I got out and used my camera today...

[TheRoff]

I have been having a ball with photography for the last few weeks. I have a contract to photograph the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on this area. This photo of a sign language interpreter and a CART system – computer assisted real-time captioning – is part of the show. We used a version with the strobe cropped out, but I liked this one best. I wanted to capture the motion in her hands.

 

 

Larry

[pierces]

I have been having a ball with photography for the last few weeks. I have a contract to photograph the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on this area. This photo of a sign language interpreter and a CART system – computer assisted real-time captioning – is part of the show. We used a version with the strobe cropped out, but I liked this one best. I wanted to capture the motion in her hands.

 

 

Larry

 

Excellent use of exposure to impart motion to a still photo.

 

Good work Larry!

 

Dave

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Hello,

 

This is my first post in this forum. I have been reading you guys for months. Such talent!!! Most of the photos on this thread are amazing. Work that could be sold. I have mucho respect for the camera peeps.

 

With that being said, I just upgraded to a Cannon SX20. I got out and played with my camera. I am leaving on an Alaska trip next week. I know I need to play a lot more before then. I have a photo tour booked in Seattle pre-cruise, so I'm hoping they can give me some pointers. I did buy the book, so that's a start, but I will shoot, shoot, shoot between now and the time I board the ship.

 

Anyway, I hope you don't mind if I share some of the very first photos I took with this camera. Right out of the box. No photoshopping (don't know how yet). No special setting other than the marcro for this first flower.

 

 

 

This was the third pic taken with the camera. I was still learning how to take the lense cap off ;-). Auto setting:

 

 

 

 

Now, the reason I went with the Cannon XS20 is the 20 times zoom. I know this isn't nearly enough for Alaska, but I figured I did not have time to learn a DSLN before the trip (plus I needed to save a bit of money). I am hoping that this camera will help bridge me into the full out DSLN. Well, that's the plan anyway. Here are two pictures I took. One at normal and then one at 20 zoom. The first pic is the normal one. Notice the eagle nest in the tallest pine tree in the very middle of the photo:

 

 

Zoomed in on the Eagles Nest:

 

 

And finally, my very first panoramic shot:

 

 

 

Any pointers, tips, things I can to do take better pictures would be very welcome. My skin is thick and I only have one week to make this camera sing.

 

Thank you for allowing me to post my amature pictures among your art,

 

Cheryl :)

[sparky-elpaso]

Hello,

 

This is my first post in this forum. I have been reading you guys for months. Such talent!!! Most of the photos on this thread are amazing. Work that could be sold. I have mucho respect for the camera peeps.

 

With that being said, I just upgraded to a Cannon SX20. I got out and played with my camera. I am leaving on an Alaska trip next week. I know I need to play a lot more before then. I have a photo tour booked in Seattle pre-cruise, so I'm hoping they can give me some pointers. I did buy the book, so that's a start, but I will shoot, shoot, shoot between now and the time I board the ship.

 

Anyway, I hope you don't mind if I share some of the very first photos I took with this camera. Right out of the box. No photoshopping (don't know how yet). No special setting other than the marcro for this first flower.

 

 

 

This was the third pic taken with the camera. I was still learning how to take the lense cap off ;-). Auto setting:

 

 

 

 

Now, the reason I went with the Cannon XS20 is the 20 times zoom. I know this isn't nearly enough for Alaska, but I figured I did not have time to learn a DSLN before the trip (plus I needed to save a bit of money). I am hoping that this camera will help bridge me into the full out DSLN. Well, that's the plan anyway. Here are two pictures I took. One at normal and then one at 20 zoom. The first pic is the normal one. Notice the eagle nest in the tallest pine tree in the very middle of the photo:

 

 

Zoomed in on the Eagles Nest:

 

 

And finally, my very first panoramic shot:

 

 

 

Any pointers, tips, things I can to do take better pictures would be very welcome. My skin is thick and I only have one week to make this camera sing.

 

Thank you for allowing me to post my amature pictures among your art,

 

Cheryl :)

 

20x zoom should be ok for Alaska. I have a Sony DSC H-7 with 15x zoom that I took to Alaska and came back with some pretty good distance shots.

