Photography
Do we have any keen photographers amongst us?
Photography is my primary hobby, and it blends nicely with our travels.
I like most genre of photography, with a particular liking for wildlife, and currently 'shoot' with a Canon EOS 5D MklV, and a series of Canon L lenses.
I also run an online community for amateur photographers in Suffolk, Norfolk, and Essex, and have a website where I post many of my photos.
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Dave I have made the link to your site clickable. I like the photographs. I also have a Canon DSLR system but a bit more basic than yours with a couple of extra lens. However since I changed to a motorhome I find the SLR a bit heavy to cart around so now tend to use my Canon G16 which I can pop in my pocket. It takes surprisingly good photographs but perhaps is a bit more limited when it comes to some of the subjects covered on your site.
David
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Thanks David.
It doesn't matter what camera you have, it's what you do with it that counts, and more importantly, that you enjoy it.
The 5d4 is a heavy beast, especially when I have the 100-400L attached to it, and my wife says how do put up with that hanging around your neck ☺.
Btw, the astro images were taken in my astro imaging days, and were not taken with a DSLR, but dedicated astro imaging cameras, with the CCD cooled to -30 deg C below ambient, to keep the thermal noise down, during very long exposures.
I also have a Canon S120 compact, that my wife likes to use, and it does take really good photos.
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Hi Dave
I have taken your wifes comment literally and would suggest looking at the Black Rapid type straps that can be viewed on the WEX website. Much more comfortable and less likely to cause long term neck problems, especially on long days following wildlife.
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Yes I too think that photography and caravan/MH go well. You have a great camera and of course your L lenses.
I have always used Canon gear since my AE1 back in the early 80s. That was a fantastic camera and wish I'd kept it. I started with a basic Zenith before that with separate light meter.
I often think how 'spoilt' we are now, unlimited (well compared to 24/36) number of exposures on one 'film', change your ASA (yes I still call it that) from one shot to the next, change colour to B&W, exposure bracketing, automatic fill in flash, s many fps and of course the amazing auto focus to match it which I tend to take for granted now... the list goes on.
Do you shoot RAW and then process or got lazy like me and just with JPEG?
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I’d dearly like to do better but I’m finding it hard learning what it’s all about. I’ve just bought a new good Sony compact for portability and, fortunately, it does extremely well on auto. My aim is to understand exactly what it will do even if I end up sticking with auto.
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I've been using Canon, since the 1960s. The first being a Canonette S f/1.7 rangefinder. Which I used until the mid 80's, when I bought my first DSLR, an AE-1 P.
BTW, I don't subscribe to silly Canon v Nikon argument. Both make excellent cameras, and lenses. They are both equal.
I do occasionally shoot in RAW, but mostly in jpeg, and mainly in manual mode, but with auto ISO. Never use full auto.
TW, as I said earlier, it doesn't matter what camera you have, it's what you do with it that matters, and more importantly, that you enjoy it.
It's good that you are trying to understand more about the camera, as it may encourage you to move on from full auto, and venture into bring creative. If not, just continue to enjoy what you do.
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Thanks, Dave.
I realised my Canon Bridge was way outperformed by my phone, except for zooming, so decided it was time to upgrade. I went for a compact this time for ease of carrying and settled on the Sony RX100 m5 with a 1” sensor and f1.8-2.8 aperture. I learnt enough to enable me to make an informed choice but now I’m trying to grapple with shutter speed, ISO and so on.
It's still early days but I'm impressed with what the camera can do on auto. In a gloomy museum it put itself on 'night' and produced a well exposed shot without the flash. I have tried a bit of experimentation but, so far, my efforts have been poor compared to the camera's auto function.😄
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It did, as did its predecessors. Prices tumbled with the release of #5A and 6 neither of which attracted me so much. Although 6 has a greater zoom, it’s lost the ND filter and has a smaller aperture for twice the price.
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A bit of advice please. My photography over many years falls into three main types, a general record (quick snapshots) of holidays and events, landscape and buildings and a degree of macro. However, I have been thinking that I would like to have a go at wildlife and particularly bird photography. What I don't have, I don't think, is a suitable lens. My outfit is a Canon EOS 600D with an 18 - 55mm lens and a 75 - 300mm lens. Can anyone suggest / recommend any other lens that might be better? The one drawback is of cost especially as I will be new into this branch of photography and don't want to have to spend a fortune on something that I may not take to. Any advice will be gratefully received. Thanks in advance.
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I with a lot of Canon users tend to have the 100 - 400mm lens with either a 1.4 or 2x extender, that’s quite an expensive option. Most of my wildlife pictures are taken with a bridge camera, a lot lighter than carrying around loads of gear although the quality is not quite up to DSLR standard
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Question from JohnM20 from another thread.
