Quote :

"^^ I guess no one reads my posts =( Quote : "Do any of you guys post or look at dpchallenge.com? Its kind of fun to vote on pictures. I thought maybe we could do a similar thing, someone pick a topic, then we have a week or so to go out and capture that as best we could. It might be fun. Anyone interested?" From the previous page Id be up for it though"

all due respect to 1985 for the idea...

Someone suggest a good name, or else I'm going to wind up calling it something stupid like "Teedub photo club"

8/4/2008 10:45:28 AM

^ Sounds good to me

8/4/2008 4:26:48 PM

Not the best exposure, but I kind of like this one. I need a better lens...



They close off a whole street in front of the capitol and have 3v3 tournaments all day long. Maybe 50 going on at once.

8/4/2008 4:33:09 PM

^Your exposure looks fine, you just needed a different angle. You got "asses 'n elbows" instead of faces, but you had great timing on the shutter. What was your aperture with that exposure, everything is in focus.

8/4/2008 6:31:53 PM

^^ Great timing on the picture... Can't be sure they were playing basketball from the looks of things

8/4/2008 6:46:21 PM

^^ Yeah. I wish I had been on the other side of the street. I think it was something like f22. Bright out.

8/5/2008 4:05:04 PM

^LOL. A Faster focusing, higher quality lens wouldn't have helped you with that shot at all then since your focus and timing was spot on. Shoot your lens as wide open as you can, especially with sports b/c you get a faster shutter speed. If the sun's "too bright" just lower your ISO.

actually, now that i look at it i can't tell where the focus is b/c most everything is in focus. I think it might be on the lawn chairs.

[Edited on August 5, 2008 at 11:06 PM. Reason : focus]

8/5/2008 11:04:27 PM

i donno, doesn't look to have a focus point... Lower ISO, shoot wide open and if needed, use an ND filter (specially if you shoot faster than 2.8 in daylight).

btw, going to photo school! Need to buy myself a medium format camera now. Start film next week.

8/5/2008 11:34:00 PM

Some pictures I took at the NC aquarium today:






[Edited on August 6, 2008 at 12:05 AM. Reason : .]

8/6/2008 12:05:20 AM

That lobster-like asshole is pissed.

8/6/2008 12:06:02 AM

^^^,^^^^. Thanks for the advice. Have fun at film school JBaz, I'm jealous.

8/6/2008 3:11:19 AM

8/6/2008 8:35:56 PM

worth a shot. Anyone wanna buy this from me?


http://www.sportsshooter.com/classitem.html?id=23812

8/7/2008 12:33:25 AM

price?

8/7/2008 7:54:39 AM

I decided to make some nice lighting for my apartment, Got most everything from the Habitat for humanity reuse store for under 7 dollars. The bulbs were 30 for 4, but they are 5000k, as close to daylight as I could find around here.






A home made stand and home made soft box comming soon!

[Edited on August 7, 2008 at 4:19 PM. Reason : .]

8/7/2008 4:18:14 PM

^^Price is $400.

Playing around with this lens on a Canon 5D today. I'm torn on whether or not to buy it. I really want the full frame!

8/7/2008 6:39:14 PM

Here's a fly picture I took this past weekend (pun?). Damn thing kept coming right back to my finger no matter how many times I swatted it away, so I decided to snap it.



[Edited on August 7, 2008 at 7:55 PM. Reason : Oh yeah, I'm still running the ol' P&S Konica-Minolta Dimage Z3]

8/7/2008 7:52:50 PM

^^ That looks like a sweet lens.

I set up my light on the kitchen table and took some quick shots of my phone. Going to build the softbox tomorrow.

8/8/2008 4:14:33 AM

I think I need be a nicer standard lens before I delve into the fish eyes. I would if I could hide 400 from my wife, though.

8/8/2008 7:55:15 AM

sweet, less than two weeks for photo school, just signed my letter of resignation with my full time job. I'm actually going to be still working for them as a freelance/contractor with a significant pay raise and a severance package to boot. This shits awesome.

So... anyone play with MF camera's? I'm looking at a mamiya rb67.

8/8/2008 11:44:45 AM

I've got a friend who shoots MF, he is using the Mamiya 7. Definitely a good route to take, I think Mamiya glass is underrated.

8/8/2008 11:52:29 AM

i'm a beginning dslr user and my birthday is coming up in the next couple weeks. my mom asked me what i want for my camera and i don't know what would be most useful. what should i ask for?

give me your suggestions and a quick rundown of what it does (i'm a newb ). thanks in advance.

8/8/2008 6:15:27 PM

ask for LENSES


most other stuff at the beginner level (tripod, remote, speed flash, random accessories) is cheap by comparison, so ask her to get you the expensive stuff like glass

as far as WHAT lens(es) to get, that depends on your preference and style, which someone else will know more about.


i really want a wide-angle lens, a macro lens, and a super duper telephoto with vibration reduction

cant decide which i want first...maybe the macro

[Edited on August 8, 2008 at 6:47 PM. Reason : OI! OI! OI!]

