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Old 06-22-2010, 10:53 PM   #1591
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Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

Quote:
Originally Posted by Benny003 View Post
Took me a while, but I finally got the pictures edited from a trip I took to Seattle at the beginning of June. It was typical Seattle weather (i.e. raining and cold) 90% of the time I was there, so it was "interesting" coming up with ways to sort of mask the crappy weather. Take a look and let me know what you think.

http://www.benckphotography.com/Seat...010/index.html

Oh, there is this picture of a beer bottle (you can't miss it), I recommend reading the description on the back of the bottle. It's kind of humorous unless you've seen that kind of beer before. I hadn't seen it before.
Nice work Ben. The glass shots and 43 and 44 were my favorites...

You've got some good food shots in there too...
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  • Old 06-23-2010, 06:51 AM   #1592
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    I'm glad you liked the pictures. For some reason I wasn't that enthusiastic about them when I was taking them, but they turned out better in editing than I thought they would. It was the first time I had traveled with my camera since I got all the lenses I had been wanting. So it was my first chance to really put my full kit to the test I guess.
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    Old 06-23-2010, 11:42 PM   #1593
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Quote:
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    I'm glad you liked the pictures. For some reason I wasn't that enthusiastic about them when I was taking them, but they turned out better in editing than I thought they would. It was the first time I had traveled with my camera since I got all the lenses I had been wanting. So it was my first chance to really put my full kit to the test I guess.
    What bag do you use to haul your gear? Do you leave lenses behind in your hotel if you have a plan on what you're going to shoot?

    I've been shooting digital, film, and two toy cameras lately (medium format and polaroid), so it's always hard to decide what comes with and when... I brought everything to San Francisco over the weekend, and I'm going to go through all the images when my film is done and I edit one other project first... I'll be sure to share them here...

    Anyone else shooting film?

    What about a Holga or Diana?
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    Old 06-24-2010, 06:50 AM   #1594
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Here is the backpack I use:

    http://www.google.com/products/catal...CA0Q8wIwATgA#p

    It works great for travel because it's small and secure since it opens on the back side of the backpack. There is also a waist strap so you can actually flip it around your body and open it up while you're walking around leaving both hands free to change lenses or whatever as you walk.

    I was surprised how much I can fit in it when I re-worked the dividers. I can fit my 50mm f/1.4, the D700 body, the 70-200mm f/2.8, and then one of either the 14-24mm f/2.8 or the 24-70 f/2.8. So if I'm going to be doing a lot of walk around type site seeing where I can get close to what we're seeing, I'll probably bring the 24-70mm and leave the 70-200mm. Otherwise I would leave the 24-70mm and bring the 14-24mm and the 70-200mm using the 50mm for a walk-around lens. So with that small backpack I only had to leave one lens and it's not too hard to figure out what I need for the day, especially with the 50mm handy all the time for using as a "normal" lens when needed.

    I can squeeze one filter case in there if I think I'm really going to use it. I kind of wish there was a little more room for filter cases, but it's not that big of deal. For the size and what I'm able to fit in there, it's a great travel backpack.
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    Old 06-25-2010, 06:15 AM   #1595
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    ^^ Nice, that seems like a good bag.

    I don't think I've ever posted this, but I've been posting a lot of photos just taken with my iPhone here...

    http://mattyande.tumblr.com/

    They're not the best, but I'm pretty happy with what I've gotten out of a cell phone camera...
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    Old 06-25-2010, 07:21 AM   #1596
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    just got my first DSLR last week, any obvious hints/tips/tricks that I should know before I go abroad with it?
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    Old 06-25-2010, 07:23 AM   #1597
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    what pic did you win the santa monica contest with?
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    Old 06-25-2010, 07:58 AM   #1598
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jsimon8 View Post
    just got my first DSLR last week, any obvious hints/tips/tricks that I should know before I go abroad with it?
    Which camera? At any rate, shoot in the P (Program) mode. You should have, at a minimum, A, S, P, and M modes. Use the P mode. A is aperture priority, meaning you adjust the aperture manually and the camera figures out the rest. You use that when you want to control the depth of field typically. S is shutter speed priority where you control only the shutter speed and the camera figures everything else out. I use that when I'm shooting sports and I want to force the camera to use a high shutter speed. M is full manual mode where you have to choose everything. P is program mode. It automatically adjusts aperture based on your given light availability, but you can change it easily if you want and it will automatically adjust the shutter speed. So it's like the A mode, but it will automatically start off by choosing what it thinks is the best aperture to use based on the given exposure. P mode is the easiest to use for beginners while still giving you some easy control over what it's doing.

