Topics

1

Lenses / Best Lenses for Canon EOS 5D Mark III according to DxO

« on: May 16, 2013, 09:20:22 PM »

I love rankings, but unfortunately I seem to have bought the wrong lenses for my 5D3   

Maybe I have to sell them all.

http://www.cameraegg.org/best-lenses-for-canon-eos-5d-mark-iii/

2

Black & White / Grain effect in LR

« on: May 06, 2013, 06:13:39 AM »

Yesterday I did a portrait shoot with a a model. Mostly to use for an upcoming exhibition I have in a few weeks, but  also for her to get some photographs for herself. I have been experimenting back and forth with the grain effect in LR to find the right amount of grain to get that film look.

I shot with my 5D3 and the 35L, it gives a nice perspective that I like and it fitted her face perfectly although it's wide to be a traditional portrait lens. I will make prints around 50x60 cm, fitting the whole picture in and leave white frames around it for the magnets at the gallery.

I am wondering if you have any recommendations on how far to go on the scale. Any pointers? I am experimenting back and forth but just can't tell when it gets perfect. Any tips are welcome.

cheers
J

3

Street & City / Question about long exposure and filters

« on: April 30, 2013, 10:42:58 PM »

Hey, I'm in Asia so it's morning here. Later today, I will try long exposure for the first time. I went to pick up a grey filter last week, but they only had 3-stop filters. I only picked up one and didn't give it more thought. Now having read up a bit on it, I see that I would probably need more. I won't by another filter today so my question to you is the following, can I stack a CPL to the grey filter?

I will anyway give it a try, but are there any particular things I need to look out for?

4

EOS Bodies / 700D Launched

« on: March 21, 2013, 01:44:48 AM »

http://www.cameraegg.org/canon-eos-rebel-t5i-700d-announced-price-specs-release-date-where-to-buy/

5

Portrait / Portrait session in Saigon, girls in traditional outfits (Ao Dai)

« on: March 10, 2013, 09:30:18 PM »

Last week I did my first portrait session ever. I went down to Saigon and my objective was to capture traditional images of girls in their traditional Ao Dai outfits. My friend was gracious enough to let his daughter model for me and she also brought her friend. I had scouted a few sites where I wanted to go as I wanted old buildings and surroundings. Time only allowed us to go to two of those sites.

I went at this as a learning experience, I read as much as possible on how to direct models, planning the scenes, trying to picture some perspectives I wanted etc. I felt prepared going in to it.

I have to say that after this I have learned alot and my respect for you professionals has grown even more. It was not a walk in the park to work through the session. I found myself being a bit apprehensive and sometimes not sure of what I wanted. A couple of scenes that we shot I caught perfectly only to find that I had forgotten to adjust the settings so the pictures were just blurry although the colours and light came out exactly the way I wanted. The girls though are used to posing for pictures and they were really fun to work with so it turned out to be a success anyway. I would say that in terms of the result meeting my expectations it was a 7 out of 10, my work as a photographer was a 4 out of 10 and the girls work were a 10 out of 10.

With this one day session behind me I really look forward to the next one. It was a fun and learning experience and I wouldn't want to have had it any other way.

6

Lighting / Batteries to speedlites

« on: February 08, 2013, 07:40:34 PM »

Why is there that flash manufacturers don't make purpose built batteries for speedlites as you have in the camera bodies? Using those AA or AAA whatever batteries seems to me to be a waste. Maybe this is is a again from me a stupid question where I have completely missed the point.

7

Portrait / Tips for planning a street portrait photo session

« on: February 07, 2013, 05:24:24 AM »

Hi, in a couple of weeks I'm going down to Saigon to shoot street portraits of my friend's daughter and her friend. They are Vietnamese girls and will wear the traditional dresses. It will take place in the streets of Saigon. This is on my initiative as I want to include pictures like this in my portfolio.

I have never done a planned photo session before. My experience stretches to planning my street walks, planning on how to shoot golf courses and similar.

With actual people in the picture I really want to make good use of their and my time and hopefully catch some great pictures.

I know the city fairly well having commuted to work there for two years and I do have some good sites in mind, but she has promised to take us to a couple of other sites that are a bit further away and that I haven't visited before.

We are likely to meet about after lunchtime and go on until sunset. The weather this time of year gives a good chance of clear skies, but obviously the afternoon sun will not help in making it easier. The late afternoon we will spend around the cathedral and the adjacent park. At least that's my idea now.

I have done some homework on direct a portrait shoot, I am a fairly relaxed person and I know my friend's daughter quite well. I do speak Vietnamese reasonably well which will hopefully help to make things more fun and relaxed. What I do need to understand is how to structure this. Do I take notes of sites I want to go to? Poses? Angles?  What more?

Of course on this forum I have to ask about gear, I don't have a proper flash, only the 270. I could pick up a 430 just for this session if it makes sense and if I understood how it would help me. In terms of body and lenses I'm covered.

Any thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

thanks
J

8

Lenses / Question about variable aperture

« on: January 16, 2013, 08:52:21 AM »

Not afraid to ask stupid questions as it's the best way to learn and normally people on this forum will give informed answers.

My question is around variable aperture in lenses. Why do lenses with variable as opposed to fixed aperture cost less? Is it a mechanicel explanation to it? I can see that more advanced optics will cost more with more glass going into the lens, but don't understand the dynamics behind aperture.

I'm in the IT business and have been for many years, hardware related features sometimes costs more to develop and produce and somteimes it is simply down to charging more for better functionality - higher margins from customers prepared to pay premium for higher performance.

I would be happy to understand more about this.

thanks in advance
J

9

5D MK III Sample Images / Temples of Angkor

« on: December 09, 2012, 03:50:11 AM »

Went up there earlier this week to get some photos for an article I am writing. Hope you like this one. There are a couple of spots inside the temple walls where to take the famous pictures, either early morning catching the silhouette or like this in the afternoon when the sun provides a beautiful warm light. This one is taken slightly too early, around 4 in the afternoon. You can't be too late either, because then the shadows from the walls behind this spot will likely start to interfere with the shot.

10

5D MK III Sample Images / Low light settings

« on: November 15, 2012, 08:46:18 PM »

Yesterday I shot a school play that my daughter took part in and I was a little bit surprised over the not so good result I got from the pictures. I was limited to not being able to move around and I couldn't use flash. Not being able to move around seriously impaired my possibilities to compose the pictures better so I had to settle for basically just document the event as opposed to trying to get really good pictures. It also limited me to only using my 24-105 as that is the longest L lens I've got. I would have preferred to use my 35L for this with regards to opening up the aperture.

Anyway, the picture attached is an export from LR, I shot in RAW of course, I've applied the lens profile adjustment and then some basic WB and tone adjustments. I find it very noisy compared to what I have gotten before out of this camera lens combination. I haven't adjusted anything on NR or sharpening.

Any advise on how I could improve would be highly appreciated.

This photo is taken with 5D3, 24-105, ISO 6400, f/4.0 and 1/250 at 105 mm.