David Anderson
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Wow, that last shot is impressive, and not just because you and Ben found a use for Gatorade !
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A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Ben, the location of that shot is the most important element, I (or anyone) could have got a very similar look from the 85 or 135 (or a 50 1.4 on a crop camera) near wide open.
The spot is right on the edge of the shade with some light seeping through the tree cover and the foliage behind has great light coming through from above.
The light on the kids is coming off the water nearby and is nicely diffused as well as the filtered light from above.
It’s also only very early spring here so the sun hasn’t hit full blast yet, when that happens the big scrims & cuts come out.I wouldn’t get to fussed about MTF’s on lenses, there’s a thousand things YOU can do to improve a photo before you start to talk lens specs or brands.
That said, I like the look of fast prime lenses and use them most of the time, this new one will be busy I can tell you. 😉There is a down side to dumping zooms though, you have to change lenses more.
I will admit that the DsIII is a killer camera for skin-tone and people shots in general, the high rez gives very smooth transition from highlight to shadow as well.
They don’t need a lot of post to look good.(Thanks for the comments on the kids as well, I think they’re beautiful as well and have no idea where they get it from. ;D)
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A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
– Awesome shots Zach !
I agree, it’s about background and backlight, you need to know when to shoot casting shots.
If I get the right light I make the ‘model’ cast for me until I get a few I like and then we go back to fishing.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Yes Ben, those are my boys 3 & 10 both littlie ratbags and both packing. 😀
I agree about getting the basics right – those shots are all about finding the good light & location.I shot these with available light only and didn’t set them-up as it was my day off ;), the first background stripes are foxtail palm leaves with fairly hard direct sunlight on them.
If I was working there I would have bounced a bit of light on the subject with a large white reflector.
(with a couple assistants ;))Here’s a couple of my friends daughter, she would sit still for me so I could line up a background.
Here’s an idea of how sharp this puppy is @f2..
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A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Um, David, is this your lens?
http://www.digitalrev.com/en/nikon-nikkor-af-s-200mm-f2-g-ed-if-vr-55.html
It’s a Canon 200 F2 L IS Zach.. 😉
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
That’s Delta (named after the B&W film perhaps ?
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Kodak came out with a 50MP sensor recently and I would not be surprised if there are more 50MP backs on the market soon. It would be cool to see it in a Mamiya back soon, as well. I don’t know about putting them in DSLR’s as you can forget about anything over ISO400-600 and that kind of defeats the versatility of having DLSR body’s. IMO
I agree, the worst thing about the medium format stuff (for my work) is the poor high ISO performance.
No doubt they will get better and better..
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
I have also infected myself with the evil weed recently !
We have a builder here in Australia – Nick Taransky who makes beautiful rods that don’t cost the earth.
Not sure about fishing with one yet as mine is still 18 months away, but I love the idea that they’re hand made one at a time.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Why not do it with digital Zach ?
Sorry to say it, but the work you can do from raw when making B&W from digital leaves the old stuff for dead IMHO.
You can filter after the fact, work in color channels and do amazing stuff with contrast.
Cost to you for film & scans – zip..
Toning also has some possibilities.. 😎
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Didn’t Nikon make a few medium format range finders in the past ?
From memory they had an excellent 6×7 wide, though they’re rare.
(my memory is shot :D)
The only thing with medium format is the market is tiny compared to 35mm – I think something like 6000 medium format digitals per year, or what Canon make daily.
I would really love a fair priced Mamiya 7 digital – now that would be awesome..
I also hear rumors that the next round of top-end full frame 35mm’s will be over 50 MP’s.
(in about 2 years time)When will it end ???
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A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Zach, the last B&W I did was on the new (at the time) films that were designed to give B&W through color print labs.
Both Kodak and Ilford made the films – though I can’t remember the names.
400 CN maybe for the Kodak ?From memory, the films when exposed a bit fat had very little grain and looked like 100 ASA proper B&W right up to A3 prints.