8/8/2008 6:44:55 PM

yeah, i definitely think i'll ask for glass, for that reason.

my mom was talking about a macro lens. i don't really know what i'm going to do with my camera the most, but i figure i can use just about anything.

8/8/2008 8:16:16 PM

Assuming you have the kit lens. I guess the two most logical steps for a gift would be

a) sort of a zoom telephoto lens. something that goes up to 200 or 300mm. prices are all over the place depending on how nice of glass you want and if you want image stabilization/vibration reduction

b) a prime lens. i only really know canon, but their f/1.8 80mm is supposed to be a really sharp lens and its only 80 bucks, one of those things you cant really beat for the price

8/8/2008 9:01:42 PM

^ b) = 50mm

8/8/2008 11:20:22 PM

I set up the group!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/twwphotoclub/

8/9/2008 9:45:51 PM

I joined the group

8/9/2008 10:41:58 PM

I joined!

^I really like that

[Edited on August 9, 2008 at 11:17 PM. Reason : .]

8/9/2008 11:14:08 PM

I take a lot of photos with my dslr, but they don't turn out as sharp as the ones I've seen in this thread. maybe because I don't know editing, etc. but I'd definitely like to know more about shooting better photos with my camera. nikon d40x

8/9/2008 11:18:15 PM

If they're not sharp they're either not in focus or you might have a soft lens. If you have a soft lens, try closing the aperture a bit, somewhere around f/10 or smaller should make it a little sharper.

Someone can confirm this for me.

8/10/2008 12:40:07 AM

I joined also...yay

8/10/2008 7:32:11 AM

Took pics of the new Solas Bar & Restaurant.












Some Salsa night at Mosquito thursday











Bikini Contest at Haven last weekend












Boost Mobile Nightshift/HIN car show last month
























Yup, I've been busy. Not to mention the 3 weddings I've done in the past 6 weeks and 3 model shoots. I'll have to post some of the wedding shots since I haven't let anyone really see or critic my work besides my business partner.

8/10/2008 7:52:51 AM

I really want to get into wedding photography, mainly because that's where the $$ besides model shoots and those don't interest me.

I'd love replicate something like what whitebox does. (Saw that in the lounge thread ) I think my "eye" is similar to theirs. So any advice would be good, I'm not into poses so I'll most likely advertise candid shots but I like capturing those moments you don't plan for, they seem to carry more weight when remembering the wedding anyways.

omg k

8/10/2008 9:02:20 AM

model shoots don't hold much money, not around here. Commercial photography is hard but pays the big bucks.

You can't do weddings with just candid shots. If you can't or don't want to learn formal group or portrait shots, then you really shouldn't get into wedding photography or find a partner who'd be willing to do that section of work. Those two points are probably 75% of what wedding photography is with 25% being candid. True, candid has more emotion and doesn't look fake, but if you are a good photographer and know how to pose people correctly, you can make and create creative shots. It helps to have energetic subjects who like their pictures taken too.

I'm lucky to have a business partner who has done weddings for over a decade and has the experience in working with people and doing formal shots correctly and in the 1st time. Just knowing what to do, what to say and what to look for helps and makes the task easy. People skills, communications skills and personality generally over weigh your technical abilities.

Besides, posed or not, Family like formal group shots and you can't get away from that. That's where the heart of the revenue is at.

8/10/2008 9:18:10 AM

The least exciting photos are those of people lined up, page after page of this order to that to this way with the same looks on their faces.

I want to do the stuff that's unexpected, that takes skill in timing and location/angle. I guess my clientele will have to be into that sort of thing too. I don't mind doing a few typical poses, or poses for just the bride and groom or either solo, but I'd mainly like for the poses to be unique. Like having the bride and groom at a corner of a room holding hands but still positioned so the groom can't see the bride and maybe have him kiss her hand. That kind of fun stuff.

Poses suck so I'll probably have a tag along do that stuff. Plus I hate telling people who are too excited to give a shit about posing to sit still and face me for a flippin second.

[Edited on August 10, 2008 at 9:24 AM. Reason : asfd]

8/10/2008 9:24:10 AM

I just gauged the percentage of my last wedding. 35% was formal pictures, 30% was of the ceremony 10% was photo shoot before the wedding (bridal shoot, his/her pictures) and the remaining were candid shots at the wedding and the reception.

The big wedding photographers are creative and take worth wild and unexpected shots, but they really aren't unexpected. They were well thought out idea's and planned before the wedding even happened. It comes with experience and knowing where to go and where to be to get that shot. But again, you can't do one without the other. Formals are still a big part of weddings.