    Other things are know how to easily change between continuous focus and single focus. If shooting things that aren't moving, single focus is best. Continuous focus is used for shooting things that are moving. I switch between those all the time. If your camera has Auto ISO, I highly recommend using it. It just makes shooting so much simpler. Then you can just focus on thinking about the aperture and shutter speed you want.

    Know the capabilities and limitations of the lens (lenses) you are using. Know what each is best suited for because that has a big impact between what your mind is trying to capture and how to make it happen with your camera. For example, if you know your lens isn't good in low light, you can think ahead of time about how to make the adjustments you need to get the shot you want. If you know how wide angle of lens it is, you can think ahead of time what you'll be able to capture with it. I guess just try to imagine what you want to capture before you do it, then figure out how to get the camera and lens you have to do it. Kind of abstract, but the more you understand the capabilities of the equipment you have, the better you'll be able to capture what you're imagining in your mind.
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    Old 06-25-2010, 08:17 AM   #1599
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    ^ great post.
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    Old 06-25-2010, 09:33 AM   #1600
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Quote:
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    what pic did you win the santa monica contest with?
    The backlit horse one. I don't have a good way to direct link to it now, but it's the first photo of the "Animals and Nature" portfolio here...

    www.matthewandersonphotography.com
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    Old 06-27-2010, 08:59 AM   #1601
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    I just finished editing an event I shot for a friend...

    you can see it here... http://www.matthewandersonphotography.com/watt
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    Old 06-27-2010, 11:54 AM   #1602
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

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    I just finished editing an event I shot for a friend...

    you can see it here... http://www.matthewandersonphotography.com/watt
    Did you use a tripod on #20 or just handheld? Or was it just one file?

    Did you use a diffuser on the flash shots?
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    Old 06-27-2010, 01:49 PM   #1603
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

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    Did you use a tripod on #20 or just handheld? Or was it just one file?

    Did you use a diffuser on the flash shots?
    #20 is an HDR attempt and it was shot on a tripod... I did use a plastic diffuser on my SB-600 (off camera - hand held) and another one covering my pop up flash on my camera (commander for the SB-600).
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    Old 06-27-2010, 01:55 PM   #1604
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Quote:
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    #20 is an HDR attempt and it was shot on a tripod... I did use a plastic diffuser on my SB-600 (off camera - hand held) and another one covering my pop up flash on my camera (commander for the SB-600).
    Yeah, I could tell it was HDR. I was almost thinking you could have done it handheld and just used one RAW file to make the different exposures. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't. The benefit of doing it that way though is you have no ghosting like you do by layering different files. You had a tripod though, so obviously that's the best way to do it.

    For the flash shots, I suppose the ceiling was too high to bounch the flash, right? It's tough when that's the case.
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    Old 06-27-2010, 06:14 PM   #1605
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Ok. I need help, but Im not really knowledgeable with cameras at all here so go easy on me...

    I bought a digital SLR this yesterday. I went for a used model at a local camera shop because I didnt want to drop 1k+ on a decent setup. I got a refurbished Canon EOS 20D. My friend has one and I really likes hers so thats why I felt good with this selection. I just kind of played around with it last night to figure out basics and then today I was at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. First off I will say I had a fucking blast photographing all the cars. If you have never been to this event or seen it, you literally get to stand on the edge of the road. Not safe in the least. Anyways...

