John Bennett
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Is that Silver effects Neal? I use both Colour fx and Viveza depending on what Im trying to acheive sometimes both. Both of which enable you to convert to BW and get different looks.
This is one that I converted to BW using colour fx, then applied a film filter and finally some tonal/contrast.
original pretty much right out of the box (shot with 8 stop ND, a 2 stop soft edge and the B/G CP)
to this
On the TC/AF issue.
On anything other than a 1D body, you will lose AF should your maximum aperture exceed f5.6. Hense f4 lenses with 1.4 TCs will retain AF, but f5.6 lenses wont. Adding a 2x TC reduces the max aperture of an f4 lens to f8.You can tape the pins or buy a non reporting TC as workarounds.
30D with the 400mm F5.6 and 1.4 Tamron non reporting TC. With a reporting 1.4 TC the body would see f.80 as max ap and would not AF
Normally I don’t advocate using TCs with zooms however in this case I would. Depsite the hit in IQ and focus speed when adding a 1.4 to the 70-200 f4 it’s still going to perform better (or atleast as good as) the 70-300 f5.6. Don’t get me wrong, the 70-300mm is a fine lens but its not a 70-200 f4 L.
I dont think its much of an option Michael.
The 70-200 f4L will give you better images than the 70-300 IS. Better IQ, better build quality, faster focusing. There nothing that the 70-300 has that sets it above the 70-200 other than additional 100mm.
And you can get that by adding a 1.4 TC, and even though doing so will degrade IQ a bit, given the better optics to begin with I dont think you’ll see much difference between the two.
Also, unless you tape the pins, you wont be able to use a 2X tc so dont give that much weight/consideration.
Long story short imo, you will be much happier with the 70-200 F4 L and a 1.4TC than you will a 70-300 IS. Also, down the road if you ever purchase a 300mm or 400mm they will complement the 70-200 becoming another lens in the kit, where as if you opt for the 70-300 IS theres a good expectation you will want to upgrade and replace at some point.
I like Jay and Zachs suggestion of some kind of photo tour /workshop.
The problem with recommending gear, is while we can list quite alot of nice stuff within your budget, we dont know a) what he has other than Canon and b) what types of photography he enjoys.
So it spossible we could recomend something really nice he may not be able to use or already has something similiar, and or not in line with the style/type of photography he enjoys.
Yeah, hoping to get going with Rapid some this year. Am loosly toying with the idea of a 2 or 3 day wilderness river trip out of the yak. AFAIK JS is coming up to Ontario to shoot a couple shows, you should try to latch on.
Now that the dust is settling in my life, and my eyes have been opened a bit, I’m determined to start crossing some of my buck list items off. I’m hoping to do Yellowstone and area this year, something of a mini road trip. Not sure yet, while life is starting to get back to normal Im still trying to find my footing. The SW is also up there.
Heres an alternative I’ve seen guys use around hite water…I cant vouch for it, but it looks like it should work in a pinch. Especially given a large zip lock and towel should always be on hand and in a bag.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Camera-Zip-lock/One thing I committed to early on is having my camera out. I *know* it’s going to cost me a body someday, but if the camera ain’t out the shot ain’t gettin’ takin’.
Well said Kendal.
Basically my gear is encased while traveling..once Im in an area where I might want to grab it, its accessable. With the Pelican I just close the lid, but not seal it. Enough to protect the camera from a splash, but not a swim if I brain cramp and spill my canoe/kayak.One day I have no doubt I’ll be calling my insurance broker and while its a call I dont want to make, having the insurance *allows* me to shoot without losing sleep. I take some pretty hefty risk with my gear. Ive stod up in my kayak, with my gear exposed, ventured into water, have tried holding it at water level and waves submerge the bottom of y body and kiss the bottom of the barrel.
This winter I’ve been venturing onto ice shelves (going through a bit) trying to get a shot I have in my mind, envolving the suns first light dancing off the ice while a wave crashes into the shelf..have yet to execute but ive come close. In the process Ive gotten wet, the cameras gotten wet (nothing like wiping ice off your body/lens/and glass). This one soaked me and the camera
trying to get this
wihtout insurance Id be too worried and thus not having fun, enjoying photography
David, your best option is a Pelican case. Not only will it protect your camera from moisture while in the boat, it will protect it against getting bounced around both in the boat and in the planes.