Both the films were excellent, though I always rated them at 200 and processed them at 400 to get the nice dense negs you need for good mini-lab prints.
(both films were always a bit flat IMHO without the push)Anyone with a top-end Fuji lab can do scans when the process the negs, so you could ask for just process & hi-rez scan when you put the film in to save money – though the prints with a decent border were always beautiful.
I did a magazine spreads with large prints from the film a lot before digital.
Clients always loved the prints as well.
One problem, the negs don’t age well when fixed in the mini lab process and need to be stored with care.
Once you have the scans and a back-up it wouldn’t really be an issue.www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Are you doing a podcast from / about the show Zach ?
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
I’m out as well.. 🙁
I will say this though, with studio lighting, using two bodies with different lenses, but at the same settings I do get slightly different exposures, but max a third of a stop.
Not sure if it’s the lens or one of the bodies.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
There’s no formula to shooting a fish IMHO – blast away and try to get something good and bugger the rules.. 😉
Raw will help you no end with hard lighting – you can set the contrast, color & saturation on each frame if you want.
In hard light if you have a WB set to daylight and then step into a shadow you’ll have a problem, but it’s easy to fix in post off a raw.PS has a lot of tools in raw conversion that will make your shots better.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Well done !
#1 is a great portrait and shows enough of the water to give an indication of where you’re fishing – brilliant.
#2 is a great shot of the fish and angler – love the color.
#3 Awesome light & depth of field – my fave.
#4 A bit blown out – the background is nice however.
#5 Also a bit hot – that light tends to cook the tops of the hands and steal color – you need to expose so the highlights don’t flare.
Almost there..#6 Not quite, but close – the color is flat – a bit of punch through contrast and saturation in post will help.
#7 Better color – though the skin is a bit pink – you get that from the cold water and can remove it by adjusting the magenta/green balance .
#8 Very hard light, very hard to shoot in – a polarizer can help, but sometimes nothing will get you through that hard light on the water.
#9 The foreground is dark and cold – if you’re shooting in shadow you need to up the color temp to compensate.
#10 Stop laying down on the job.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
From what I hear the chip in the 50D with the Digic4 proc. has great color and very good high ISO performance.
It’s also 14 bit if you want to get real fussy with color.
Lens wise, I bet with the 100 2.8 macro it would be an awesome set-up for shooting insects & flys.
The 50 1.4 would be a good cheap (ish) fast portrait lens and the 17-40 f4L would be a good general zoom for fishing stuff.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
I work in low light on set and at shows a fair bit and fast lenses are a must, but it’s important to note that just because a lens is faster it doesn’t make it better.
As an example the two canon 70-200 L’s are 2.8 & f4, the 2.8, while a great lens, is not as sharp as the f4 and costs a lot more.
You’re paying for the fact it will get a shot in places the f4 falls down.
The 50 1.2 cost 4 or 5 times what the 1.4 does for very little extra in the way of sharpness, though below about f2 it’s the king.Prime lenses focus better in low light, are sharper and have less issues with design over the zooms.
The trade off is they don’t zoom and if you have one body you will be changing lenses a lot.A good cheap way into low light photography is a fast standard lens like the 50 1.4 – most are very good in low light and have great feel when wide open.
(anyone with a crop frame will be getting an excellent portrait lens)Here’s a sample from a 50 1.4 (on film- in the stone ages)
And here’s the new 1.2 in very low light in my living room.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Geeez, thanks for the invite Zach..
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Love the Depth of field and the texture – like Bens shot it’s different as well.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
It’s different for a fly shot, that’s for sure.
To be honest though, I can’t tell if I like it or not – it’s well shot and creative, but is it a good shot of the fly ?The mood is there and as posted above you can sort of imagine the fly working through some cover.
Maybe you’re pushing the envelope and I’m dragging the chain.. 😀
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
