Photography Enthusiast BS thread

Picture from my backyard. Very fortunate here in AZ.

 

Why are you holding a rocket launcher?

 

Funny thing is I was out shooting in the same location a month or so back on top of my truck and an officer pulled his gun on me thinking I was holding a rifle lmao.

 

Alright fellas, I'm interested in photography. Outside of my crappy cell phone camera, I've never owned a camera that was worth a whole lot. So as pretty much a true beginner, what would be your recommendations on setups for me to start with? I'm not looking to spend 3 grand on a camera or anything, but I'd also like something that is nice and I can do what I want with it. I'm more into nature and things like that. Some of the pictures in this thread of the stars and the sky, are what I'm after. So help me out!

 

Well the first thing is to figure out if you want Canon or Nikon. There are other brands, but I'd stick with these two for reliability and the ease of getting lenses and other accessories for it. Personally, I have a Canon. The next question is if you want a crop sensor or full frame camera. You may have to do some research online as it's difficult to describe without seeing the difference in camera. Basically a crop factors in a certain amount of zoom, and a full frame doesn't. I started with a crop, wasn't bad but moved to a full for my business. The better lenses just work better on a full frame and you get true mm on them.

Nowadays the megapixel and all that really doesn't matter. They are all so high, you can't tell the difference. A full frame camera will though have a better ISO performance, which can really come in handy when in lower light.

It really just comes down to your budget. I have the Canon 6D and it's a beast. In my opinion it does everything just as good as the Mark 5III, with the exception of video. A brand new 6D with a pretty sweet lens will run you around $2100. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/892354-REG/Canon_8035b009_EOS_6D_Digital_Camera.html
They have another one with a less quality lens that runs about $1900.

Another option is to buy a completely different lens that could be cheaper and buy the 6D Body only, for $1200. In photography, it's all about the lenses, but it doesn't hurt to have a good camera as the platform for it. Do it right from the beginning and you don't have to worry about upgrading later.

That's a lot of info, so please ask any other questions. Ha..

 

I have an old film Canon SLR with all the lenses. Haven't used it, well... since digital cameras. There's no way to use those lenses on a new digital SLR, is there? My daughter really seems to like photography and I'm thinking about getting her a camera, but she's only 9 and it would be nice to be able to buy a cheaper camera and use those lenses. If not, is there a decent DSLR for like $3-400?

 

The Canon Rebel T5 with an 18-55mm lens is only $399

 

Will check it out. But no way to make the old lenses fit on that thing, right?

 

I dont think so, at least not that I know of. Different technology. Google it, ha.

 

I just got into night photography a couple years ago, so I'm not a professional by any stretch of the imagination. For taking photos of the stars and very low light landscapes, I recommend you get a camera that has manual settings. You are going to want to control the shutter speed and aperture independently. Also a wider field of view lens is really going to help. Extras you will need is a sturdy tripod and a shutter release cable or wireless shutter release device. You don't want the camera moving at all during the long exposures.

You will want to post process those shots of the milky way you take. Don't be disappointed if you look at the photo right after you take it and it doesn't look that great. I think most people download the files and then tweak them in a software program. I use Photoshop for that. Then you will really see the stars.

Tip: Turn the autofocus off to manual and carefully set the focus to infinity. I have Canon lenses and you can actually turn the focus ring beyond infinity. I learned that if I'm not careful and I turn the focus ring beyond infinity that it makes the photos blurry.

Here's a pick I took at Mono Lake in the Eastern Sierras. The black rocks jutting up are limestone formations called tufa that are around the lake.

 

Is that a series of shots that you stacked or one shot?
Beautiful.

 

I love seeing the Milky Way. How long is the exposure on pics like this?

 

Here is a variety of some of the stuff I shoot





















this one is a picture of me, a recreation of another photo i saw once...shot it myself w remote in my other hand.

 

Love the photo of Big Ben and the dog. Great pics!

 

9 photo HDR taken during the 2012 London Olympics... I was there for the whole time.. it was amazing..

 

this is a 5 phoo HDR of the london bridge

 

yeah that big ben shot was a pain in the ass... 9 photo HDR took almost an hour to get it right... but I have a print in my house of it thats like 36" high its great on canvas.

 

@papasmurf Man those pictures! So good honestly. Impressed beyond.
The filter or finish or however you add that is really awesome. Adds a really interesting feeling.

 

Thanks ive been serious about photography for 10 years now... i use a lot of diff techniques and post processing... some of those shots i posted were raw.. some highly edited obviously... but you can do some cool stuff with a little imagination

 

Here is some wheeling photos ... i figured these were important! LOL













@n2deep

 

Nice. Those could easily be included in the Tundra info books at the dealership instead of the occasional 2x4s and family picnics they tend to put in those things.

 

Now that would be awesome!!

 

More please!! Photos like this are what keeps pushing me to get outdoors more often. Thanks for sharing!

 

It's one shot.

Thanks! The exposure was 15 seconds. The larger the lens aperture the shorter the exposure time. Around 20 seconds or more I found the stars start to leave trails due to the rotation of the earth.

 

Wow, those are amazing!

 

Wow! The rotation starts affecting the pic that quick, huh? I would have thought maybe a minute or two. Cool beans!

 

Love the contrast on this shot!

 

THose night shots are awesome... Long exposure night shots are fun and challenging.. I like doing them as well.

 

I also shoot bikes and cars...


















and of course some pit girls

 

Couple from last year trying to learn longer exposures at night and about the closest thing to a selfie I'll ever post. Dropping water on a fire just before sunset.