Anytime I’m shooting from boats I use my Pelican rather than any of my bags. If thats not an option, you could pick up something like a sealine dry bag, which in turn you put in a standard camera bag. However its a pita accessing your camera when you want it, and then stowing it again.
What David said especially the kids anything part, second only to mothers of the bride.
No portrait expert here but you have a bit of extra room on ISO/noise removal software in so much as generally you dont want to over sharpen skin. Worded another way, many people will spend alot of time “smoothing” out skin with various techniques. While you dont want to go overboard its not like other types of images where you are concerened with preserving fine detail.
These shots are for yourself and your family, not for commercial so its better to have noise, than blur and you can be a little more agressive with your noise removal.
I’ve seen those Blackrapids in use and they seem pretty sweet.
I’ve also watched as a Rueters photog’s EOS-1dsmkIII did a head plant off of one at a press event because it came loose. Ouch!
Keep it tight!
I’ve wondered about that. Couple people I know use mount it to their 500s and swear by it. Insurance is nice but not a phone call Id ever want to make.
ABout as close as your going to come I think
In my experience no. I sold roughly 25 images last year, most of which have been online for some time. That said there are some shots I dont upload for that reason, but theres usually something “unique” about them.
Meaning for simple example. A portrait of a fish, is a portrait of a fish. Loosely speaking if youve seen 1 youve seen a million. If an AD is looking for an image of a Brown, I really dont think it matters that you have 30 brown images online and 5 held back.
Also keep in mind some ADs like to peruse your sites, especially once your established with them, when they are looking for something. If your not inlcuding your better images and are only uploading mediochre to good stuff…………………..
So uploading to the web, displaying some on forums, fb etc. I dont its hampered sales for me at all.
A few images I showed here (and a few other forums, that subsequently sold)
double truck
plus quite a few others I dont have online (pdfs of the issue)
They look a bit better John. Dont be afraid to aggressively sharpen your images, worst case scenario you post one here and ask if it looks over sharpened.. Depending on the images useage, you can get away with alot, turning soft and even slightly OOF images into keepers..
For images you find noisy, dont be afraid to run removal software. Again experiment. Being heavy handed will degrade your image, but you can reduce and remove noise, without being heavy handed. Maybe look at some different software….dunno..Noise Ninja, Neat Image, Noise aware all get good reviews.
1st image : No Flash
2nd image: FlashedCan be useful for fill on bright days, but Im not a big fan.
Largely because with long lenses you need to use the Better Beamer which does work in extending your flash output, but is overkill when the subject is closer. Nor do I like adding the velco to the head and finally by the time I add the RRS flash bracket (you really need to get the flash off body and above the axis) and flash it adds considerable weight to an already heavy rig.Thanks Jay.
John there are alot of variables and alot to learn. God knows I expect to be learning/improving for the next 20 years. But alot of it comes down practise, experience, and knowing the limits of your gear.
-Pracise is practise,
-experience teaches you…ok, given these conditions or that subject, I should do A or change my settings to B
-Knowing your gear allows you make the changes on the fly and be right more than wrong, or understanding its limits. How much you can push iso for example, or maybe your asking too much of it, etc,etc.Theres no reason *not* to shoot in bad light. Even if you delete every single image you can still learn things from them. The last 3 weeks I’ve been familiarsing myself with a new body, learning its quirks, etc. Ive been out every chance I have (typically sunrise to 10am, each Sat and Sun. In all Ive had maybe, maybe 45 minutes of decent light. The rest has been typical grey, over cast winter days. Shite light in other words. In all I thhnk Ive kept about 10 images. Lots of good shots but subject matter is crap (ive been shooting geese alot, simply because this time of years thats all I can find really) and unless the light is unusually sweet with geese, the shots are boring (to me anyways).
But after hrs of shooting mostly geese in crap light, I can make changes on the fly without taking my eye from the viewfinder. Ive got my custom functions set up (things like registered AF points that I can jump to with a single press of a button, whether I want the AF to snap to things that cross in front of the subject or not, how fast/slow I want it to react with background distractions, etc,etc,etc.).
