Advice and Critique corner

[coolcat]

Originally Posted by Canonite

Upgrading to the 7D replacement may well be a trade off....as you could go for a 5D MkII for similar cash and the FF pixels are lovely to work with.

Full frame is not for me, I need speed and the crop sensor gives me more reach on the telephotos.
The 5d mk2 is a lovely camera but most of my stuff is sport orientated so it will be the 7d's replacement.
The 5D mk3 is fast enough but I still want the crop body.
The only time I could be persuaded would be for a 1DX, need to win the lottery though!
To be honest apart from noise control when pushing the iso I love the 7d as is.
The only other thing I would really love is wifi connectivity which would speed up getting photos uploaded.....Oops, moving off topic, back to critique

[clf]

[QUOTE=A19_Graham;1590077]Just for a Laugh, here goes.





this is my favourite. Macro, always catches my eye.

When I was selling cameras, I used to try to encourage (sometimes demand them to lol) people to get out of auto and play with the settings of the camera. If you were not confident reading the meter (or were in a hurry) try 'P' mode. That way shutter speeds are automatic, but it allows you to tweak options like white balance etc. The Daff image warmed up using 'cloudy' or 'shade' mode, would have been the only thing I would do with it. Alternatively in Photoshop, or your preferred editing software, a little 'warm' filter applied. (in Photoshop -> Image -> adjustments -> photo filter)

Also, dont be frightened to use the flash outdoors. Especially (and particularly) with portraits. In bright lighting, it can really lift the eyes and the shadows created by the eye socket.

Just a point to note, with most compact and bridge cameras, if using 'P' mode (or the ASM for that matter) the auto focus may struggle in close situations. If it does struggle, activate the macro mode (small flower symbol) - Fuji cameras tend to have amazing close up ability

[clf]

Originally Posted by coolcat

Looks like those nutters were driving in a public car park
What sort of speed was your shutter?
Looks like you had it nailed down nice and slow
Some of the backgrounds are slightly distracting but not sure you could do much about that given where the photos were taken.
Really like the first one with the Caterham Super 7 or is it a Westfield the best.
Your focus appears to have been on the bonnet just below the windscreen of the car, I would have probably tried to nail it to the front of the car maybe.
If those were your first attempts at panning they are very good.
It is not the easiest of things to do.

I think the shutter speed was around 1/25th. they were auto testing in a public car park. A very small one only partially closed too! This side unfortunately was the only side I could get a full view as I panned.

I was actually trying to get the focus on the expressions of the guys driving. And was manual focusing lol. Well, I locked focus, because I was willing to accept one shot from maybe 5 or 10, because the continuous focus was too slow.

The clubman shots are my favourite from that night. the colours were mainly as they came from the camera!

-----------------------

You mentioned the 1Dx and 5DmkIII. I was fortunate enough to be sent on safari by canon in May '12. (Sounds very lah di dah? hehe, it was to Woburn Safari Park ) . There were at the time, 7 of these cameras in Europe, and we had them! . We were asked not to damage them as they were being handed to preferential Canon customers at the Olympics after us. I believe we were giving them a shake down before they did lol. My 1Dx actually locked up! But was fixed by removing the battery. It was a really nice camera. I mean reallllllllly nice! Too much spec for my use though, but wow, it was clean. I will hunt out soem of them and upload to my other Flickr account. The majority of outside shots were with the 1Dx and 70-200 f4. The close up shots were 5DmkIII with at the time new, 100mm L macro

The modern cropped sensors are fantastic. And most of the recent the xxxD range sensors, as an example, although the processors are may be different, they use the same sensor as the 7D. It is build strength (I am reluctant to use the term build quality as I believe they are all built to an equally high standard) and feature set, that sets them apart. I would be more than happy to use the 5DmkIII for sports use, although it is a little slower than the 7D, I would crop the image after if I needed, but the cleanness (?) of the image at higher isos is superb! (remember you will be cropping to roughly the pixel quantity and size of the cropped sensor anyway but would be able to obtain higher shutter speeds, with cleaner higher ISO ) - in saying all that, I would advise waiting for the 7DmkII for now - then wait for another 6months for the price to settle.