Would anyone like to give any tips to any photographers aspiring to get such fabulous bird photos? (Kit used and camera settings etc).
My current kit is a Canon EOS 600D with a Canon EF zoom lens 75 - 300mm 1 : 4 - 5.6 (apart from my standard 50mm zoom lens and an EPS 10 - 18mm wide angle lens). Is this any good?
Is there much post camera work involved? I use Photoshop 15.
Hi John M20
Rather than feed you with unwanted waffle, it would be better to ask specific questions as you progress. But for starters, may I suggest you look at Flickr where there are some extraordinary wildlife pics.
My page has a few images that can be viewed at full resolution along with the others efforts. https://www.flickr.com/photos/162666019@N03/39825480403/in/dateposted-public/
Link to a friend of mine that I have learned from.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/flyingfast/39848491583/in/dateposted/
You may also click on the explore tab where you will see a selection of pics from around the world.
Many of the photographers that post pics on this site include the information you are requesting regarding kit used and settings, this is found on the right. There is a Camera Ikon with the camera and lens used, along with aperture and shutter speed. By clicking exif there is much more info, but probably less useful. however with the canon users, there will be somewhere a focus distance showing how far away the subject was taken.
As for your kit, try it and see using similar shutter speeds you see on photos you feel are achievable for yourself. This being weather being bright enough for a fast enough shutter speed 1/2500 sec with a fairly low ISO (800 or less) and locations where you will find subjects within your lens range. Use this for starters and see where it takes you.
As far as post camera work, My preference is to leave as natural as possible with a few tweaks. I use photoshop and shoot J-Peg. As you move on, you may choose to process with Raw, but this is more time consuming than a few quick clicks using shortcuts
1 Cropping - this gives as much impact as you choose to an image. Some prefer a tight crop others like to include habitat in the finished image. Bear in mind, the more you crop the more the image degrades. This is where large pixel count helps.
2 Levels - this helps to correct slight errors in exposure.
3 Unsharpmask - used sparingly and depending on camera used may be essential. I have this set up as an action and just requires a click of the mouse.
Hope this helps as a starter and feel free to ask and further questions as you learn. If you are out and about, you will find most guys/gals will be more than pleased to discuss anything with you.
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You are most welcombe John, I look forward to seing how you develop.
As an afterthought, you do not need to wait for good weather, just understand that if your ISO is high the image will be significantly degraded, but you will be practicing tracking the bird in flight and the focus ability of your camera.
Also lower shutter speed is fine for stationary birds, the min shutter speed will depend on your steady hand or your lens having image stabilisation or VR for Nikon lenses. Perhaps try around a min of 1/500 with your 300 lens, this should give you a good chance of sharp images of perched birds that may be fidgeting around.
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Blue - This is probably one of the best I have taken so far. The sparrowhawk sat in the garden and looked straight into the camera. It's been cropped a bit. It was at 300mm 1/250th, f5.6 ISO 200
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John
I would be very pleased with that pic. However make a copy and try a tighter crop taking more of the blue out and placing the birds eyes about 1/3 from the top of the resulting crop and see if you prefer the extra impact that may give. I think you will be pleased with the outcome and the eyes will dominate the picture as the blue is a little overpowering the eyes at present.
Please post the pics then side by side, as I said previously this is all a matter of personal preference by the photographer and the viewer.
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Original the cropped a bit tighter. This makes the surroundings less distracting.
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The new crop is my preference, it brings the eyes to the centre of attention, then you scan the rest of the image after wondering what the bird is thinking.
The alternative is a much less aggressive crop that would include a lot of background to show habitat, back to preference, but you are able to achieve 2 good pics from one image.
Excellent result, which do you prefer?
I have the grid option turned on in photoshop which shows the 1/3 position to give a guide for cropping.
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Like you Blue, I think I do prefer the re-cropped one. In doing these I found another couple of photos of a woodpecker. Not brilliant but not too bad. I've included the before and after cropping of one of the shots.
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This image is good to show how 2 pics from one image can give good results.
Pic 1 The one you have cropped is probably a little to tight, try to align the eye of the tight crop at about 1/3 from the edge and allow a little more background behind the head.
Pic 2 From the original image, crop from just to the left of the tree the bird is hanging onto then again place the bird 1/3 from the left of the resulting crop the photoshop grid will help.
See what you think.
By the way, the eye in the other image is sharp, so your kit is giving good results on stationary birds.
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"snap!"...nikon coolpix p610 setting...auto....through closed kitchen window at approx.30feet.
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One tip....the more you try...the luckier you get!
The times I have sat and waited, given up and turned round and walked into something special.
Nothing wrong with the Sparrow hawk, I'd be very pleased with it.
At present staking out local Barn owl, each PM he comes and puts on a show....lovely.
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