Photography School

There have been quite a few folks here that have helped me with my journey into saltwater. While my knowledge on SW is not sufficient to help others yet, my knowledge on photography is. There have been a couple of folks that has mentioned wanting help on bettering their photography skills. Well I aim to do just that.
I have been into photography for more than 20 years and for a while I even worked as a semi-pro photographer until my other business started demanding more of my time and I had to choose.
My passion is nature photography, but I also have a studio setup for people as well. A few months ago I was doing a photo shoot for Senior Photos and I have also been the photographer of choice for a small modeling agency. I have nature prints hanging in houses across the country and my people photography has won awards.
I personally shoot with a Nikon D90 and I shoot 100% in manual mode and I also shoot in RAW (digital negatives). While you can do so much more with a DSLR (like the D90) the newer point and shoot cameras are pretty good for basic photos. You just don’t have as much control over the outcome of the photo.
I have a couple of uses for this thread in mind. Anyone that would like help to improve their photography I would encourage you to post up a photo here that you’d like help with. I will do my very best to get you the results that you are looking for.
Another thing that I am planning on doing over the course of this thread is to write some small help articles. My goal is to help you better understand photography and how the settings relate to the image you are looking for.
Keep in mind that while there are some rules or guidelines for photography, the finished product is all about the photographer’s vision. Just like any other form of art… photography is subjective.
If you have any questions… please feel free to ask. The only stupid question is one you never ask. Ya’ll have helped me out tremendously in learning about saltwater… this is one way I hope to give back to those that have helped me.
Below is just a very few of the images I have taken over the years.
Bald Eagle taken with a 500mm Lens

>White Daisy photographed in my home studio

Cossatot River at first light in southern AR

Timber Wolf at the edge of a woodland pond (shot with the big lens)

African Cichlids

 

mr. limpid

Active Member
Very good pictures, I'm impressed.
How do you get the fish to stand still? I know stupid in the way I asked it but there is a answer. I have a crappy camera not an expert is there away to get ok shots from this camera Kodak EasyShare C533? I said it was crappy.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Limpid http:///t/391680/photography-school#post_3475086
Very good pictures, I'm impressed.
How do you get the fish to stand still? I know stupid in the way I asked it but there is a answer. I have a crappy camera not an expert is there away to get ok shots from this camera Kodak EasyShare C533? I said it was crappy.
Most of the fish shots I have taken were at a higher shutter speed so I could freeze the motion. It also helps when you track the fish with the camera. Normally I follow the track a full second after the shutter is depressed. As for the Comic Book shot. That fish was literally just sitting there looking at me.
Post a photo from your Kodak and let me see where the deficiency is. I know there are times when the focus ability on the Kodaks suck. I had one that I literally bounced off the ground because I was fed up with it. Next day I placed an order for a Nikon D80 and associated lenses. I have since upgraded from that D80. Back when I was photographing with that Kodak I was mainly using my Pentax SLR and was just dabbling in the digital relm. Now I dont even own a film camera anymore.
 

sweatervest13

Active Member
Brotographer!
Okay Rickross. That was real funny. Good one!!
Snake. Even better. Lol
Southern Wolf (Kevin). FANTASTIC thread. I am super happy you started it. And I must say that I am very impressed with your skills. I will need to post a pic later.
 

acrylic51

Active Member
I'm game......Why didn't you put your thread in the Photography section......

I'm shooting a Canon 40D, and in all honesty have no clue about camera settings.......As most I'm a noob when it comes to photo terminology and what do you mean by shooting manual and can you go into details about how to set the camera and such to shoot raw.....I know I'm probably jumping way ahead of things, but have tons of questions......
Here's a couple pics......


 

meowzer

Moderator
I moved it for you
I alwso have a Canon Rebel xs digital that I got last year.....and I can't use it either.....LOL
 

sweatervest13

Active Member
Okay the wife says we have a Canon rebel T3 dslr. I hope that can be worked with. It just has a stock lens and flash. My brother has a Canon as well but has a big add on flash and bigger additional lens, I could have access to. What's this macro lens I have heard about?
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by acrylic51 http:///t/391680/photography-school#post_3475127
I'm game......Why didn't you put your thread in the Photography section......