[clf]

Originally Posted by Canonite

Okay, those who are on Facebook may have seen me post these two from the weekend:

Both shot using very high ISO, I think the first one was about 800ISO and the second was 3200ISO.

I am guessing a little HDR was used, either in camera or edited after? HDR is one of those Marmite type of things. I am not a fan, HOWEVER, IF if was used here I love it. I love how the subtle use of it. IF it wasnt used, then WOW!

I agree about your comment about critique, Alan, art (I believe photography is an art form) is subjective, but people can learn and develop their skills from critique. My comments above about the possible use of HDR if not used, would show the pitfall of critique and be insulting to your ability. Please dont be offended if I am wrong, I am happy to be corrected, and learn from my critique too.

[clf]

Originally Posted by coolcat

.
The only other thing I would really love is wifi connectivity which would speed up getting photos uploaded.....Oops, moving off topic, back to critique

Use a decent card reader, it is faster than wifi, and doesnt drain your battery . Plus if mobile, you can carry on shooting whilst they upload

[Dragrad]

As this is the most current and apt thread this has now been stuck. Older stuck threads have been removed as they are now 5+ years out of date and were stuck..... We do not want too many "Stickies" taking up room from all of the pages on this forum (or any other).

Enjoy

[Canonite]

Originally Posted by clf

I am guessing a little HDR was used, either in camera or edited after? HDR is one of those Marmite type of things. I am not a fan, HOWEVER, IF if was used here I love it. I love how the subtle use of it. IF it wasnt used, then WOW!

I agree about your comment about critique, Alan, art (I believe photography is an art form) is subjective, but people can learn and develop their skills from critique. My comments above about the possible use of HDR if not used, would show the pitfall of critique and be insulting to your ability. Please dont be offended if I am wrong, I am happy to be corrected, and learn from my critique too.

Kind words, thankyou.
I hate the term HDR as I think it is no longer a tool for the purpose of its name, and I suspect a lot of people don't even understand what it really means.
I think it's just something people do without understanding light, and it is just simply overcooked with feeble software and tweaked far too much. I also think people do set out to "take some HDR images" rather than setting out to just make a good image so the compositional skills are out the window. I blame students

So yeah, the above two images are 3 multiple exposures of -1, 0 and +1 EV. When i've shot in this Cathedral before I had my Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 but i've now got the 10-22mm, and I was handheld so I decided to to just capture what detail I could as the harsh contrast between internal lighting, sunlight through the windows and dark areas of the building would need bringing out.

A trained eye would have maybe noticed the murky greyness of the hymn book pages and the tones of the organ pipes and the wood in the second pic?
The subject matter has to lend itself to any kind of tonemapping and I think old buildings do. I like to try and get the best composition and build on that to get what I want. My trusty EOS 3 can shoot upto 9 exposures on one frame while not advancing the film....so recording higher dynamic range has been done for years, I just feel it's a little bit trigger happy and used without thinking. Or people think.. "oh that image is rubbish...i'll HDR it"

Dyou know what I mean?

[clf]

Originally Posted by Canonite

....so recording higher dynamic range has been done for years, I just feel it's a little bit trigger happy and used without thinking. Or people think.. "oh that image is rubbish...i'll HDR it"

Dyou know what I mean?

Yes I know what you mean totally. I also get annoyed with people who say photoshopping images is wrong and not photography. Manipulation of inches has gone on since photography began. Even selecting a particular film stock over another would be a manipulation. Hdr is I think too,is abused for laziness. But each to their own. I like if time and subject permits to do it your way too. If I can't I will edit the raw files for 3 exposures and blend them that way.

[coolcat]

Originally Posted by clf

Use a decent card reader, it is faster than wifi, and doesnt drain your battery . Plus if mobile, you can carry on shooting whilst they upload

I have a Udma card reader, wifi enables individual files to be uploaded to my iPad without tethering which can be useful.
My 7d is gripped with two batteries and I have two spare in my bag.
Have yet to ever run out of juice on the one set even after shooting two 8gb cards to capacity
For me Wifi is a bonus

[Mark2000cc]

Great thread Jeff, unfortunately I won't be posting as I'm no photographer but the images are great to look at!

Keep them coming in folks!