Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Crusty]

(admins... if you think this'd be better in "Off Topic", my apologies)

All right, since I frequently get asked about my pics, gear, software, I figured I'd start up a separate thread for discussing photgraphy, to share the info I have, and get info from others.

I'm pretty much an amatuer myself, with no training or formal classes... just try and snoop around and let Google point me in the direction I need to go. Just like with bike stuff, everyone's got opinions on the best brand, camera, lens, software and so on... so while the pile of stuff I've bought and not found as effective as "I read on the net" isn't as big as my pile of seats, riding gear, and spare bike parts, it is growing all the time... lol

I'll just throw out a few posts from other threads that answer a lot of the questions i get, and we can all take it from there!

Here is my current list of gear:

Bodies:
Nikon D300s
Nikon D80

Lenses:
(all Nikkor)
70-200 2.8 VRII (paid <gulp> $2300!)  (http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/nikon_70-200_2p8_vrii_n15/)
18-70 3.5-4.5
18-200 3.5-5.6
18-55 3.5-4.5 (kit lens I got with D80... need to sell it)
55-200 4.5-5.6 (another lens I need to sell, since I got the 18-200)
and the low-light specialist, the 50mm 1.8

I just have a cheap flash, but that is my next investment, to pick up a good remote flash unit, to up my basketball shooting skills.

[Crusty]

Crusty, can you give us any hints and suggestions on your photos?  What camera do you use? What settings?  Do you alter them in photoshop or another program? Man, they are really nice. The colors are so vivid and definite. Any help would be appreciated.

I really do appreciate all the compliments, and they inspire me to get better. I should make my own thread, but that would imply I "officially" knew what I was doing...    I have done a lot of Googling, and reading around the 'net, but with ADD, me and reading don't get along so good, so I mostly just wing it. I really do want to get in a class, so I can learn the terms and techniques to get improve and actually KNOW what I'm doing (which helps when you try and repeat your success... lol).

I currently shoot with a Nikon D300s (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond300s/).
My older shots are taken with my D80 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonD80/)

The lens I used yesterday is nothing exciting, an 18-70 3.5-?. (I am also trying to get better at shooting my daughter's HS basketball team and dropped $2300 on a NIkkor 70-200 2.8; photography gear gets expensive as quick as HD stuff...lol)

I use the bracketed mode on my camera to shoot 3/5/7 consecutive shots (tripod is ideal, but I shoot most of mine handheld... the 7 frames a second on the D300s help with that!) at different exposures. Then you post process with software that combines them into a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-dynamic-range_imaging). Most HDR software can also take a single shot and digitially modify it to create similar effects.

I use Photomatix Pro (http://www.hdrsoft.com/) to do my HDR work. You can d/l the trial version, which will leave watermarks on your pics, but will elt you play with the software to get an idea how it works. (Just don't delete your original files, so when you upgrade to the paid version you can't go back and reprocess them without the watermark and end up having to use photoshop to get rid of them... don't ask me how I know... lol)

Then I finalize my processing using Adobe Lightroom 3 (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/) Not cheap, but if you are a student or teacher, you can get it for under $100... thanks Adobe!)

I really do enjoy learning as I go... and with a bike this great to shoot, it helps! (But I have learned that the shark nose fairing is challenging, with the shadows and reflections it creates.)

Hope that made some sense... lol

[porthole]

I just have a cheap flash, but that is my next investment, to pick up a good remote flash unit, to up my basketball shooting skills.

You can't beat the Nikon for remote flash.

You already have the commander all you need are a strobe or 2 (or more)
The Nikon system really gives you a lot of control with the camera and remote strobes.

I use a pair of SB 800's. But the flash I use 90% of the time is the compact SB400
Small, easy to carry, decent output and it uses it's own batteries instead of the camera's battery.

