What I learned about photography today ...

In IT, we call that a PEBKAC incident.

 

Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair.

 

BTW, Right - Right - Inadvertent twirl on the control dial screws up your presets quite nicely when set to Auto ISO. Been there, done that. Learned to grab the camera out of the bag by the lens, not by fumbling to get a grip on the body.

 

:)

 

 

Dave

I rarely keep the camera in the bag, usually only if I am traveling. It probably had to do with the r- r- twirl, but now I know what to look for.

When on a photo tour in Edinburgh with James Christie, he was holding the camera (some big Nikon) without a strap by the hand grip. He was swinging it all over and saying how well balanced it was. I usually use a wrist strap, convertible to a shoulder strap (by Joby) with both the 6000 and 6300, and realized I carry them pretty much the same way, with my fingers inside the grip. Very comfortable and secure (so far).

Vic

What I learned about portrait photography this weekend:

1. My wife doesn't want to be the subject of "practice portraits" ... when she's wearing no makeup and her gardening clothes.
   
2. The walls of our house have too many things (shelves, pictures, etc.) to be good backdrops for portraits.
   
3. The lighting in our house (primarily overhead) isn't great for portraits either.
   
4. With enough effort, I can take a good self-portrait by putting the camera on a tripod and using my smartphone app as a remote control.
   
5. The hardest part of that process is posing myself correctly ... while staring at the iPhone to see if I'm posed correctly.
   

What I learned about macro photography this weekend:

1. Macro photography of flowers is like landscape photography of sunsets ... flowers and sunsets are both beautiful, so it take no effort to get a good photo. Therefore, there's no challenge.
   
2. Before taking a picture of a flower, check it for bugs.
   
3. If the bugs aren't photogenic, you can get rid of them by swatting the flower ... but this will cause the flower to no longer be photogenic.
   

...My wife doesn't want to be the subject of "practice portraits" ... when she's wearing no makeup and her gardening clothes.

You can still type!

You are either a very happy couple or you have some mad evasive skills!

:)

Dave

What I learned about portrait photography this weekend:

1. My wife doesn't want to be the subject of "practice portraits" ... when she's wearing no makeup and her gardening clothes.
   
2. The walls of our house have too many things (shelves, pictures, etc.) to be good backdrops for portraits.
   
3. The lighting in our house (primarily overhead) isn't great for portraits either.
   
4. With enough effort, I can take a good self-portrait by putting the camera on a tripod and using my smartphone app as a remote control.
   
5. The hardest part of that process is posing myself correctly ... while staring at the iPhone to see if I'm posed correctly.
   

 

What I learned about macro photography this weekend:

1. Macro photography of flowers is like landscape photography of sunsets ... flowers and sunsets are both beautiful, so it take no effort to get a good photo. Therefore, there's no challenge.
   
2. Before taking a picture of a flower, check it for bugs.
   
3. If the bugs aren't photogenic, you can get rid of them by swatting the flower ... but this will cause the flower to no longer be photogenic.
   

:')

Thank you for the laugh this afternoon! (and for sharing your lessons at the same time)

Vic

What I learned about infrared photography this week.

1. If you're buying an infrared filter for your camera (rather than doing a conversion) get a cheap filter. If the experiment doesn't turn out well, you've minimized your losses.
   
2. The TG-5 can autofocus correctly through the infrared filter.
   
3. The TG-5 can meter light sufficiently correctly through the infrared lens ... but the histogram is still my friend.
   
4. The infrared filter cuts well over 99% of the light to the filter, so the camera requires intense, direct sunlight ... which Houston has an abundance of.
   
5. Intense, direct sunlight in the middle of Houston in the middle of July is really, really hot.
   
6. Infrared photography has an advantage over regular photography in conditions where there's lots of haze from humidity or pollution ... both of which Houston has an abundance of.
   
7. The TG-5 Tough has a large infrared hot-spot in the middle of the lens/sensor, which shows up as a brighter, discolored, "slightly soft focus" spot.
   
8. The hot spot is slightly noticeable at 1.0x zoom, and increasingly noticeable at higher zooms ... to the extent that all of my infrared photos will be taken at 1.0x zoom.
   
9. It requires a lot of keystoning to fix a cityscape taken at 1.0x zoom, so I need to leave lots of space at the top of every photo.
   
10. It requires creative composition to disguise a large, diffuse, brighter, slightly soft focus spot in the middle of every photograph.