I'm shooting a Canon 40D, and in all honesty have no clue about camera settings.......As most I'm a noob when it comes to photo terminolgy and what do you mean by shooting manual and can you go into details about how to set the camera and such to shoot raw.....I know I'm probably jumping way ahead of things, but have tons of questions......
Here's a couple pics......
Main reason I didn't put it there was because it was my understanding that was to show off your tanks. I wanted this to be a wide open photography thread. If the powers that be determine that it would be better suited in that section... I don't have a problem with them moving it.
While I don't know much about the Canon menu structure or the controls (I'm a Nikon guy) I can most likely point you in the right direction.
What I mean by shooting manual is I don't allow the camera make ANY decisions. I choose my ISO, Shutter Speed, Apature, focus. Sure I could put my camera in 'auto' mode but then I'd just have an insanely expensive point and shoot camera. My thing is... if an image turns out.... I DID IT! Not the programmers that programmed the camera. To me that is soo much more of an ego stroker. I have a wolf photo where he/she had just got done drinking and I actually have the water drops caught in mid air. It's photo's like that, that will just make your day because you know it was all you.
Now on to RAW. If you change your settings over to RAW... you need to have a way to process those images. They truely are digital negatives. I know Nikon includes some software and Im sure Canon does as well. I personally use either Photoshop or Lightroom for my photography. A JPG image (that most all cameras take) is a compress and processed version of the RAW file. The main drawback is your camera is processing and compressing this image based on the programming in the camera.
One of the advantages of shooting RAW is if your exposure is just a bit off it is very easy to tweek to get the correct exposure. With tweaking the JPG images you leave behind artifacts because you're tweaking a compressed image.
I used to just use JPG and then on a photography workshop I had the pro photographers show me why I may want to change my thinking.
Here is the steps to change your 40D to RAW
Press the "Menu" button. The primary eight: normal; text-decoration: underline">Camera Menu will show first, with "Quality" highlighted. Press "Set" to enter the submenu.
Rotate the Quick Control Dial on the back of the camera clockwise to choose your settings. The 40D has RAW (10 megapixel) and Small RAW (2.5 megapixel) recording formats. Press "Set" to choose your preferred format.
Shoot in RAW+L to create both a RAW file and a JPEG file. This is useful if you are on a professional shoot and need to give the customer a sample of the images, because most people won't have the software needed to view and process RAW images.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweatervest13 http:///t/391680/photography-school#post_3475133
Okay the wife says we have a Canon rebel T3 dslr. I hope that can be worked with. It just has a stock lens and flash. My brother has a Canon as well but has a big add on flash and bigger additional lens, I could have access to. What's this macro lens I have heard about?
Man Im getting out gunned by Canon users. LOL
I can work with anything and anybody. A couple years ago on my annual herping trip I spent most of the trip helping a friend better use his point and shoot camera. I usually come home with 600+ images. That year I came home with less than 200.
The macro lenses allow you to focus closer to your subject. They are the lenses that you will use when you really want to get close up shots... like the pollen on a bee's leg. Add in a few accessories to that macro lens and you can get insanely close.
This is a Long-legged fly. Their adult size is just a hair over 1/4" long. It was photographed on a yellow flower.

At this magnification the focus plane is very, very small. I would have liked to have gotten more in focus, but he didn't stick around long for me to play around with my settings.
One of my older lenses (70/300mm) had a min focus distance of 37 inches. I replaced it with a much newer 28/300 macro lens that will focus down to 19 inches. If I want to get closer than 19 inches to my subject there are adapters I can add that will allow me to physically get even closer. The fly above was shot with a 105mm macro lens with a bunch of added equipment. I had on at least one extension tube and I think both a 1.4x and 2x teleconverter.
 
Of course if you move the other way from macro photography then you're in the realm of the zooms lens. Depending on the amount of zoom you have dictates on what you can accomplish. With the right lens you can accomplish great things. The same lens I used to photograph the wolf I used for this shot.
I wish I would have had the camera on my tripod but the moon was directly overhead. I was actually laying on ground with the camera balanced on my face.
 

acrylic51

Active Member
I was actually torn between the Canon and the Nikon when I bought the camera a couple years back......I had contemplated a new camera, but the wife (on very rare occasion stepped in) and said no, since I didn't really know how to use the one I have......I'll have to master this and slip the new camera in the house........

What lens is good for all around shooting other than the stock lens 28-135mm
 
For my all around shooting I use a Tamron 28/300 macro. It's kind of a jack of all trades. It allows me to get 19" away from my subject and still be able to focus and also had a decent zoom range. The trade off is the slightly higher apature. My old 70/300 was a f/ 5.6 and the Tamron 28/300 is a f/6.3. What this means is at the 300mm mark the Tamron lets in one stop of less light. Unless your shooting in a really low light situation this is not a big deal.
I do plan on doing a write up on the apature settings (f/6.3 and so on) to help better explain this setting in comparison to the image achieved and the light.
 
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