Official Photography Thread

[falafel]

Beautiful old photos: http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured...=Google+Reader

Those photos are captivating.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Beautiful old photos: http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured...=Google+Reader

Did you guys see these photos in the link I posted in the other thread? Some of these were taken as early as 1905 in pre-Revolution Russia. They're amazing and funny at the same time. Amazing in that they may have really been taken over century ago and funny in that they could have also just been taken last year. If you saw the village in Borat, it appears as if things really haven't changed much in large parts of that region.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured...ource=ARK_plog

[falafel]

Did you guys see these photos in the link I posted in the other thread? Some of these were taken as early as 1905 in pre-Revolution Russia. They're amazing and funny at the same time. Amazing in that they may have really been taken over century ago and funny in that they could have also just been taken last year. If you saw the village in Borat, it appears as if things really haven't changed much in large parts of that region.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured...ource=ARK_plog

Interesting. Many of what I would assume are the "poorest" people in those photographs look like they're much better off than the people living in their "dugouts" in New Mexico in the 40s.

[fusnik]

Those pictures are awesome.

Do the scenes not look very clean? From the air, to the rivers, to the roads. Especially considering they were dirt roads.

[Scott R Nelson]

I didn't take this photo, but it's a pretty cool original, unretouched photo:


The background on how the photo was taken:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/324448...s_and_animals/
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/...ily-photo.html


Of course, now that squirrel is taking a life of its own in other photos:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&s...andts+squirrel
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/...-pictures.html

Maybe there should be a separate thread for photos with the squirrel in it.

[RobinFinderson]

I took some pictures at my son's band's gig at Velour in Provo last Saturday night. Does anyone have some suggestions on how to take some decent pics under minimal light conditions while people move around on a stage? I took about 100 pictures, and these are some of the best. I didn't 'shop or modify any of them, other than to resize. I set the camera on auto-ISO, limiting to 1/30 or 1/60 of a second, and it mostly went to ISO 3200. I generally like the results, but wondered if there's anything else I can do to freeze the action when they actually move? Is the only other option a faster lens?

In this first pic, I used the flash, but it sterilizes the picture. No ambiance.


The rest were just taken with ambient light. As you can see, that light varied quite a bit.

These are pretty decent photos taken in a challenging low-light situation. Mastery of a high quality flash does not necessitate the washed out look of the first photo. You just have to dial it back and defuse it a bit more. It will often give a photographer just the edge needed to get better sharpness in a situation like this, though I would have to think popping flashes would piss off the performers and other audience members. A faster lens is a great option. I've long been an advocate of Cannon's 1.4 50 mm. At 1.4, what the camera sees in low light will astound.

Most importantly, the pics are dang cool.

[mtnbiker]

These are pretty decent photos taken in a challenging low-light situation. Mastery of a high quality flash does not necessitate the washed out look of the first photo. You just have to dial it back and defuse it a bit more. It will often give a photographer just the edge needed to get better sharpness in a situation like this, though I would have to think popping flashes would piss off the performers and other audience members. A faster lens is a great option. I've long been an advocate of Cannon's 1.4 50 mm. At 1.4, what the camera sees in low light will astound.

Most importantly, the pics are dang cool.

Thanks, Robin. Very nice of you to say that. And I'll look into the diffused flash idea. I asked my son and the drummer beforehand if they'd mind me taking pics, and they were all for it. I figure it's better to ask in a smaller setting like that.

[Katy Lied]

I've been meaning to practice panning, so I headed to Rocky Mountain Raceway. It's a good intro to panning, because the cars start out slowly, and the track signal lights give me warning that the race is about to start. Panning a football player running in a game is much more difficult, because he cuts and changes direction in an erratic manner.

Start out by switching your camera and lens to manual. Focus on a stationary point on the track, in this case I focused on the track right in front of the Bud sign. Start with the subject to your left, and then pan smoothly along with the subject across the field. When they get to your pre-focused zone (the Bud sign), snap the picture.


Panning shots aren't meant to be perfectly in focus. There's a lot of forgiveness because compared to blurred background, the subject is still relatively in focus. Here's a shot that I would toss in the trash if the background was in focus:


For some reason, these long skinny cars were the hardest to keep in focus. I think it's because I have to zoom in to see the car height, but at the same time, I needed to keep the long car width in the frame, so I didn't have much leeway on the sides, maybe a foot on each side.


Conversely, motocycles are the easier to pan, because their shape is perfectly suited to a 4x6 camera frame. Maybe this is why most of the examples of action panning are of motorcycles. This is a friend of mine, and I'm gonna give him a hard time about the Ogden sticker.


Finally, if you're panning a single subject, and there are other subjects in the frame that are going a different rate of speed, they will blur as well, even if they're going at only a slightly different speed. Here, I panned on the further car, and the front car was going just a little faster.




You can get proficient at this easy type of panning in about 200 shots. Anything that starts off slow (or stopped) will work-- track meets are good too. With bright light, there isn't much problems with panning, but I've found that if you reduce the shutter speed to anything slower than 30, nothing will turn out, even in you use a tripod. (Although I havent tried a focusing rail yet)

[RobinFinderson]

Nice post KL! I've never had much luck panning, but then again, I haven't practiced much. Your shots make me want to get out and give it a try.

[mtnbiker]

That's really cool. I particularly like the black rail with flames.

[Katy Lied]

[wuapinmon]

I love how the sconces glow.

[scandell]

I went to Yosemite last week and snagged a few gems.

[Chachi]

In January 2009 we had a severe ice storm. We were without power for 7 days. You know how you never really think that you are prepared for such emergencies? I've always felt that way. But, we were very prepared. I actually had no idea that the storm was coming. I hula danced for our ward luau on Sat night and on Monday my appendix was bursting at the seams so I was rushed to ER, admitted for surgery within a couple hours. Got out of the hospital on Wed, and rested thru the weekend. Storm hit Tues morning. FN ventured out with his dad and said the sights were unbelieveable. So Thurs he took the fam out for a drive. We LOVE this picture. It's completely unedited.

[Art Vandelay]

Is anyone familiar with the Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 lens? I'm starting to kick the tires, but not sure I'm a good enough photographer to justify the cost. I do love my 70-200 f/2.8 though. It is an amazing lens.