Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Give us a seminar, lecture or lesson on what your 'thing' is. Now with our exclusive ASK-A-NERD!!!
Post Reply
User avatar
Skylarking
Posts: 58
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:59 am
About me: More to come.
Location: Rolling a blunt for Buddha, under the pipal tree.
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by Skylarking » Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:36 pm

Oooo.... sexy.



8-)
.

no wiser than my last thought; no stronger than my last word; no more humble than my desperation


CJ
Posts: 8436
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:03 am
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by CJ » Sat Feb 27, 2010 3:24 pm

Skylarking wrote:
first night exposure resized.jpg
Here is my first long exposure at night- an over exposure at that. I've resized from the original. I shot it at, from memory... ISO 100, f/22 at around 20 minutes(20) The lens was a ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150mm 1:4.0-5.6 (though I barely understand what that actually means).

I'm thinking upgrading my camera. Oh, I have an Olympus E-420. It came with two pancake lenses- one of those mentioned above.

The image is attached. I'm still a newbie, so any criticisms would help.


EDIT: and I also submitted another shot, using the same set up, only I used the 60 second shutter release built into the camera. I under exposed that one. :doh:
Great photo's! The only comment I would make is the non-horizontal horizon which is something that jars in landscapes. The Olympus kit you have is very good and always has been so unless you have a specific type of photo you want to take and your current kit won't do I'd stick with Olympus. The cost of moving system will not bring a commensurate with the delta increase in capability I.E. you'll spend £1,000 getting a 3% improvement. You are better to either improve your existing body, expand your lenses or better still take your existing kit on a holiday to a photogenic location and use it!

User avatar
FBM
Ratz' first Gritizen.
Posts: 45327
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:43 pm
About me: Skeptic. "Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach"
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by FBM » Sat Feb 27, 2010 3:37 pm

Skylarking wrote:Oooo.... sexy.



8-)
:shiver:
CJ wrote:
Skylarking wrote:
first night exposure resized.jpg
Here is my first long exposure at night- an over exposure at that. I've resized from the original. I shot it at, from memory... ISO 100, f/22 at around 20 minutes(20) The lens was a ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 40-150mm 1:4.0-5.6 (though I barely understand what that actually means).

I'm thinking upgrading my camera. Oh, I have an Olympus E-420. It came with two pancake lenses- one of those mentioned above.

The image is attached. I'm still a newbie, so any criticisms would help.

EDIT: and I also submitted another shot, using the same set up, only I used the 60 second shutter release built into the camera. I under exposed that one. :doh:
Great photo's! The only comment I would make is the non-horizontal horizon which is something that jars in landscapes. The Olympus kit you have is very good and always has been so unless you have a specific type of photo you want to take and your current kit won't do I'd stick with Olympus. The cost of moving system will not bring a commensurate with the delta increase in capability I.E. you'll spend £1,000 getting a 3% improvement. You are better to either improve your existing body, expand your lenses or better still take your existing kit on a holiday to a photogenic location and use it!
What he said! :tup:
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken

"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."

"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."

User avatar
Witticism
Posts: 219
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 2:19 am
About me: Legend in my own Kitteh litteh
Location: Map of Tassie
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by Witticism » Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:14 am

Nom, Nom, ... just bookmarking :biggrin:
Jimmy Lee Farnsworth: Erwin, admit that you are a sinner.
Fletch: Uh. Well, I've sinned. I didn't take any Polaroids or anything. But, yeah, I've sinned.
Jimmy Lee Farnsworth: The Lord forgives ya!
Fletch: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. What? Other sins? Uh, I parked in a handicap spot on my way up here. Actually, on a handicap person. I told him I'd be back in five minutes, so that's not such a big deal.

User avatar
FBM
Ratz' first Gritizen.
Posts: 45327
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:43 pm
About me: Skeptic. "Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach"
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by FBM » Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:28 am

Suggestions would be very welcome here. I took this today:

Image

You can see the lighting situation and the results. I was using a 28~80 lens, speed mode, and it shot at 1/45 @ 5.6.

I cropped and cleared it up some in PS:

Image

but of course I'm not happy with the results. I plan to be doing a lot more shooting under similar lighting of similar scenes. I want to stop the guy in mid-air and end up with a crisp, detailed image.

Suggestions? Different lens? Different settings? Give up?
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken

"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."

"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."

CJ
Posts: 8436
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:03 am
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by CJ » Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:49 am

You can 'freeze' action in one of three ways.