    So last night when I was playing with it I kept getting a "Error 99" warning which I then read if you just change the settings to communicate in PTP then it will usually fix it, which it did. I also kept getting a "CF Error" when trying to take any multi burst photos. After this happened a few times it ultimately led to camera becoming disabled and I had to pull the battery out. I reformatted the CF and problem solved. It could shoot multiple shots without issue and all seemed well. Well today at the race I got about 300 photos in without a hitch then when I went to turn it on again, I got the CF Error. It is a new card, altho maybe not the best? It was the only brand (maxflash) the shop carried, the owner "recommended it", and it did have a 10 year warranty with it. Being new and ignorant it was the only card I had so I was forced to be done shooting for the rest of the day and have pretty much succumb to the fact that I have lost my photos. A guy near me put the card in his camera and got the same CF Error. If I plug it into my Mac it will freeze iPhoto.

    Basically my question is, am I screwed? Is there anything I can do? I do plan on going back to the shop tomorrow because I am pretty pissed about this, but I feel Im going to be told that it was somehow my fault. The fact that I was getting those problems last night just gave me a really bad feeling about things before I even went out today. Any help is appreciated. Thanks
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    Old 06-27-2010, 10:05 PM   #1606
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

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    Yeah, I could tell it was HDR. I was almost thinking you could have done it handheld and just used one RAW file to make the different exposures. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't. The benefit of doing it that way though is you have no ghosting like you do by layering different files. You had a tripod though, so obviously that's the best way to do it.

    For the flash shots, I suppose the ceiling was too high to bounch the flash, right? It's tough when that's the case.
    The couple HDR shots are all done with a tripod here... I've done a couple hand held using bracketing on my camera and they turned out okay. I wouldn't make 24" posters of them, but they look nice in general.

    Yeah, I couldn't bounce here... You can see the ceilings I had to work with, and they were both elevated and dark colored... It became apparent to me during this event that I still have no idea what I'm doing with flash...
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    Old 06-27-2010, 10:09 PM   #1607
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Matt, that sounds like a really shitty situation. I wish I could help, but I've never experienced anything like that... Hopefully some of the photos can be recovered from the card, that would really suck to lose everything...
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    Old 06-27-2010, 11:11 PM   #1608
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Quote:
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    The couple HDR shots are all done with a tripod here... I've done a couple hand held using bracketing on my camera and they turned out okay. I wouldn't make 24" posters of them, but they look nice in general.

    Yeah, I couldn't bounce here... You can see the ceilings I had to work with, and they were both elevated and dark colored... It became apparent to me during this event that I still have no idea what I'm doing with flash...
    Flash is very hard. I think really the only thing you can do in situations like that one to make it look "better" is to use like a tall stand-mounted flash to light up the background and then still probably a camera mounted one to properly expose the faces. I don't know much about flash either, which is why I try to avoid using it at all costs unless I know I can bounce it off a white ceiling or I have absolutely no other choice and for the situation it doesn't matter how the pictures turn out. The whole thing with flash is controlling shadows. It's tough.

    Sort of related, but it's basically the reason I don't like taking portraits. It's all about controlling light and subsequently controlling shadows. In my opinion, it's probably the thing that takes the most amount of experience to be good at with photography.

    As for the HDR, you could try it without even bracketing. Just change the exposure of a single RAW file in post-processing and output several different copies of the same image at different exposures, then combine them like you would for HDR. Sometimes it can work. That can be handy if you're trying to do HDR with something that is moving.

    Last edited by Benny003; 06-27-2010 at 11:13 PM.
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    Old 06-28-2010, 12:17 PM   #1609
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    I just got back from the camera shop and they were surprisingly accommodating. I was able to return everything for a full refund and they put the CF card through a recovery program and the pictures are coming back out. They are going to put them on a disk for me to pick up later. I will post a few and you experts can critique me!
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    Old 06-28-2010, 10:39 PM   #1610
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    So in the travel section of the Star Tribune here in Minneapolis they ask people to upload pictures online that they have taken while traveling. So back in January I uploaded a few from our trip to Chicago from last year and I never thought much of it. Well a couple of weeks ago their travel editor sent me an email asking me for more information about one of the pictures. I responded with my answers to her questions and that was the last I heard of it. Well they decided to publish the picture in Sunday's paper in the Travel Section. It's funny because we get the Sunday paper, but I hardly ever look in the travel section and I put the paper in the recycle bin this time without looking at the paper. On Monday one of the guys I work with asked me if I had a picture published in the paper because he said he saw my name there. If he hadn't told me about it, I never would have known, haha! So anyway, here is a scan of that part of the paper for you to look at. Kind of neat.

    http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...icture_062.jpg

    Here is the original picture that I sent them:
    http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...3/DSC_3562.jpg
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    Old 06-29-2010, 06:43 AM   #1611
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    ^^ That's awesome Ben! Nice work... I remember when you posted that photo here previously...

    I would have thought they would tell you if they published your photo. I guess the follow up was a clue, but I'm surprised they didn't email you and say your photo would be in this week's paper...
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    Old 06-29-2010, 08:05 AM   #1612
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Yeah, I was surprised they didn't tell me either. I'm just glad someone else caught it and told me about it.
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    Old 06-30-2010, 07:46 AM   #1613
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Nice work Ben!
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    Old 06-30-2010, 08:48 AM   #1614
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mattyande View Post
    The couple HDR shots are all done with a tripod here... I've done a couple hand held using bracketing on my camera and they turned out okay. I wouldn't make 24" posters of them, but they look nice in general.

    Yeah, I couldn't bounce here... You can see the ceilings I had to work with, and they were both elevated and dark colored... It became apparent to me during this event that I still have no idea what I'm doing with flash...
    I think flash is a good tool once you learn how to use it (not saying I am an expert by any means). Its really cool because your camera shutter speed controls the ambient light, while your flash exposes your subject--two exposures with one click

    A couple things I picked up on it:
    -use your pop up as commander if you can (it wont effect the exposure at all, just be sure you are far enough away from subject). Not all camera models are capable of this. Otherwise to shoot off the hotshoe you would have to get a cable.

    -get the SB off the hot shoe. Hold it in your left hand and angle toward the subject. Then it wont be straight on towards your subject. You can cross your arms with flash in left and camera in right to give more support to the camera if you dont have a tripod. Just make sure the flash sensor sees the commander flash. If you must shoot with it on the hotshoe, point it in basically any direction other than your subject and see what happens. Sometimes all you need is a little fill light.

    -The candids you took actually turned out ok i think. They had a little too much specular highlights, but you got the background exposure well. To help with the highlights on your subject, definitely use the pop on diffuser. You might also consider getting a softbox. You can even buy small ones (like 1x1 that would really help) if you dont want to carry around lightstands etc.

    -If you see that your subject is too bright turn down the EV on the flash to balance it a little. Then check the background and adjust the camera exposure if needed to brighten/darken.

    I think once you got the first set of people down with the right settings the others would be much faster.

    Flash is definitely something that I want to learn more about for portraits, etc.
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    Old 06-30-2010, 10:08 AM   #1615
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    what feedback can you guys give me on a 55-200mm lens for a Nikon D60?
    good purchase? bad purchase?
    i'm a total amateur, non-technical to a fault.
    i would like something to play around with that will take decent pics of my husband while he plays soccer. thanks in advance :-)
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    Old 06-30-2010, 07:34 PM   #1616
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    So the Twins are putting on a fireworks show after the game on Friday. Any ideas on how best to shoot it since I won't have a tripod? I plan on going to the upper deck and holding the camera on a railing. What I would really like to do is an HDR shot of it. Might be tough since that would require several long exposures and without a tripod it will be hard to hold exactly still for all of them.

    I was planning on just setting the aperture to like f/8, ISO 200, and let the camera figure out the shutter speed (especially if I try to set it up for HDR). Might not be long enough exposure times though. I want a well exposed image though with the ballpark and the fireworks exposed properly, plus the downtown skyline would be nice to get in there. Maybe I should use a much smaller aperture like f/13, that might get me long enough shutter speeds.

    Last edited by Benny003; 06-30-2010 at 07:38 PM.
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    Old 07-01-2010, 06:34 AM   #1617
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sweet_4_certain View Post
    I think flash is a good tool once you learn how to use it (not saying I am an expert by any means). Its really cool because your camera shutter speed controls the ambient light, while your flash exposes your subject--two exposures with one click

    A couple things I picked up on it:
    -use your pop up as commander if you can (it wont effect the exposure at all, just be sure you are far enough away from subject). Did this. Not all camera models are capable of this. Otherwise to shoot off the hotshoe you would have to get a cable.

    -get the SB off the hot shoe. Hold it in your left hand and angle toward the subject. Did this. Then it wont be straight on towards your subject. You can cross your arms with flash in left and camera in right to give more support to the camera if you dont have a tripod. Just make sure the flash sensor sees the commander flash. If you must shoot with it on the hotshoe, point it in basically any direction other than your subject and see what happens. Sometimes all you need is a little fill light.

    -The candids you took actually turned out ok i think. They had a little too much specular highlights, but you got the background exposure well. To help with the highlights on your subject, definitely use the pop on diffuser. Did this. You might also consider getting a softbox. You can even buy small ones (like 1x1 that would really help) if you dont want to carry around lightstands etc.

    -If you see that your subject is too bright turn down the EV on the flash to balance it a little. Then check the background and adjust the camera exposure if needed to brighten/darken. Needed to do this, but was having trouble on the fly, and just said fuck it.

    I think once you got the first set of people down with the right settings the others would be much faster.

    Flash is definitely something that I want to learn more about for portraits, etc.
    see bold above
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    Old 07-01-2010, 06:36 AM   #1618
    mattyande
     
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bethie View Post
    what feedback can you guys give me on a 55-200mm lens for a Nikon D60?
    good purchase? bad purchase?
    i'm a total amateur, non-technical to a fault.
    i would like something to play around with that will take decent pics of my husband while he plays soccer. thanks in advance :-)
    I have this lens and I love it... It has VR, and is SUPER cheap... It has a plastic mount, which most people don't like, but for a 200mm zoom, I can't believe how light it is... You'll get great images out of it, so I'd say go for it for sure...
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    Old 07-01-2010, 06:51 AM   #1619
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Benny003 View Post
    So the Twins are putting on a fireworks show after the game on Friday. Any ideas on how best to shoot it since I won't have a tripod? I plan on going to the upper deck and holding the camera on a railing. What I would really like to do is an HDR shot of it. Might be tough since that would require several long exposures and without a tripod it will be hard to hold exactly still for all of them.

    I was planning on just setting the aperture to like f/8, ISO 200, and let the camera figure out the shutter speed (especially if I try to set it up for HDR). Might not be long enough exposure times though. I want a well exposed image though with the ballpark and the fireworks exposed properly, plus the downtown skyline would be nice to get in there. Maybe I should use a much smaller aperture like f/13, that might get me long enough shutter speeds.
    This will be tricky, but I think it's do-able. You'll just have to make adjustments on the fly... If I were you, I'd actually consider using the D700's awesome low light performance to shoot at higher ISO's and reduce your exposure time and the possibility of shake. One of the classes I took last semester was a digital printing class. One assignment was to actually make prints of high ISO shots, because people often just write them off and don't print them. My D90 made perfectly good looking 16x20 prints at ISO 1600! It was awesome to find that out...

    Anyway, the fireworks should light up the stadium a bit, which will help. You can't control which way the smoke blows, so your best shots will likely be the first ones. I've shot fireworks with a tripod before, and really liked the super long exposures, but I think anything over a second or two would be extremely hard on a railing. Maybe bring a bean bag and try and find somewhere to actually set the camera down? Or try and sneak in a gorilla pod?

    Good luck, and I can't wait to see the shots...

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattyan...86245/sizes/l/

    8 seconds on a tripod, no edits...
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    Old 07-01-2010, 07:21 AM   #1620
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    Re: ***Official Ants Photography Thread***

    gorilla pod seems like a good idea to me.

    while we are on the subject...i took these last 4th of july - - it was my first time shooting fireworks.

    i'd say 3-4 are good.....the rest are average or worse.

    http://picasaweb.google.com/freemanaj/FIreworks#
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