[Crusty]

 Crusty...is LR 3 significantly better than LR 2?  I'm currently using  LR 2 and NX Capture 2 (for better processing of RAW files).  I haven't dabbled in HDR much, but your photos make me want to go there.  I currently shoot a D300, and have narrowed my lenses down to (all Nikon) 10-24, 16-85 (a sweet little lens, and really nice range), and a 70-300VR.  Throw in the 50 1.8 for low light.  The 70-200 you just got is awesome, but I just don't need the fast glass at this point, but that should work great for your action shots.

Do you find that LR 3 imports RAW files "better" than LR 2?  The only reason I have NX 2 is because LR can't read the camera settings on a RAW file...does LR 3 do a better job of bring them in as shot with the proper import settings applied by Adobe?  This should probably be in a seperate thread, but your work is nice.  Check out some of my stuff here:  http://terrycrainphoto.photoshelter.com/

YOu've got some great shots! I need to get out & about more... I did buy a workshop from a local photographer who'll drag you around the Garden of the Gods for a few hours and teach you outdoor photgraphy stuff, so hopefully that'll up my game some!

I've only been playing around with this latest obsession for about 2 years... started by trying to get pics of my daughter's sports, so I got the D80, then the 70-200, and have just been messing around trying to learn. Scored a good deal on the D300s and a couple lenses on eBay... I LOVE the 3200 iso and the 7 frames per second!!!

I've got a 7 year old version of photoshop (version 7-something), but never really played with it much. I did the trial version of the NX2, but didn't really get a feel for it and found the Lightroom 3 beta, and used it until it expired, and then was so used to working with it (and happy with its noise reduction capability) that I bought the real thing... and thanks again to Adobe's student program, it was only $99!! SO I can't compare it to LR2. But I will say LR 3 has an NEF plugin, so it does fine with importing my pics in RAW.

Watch out who you share your HDR interest too... I've found that most of the old-school die hard photographers HATE it... lol  I don't get it... if you're going to do any post processing, then how can you pitch chit at someone using HDR software? Granted people get carried away with it, and I've been guilty of that myself... but it is just another tool to try and get your shots to express yourself. I think I have learned a lot about using it to enhance the shots (works great on the SERG, with all the shadows and light playing off the curves and the flake... hard to get all that in at one exposure.)

[Crusty]

You can't beat the Nikon for remote flash.

You already have the commander all you need are a strobe or 2 (or more)
The Nikon system really gives you a lot of control with the camera and remote strobes.

I use a pair of SB 800's. But the flash I use 90% of the time is the compact SB400
Small, easy to carry, decent output and it uses it's own batteries instead of the camera's battery.

I've got the SB400 as well... but with the spring basketball season rolling around at the end of April, I'd like to start playing with a flash. On another photography board, I saw some great shots with a remote flash, allowing the shooter to go down to 800 iso and get some very clean shots. Even with the 70-200 2.8 I'm lucky to get down to 2200 in most gyms, and as good as LR 3 is, it is still hard to clean out the noise, without making them look too soft.

[Midnight Rider]

I've got a Nikon D300 that I bought when I moved up from the D200.  I also used to have the 18-200, which is probably the most versitile lens in the world, but sold it to get "better glass" that overlaps a bit so lens changes are less frequent.  I also sold my fantastic 200mm f/4 Macro lens recently, and I'll live to regret that decision. So now, I have the following gear all Nikon:

D300 w/MB10
50 1.8 D
10-24
16-85 VR (very sharp lens and an excellent landscape lens)
70-300 VR (all the reach I need at the moment, and much sharper than the previous versions in that range)
SB 600 Strobe (great bang for the buck)

I addition to that stuff:

Gitzo 1228 Carbon Fiber tripod (old version)
Acratec G2 Ball Head
Kirk Plate for the camera           

[Midnight Rider]

...continued...the ball head is the Arca Swiss type (once you have that mount, nothing else will do).  For filters, I use B+W brand exclusively, mostly because of the quality of the glass, but also because the filter rings are made of brass rather than aluminum.  I have several camer bags, depending on where I'm going, and what I'm going to do.  All Lowepro:  Flipside 400, 300, Toploader AW60, and a small regular Lowepro Shoulder bag.