Dont let crap light *stop* you.
ISO 1600 1/500th
Experiment and have fun with it.
Re the goose or swan that fills the frame. That latters sharp, shows good detail in the whites. Send me something you might have deleted. You may still delete it, I just want to demonstrate (if its there) how some PP can turn images around. Either with some localised contrast, more sharpening, noise removal etc. It will hopefully give you an idea of what can be done to save images that are a bit soft, or grainy, or ….and keep in mind Im no pro with PS, I still have way more to learn with PP.
John Jay made a great point. Shooting birds in bad light is a challenge, I only do it if Im bored to tears and want to practise. If you want to shot frames for practise in bad light again target seagulls. Shooting birds whith alot of whites can be good in bad light as your able to expose for the whites better.
No arguement that the 40D is best around ISO 400 but it can handle ISO 800 and if you must ( where a picture is better than no picture iso 1000)
30D ISO 800
30D ISO 800
30D ISO 800
30D ISO 1000
John do me a favor.
Send me a file thats *almost* there. Meaning one you like but its a) a bit grainy and b) a little soft. just to make it easier emailing reduce it down in size some so its under 5mb.Practise with software is just as important as practise with hardware
I was going to suggest throwing it your dryer. Just make sure the better half isnt home when you do that
What body do you use?
Monopods are ok and have their place, but really the first thing you should do is bump your ISO. With a 40D+ you can shoot at iso 800 easily. 1/400th should be ok for avoiding shake with a 200 + tc but it might require a bit of practise. It should be ok for ducks swmming. 1/200th or so might be a hair low for shake and until your practised panning borderline there to. Only real way for you to find your threshold is to keep firing frames and compare. Next time out make getting your shutter speed up there a priority.
With wildlife and in particular birds SS is king. Find a speed that works for you, then set your ISO at what ever it takes to acheive that.
As a RoT my “general” SS is 1/1000th. I can shoot well below that even for birds in flight ive got plenty of good shots at 1/250th but when sizing things up I like to see my SS above 1/1000th and with fast flyers 1/2000th.
For comparative purposes look at the detail in this. click twice for full screen.
http://jben.zenfolio.com/p468487807/h196889ba#h196889baLight wasnt bad but in order to keep my SS above 1/100th I used ISO 640. Id bump that above iso 1000 if I had to. Thats what o want to see say in your first
John.
A good number of the images are a bit “soft” (by my standards). Badly, no not by a long shot. Why that is could be a few things. I dont see any signs of over sharpening though, so there is likely room for some more agressive sharpening and could be nothing more than needing some more or different sharpening technique.
Some of the images detail is lacking given how much of the frame they fill. This could be a result of the additon of the TC (TCs do take hits on IQ), the light, being a bit soft (needed a little more sharpening) or being cropped. Are any cropped? Usually with longer lenses its fairly easy to tell when an image is cropped, as the DoF is too great for a shot that apparently fills alot of the frame. With a 200 (and TC) your going to have quite a bit more DoF so its hard to tell.
With regards to “crop factor” and avoiding shake.
When shooting birds start out by trying to be well above the RoT, say 1/1000th. Over time you will be able to drop that to a point where you can comfortably shoot below the threshold if need be.
You not shooting at 450mm. Your shooting at 280mm. The FoV is equivalent to that of shooting with a 450mm lens, the “reach” or magnification if you will is not 1.6 times more. Also keep in mind motion blur, birds are rarely *still*. The longer your focal length, the more SS you need to eliminate motion blur. Basically the closer to you a subject is, the harder it is to capture it when its in motion, b) the more SS you need to *freeze* it all else being equal.Note that the flowers are not “closer”, nor is there any more detail. What different is the FoV, or worded another way. The smaller your sensor, the more of the image is “trimmed” away (not cropped as in magnified)
http://digital-photography-school.com/crop-factor-explainedOn “wildlife/Birding”
Try to avoid ass end shots, or shots where the subject is moving away, or positioned such that its facing away.
Try to get images with catchlight
Always aim for the eye
Position your subject so that it leads viewers into the frame, rather than out.
