Sometimes, this newb surprises himself!
Hello all. 1st time poster. :ivar
I say that in my title in the sense that I really don't know what I'm doing.
I just bought a DSLR, two lenses with the big heavy zoom on order. I'm still hung up on thinking that I need to check if my lenses are "good versions" (jury is still out on the Pentax Wide Angle); checking if I can get super sharp pic; or just learning what fstop I want to avoid at a focal length. ...it's going, ahem, slow. <grin> I know the Tamron can take great shots, but the jury is still out on the Pentax. Can't get a sharp pic of Flowers 7 feet away as an example. ...I digress...
But then again, sometimes I have an idea of something that might look good. And when it turns out to work, I'm still left saying "well that was a surprise!" exceeding what I imagined I could achieve. Examples:
1) First, I take a pic that's underexposed; fine, it's not film so I can change settings. But then realize there's a ray of light shining through the leaves of the doogwood tree above the bloodred Lillis in my front yard moving over the lilli lighting it up; conveniently, there's an interesting bright bug inside. I say "hey, what if I set exposure and lock it, and focus to the center spot, set the apeture and exposure time to what I 'think' should be good, and let the camera pick the ISO" (Pentax's unique TAv mode) ... then wait and wait to time the shot to when the wind blows the tree's branches and lights up the center of the Lilli...
(click pic above to load page on the hosting site and have a look @ the original via the link under the image)
2) I really want to make sure I can focus in on pollen of a flower, testing both my skill as well as testing my Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 vs the Pentax 12-24mm f4. I shot dozens with both; needless to say the Tamron does a much better job of it; I get one sharp pic of the pollen with the Pentax Wide-angle and countless throw-aways... but then again, that's not what it's made for. During this learning session, I think "what would it look like if I focus in on the pollen pods and frame it with a little of the blue sky between the trees in the background..." (again, the Tamron lens)
Really should have a look @ the original full rez of these two to understand my "hogally mogally" moment I had! click the image then the link to the original full rez under the image. Damn, wuz I surprised when I look @ it on my computer. (edit: this one is shot from the ground almost straight up in the air)
3) It's Friday night. Wife wants to catch up on some of the recorded TV we have. I look outside and I -know- this is going to be a hot sunset. I decide to take some shots of the 560SL in the sunset's light, and test out the Pentax 12-24mm f/4's 99 degree FOV on a sunset just down the hill from my house. I take shots from about 1/2 hour before sunset to 1 hour after. Shots of the car are pretty much a bust. Took loads of shots of the sunset's evolution after sundown in Landscape and Portrait pivoting around and keeping the horizon on the bottom of the viewfinder guide, that I plan on stitching together. Results should be very successful. Here's but one from a good many winners. Will probably post process this one for color balance to bring out the blues in the sky. But here's an un-altered example...
These three photos are original right from the camera... no crops and no digital correction to any. I plan on doing some processing to the last pic, and to the many I have like it from that night, many which will be stitched together for 180 degree and over pans.
So, Hope you enjoyed my annotated continuing journey to photog enlightenment...
I say that in my title in the sense that I really don't know what I'm doing.
I just bought a DSLR, two lenses with the big heavy zoom on order. I'm still hung up on thinking that I need to check if my lenses are "good versions" (jury is still out on the Pentax Wide Angle); checking if I can get super sharp pic; or just learning what fstop I want to avoid at a focal length. ...it's going, ahem, slow. <grin> I know the Tamron can take great shots, but the jury is still out on the Pentax. Can't get a sharp pic of Flowers 7 feet away as an example. ...I digress...But then again, sometimes I have an idea of something that might look good. And when it turns out to work, I'm still left saying "well that was a surprise!" exceeding what I imagined I could achieve. Examples:
1) First, I take a pic that's underexposed; fine, it's not film so I can change settings. But then realize there's a ray of light shining through the leaves of the doogwood tree above the bloodred Lillis in my front yard moving over the lilli lighting it up; conveniently, there's an interesting bright bug inside. I say "hey, what if I set exposure and lock it, and focus to the center spot, set the apeture and exposure time to what I 'think' should be good, and let the camera pick the ISO" (Pentax's unique TAv mode) ... then wait and wait to time the shot to when the wind blows the tree's branches and lights up the center of the Lilli...
(click pic above to load page on the hosting site and have a look @ the original via the link under the image)
2) I really want to make sure I can focus in on pollen of a flower, testing both my skill as well as testing my Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 vs the Pentax 12-24mm f4. I shot dozens with both; needless to say the Tamron does a much better job of it; I get one sharp pic of the pollen with the Pentax Wide-angle and countless throw-aways... but then again, that's not what it's made for. During this learning session, I think "what would it look like if I focus in on the pollen pods and frame it with a little of the blue sky between the trees in the background..." (again, the Tamron lens)
Really should have a look @ the original full rez of these two to understand my "hogally mogally" moment I had! click the image then the link to the original full rez under the image. Damn, wuz I surprised when I look @ it on my computer. (edit: this one is shot from the ground almost straight up in the air)
3) It's Friday night. Wife wants to catch up on some of the recorded TV we have. I look outside and I -know- this is going to be a hot sunset. I decide to take some shots of the 560SL in the sunset's light, and test out the Pentax 12-24mm f/4's 99 degree FOV on a sunset just down the hill from my house. I take shots from about 1/2 hour before sunset to 1 hour after. Shots of the car are pretty much a bust. Took loads of shots of the sunset's evolution after sundown in Landscape and Portrait pivoting around and keeping the horizon on the bottom of the viewfinder guide, that I plan on stitching together. Results should be very successful. Here's but one from a good many winners. Will probably post process this one for color balance to bring out the blues in the sky. But here's an un-altered example...
These three photos are original right from the camera... no crops and no digital correction to any. I plan on doing some processing to the last pic, and to the many I have like it from that night, many which will be stitched together for 180 degree and over pans.
So, Hope you enjoyed my annotated continuing journey to photog enlightenment...
Camera: Pentax K-5 & K10D / Profile: Introducing...Me on DGRIN / Some Pix: The 'm8o Gallery' Best of m8o In Tanzania '07
0
Comments
www.intruecolors.com
Nikon D700 x2/D300
Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
Thanks for sharing,
Dick.
Thomas Fuller.
SmugMug account.
Website.
www.capture-the-pixel.com
Question to any that happen to look back here. If I wish to make a large print of the first picture, is there any post processing you recommend? contrast, brighten/darken, gamma, color balance? (probably not 'color enhance') ...or just leave it as it is?
thanx much
-steve
2nd one can use some crop adjustment, left corner on the bottom is somewhat distracting, crop it tighter.
3rd one can use straightening, it's horizon is slightly tilted to the right.
As far as any other corrections, i leave it to the pros. Hope this helps!
www.intruecolors.com
Nikon D700 x2/D300
Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
Yes, the sunset wasn't great technically. Here's a different one I took about 1 minute earlier, that wasn't as 'skewed'. I applied some post processing to this one to enhance the colors already there that a number of photographers on an automotive message board I frequent spoke very positively of:
(click the image takes you to all the pics of my test of the Pentax 12-24mm f/4; light is best from the 2nd page on)
I tried the same with the bloodred lilli and everything I did either did nothing (color balance & saturation enhancement) or detracted from the image (contrast enhancement). That's pretty satisfying when I think about it.
p.s. I realized only recently there's another forum for scenery [Field & Street ] where this belongs; thought this was 'nature' originally.
Dave