I've been doing this seriously since about '93...got "certified" through taking a couple of years worth of UAB Special Studies classes, which were all taught by local pros.  I've also done a couple of workshops, the best one being The Rocky Mountain School of Photography, where we spent a week in the Ouray/Silverton/Durango area with professional Jeep drivers who carried us up into the San Juan Mountains.  I started with an old F3hp, then N8008s, then N90s, and finally to an F5....all film cameras, of course.  I have thousands of slides and have scanned some of them with my Nikon 4000ED...used to shoot 90% of the time with Fuji Velvia, which is a highly saturated film with an ISO of 50, so everything was done on a tripod with remote release.  LOVE digital though, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than shooting/developing 20 rolls of Velvia at a time. 

If you haven't already, check out Nikonians, which is a website for Nikon owners/users.  Kind of like the CVO site for Nikons...you can learn a lot there.
I've also got a Canon G10 for my "backup", and walking around town type camera when I don't want to lug the big stuff...it's an amazing little camera, as long as you don't go above ISO400 (<200 is best).

[49445CVO]

Thanks Crusty,

    I really think that this is a great way for all of us to share info as well as our pics. I do feel out of the loop a bit with me owning a Canon 40D. Oh well I will get over it. 

Thanks again,

Topper

[JCZ]

Crusty......look forward to your pics of the Garden of The Gods......a beautiful place.  But then what isn't, in Colorado?  I think a couple of miles right up against the eastern state line.

[Indenial]

Crusty, thanks for starting this new thread. Now start posting all those pictures we all can't wait to see. You have a great talent.

[porthole]

Up until yesterday I was thinking about unloading my D300. But after Nikon's recent announcement I think it will just sit on the shelf.

There is the real potential that the Nikon high end DSLR's are history.

[cvobiker]

Up until yesterday I was thinking about unloading my D300. But after Nikon's recent announcement I think it will just sit on the shelf.

There is the real potential that the Nikon high end DSLR's are history.

Where did you read this news?? I would believe discontinuing high end film SLR's but no way on their digital cameras..

[rganz]

There is the real potential that the Nikon high end DSLR's are history.

I missed that story. What are they saying. I dont like the sound of this considering I just pulled the pin on $30g's of Nikon equip. . I assume it has to do with the issues in Japan.
I have owned my own photography business for 16 years. I have shot with Canon equipment for over 20. Two months ago I dumped all my Canon gear(except my 200mm f1.8  ) and made the switch to Nikon. I had lenses ranging from 15 mm Fisheye to 400mm 2.8 and everything in between had a hard time getting rid of them because I had so much invested and knew I would take a beating on the sale. I had 6 Canon EOS 1D cameras from the original EOD 1D which was a great camera up to the Mark 3 and 4 which were garbage.
Bought a D3S and a D3x and some glass and a few SB 900's. Will collect more glass as I can afford it. Love this equipment and lo and behold the Nikon cameras focus ............

Rob

www.fxphoto.com

[porthole]

Where did you read this news?? I would believe discontinuing high end film SLR's but no way on their digital cameras..

Not discontinuing -the main plants are closed - Sendai, Japan

http://www.nikon.com/about/news/2011/0314_01.htm

[porthole]

I have owned my own photography business for 16 years. I have shot with Canon equipment for over 20. Two months ago I dumped all my Canon gear(except my 200mm f1.8  ) and made the switch to Nikon.

Problem with Canon is in their infinite wisdom years ago they decided to make a change in lens mounts, instantly making all prior lens obsolete.

Nikon advantage is that even a 60 year old lens will twist on and work

Just about every Nikon lens made will fit on just about every Nikon SLR DX or FX.