 

And 95% of the time I have it on AUTO. I've learned how to use more of the options but usually don't have the time to fiddle with them. I figure my camera has a brain so I'll use it.

 

Like you said just go out and shoot every chance you get before you leave. That's the nice thing about digital - no cost to take photos. Also if you would like a nice FREE photo editor download Picasa - it's from Google and does a great job with basic editing. Very easy to use and also can be used to download pics from your camera.

 

Link to my Alaska pics are in my signature if you would like to see what you're in for - you're gonna love Alaska.

[mnbruce]

Me too!!!! I was lucky enough to get access to the Hollywood sign, which is normally closed to the general public. It was awesome. Now if I can add them in the proper order.

 

 

That's a great opportunity! Nice photos.

[mnbruce]

Hello,

 

This is my first post in this forum. I have been reading you guys for months. Such talent!!! Most of the photos on this thread are amazing. Work that could be sold. I have mucho respect for the camera peeps.

 

With that being said, I just upgraded to a Cannon SX20. I got out and played with my camera. I am leaving on an Alaska trip next week. I know I need to play a lot more before then. I have a photo tour booked in Seattle pre-cruise, so I'm hoping they can give me some pointers. I did buy the book, so that's a start, but I will shoot, shoot, shoot between now and the time I board the ship.

 

 

 

Cheryl :)

 

That's looks like a really nice camera. The 28mm-560mm range will cover pretty much every range you need. The camera is just the tool though, it's all up to you whether or not your results are to your liking. It's fine to practice by shooting ,shooting and shooting some more to learn how to use your camera's modes but please don't do that while on your vacation. If people spent more time thinking about the composition and lighting they could shoot 50%- 70% less photos and more quality images than if they just shoot,shoot and shoot. I talk to people on vacation that take thousands of photos and my question to them is do you really want to spend time going through all those photos and what do you do with them after that. Enjoy your vacation and don't let that camera get in the way, because in the end the most memorable images will be in your head, not in a photo.

 

You are going to have a great vacation and we will be looking forward to seeing the photos.

[dileep]

two people enoying the beauty of nature along with their wine!

Edited July 17, 2010 by dileep

[MDSue]

Ok, I confess, I didn't take these today but I just returned from Costa Rica and wanted to share a few of my favorite shots I took while I was there. It is soo hard to pic from hundreds of shots.

 

I was happy to get a few good hummingbird shots:

 

 

 

Father and baby Howler monkee:

 

 

La Fortuna view with Arenal Volcano in the background:

 

 

View of Pacific Ocean from hotel:

 

[pierces]

Everyone should eat a balanced diet...

 

 

Dave

[ballawana13]

I hope these work.

[TheRoff]

Everyone should eat a balanced diet...

 

 

Dave

 

Great lighting and perspective. :)

 

Larry

[pierces]

Great lighting and perspective. :)

 

Larry

 

Thanks Larry!

 

You wouldn't believe the setup if I told you....;)

 

Dave

[zackiedawg]

Been out playing in the wetlands again yesterday, and last weekend too - getting the hang of the new 300mm F4 prime lens. This thing is cut-yourself-on-the-details sharp! Here's a few of the recent wetlands shots:

 

Anhinga in a tree:

 

Green heron, really really close (this isn't a crop - I was just about 5 feet away):

 

Female red-winged blackbird:

 

Great egret flying by:

 

A little low light stuff - ISO800 needed for this little cruising baby alligator down at his eye level:

[jimjamxx]

Everyone should eat a balanced diet...

 

 

Dave

 

This is my idea of a "balanced diet":

 

Mini-muffuletta's (at a wedding last night in New Orleans, La.

 

 

 

 

JimmyJames

[510picker]

We had some storms roll through our area last night. The lightning show was awesome!

 

[ballawana13]

 

 

Using photobucket, these should be full size.

[dileep]

[Cruise Envy]

Sigh. Y'all make me wish I had $2K for new equipment and a month off to play with it. I did shoot a thousand or so last week on vacation -- here are a couple of my favorites -

 

 

I shoot with a Fujifilm Finepix S5100.