1) High shutter speed
  • To freeze human actions we are talking shutter speeds of 1/250th of a second or faster.
    This is governed by a combination of the three factors as detailed below.
    a) Lot of ambient light (natural or via lighting)
    b) Wide lens aperture.
    c) High 'Film' speed

    If you could move the action outside or borrow/buy some video lighting that would be the solution to a).
    You'll have to buy a wide aperture lens (f1.8 or better) to satisfy b).
    You can set your sensor sensitivity to a higher value (800 or 1600ASA) to satisfy c).
    The most reasonable combination would be to up your ASA to 400 and get the action outside if you can, this is the 'no cost' option.
    Buying a second hand wide aperture lens (50mm f1.4) would be my second option but you would have to accept that at full aperture, the whole point of buying the lens, the image could be considered 'soft' which would be counter to your requirement of sharp.
    Upping your 'film' speed will introduce 'noise' (dappled colours) into the dark areas of the image, you'll just have to experiment and see what is acceptable.
2) Flash lighting
  • This option will produce the crispest image. However to fill the volume of space you are considering will take a lot of light, that's either a very expensive high power on camera flash (which will give very harsh effects and only illuminate the combatants effectively) or a pair of off camera flash heads which would cost you more than the on camera flash. If you are looking for a top class 'freeze' a pair of off camera flash heads is the best possible option, see if you can rent some.
3) Panning
  • Not really practical as the action if circular, the man in the air is moving through and arc not a line.
I hope this helps.
Last edited by CJ on Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
FBM
Ratz' first Gritizen.
Posts: 45327
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:43 pm
About me: Skeptic. "Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach"
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by FBM » Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:59 am

CJ wrote:WORK IN PROGRESS!

You can 'freeze' action in one of three ways.

1) High shutter speed
  • To freeze human actions we are talking shutter speeds of 1/250th of a second or better. This is governed by three factors as detailed below.
    a) Lot of ambient light (natural or via lighting)
    You need the equivalent of a bright sunny day
  • b) Wide lens aperture
  • c) 'Film' speed
2) Flash
3) Panning
Yeah, I checked the ISO and it's on 160. It can go much higher, of course. I read that ISO of over 400 can create aberrations. Maybe not in low-ish light? There wasn't really a lack of light, just that the interior light was overpowered by the sunlight coming from behind. I can hardly ask them to have their belt tests at locations to my choosing. I'll try increasing the ISO next time and panning more. If that doesn't do it, I'll try to find a lens with larger aperture capabilities.

Thanks for the tips, as always! :td:
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken

"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."

"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."

CJ
Posts: 8436
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 8:03 am
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by CJ » Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:05 am

FBM wrote: Yeah, I checked the ISO and it's on 160. It can go much higher, of course. I read that ISO of over 400 can create aberrations. Maybe not in low-ish light? There wasn't really a lack of light, just that the interior light was overpowered by the sunlight coming from behind. I can hardly ask them to have their belt tests at locations to my choosing. I'll try increasing the ISO next time and panning more. If that doesn't do it, I'll try to find a lens with larger aperture capabilities.

Thanks for the tips, as always! :td:
Up your ISO and set your meter to spot, not area, this will make the camera expose for the people and not the window in the background.

User avatar
FBM
Ratz' first Gritizen.
Posts: 45327
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:43 pm
About me: Skeptic. "Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach"
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by FBM » Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:21 am

CJ wrote:
FBM wrote: Yeah, I checked the ISO and it's on 160. It can go much higher, of course. I read that ISO of over 400 can create aberrations. Maybe not in low-ish light? There wasn't really a lack of light, just that the interior light was overpowered by the sunlight coming from behind. I can hardly ask them to have their belt tests at locations to my choosing. I'll try increasing the ISO next time and panning more. If that doesn't do it, I'll try to find a lens with larger aperture capabilities.

Thanks for the tips, as always! :td:
Up your ISO and set your meter to spot, not area, this will make the camera expose for the people and not the window in the background.
Ah, yes, the meter was set to area, too. Good advice. :tup:
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken

"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."

"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."

User avatar
Reverend Blair
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:22 pm
About me: If I had my way I'd buy a few acres of land and an old tractor. I'd drive the old tractor around the land and passers-by would stop to ask me what kind of crop I was farming. "Crop?" I'd say, "Crops are work, I'm planting ideas."
Location: Most likely to your left
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by Reverend Blair » Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:25 pm

I'd tend to go with several flash units (likely a main high and close to the camera and two fills about a half stop down on each side...kind of a reverse butterfly...and use rear curtain sync if your camera has it. That would leave the feeling of motion, but create a crisp image at the end of the shot...you get the blur to invoke motion, and the crispness of flash. The light would be a little flat because the main would be close the camera, but the fills would tend to make the subjects pop from the background. It would also give you some detail in the dark clothing without blowing out the white.

