A few of us in the 3rd gen section were talking camera gear and photos in the picture thread. Thought we could start a "general" serious photography thread where people can post pictures they've taken (doesn't have to be 4Runner related either), get feedback, talk camera gear, techniques, and processing software. Pretty much anything goes....

EDIT: Takin' heat for my cell phone comment..... Great photos can be taken with cell phones and I've even got some with my terrible quality iphone 4. I simply wanted to try and keep this thread more of an in-depth discussion of photography, it's principles, techniques, as well as critiquing each others work if your open to it.

I'll start.

I recently stepped into the full-frame world and also made the jump to RAW files and upgraded to Lightroom 4. I've always found the size of RAW files to be a drawback for me and I've had pretty good results with high-quality JPEG's on my old Rebel XSi. However, after getting spendy on my new Canon 6D body, I felt it would be a sin to NOT shoot in RAW. Needless to say, in the short time I've been playing with the new camera, I am rapidly falling in love with RAW files and the full-frame body. Post processing is WICKED with RAW.

I downloaded a couple plugins for Lightroom, one of which is 3 levels of instant HDR goodness. Here's a photo from today that I used the HDR plugin on:


Time for a bath. by RickaShay24, on Flickr

(sorry for the repeat for those who saw it in the 3rd gen picture thread)

Nice thread! Yeah, if you plan on doing any sort of post-photo editing, shooting in RAW is a must. I also work in Lightroom 4 and love it. I shoot mainly product stuff for the photo side of our work, but enjoy shooting climbing the most (since it's what I enjoy doing the most)

Some random shots.

Another forum I'm on has the same type of thread going and its been great love that by the way.

I started with a kodak easyshare and took 10k photos in one year with it. started to randomly shut off so I stepped up to bridge camera... a big point n shoot that does RAW etc. someday a full dslr will be used.

oddly enough for now I'm just posting a cell phone pic here. all 3.2mp... better pics later.

@Hepar sick photos man! Free climbing is probably exciting as hell. Although I'd probably never do it or any type of climbing its very respectable. You got some great photos too. What kind of gear you got?

@rickashay I believe we were talking about you getting a canon 6D and shooting raw. First off, badass camera. Full frame is the way to go. And yes RAW is a must. Although it does take a lot more space, if you plan to edit anyway, shooting raw will give you best amount of data to work with and also best of all its unprocessed/uncompressed files.
I'm not too familiar with canon lens. But are those both L glass lenses?
I know those can cost a pretty penny. I'm more of a prime lens type of shooter but then again If I had canon L glass lens and such I really wouldn't worry about being restricted to prime because those canons are sharp as they can be.

4x5 Ektachrome VS from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

Attached Images

 

im gonna sub to this. i am gonna try and spend some time this weekend editing some more photos from the first real time out with my camera...

for those that dont know, i just got a canon 60d, with a canon 18-200 IS 3.5-5.6 lens. while typically im not a fan of large range lenses, i could really only afford one lens at this time and so after reading reviews and using that lens(a friend has the same setup) i went with that, found it in a package deal that made it much sweeter too. i scooped up a 128g lexar card, and some basic filters, i also picked up CS6 and Lr4. i was a big film guy shooting canon back in the day -had an EOS elan 7e and a EOS 3. it was great cause i had access to a darkroom/lab and film was free so i only hard to cover the cost of filters and lenses. anyhow once i moved to the PNW i lost my darkroom/lab, and i had to start buying my own film... well that sucked lol and it sucked when my camera decided to go for a swim... that was then end of photography for me. at 21 i wasnt about to go drop $2g on a new camera, liquor was much more attractive and fun -or so i thought...

well when i met my fiance/wife, she had a digital rebel xs, so i got more familiar with with the digital and with that decided it was now worth it to spend the cash of a new nice camera...

Great pics!

I started a couple years ago when I picked up a D40X for a road trip to Southern CO. I picked up a D5000 last... May maybe and would like to have stepped up to D7000, but don't really wanna go full frame because I like the compact size for my uses.

I think if I had a full frame camera I'd take my camera less places and take less photos, plus I have a 24x36 print from a cropped picture taken with the D40X on that first trip and it's great. I did step up to RAW a year or so ago, but hate dealing with the size!!


What do you guys use to organize and sift through your photos? I'm using iPhoto right now and it's a great program IMO but since I went to raw (and the library size blew up) it has slowed down a lot.

I use photomatix for my HDRs, here's a recent one -

Forest Lake Sunset 12-19-12 by el gaterose, on Flickr

(that's a lake in my neighborhood where the tornado came through in '11, they recently got the debris out and refilled it)

Thanks!