[JWJs]

Been out playing in the wetlands again yesterday, and last weekend too - getting the hang of the new 300mm F4 prime lens. This thing is cut-yourself-on-the-details sharp! Here's a few of the recent wetlands shots:

 

Anhinga in a tree:

 

Green heron, really really close (this isn't a crop - I was just about 5 feet away):

 

Female red-winged blackbird:

 

Great egret flying by:

 

A little low light stuff - ISO800 needed for this little cruising baby alligator down at his eye level:

 

 

Loved these pictures. Is it possible to use a 300mm F4 prime lens on my Nikon D90? I'm confused about what lenses I can use on this camera.

[zackiedawg]

Loved these pictures. Is it possible to use a 300mm F4 prime lens on my Nikon D90? I'm confused about what lenses I can use on this camera.

 

Thank you. Indeed, most manufacturers make a 300mm F4 lens - Nikon included. I do not know if theirs is one of their 'high end' builds or more consumer grade...but they do make one - it goes around $1,200 new. I'm familiar with the Canon 'L' version and the Minolta APO G version I have...both of these are 'pro' build lenses - extremely heavy, very solid all-metal build, lots of manual controls, big optics, etc. The price range for the Nikon is about the same as the Canon & Minolta versions though.

 

Your D90 can accept just about any of the Nikon AF lenses - it's just up to what lenses you need, want, and are willing to buy! I also have a big 200-500mm zoom lens which is nice for flexibility, but as is the case with many 'prime' lenses, the 300mm F4 is a bit sharper, brighter, and focuses a bit faster than the zoom. If you want to get into birding and wildlife, it's a good lens range - but many folks cut their teeth on this type of shooting with something a wee bit cheaper and with more flexibility, like a 70-400 zoom or something similar. But if you know you want to shoot this type of subject, or already have the zoom lenses and want to start building into a collection of prime lenses, the 300mm F4 is a great start. It is reasonably fast aperture for lower light work, and a good enough size for handholding, typically better than equivalent range zooms, yet not as stratospherically expensive as the 300mm F2.8 lenses (the Nikon F4 version is around $1200...to go to the F2.8 version you step up to $4400!).

[NMCruzzin]

This is such a fun thread! :D

 

Dave...:)

 

MDSue...what settings did you use for those Hummingbird pictures? You got great shots of those quick little things! :)

 

zackiedawg - Your bird pics are always so great!:)

 

Everyone's pics are so fun and good....I just never know what the next one is going to be!!:D

[MDSue]

This is such a fun thread! :D

 

Dave...:)

 

MDSue...what settings did you use for those Hummingbird pictures? You got great shots of those quick little things! :)

 

zackiedawg - Your bird pics are always so great!:)

 

Everyone's pics are so fun and good....I just never know what the next one is going to be!!:D

 

Hello, I'm loving all the new shots here too!

For my hummingbird pictures, I decided to try my automatic sports setting and manual focus. I was surprised how well they came out. I'm trying to learn how to use manual settings, but until I get all the details worked out- the sports setting seems to work well for freezing the wings.

Edited July 19, 2010 by MDSue

[PollyPenguin]

I spent a good part of yesterday helping a friend with a work project (teaching people about canning fruits and vegetables via the Internet). She was working with fruit yesterday.

 

[AZVoodoo]

Loved these pictures. Is it possible to use a 300mm F4 prime lens on my Nikon D90? I'm confused about what lenses I can use on this camera.

 

Yes you can get a 300mm F4 for you D90

 

http://nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Camera-Lenses/1909/AF-S-NIKKOR-300mm-f%252F4D-IF-ED.html

 

The main differences between your D90 and the higher end cameras is how fast it can process the pictures from the sensor to memory.

[JWJs]

Yes you can get a 300mm F4 for you D90

 

http://nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Camera-Lenses/1909/AF-S-NIKKOR-300mm-f%252F4D-IF-ED.html

 

The main differences between your D90 and the higher end cameras is how fast it can process the pictures from the sensor to memory.

 

Thanks! Seems like a great lens for an affordable price!:)