Scuff

I went for a stroll today, dodging the showers. I often take just one camera and lens to make myself work hard with the limited focal range available. Here are a couple taken with the Canon 24mm TS-E lens. This is a manual focus tilt-shift lens. This next one with the sun in the frame demonstrates how well the 'L' series lenses control flare.

I recall that during the miners strike, I was based at an RAF station. We were told to go nowhere near the Victors.:( Yet when we visited a nearby USAF base for lunch, we were allowed to sit in the cockpit of an operational SR71 - sure beats the Piper Cherokee I used to flying!!!:eek:

Awwww, thats my favourite bit about crosswind landings - pointing in the wrong direction and straightening it up just before plopping it onto the runway. At least at Duxford you have the choice of landing on the grass or the tarmac

Count me in please, haven't been there for ages!

Amanda...... take a deep breath........ I admire your honesty and understand your frustration. You probably do not want to hear this at the moment, so read it later. Your learning points are all valid, can you imaging what it was like before the advent of digital, no RAW, just critical to get the right exposures on film:eek: here are some of my thoughts, I hope they may help, or if you are really feeling p'd off, then tell me to f... go away - I don't mind (30 years on the front line, I am used to it). As stated, you must be in control of the people and the situation before you even think about taking the shots. And as stated you must know your kit and what it will do in any situation. I have settings that I load off of the CF/SD card for indoor and outdoor shots so that I am ready in seconds. I will take the basic shots and then if I can I may get a little more creative:thumbup: When indoors in the dark, just wind the asa up as far as you need (it will not show too much in the 6x4 prints) you wil also be able to bounce the flash off walls/ceilings that are miles away. Remember that you are adding light to an already correct exposure with the flash, not using it as the main light source. All of your negative experiences can be learnt from and I am sure that if you do it again, it will not be as bad. Most commissions I have throw up some anomaly during the shoot, so there will often be something that bites you in the bum. But I always deal with it. That's where the experience comes in - and why I get paid for it Be happy - don't worry. Smile through the gritted teeth and tears and kick *** next time.

This is all we are seeing..... [ATTACH]24960[/ATTACH]

Mmmmm, whilst the HD I have seen is good quality, I just do not want to be paying extra for a 'feature' that I wouldn't use. Please Canon leave it off of the pro models along with the pop-up flash. I wonder what the sales figures would be like if a manufacturer sold 2 versions of a Hi Spec SLR. One version with HD video but costing £300 more.

Yer know what Amanda, I'm with you on this one. I often look at technically good images from the *0D series cameras, but no matter how hard you try, they do not quite match the oozing quality found on the 1 series cameras when shots are compared like for like. Now I may be incorrect - but to me I can see and feel the difference, and thats all I care about.

Hey Mort, OM-10 = Full frame 50mm primes are invariably as sharp as you like - Junk the zooms Bearing in mind that my 1DmkIII is a lot less megapixels than my 1DsII. Yet it produces images that are very nearly as good, and in some cases exceed those of the 1DsII. The pixels are a lot less crammed in on these two cameras and I feel that this is where the ultimate image quality comes from. 50D and 15megapixels tooooo much. You could buy a 1dIIn and have some change, I'm pretty sure that you would be happy with the images. As I'm sure you have heard before, you do not need more than 8mpix unless you are doing huge prints. Also, all of the megapixels will need a good lens to go with them. Now anyone got some spare cash for the new 24.f1.4L II

Before I hit the sack then..... With product/technical shots, I start by knowing exactly what the dynamic range of my camera/film is. I will measure the highlights and shadows with a lightmeter and either add of take away light so that the image uses all of the dynamic range of the medium I am using. Adjustments to the light will me made so that I can shoot at the optimum aperture and ensuring that everything I want in focus - is in focus, and within the depth of field. Some of the product shots I took for a book on narrowboat art, were done on 5x4 stopped down to f45 or more, took around 20 flashes from the studio lights with the shutter open to get enough light.:eek: Be very careful with your backgrounds - try and avoid distractions such as red tops on WD40 cans For the 'arty' shots, use YOUR imagination. But try and break a few compositional rules and make the image feel 'wrong' but at the same time 'right'. Let some of the lighting block out to emphasize a small portion. Make the image sweat and live. In the end, what you may do will probably be totally different to what I may do - and that is the point of it all. Good luck.

A good selection there..... The images convey what is intended without confusion. The illustrative shots of the parts do not need to be 'arty' and conversely, the shot of the sockets works well with a bit of 'artiness' (newly invented word:)) How long were the pigeons sitting on the steering wheel

Yep that looks good, nice OOF background as well, I am sure he will be pleased with them.

