlanta thread of FM is a friendly place - we're all friends here. Try venturing out into the rest of FM and see how quickly you get eaten alive! There are some big egos out there. Just ask Jon about his early experiences out there. Good luck.
Speaking of flag poles, was I the only one who noticed that the flag poles at the Olympics had air blowing out of them? That may be very common but I had never noticed it before. I think it is a cool effect and kind of classy making sure the flags aren't just hanging limply.
JU, I hope you get to shoot that one young lady again. (the one from the Atlanta guild group I think) She has some amazing eyes...
atlphoto222 wrote:
I love the 100EF macro but I think I'm going to need that semi pricey ring flash!
i'm just throwing a couple in with out any PP or Flash to show you how sharp it can be on a junky rebel ;-)
I'm sure you will be into that 180L, although I 've heard there is a shorter one coming that is also L.
I still have a place in my heart for my old Rebel and I have the first one, the 300D model (I think that's what it is). I also have the 35mm Rebel, which is what I really started getting into photography on. The Rebels both have a place on the shelf with the 5D
Another observation...since you mention you don't like to do much in post. It has been reported that the XTI and ppossibly the XSI has a very strong AA filter in front of the sensor. This tends to make photos soft. Do you have any sharpening setting in your camera? If you are shooting RAW this setting wouldn't matter. Also if you are shooting RAW and are doing no sharpening then I highly recommend you do some. If shooting RAW I also recommend to bump up the sharpening a tad. Don't over do it....
I look forward to getting some files from you this weekend to play with.
Rodolfo Paiz - who is a really good Nikon shooter recommends something like this for sharpening. (I can't remember exactly - but this is close)
Clarity = 45 to 65%
Amount 55 - 70%
Radius 1.0%
Detail - 45-55%
Masking - 94%
It has been said this is a bit aggressive for Canon images - but should be fine for Nikon. So maybe throttle it back a little and see what you get.
I also bump up the luminance to about 25% to take the edge off some digital noise on some picts.
Both Nikon and Canon guys along with Scott Kelby at ISAP said to sharpen in ACR and then again after importing into PS. So far the best method I've found in PS is to sharpen the Lightness Channel only in the LAB color space. ... and you would do that to suit your eyes.
*** got this in the mail yesterday or Tuesday - The Maximum Adobe Photoshop CS3 Seminar Tour with Dave Cross at the Galleria on Sept. 22 for only $99.00. Might be a good investment to sell off some junk glass and buy some education.
Finally got out for a bit last night and attended the first night of the Franklin Jazz Festival. It was a first for me to shoot at that kind of event. The bands we got to see were really good. I was a bit disappointed in Buckwheat Zydeco though as I spent a bit over an hour working into the perfect spot only to have him tell the security folks to tear down the restraining tape. It was good for people that wanted to dance down front but not good for me as I was suddenly about 20 rows back with a bunch of heads in front of me...
It was a ton of work trying to balance the WB and exposure with the lights changing from moment to moment...
and the man himself... He puts on a heck of a show. At one point early in the show he brought a bunch of the young kids that were up front dancing and put them on the stage to sing and dance with him. They had a blast.
Cool shots Mark. I hate it when they open the floor like that - but what can you do? the best situation for me has been with a credential and you're let into the space between the band and the crowd and there's a plywood wall between you. Looks like you made good anyway though. I'd like to see more if you got em!
Hi guys. Sorry I have not checked in in a while! We are getting settled in our new house and I am frantically searching for new opportunities to shoot locally. I have had some awesome opportunities lately, but they have all involved some travel...I'm ready to settle in at a nice, local high school
Dave...I think you are on the right track. You have a wonderful eye and really SEE things well. I wish I had your ability in that area! I think you will be surprised at what very minimal PP could do for your images. I'd love to shoot together sometime soon. I think you could help me learn to see and I might be able to give you some pointers on achieving the sharpness and pop you are looking for.
Mark...I like the jazz shots! Have you tried any in B&W?
JB...what have you been up to?
Stacy...still waiting for a pizza night so we can hang out!
Jon U...I am still really enjoying your people shots! I am excited that you will be shooting at UGA soon! I had my first chance to shoot there Saturday. My biggest tips are 1: Get there 3 to 4 hours or more early. 2: Park as close as you can. 3: Bring water to drink on your way from your car to the stadium carrying all that heavy camera gear!
anyone read this yet - i'm sure i'm the last to the gate - but it looks like if they did all this to the 50D - can't wait to see what they do for the 5D and possibly Mark III
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Canon's newest entry into the fall season Olympics is the EOS 50D, which sports an impressive 15.1-megapixel APS-C format CMOS sensor that takes full advantage of Canon's new DIGIC 4 image processor.