A lot of sports people don't like being nailed by a few thousands watts of light though, and that kind of lighting is expensive.

User avatar
FBM
Ratz' first Gritizen.
Posts: 45327
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:43 pm
About me: Skeptic. "Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach"
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by FBM » Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:37 am

Reverend Blair wrote:...A lot of sports people don't like being nailed by a few thousands watts of light though...
Thanks for the info. I know hardly anything about using flash. That last part is my concern. During that sort of event, I can't get any closer than I was, anyway.
"A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there. A theologian is the man who finds it." ~ H. L. Mencken

"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."

"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."

User avatar
Reverend Blair
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:22 pm
About me: If I had my way I'd buy a few acres of land and an old tractor. I'd drive the old tractor around the land and passers-by would stop to ask me what kind of crop I was farming. "Crop?" I'd say, "Crops are work, I'm planting ideas."
Location: Most likely to your left
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by Reverend Blair » Thu Apr 08, 2010 2:04 am

Thanks for the info. I know hardly anything about using flash.
It's just like other light, really...move it around and vary the intensity until it does what you want. The important thing is that you get it off the camera so that you can change the lighting without changing the camera angle. Now that cameras are digital, you can learn it more easily...no more blowing Polaroids or guessing and hoping.

If you really want to learn lighting, get some lights and accessories, a willing model (I suggest some inanimate at first, then something happy enough with you to be patient), paint your walls black (no unwanted reflections), and play. Oh, and remember the inverse square law. A lot of people are intimidated by lighting, but it's really just a little physics and a lot of practice...way easier than hoping the sun smiles on you.

User avatar
hadespussercats
I've come for your pants.
Posts: 18586
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:27 am
About me: Looks pretty good, coming out of the back of his neck like that.
Location: Gotham
Contact:

Re: Photography

Post by hadespussercats » Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:31 pm

ScholasticSpastic wrote:
Clinton Huxley wrote: And just what the blithering blue blazes IS an f-stop.
I know this one. An f-stop is when you're busy lovin' your significant other and their damned kid starts pounding on the door, whining about how it's late in the morning and they're hungry.
Love it!
Out of the people that ever were, almost all of them are dead.
There are way more dead people, and you're all gonna die
and then you're gonna be dead for way longer than you're alive.
Like that's mostly what you're ever gonna be.
You're just dead people that didn't die yet.
--Louis C.K.
The green careening planet
spins blindly in the dark
so close to annihilation.

Listen. No one listens. Meow.

User avatar
hadespussercats
I've come for your pants.
Posts: 18586
Joined: Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:27 am
About me: Looks pretty good, coming out of the back of his neck like that.
Location: Gotham
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by hadespussercats » Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:32 pm

I have a serious question-- I have some seriously shaky hands, which often leads to blurry photos. Any suggestions that wouldn't tie me down to a tripod?
Out of the people that ever were, almost all of them are dead.
There are way more dead people, and you're all gonna die
and then you're gonna be dead for way longer than you're alive.
Like that's mostly what you're ever gonna be.
You're just dead people that didn't die yet.
--Louis C.K.
The green careening planet
spins blindly in the dark
so close to annihilation.

Listen. No one listens. Meow.

User avatar
Xamonas Chegwé
Bouncer
Bouncer
Posts: 50939
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2009 3:23 pm
About me: I have prehensile eyebrows.
I speak 9 languages fluently, one of which other people can also speak.
When backed into a corner, I fit perfectly - having a right-angled arse.
Location: Nottingham UK
Contact:

Re: Photography - Technique and Equipment considerations

Post by Xamonas Chegwé » Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:56 pm

hadespussercats wrote:I have a serious question-- I have some seriously shaky hands, which often leads to blurry photos. Any suggestions that wouldn't tie me down to a tripod?
If you invest in a digital SLR camera, you can buy lenses with built in OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_sha ... bilization

There are several methods used by different manufacturers but they are all expensive - add at least 25% to the cost of an equivalent lens, often much more. A few of the top-end compact cameras have basic OIS as well but you get what you pay for.
A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.
Salman Rushdie
You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.
House MD
Who needs a meaning anyway, I'd settle anyday for a very fine view.
Sandy Denny
This is the wrong forum for bluffing :nono:
Paco
Yes, yes. But first I need to show you this venomous fish!
Calilasseia
I think we should do whatever Pawiz wants.
Twoflower
Bella squats momentarily then waddles on still peeing, like a horse
Millefleur

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests