new equipment celebration thread

[Evad]

Very nice Colleen!! Well done for your first time..

 

[ColleenG]

Thanks Dave! Those are just a few that actually came out well. Most of what I learned, I learned from all you experts here on the Dis!

 

[JR6ooo4]

In the water fall pics, did you use a tripod? the surrounding is really clear for the long shutter on some of those.

I have also spent a few minutes at least trying to get a wow shot of those tree roots. They just have more massiveness on real life compared to what I can capture

for the wide exposure range. Use a tripod, shoot multiple shots, exposed for the shadows and for the bright areas. then merge them in your favorite editing program. It is called "high dynamic range" or something like that...

Nice shots, thanks for sharing. I hope you had fun most of all.

And I understand about holding up the adventure while you try to take pics. In WDW DW and I split up for a while, while she goes on rides I do not want to, and I spend 20 minutes shooting a flower in front of the castle.

Mikeeee

 

[ukcatfan]

One question I do have, when I started taking pictures it started numbering then at 3600 something. Shouldn't it start a zero?

Did you use a card that had ben used in another camera before or already had pictures from another camera still on it? My Canon p&s cameras will mess up the shot numbering when that happens, so it might be an issue on their DSLRs as well. If not, you need to verify that you do not have a floor model or something used that is being sold as new. I believe that there is a way to see how many shutter actuations the camera has had regardless of the file number. I believe that they store it in the EXIF data on each shot.

 

[jann1033]

i haven't tried this for shutter actuation but it is supposed to work... go to camerabits.com http://www.camerabits.com/site/brochure.html and get the free trial of photomechanics.download then click edit>set info test. create a new line and type in actuation. click on variable, double click actuation click ok then open an image and its supposed to show the shutter click number....i don't have time to do it right now but if if works let me know
i did find another site but must not have bookmarked it. if i find it i'll post it if this one doesn't work

 

[boBQuincy]

This software worked for counting shutter actuations fot my Xsi:
http://astrojargon.net/40DShutterCount.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Long exposures of waterfalls sometimes requires a neutral density filter to reduce the amount of light and allow longer shutter speeds.
As for the photo of the tree roots, the dynamic range of the scene exceeded that which the camera can capture. This is not uncommon as many scenes have sunlight *and* deep shadow. The best way to capture the full range of brightness is with HDR, where you take three or more different exposures of the scene and merge them in software. It really works and in many cases it is difficult to tell that any manipulation has been done.

 

[Iwant2BAprincess]

I am looking at upgrading my xt to the t1i-let us know what you think once you have played with it for awhile

 

[zackiedawg]

HDR is a technique for blending multiple shots in software to achieve the greater dynamic range for that tree-root type shot - but it's not the only way to get something usable.

In general, shooting in that style, you want to control the thing that is most likely to suffer - highlights or shadows - by exposing for one, then recovering the other with a very simple software tweak in post processing. In your case, I think had you shot at the lowest ISO, and exposed the shot for the sky/sun, the skies and tree leaves would be properly exposed, while the tree roots would be in dark shadow. Then, by using a contrast adjustment, levels tool, highlight/midtone/shadow tool, or clarify tool (almost all post-processing softwares have one or more of these things), you bring up the brightness of the shadows to show the root detail. Because you shot at low ISO, you won't suffer the noise issues from brightening the shadows. I use this technique a lot when I don't want to go through the HDR process. For me, shadows are much easier to recover than highlights - every camera may be different, so your mileage may vary.

Also, your camera should have some form of dynamic range compensation feature - just about all new cameras today have one (Sony has DRange Optimizer, Nikon has Active D Lighting). I don't know what Canon's is called, but I'm sure there is one. This can also help in these situations, if you set it to 'on' and maximum strength, it can help control either highlights or shadows in high contrast situations.

 

[boBQuincy]

HDR is a technique for blending multiple shots in software to achieve the greater dynamic range for that tree-root type shot - but it's not the only way to get something usable.

Ok, so I might be complicating things a bit more than necessary... but I have had more success using HDR for these kinds of images than with any other method. Another one that has worked well is to take two exposures (one for shadows, one for highlights), layer them, and mask the parts that are over exposed.

Canon's optimizer is just ok, don't expect fabulous results from it. It requires a minimum ISO of 200 and maybe, just maybe, can compensate for less than a stop of highlights. I don't bother with it anymore.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Another option would be to use a flash on the tree roots.

 

[MICKEY88]

another option would be to shoot tighter eliminating the highlights in the background, exposing for the roots..