The EOS 50D can knock out up to 90 Large/Fine JPEGS or 16 RAW images at burst-rates of up to 6.3 f/p/s. If you often find yourself shooting under low-light conditions, the new camera can be set for ISO ratings up to 12800, which means you can not only photograph people standing in near darkness, you can also photograph what they're thinking about. (Just joking folks… don't get alarmed)
To keep noise under control and maintain optimum image quality at higher ISO ratings the EOS 50D allows you to choose from four levels of noise reduction – Standard, Weak, Strong, and None. The camera's DIGIC 4 image processor also features in-camera peripheral illumination correction, which can automatically smooth-over uneven blue skies and other large areas within an image that can benefit from smoother tonality. This feature, along with other image enhancing tools such as Auto Lighting Optimizer can also be performed post-exposure using Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DDP) software, which is included with every camera.
Image viewing has also been improved via a greatly enhanced 3" LCD that employs 920,000 pixels for breathtaking clarity. Canon also tweaked the Live View function by incorporating a 'Quick Mode AF', 'Live Mode AF', and 'Face Detection Live Mode AF' that can detect up to 35 individual faces within the camera's frame.
Other features of the Canon EOS 50D include an Integrated Cleaning System for preventing dust and other forms of airborne schmutz from gathering on the sensor's low-pass filter and a choice of two smaller RAW formats (sRAW1 and sRAW2) in addition to the 50D's standard RAW mode.
The Canon EOS 50D will be available in October as a body only, or in kit form with a Canon EF 28-135/3.5~5.6 IS USM zoom lens, which covers the field of view of a 44.8-216mm lens on a full-frame 35mm camera.
Very nice Jon and very artistic. I think I would crop out the little blue edge of the umbrella on the right along with the slanted horizon at the top on the last image. Good that you went to HH when you did. It may get a little rough there later this week and to think that we have three more coming in after Gustov.
Jbear. The 50D specs look terriffic and I will probably pre-order one soon as I already have a buyer for my 40D. Since I rarely use the 10fps on the MkIII it may be interesting to see how this compares with it at high ISO and IQ. 6.3 fps @ 15 mp is pretty impressive. Pretty soon we will all need 8 and 16 gb cards to replace all the 4's.
Mark, glad you got a chance to photograph some. Shame about the crowd but looks lke you did pretty well anyway. I like Tracy's B&W on the drummer and would like to see the Accordian player in B&W also.
Tracy, with that 50D on the way you may have defected to the dark side too early but with your creative eye any camera will be fine. You might want to check out Chicamauga as well as Berry College for some fall color this year. Both are reasonably close to Chattanooga and I'm sure you can get a few of us up there for a fall trip.
FYI everyone may want to hold off on rushing to the 50D tooo quickly...
Photokina is on the 23rd of september, so 20 days away... by that time you will know the true specifications of the 5d II/3d/6d whatever it(they) may be.
The bottom line is everyone is hearing 21 mp and 15+ auto focus points, which is a complaint some have against the 50d retaining the 9 focus pts. High ISO performance, the 50d iso performance is not bad but the 5d may blow it away to compete with D3/D700.
Just some thoughts, you may want to hold off and just at least be an informed consumer
Rather than taking shots at each other - and jumping on the rumor mill in the process - why not just wait and see. The 50D is a good bit more expensive and a better camera than the lowly Rebel and the 5D with all its features is a good bit more than the price of a 50D... and a 1D anything is a good bit better than all of them.
Nice shots there JonU - it looks like you're settling in on the Mark III just fine. Are you glad you waited - or wished you had bought sooner? The current level of IQ/focus has been pretty consistent since the firmware upgrade in February. Also want to ask if that is a double exposure or HDR on the same shot as Stacey's. To balance that in the camera in a one shot with no post selections is pretty remarkable!
I like your shot too Smoov - i know you didn't ask for C&C - but the vignetting is an issue that a little tighter crop would fix - but the color saturation in the water and the sharpness around the boats is just superior! The vignetting thing works when it adds to the image - but when it detracts - it hurts it a lot. This image is so strong in so many ways that it would do nothing negative to crop it. - my 2 cents - worth what you paid
That's pretty incredible! The sky AND the water/boats. You may want to consider submitting these things to a stock agency. Like Jim W says - when he stops working, the money stops rolling in. But the stock royalties just keep on coming. He wants to get to a point where he gets paid in stock, does the assignments of his choosing and coasts everywhere else. Said he knows of stock photogs making 200gs a year. Your images like these could get you there without a doubt.