I shoot on a D700. My lenses include a 14-24mm f2.8, 24-70mm f2.8. 70-200mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8, 105mm macro f2.8. All Nikons.

I use Lightroom. It's a great program for organizing and for most of the editing that you'll ever do.

took long enough for someone to start this thread, lol

I tend to always shoot in RAW format on my XSi (450D) just due to the control freedoms it gives you when "developing" the image.


recent of the pooch:

Nice shot! Cell phone pics can be great too, especially considering that "the best camera is the one you have with you", and a lot of the time your cell phone has to do the job. I only said that "no cell phone pics" because I would like to keep this thread photography tech-related so all of us photo nerds have something to blab about... I look forward to more of your pics!

Yah, I've always been aware of the benefits of RAW but was simply satisfied with JPEG as I really dont require a TON of leeway for editing in post. I also though it was going to be a pain with file management and reading the RAW files. I got my external HD set up properly now though and Lightroom seems to take care of the RAW files with ease. I'm amazed at the lack of noise you have with RAW even after adjusting exposure to +/- 2 stops. Nuts!

Yah, both of those lenses I mentioned are "L-series" Canon glass. I currently shoot primarily with a Canon 24-105 f/4.0 L-series lens and it is very sharp. Contrast and color are also outstanding. I also play with a 50mm f/1.8 prime from time to time and really enjoy the different perspective when the zoom function is no more. Have yet to play around with the prime though on the full frame.

Excellent move Isaac. I'm excited to see you progress with your new gear. Seems like your already getting pretty familiar with the "digital" world!

What filters did you get? Circular polarizer?

Cool picture! Your right, the full frame bodies are generally larger but they are actually getting smaller with the newest releases. The Canon 6D that is supposedly the smallest full-frame camera there is and the body is nearly identical to the cropped-sensor Canon 60D. Nikon also rocks the D600 which competes directly with the Canon 6D, and I'm pretty sure they are close in size.

Lightroom is a god-send. Once you start using it and understanding it, you will never bother with another photo program again. It organizes files, processes, exports, develops, and even publishes your selected photos directly to flickr!

^Couldn't agree more with Jared. Lightroom rocks. BTW, that's some fast glass you have... awesome kit. Excellent photos as well, I always look forward to your pics, 4Runner or not. I like that last climbing one you posted in the dark with the trees around the boulder. What flash are you rockin?

-Night Photography- Anyone else played around with it???

Since I got my 6D I have been encouraging myself to get out and shoot more. I've always been a HUGE fan of night photography but my OLD cropped body just had terrible high ISO performance, and the images would be so noisy, even on a tripod for a longer exposure set on low ISO. With my old body anything, even in daylight, shot at ISO 1000 or above was useless. With the 6D's max ISO of 25600 (not very useable...) I am finding I can still shoot with ISO 12600 and actually retain a decent quality image. Insane!

Here is a shot I took last week.


Trying to learn some night photography. by RickaShay24, on Flickr
Settings: 30s, ISO 500, f/4.0, 28mm

I actually should have lowered the ISO a touch and kept the 30s exposure. If you zoom close enough you can see the stars starting to "trail" which is not the effect I wanted. Close, but still learning....

@rickashay , obviously a uv(that should go without saying), and yeah a CP, ND, FLD. i want to get a SF, but really the more i look at it, all the filters i used to have for film are kinda irrelevant, i mean i can do all that stuff in lightroom now, but it still might be nice to have some graduated filters for making cloudy skys blue(then i can really pull the blue in light room) -same thing with sunsets...

Night Shots:


Exposure: 30.0 Sec at f/4.5
Focal Length: 28mm
ISO Speed Rating: ISO 100
Flash: Did not fire
Make: Canon
Model: Canon EOS Rebel XSi
Lens: EF28-90mm f/4-5.6


I'm looking into getting a L-series lens soon along w/ a 9 to 10 stop ND filter for a shot I want to get, just have
to get up uber early to get it while the fog is still over the river I cross over on my way to work. .

That was shot with an SB-600. I like that shot a lot, but I also hate it (well, hate is a strong word). I forgot my remotes that day which is why you can see the flash in the shot. I would have preferred to have hidden it behind that tree.

I haven't shot at night much, but I have been doing a lot of shoots lately that involve shooting at super low light. I'd actually do the opposite and bump up your ISO. 30s is a long time. Hard to not get a bit of trailing when your open for that long. Mess around with a smaller f-stop. Maybe even 11+. That should reduce the amount of blowout you have on the stars themselves.

Probably one of my few "night" shots I have around. Let me dig.