Well done, you seen to be getting the hang of the flash stuff!! When bouncing light all over the place, it can pick up all sorts of colour casts. So I just sort it out in post processing Just a quick observation - as soon as I point a camera at a person (most times) it is automatically held in 'portrait' format. This could change if I was doing an environmental portrait though. Try to get the chin in, even if it means losing the top of the head. It would be good to see some 'story telling' images of your friend working with his Land Rover. Maybe some moody lighting with natural light and a touch of flash. Think about some unusual compositions. Keep up the good work.

You hit the nail on the head. This photography lark is not as easy as the manufacturers would have you believe. (I love those ads that show you images supposedly taken with a compact, with wonderful soft OOF backgrounds - no way)! There are still two parts to getting good shots. Using the kit to get the technicalities right, and then producing the image that will be different and stand out. The last bit is the hardest. I have seen some technically brilliant shots, and some wonderfully imagined and captured shots that are not technically perfect. I am always drawn to the second type. It would take too long to go into all of the settings that you can use on the 1 series. But suffice to say I have about 8 'cameras' saved on the memory cards so I can load the myriad of settings quickly for the type of job I have. Even then, you still have to make the shot stand out! Try not to get too frustrated, keep experimenting and you will find what works best for any particular subject - anything from full manual to full auto. I've got some great 5x4 trannies - you cannot get any more manual than that. But they did teach me to get it right first time, so the planning could take hours or even days for that final 1/60th second. Set yourself a subject or task (i'll suggest one if you like:eek:) plan what you want to do and don't stop until you get it absolutely right. Even the learning process is fun - I still really enjoy that.

You could make it easier for many occasions. Before the advent of AF, we used to use another method. Pre-focus at the point you want and release the shutter just as your subject comes in to it. The images of the dogs above could just as easily be captured using the old fashioned method. There is always a way, I do think we often rely on technology rather than the old human reflex and control of what you want, not what the camera wants. Give it a try on some moving traffic. Learn how quickly your camera will take the shot when you release the shutter. I think you will be surprised what you can do without the technology.

Those extra focus points do help..... The next two shots show how well the focus tracking worked. I had set up to use all 45 points with a delay so that anything crossing the path of the subject I was tracking, didn't take priority. So the posts etc from the course that the dogs were negotiating didn't make the focus jump away. These 1 series cameras are very versatile but do need to be set up properly to get the best from them. Jeez do these critters move fast..... the 2 shots shown here are taken at 1/10th sec apart an 10fps. The depth of field with the 300 f2.8 is so narrow that they would be out of focus if the camera hadn't tracked correctly. Both taken at today Loseley park country fayre. Canon 1dMkIII - Canon 300mm f2.8 - 100iso - 1/800th sec @ f4.

It looks like a late evening shot, so the cliffs (and the white clouds) are taking on a tint from the sun going down. Sometimes the auto white balance will kill the mood of a sunset/sunrise, so it is best to set the camera to 'daylight' white balance to keep the hues. If shooting in raw, that can be set in post processing.......

Nice shots Chris. Persevere and practice. I know that you are not one of them, but a lot of people think that slinging a long lens on the front guarantees good images. In truth, the opposite applies. Often people are disappointed with the shots and think the lens is soft. To use a long lens properly (even a 200mm) takes plenty of practice. It's good fun though:thumbup: I feel that the image you have posted are over sharpened. When you are sharpening, try this..... View the image at 100%, watch carefully as you gradually tweak up the sharpening, when you start to see dark or light lines around the edges of objects, stop and back off a bit. There is more to it but that is a good starting point. Keep up the good work, look forward to seeing some more.

Here is an example of what I expect from my kit. You shouldn't be that far off with your 40D. There is a definite need for post processing to get the best out of Digital SLR's This is an original shot I took at the European Field Target Championship today. It has been reduced for the web. Canon 1DmkIII - Canon 70-200f2.8L - Shot wide open at f2.8. Not bad, but my primes need less sharpening:cool: Here is a 100% crop of the above.

It seems to come up OK.... Here is a very quick edit using smart sharpen in CS3. I usually use lightroom for sharpening. But each to your own. You would be quite shocked how soft the raw images from my 1DSII - they do take a lot of sharpening to cancel out the AA filter, but do come up well. I also lifted the image a little using curves....

Congrats on the new camera.... Two Camps of thought..... Against: reduces quality of the images For: protection for the lens. My view FWIW. I use a high quality one on every lens. I prefer the protection argument. High quality filters do not noticeably reduce quality. Plus my kit is only classed as weather sealed with a filter on the end of the lens.

And the amount of pennies I make far exceed those that alamy sales reach. :eek:

Here are the agencies I use. They vary a lot in sales and payments per image. GTMedia Services - Links These are referal links on my web site. Been doing stock since well before digital, so ask away if you need any info.

Nice Kit.... Look forward to seing some images from it.

Errrrr - Funny you should mention that - look at the EXIF info for this image