 

[RBennett]

Another option is to put the roots on top of the car and bring it home. That way you can shoot in whatever lighting you want. Obviously someone hasn't seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

 

[MICKEY88]

Another option is to put the roots on top of the car and bring it home. That way you can shoot in whatever lighting you want. Obviously someone hasn't seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

that brings up another option, if your car is that close, light the roots with your headlights..

 

[Sewfun]

Thanks for the laugh!! I forgot about that scene!

Another option is to put the roots on top of the car and bring it home. That way you can shoot in whatever lighting you want. Obviously someone hasn't seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

 

[Sewfun]

Tomorrow I am going along the North Shore of Lake Superior. One of the spots I plan on hitting is Gooseberry Falls, with it's three water falls. I would love to know the settings for the waterfall shots and if a tripod is recommended? This will be my first trip to Split Rock Lighthouse and Gooseberry Falls with the DSLR and I am really looking forward to going. Any recommendations on settings would be wonderful!

In the water fall pics, did you use a tripod? the surrounding is really clear for the long shutter on some of those.

I have also spent a few minutes at least trying to get a wow shot of those tree roots. They just have more massiveness on real life compared to what I can capture

for the wide exposure range. Use a tripod, shoot multiple shots, exposed for the shadows and for the bright areas. then merge them in your favorite editing program. It is called "high dynamic range" or something like that...

Nice shots, thanks for sharing. I hope you had fun most of all.

And I understand about holding up the adventure while you try to take pics. In WDW DW and I split up for a while, while she goes on rides I do not want to, and I spend 20 minutes shooting a flower in front of the castle.

Mikeeee

 

[ColleenG]

In the water fall pics, did you use a tripod? the surrounding is really clear for the long shutter on some of those.

I have also spent a few minutes at least trying to get a wow shot of those tree roots. They just have more massiveness on real life compared to what I can capture

for the wide exposure range. Use a tripod, shoot multiple shots, exposed for the shadows and for the bright areas. then merge them in your favorite editing program. It is called "high dynamic range" or something like that...

Nice shots, thanks for sharing. I hope you had fun most of all.

And I understand about holding up the adventure while you try to take pics. In WDW DW and I split up for a while, while she goes on rides I do not want to, and I spend 20 minutes shooting a flower in front of the castle.

Mikeeee

I didn't use a tripod. Every thing was hand held. The slowest shutter speed I used was 1/10. I was going to bring the tripod but it didn't fit in the back pack that I put my other stuff in.

 

[ColleenG]

Another option is to put the roots on top of the car and bring it home. That way you can shoot in whatever lighting you want. Obviously someone hasn't seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

that brings up another option, if your car is that close, light the roots with your headlights..

Well we took DH's car on this trip, VW Jetta, but if we had taken my car, the Suburban, 1) it would have made it through the woods to use the headlights or 2) it would have been big enough to lug it home! I'm just not sure my pack mule (aka DH) would have survived the hike out of the woods with the roots and my stuff on his back!

I love Christmas Vacation! I haven't seen it in awhile.

 

[crazydadguy]

I didn't use a tripod. Every thing was hand held. The slowest shutter speed I used was 1/10. I was going to bring the tripod but it didn't fit in the back pack that I put my other stuff in.

You hand held all of those? You must be as steady as a Surgeon! I am too hopped up on caffeine for hand held long exposures. Good Job!

 

[ColleenG]

I guess I have a steadier hand than I thought. Definately not a surgeon though!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

Thanks to the advice of several here, I have ventured into the world of dSLR. I bought the Nikon D40 in a two lens kit. The first is the regular kit lens and the other is the 55-200mm VR lens. It came today and I'm both having fun and feeling a bit overwhelmed with it!

When my daughter got home from school, I took her out in the back yard and started playing. I shot in Auto, Portrait, and Manual, just to see the difference. I also got a better picture of my dog than I've ever gotten! His eyes aren't "blue"!

I have a couple of questions, though. (Sure many more are to follow!)

1. What is the difference between Auto and "P" mode? The manual says that the "P" mode automatically selects the best shutter speed and aperture, so how is it different?

2. What do you use for your basic snapshots? The ones that aren't staged and posed? The ones that happen fast, so you can't fiddle with the settings much?


I only have a month to become accustomed to it before our next trip to WDW! I've also ordered the Nikon 35mm f1.8 lens and it is backordered. Don't know if I'll even have it for our trip!

Thanks for all of your help. Now I need to go visit the "Learning Curve" thread!