photography The Photography Thread

[expatowner]

[alta-pete]

[expatowner]

really neat sculpture in USA.  Overall height was around 20m.  

Edited June 26, 2020 by expatowner

[welshbairn]

Nicked from the Press and Journal, 1/40 shutter speed. Rest of article's behind a paywall for me.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/inverness/2281595/inverness-photographer-captures-stunning-photo-of-owl-in-motion/

[The Mantis]

13 hours ago, expatowner said:

No idea what that is, but it reminded me of Zlatorog which is a legendary goat in Slovenia as well as a beer.

[The Mantis]

Going through old stuff and I came across this from 4 years ago today, sadly no Gala Day this year.

[jamamafegan]

Just saw that Olympus are selling off their camera business because they’ve apparently struggled in recent years.

It got me thinking: what does everyone on here shoot with and would you ever consider switching brands?

I shoot Nikon, currently with a D3200 that I got 6 years ago. The cropped sensor is great for shooting wildlife but I would quite like to get a full frame for landscape stuff.

Anyway, I’m not thinking of switching brand at all but I’m interested to see if anyone on here shoots with brands like Olympus, Pentax, Leica or any others that aren’t Canon and Nikon. I have a mate who shoots on a Sony camera, he seems to really like that.

A wildlife photographer I follow on Facebook sold all his Nikon gear last year and replaced it with Olympus stuff, he also seems to really enjoy them.

[tamthebam]

2 hours ago, jamamafegan said:

I have a mate who shoots on a Sony camera

Heeeeeeere's Kenneth....

[The Mantis]

1 hour ago, MixuFruit said:

Canon here but I have no particular loyalty to the brand. A camera's a camera and you just get locked in once you've spent a lot of money on lenses. Olympus probably struggled because their lenses while excellent were expensive and there was no second hand market to speak of. If I ever get a mirrorless SLR I may well switch brand but that's probably a few years off, if ever.

Pretty much word for word what I would say. I'm in a club and when anybody starts the "banter" about brands it bores the arse off me. Same occasionally arises on this forum. Quite a few people in the club have recently gone over to Oly 4/3 though.

I bought the missus an Olympus Trip back in the film days and it was a fantastic wee thing. Apart from having no flash so you needed a flashgun attached.

[and I lost it once. I left it on the summit of Beinn a'Bhuird in the Cairngorms overnight. My mate and I camped at a place called The Sneck and when we packed up in the morning, and climbed back to the ridge, we met this guy who had just found it. I didn't know it was lost. 5 mins later and it wouldn't have happened]

My first digital was an Oly C3030 bridge camera in 2000 and my second was a C8080. Those numbers will tell you how many megapixels 
When it came to buying a DSLR the "must buy"  at the time was the Canon 400D and it was £100 cheaper than the Oly. So like Mixu I'm a Canon USER and I have invested in the lenses. That's all there is to it. If people are honest, 99% of the time their equipment doesn't stop them getting the shot. Their own limitations do. Yet I know people buying everything that comes out, in the hope that it'll make them better.

Edited June 25, 2020 by The Mantis

[tamthebam]

My first digital camera was a Fuji Finepix. I have several of those with different zooms/features etc.

I then had a Sony Cybershot for use at the football. It didn't have an idiot setting for "sport" so I had to learn about ISO, shutter speeds and all that crap 

As the various digital camera were no good for floodlit matches I bought a second hand Nikon last year which does the job. I do have the money now to get one of those professional jobs with a big lens but tbh I can't be bothered. 

The old man had an Olympus. He was strictly film era though* and was just getting into digital when he died.

 

(*He took photos in coal mines as one of his first jobs- that wasn't even film, the conditions required use of wet plate photography!)

[Mackie The Staggie]

I have about as much loyalty to a brand as Mo Johnston did to Celtic just before signing for Rangers.

I'll often use 2 cameras, the main one is a Nikon D500 with a long lens, the second camera is a Sony A77 mk2 with a shorter lens.  I do have a preference (Nikon) and it's down to the lag on the digital viewfinder on the Sony, when shooting sports that can be a bit off putting.

I've seen people with more gear than I could ever muster produce bang average photos who then do all kind of things in photoshop to make them stand out, and then I've seen some really talented people use their smartphones to win club competitions, most of the time the gear is only as good as the people using it.

I will say however, I'm always looking for that next camera to find an extra couple of FPS or better ISO range....and if I can find a faster lens without having to sell a kidney on the black market the better.

[Ginaro]

3 hours ago, Mackie The Staggie said:

I will say however, I'm always looking for that next camera to find an extra couple of FPS or better ISO range....and if I can find a faster lens without having to sell a kidney on the black market the better.

10fps and 51,200 ISO on the Nikon D500 - how much more of each do you need? Any more and you're basically into Nikon D3/4/5/6 or Canon 1D X territory!

[Mackie The Staggie]

6 hours ago, Ginaro said:

10fps and 51,200 ISO on the Nikon D500 - how much more of each do you need? Any more and you're basically into Nikon D3/4/5/6 or Canon 1D X territory!

Is something I'm always looking for with sports photography, it's amazing that in some of my burst shots, even with the 12 fps I get from the Sony I will still end up with a before making contact with the ball shot and an after making contact with the ball shot.....but rarely the making contact with the ball shot.

Don't get me wrong, the before and after shots are still fine and perfectly usable especially in the papers, but I'm always looking for that perfect shot.

And yes the dream is the D3-D6 Range.....but when they cost around the same as a small car, it's only going to be a dream unless I turn this into something more than a hobby which occasionally pays.

[The Mantis]

1 hour ago, Mackie The Staggie said:

Is something I'm always looking for with sports photography, it's amazing that in some of my burst shots, even with the 12 fps I get from the Sony I will still end up with a before making contact with the ball shot and an after making contact with the ball shot.....but rarely the making contact with the ball shot.