Trust me, when they are paying you $$$, they will sit down and shut up to take stupid pictures. As long as you know (or just act) like you know what you are doing. My partner has said he had to take charge of the situation a few times because the wedding party was not co-operating with him to take pictures or were getting in his way. When you are paid to be there and expect to have results, you will try to do everything you can to get what they paid for in the best manner.

However, if you have to kick a bride's maid out of the room to get the shot, you can't be too subtle with that, specially on a day with so much emotion and stress.

[Edited on August 10, 2008 at 9:43 AM. Reason : ]

8/10/2008 9:36:56 AM

Word, good advice. I'm in the work's of getting together with a wedding photographer to see how things go. I've never actually photographed one yet but have been looking at albums to get ideas and such. I still need that first hand knowledge from experienced people.

8/10/2008 9:45:58 AM

yeah, I've only shot about 7 weddings thus far and I've gaining tons of experience with just shooting with pro's as their second shooters (in every kind of genres). It's one of the main reason why my skill has rapidly developed. Knowing is half the battle, then technical skills, then experience and then just plain luck.

I too honestly like to shoot candid shots, still life pictures, but I don't mind those fun photo shoots. I'm getting more confident on doing formal shots since all it really is people skills to get people to stand where and to look in the camera at the same time. I take 3 pictures of each thing and even then, all three could be bad.

Being able to give clear and precise directions before hand makes shoots or taking formal pictures a breeze. Telling them what to do also gives clients/subjects confidence in knowing that you know what you are doing and releases stress on their part. Say "stand this way, chin up, eyes on the lens and give me a big smile" is like an example. Giving them examples on what to do also helps. I actually model when I'm explaining stuff. It's really gay, but it's funny and gives the idea across.

Being able to talk to people in between pictures is also another good thing to have as your personality. Tell stories, jokes, or just have regular conversations with people when you are working, changing your camera settings, moving your lights or moving people around. If you have that constant communication/dialog open, they won't know you were taking their pictures till the flash.

For my modeling shoots, I usually have some stories about something to invoke certain emotions to make it easier for the models to get into the mood. If I want a happy face in those genuine smiles, telling them a funny story of how that one time you fell 20ft on your ass from rope climbing could produce those funny laughs or those cute sympathy "awwwwww" pictures. Telling a story to get an emotional response is really on the photographer's (or assistant's) side and what makes shooting lots of fun, get much more natural "posed" shots, and just makes them want to work with you even more (or they pass good word about you to their friends and so on).

You have to be careful though, because you'd have to figure out the kind of balance between talking and working at the same time but still be focused at the job at hand. Keep stories short and only tell what they need to hear. If they ask questions, just keep the responses short and sweet as well. They don't need an autobiography about your life or hear crazy/fake stories that you hear or made up.

8/10/2008 5:36:22 PM

Hell yeah I can do that! I just want to get out there and practice it.

8/10/2008 6:07:13 PM

I make it sound easy, but it's a lot of work. Trust me.

I practically dropped out state now and going to photo school for the next two years. However, my skills is pretty good, won't downplay it now, and considering I just got a large pay raise from work means that I'm doing something right. Shit, I'm getting paid more than my friends who just finished engineering school.

8/10/2008 6:22:13 PM

Word. I have noticed that I'm improving drastically so I'm gonna stick with it and see where it goes. I'm definitely interested in pursuing this stuff.

You have no idea how flippin' giddy I was when I caught a blue butterfly yesterday!

8/10/2008 6:38:46 PM

The very first modeling shoot I did was interesting. Its like sex, you do all you can to prep, your nervous to do it and don't know shit, but when the moment strikes, stuff fly's off and cool shit happens. Then you amaze yourself that you can do it, then the model leaves and say's "that'll be $50". Damnit...

wait wut? lol

8/10/2008 6:45:55 PM

ahahaha

Yeah I amaze myself at some of the photos I've taken, like "Wow I really knew to set up the composure" then I think back and go "Oh yeah I remember when I thought it might look cool but didn't think it would look THAT cool". It's a fucking high and I don't wanna get off yet.

8/10/2008 6:55:11 PM

Quote :

"Wow I really knew to set up the composure"

What?

8/10/2008 7:45:18 PM

In other words, it was composed well, better than I had hoped!

8/10/2008 7:46:56 PM

you mean composition? composure is something Will Ferrell would say...

8/10/2008 8:52:06 PM

did an all day shoot outdoor with four models with a football theme. First time using just scrims and reflectors. Wished I had more of the instead of just lights. I think that'll be my next investment, bigger and more reflectors. looking at those sunbounce systems.

8/10/2008 9:51:00 PM

Cardboard + Foil = Ghetto Photography = FTW

8/10/2008 11:36:46 PM

cardboard /= scrim

and it would extremely fail when it's windy outside, like today.

[Edited on August 11, 2008 at 2:54 AM. Reason : ]

8/11/2008 2:53:49 AM