Once saw a shot where a player’s head was sinking into the ball... needless to say, never been able to replicate it 

[Hard Graft]

Started of with a secondhand Nikon Nikkormat FT3 and then progressed through the Canon range - A1, T90, EOS 10, EOS 450d and finally bought my current 7D when I was in Japan at a huge saving.  I used to have a full range of lenses as well. My EOS 10 and lenses got stolen and I was pissed off and stopped for a while and used a compact but the bug then returned and I bought the 450 before upgrading to the 7D.

As I mainly use the camera when on holiday, along with a camcorder,  I currently only use a Tamron 16-300 for its compact size and versatility. Not the best of lenses but it serves its purpose. Have thought about investing in decent lenses a few times but  find it hard to justify them given that I do not use the camera as much as I should and also the limitations of their size when traveling.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Hard Graft

[The Mantis]

2 hours ago, Mackie The Staggie said:

Is something I'm always looking for with sports photography, it's amazing that in some of my burst shots, even with the 12 fps I get from the Sony I will still end up with a before making contact with the ball shot and an after making contact with the ball shot.....but rarely the making contact with the ball shot.

Aye, sports and wildlife are 2 fields where you need decent gear and it shows. You can get away with it in landscapes and portraiture.

11 hours ago, Mackie The Staggie said:

I have about as much loyalty to a brand as Mo Johnston did to Celtic just before signing for Rangers.

I'll often use 2 cameras, the main one is a Nikon D500 with a long lens, the second camera is a Sony A77 mk2 with a shorter lens.  I do have a preference (Nikon) and it's down to the lag on the digital viewfinder on the Sony, when shooting sports that can be a bit off putting.

Pre 2004 I used to help out Bryan Munro who did the ICT programme (and County) and I would send him a couple of shots from the away games. After that ICT were in the SPL and the stewards nipped your heid if they saw a camera 
Anyway at that time I had an Olympus bridge camera with an EVF and the shutter lag was terrible. No bursts either. You had to anticipate what was going to happen. The best chance of a good shot was to stand behind the goals at a corner and fire just as it came in.

[Mackie The Staggie]

4 hours ago, The Mantis said:

Pre 2004 I used to help out Bryan Munro who did the ICT programme (and County) and I would send him a couple of shots from the away games. After that ICT were in the SPL and the stewards nipped your heid if they saw a camera 
Anyway at that time I had an Olympus bridge camera with an EVF and the shutter lag was terrible. No bursts either. You had to anticipate what was going to happen. The best chance of a good shot was to stand behind the goals at a corner and fire just as it came in.

I had just got my 70-300 Tammy lens for my first camera and took it to a County friendly.....first and last time, nothing they could do when it was on a public park though.  Have looked at going freelance and trying to get into even HFL grounds it's a bit of a minefield, unless you sign up with an agency it's very difficult.

5 hours ago, The Mantis said:

Once saw a shot where a player’s head was sinking into the ball... needless to say, never been able to replicate it 

I've come close a number of times, but never get it quite right.  The other one is Shinty, a surprisingly fast game when viewed through a viewfinder of a camera

[tamthebam]

8 hours ago, Mackie The Staggie said:

I had just got my 70-300 Tammy lens for my first camera and took it to a County friendly.....first and last time, nothing they could do when it was on a public park though.  Have looked at going freelance and trying to get into even HFL grounds it's a bit of a minefield, unless you sign up with an agency it's very difficult.

I've come close a number of times, but never get it quite right.  The other one is Shinty, a surprisingly fast game when viewed through a viewfinder of a camera

Spoiler

Stick a fluorescent yellow bib on and get shirty when they can't find you on a list saying "I don't believe THIS. All the way from X and the Agency can't get things right etc"

But I never told you this

I just take football photos for the fun of it, I haven't made a penny out of them although I do get a free programme. If you wanted practice you could try going to the North Juniors games. If you were to offer photos for the club website for example they'd be happy enough for you to take photos. If you get a good action picture maybe the local paper would take it 

I know a photographer who does sport for the East Lothian Courier. He can do the first half at Dunbar United and the second half at Haddington Rugby for example 

[The Mantis]

On 26/06/2020 at 22:45, tamthebam said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Stick a fluorescent yellow bib on and get shirty when they can't find you on a list saying "I don't believe THIS. All the way from X and the Agency can't get things right etc"

But I never told you this

I just take football photos for the fun of it, I haven't made a penny out of them although I do get a free programme. If you wanted practice you could try going to the North Juniors games. If you were to offer photos for the club website for example they'd be happy enough for you to take photos. If you get a good action picture maybe the local paper would take it 

I know a photographer who does sport for the East Lothian Courier. He can do the first half at Dunbar United and the second half at Haddington Rugby for example 

Quite a few clubs have an amateur taking photos but plenty don't. If you show a bit of commitment to going they'll bite your hand off, as it's not only matches but social functions, ground improvements etc. I did a few years with Whitehill and the local paper started to rely on us for a match photo and report every home game, to the extent that they were phoning on a Monday morning if you looked like missing the deadline. Any old shite would do too, like most papers they weren't interested in your award winning shots of goals hitting the rigging. 

On 26/06/2020 at 22:45, tamthebam said:

 

I know a photographer who does sport for the East Lothian Courier. He can do the first half at Dunbar United and the second half at Haddington Rugby for example 

The Midlothian paper is owned by the Edinburgh News so with there being plenty Junior clubs in the area we'd occasionally get a staffer turning up for a while and supplying photos to both papers. But most weeks they were glad of anything you sent.

[Hard Graft]

One of my favourite places on earth - Alaska