Post Your Photos (and lens/processing info)

Here we own one of the best still cameras in the world, yet we don't tend to post stills or talk about them. I'm starting this thread for this purpose.

Keep in mind that this is not PhotoBucket. The idea is that we should only post photos that give insight into camera operation, lenses, and processing. We don't need full size, full res photos for that, scaled or cropped images will do.

Here's my contribution... Last night I shot a photo of our cat, Figaro. His black fur makes him nearly impossible to shoot well with cheapo cameras.

Lighting: Four ceiling-mounted lights were on, surrounding the subject. The ceiling is two stories above the floor.
Lens: Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AF on Photodiox Pro adapter.
Operation: Full manual, using Live View Exposure Simulation. Handheld.
Focus: Manual, using 10x magnification
Settings: f/1.8, 1/30, 6400 ISO, custom WB.
Processing from RAW: Dropped the contrast slightly. Boosted the saturation. Cranked sharpness all the way to make up for slight focus/motion blur. The image is scaled, not cropped.

Using a Nikon lens this way for a photo was REALLY slow. Auto-focus, shutter priority, and IS would have really helped. A tripod wasn't reasonable, as the cat was pretty feisty and rarely stayed in one place.

The bokeh of this lens is pretty poor on the details of the gold couch pillow. Aside from that I'm happy with the lens. If I could manually set the aperture of lenses in video mode, I would definitely choose Canon lenses.

[Pete Bauer]

After you click the REPLY button, you'll get the "reply to thread" page where you type the text of your reply. If you scroll below that, you'll see an "Additional Options" section where you'll find a "manage attachments" button. (I'm not sure if very new members have this option or not.)

[Alex Chong]

Can't remember but you can try to reply to as many thread as possible and see. Might only need 10 posts to get the 'Manage your attachment' function.

[David A. Fisher]

Yeah that button doesn't appear. Guess I need to comment a little more.

[David A. Fisher]

50mm 1.8 (trash kit lens) Still love it though.

[Tom Roper]

Wife was backing out of the driveway, I was saying goodbye, she commented how dark the sky was, and that there was rotation. She drove away, next the air raid sirens went off. I looked out the window to see trash and debris floating in the sky. I opened some windows and doors to equalize the pressure. The phone rings, it's her screaming, "GET TO THE BASEMENT, THE TORNADO'S RIGHT ON TOP OF THE HOUSE!"



I followed her advice, went to basement and got the camera and started snapping pictures from the street. I was getting beaned by hailstones so I went inside, put on a motorcycle helmet and took some more. Safety first...

[David A. Fisher]

Here's another from a different vantage point of the same tornado. Don't you Denverites know you need to hide from twisters...

http://www.examiner.com/x-5182-Dalla...nado-Great-pic

[Tom Roper]

Originally Posted by David A. Fisher

Don't you Denverites know you need to hide from twisters..

We try to take shelter in a covered football practice facility where possible ;-)

I'm an old Dallas hometown boy. Went to Jesuit. Go Cowboys!

Originally Posted by David A. Fisher

50mm 1.8 (trash kit lens) Still love it though.

Nothing trashy about those pics though, sharp!

[Ryan Mueller]

Hey Tom, the second I saw the top of the funnel cloud in your pic I thought to myself, "he must live in Colorado". Sure enough! That tornado was nuts, and the hail was huge. That's an awesome pick that you managed to grab.

[Tom Roper]

Thank you Ryan.

Surprising thing was there was so little advance warning, the instant the sirens came on, it was already on top of us...

...and they shut off while it was still on the ground. Maybe they are just looking at radar, but someone dropped the ball on that one.

[Chris Hurd]

Holy cow, Tom, that's a remarkable shot!

Originally Posted by David A. Fisher

(trash kit lens) Still love it though.

Nothing trashy about it -- that's an L-series lens and it's worth about $1200.
It's a great lens, and it's the best L-series lens to bundle with the 5D2 kit.

[John Benton]

Originally Posted by Tom Roper

Wife was backing out of the driveway, I was saying goodbye, she commented how dark the sky was, and that there was rotation. She drove away, next the air raid sirens went off. I looked out the window to see trash and debris floating in the sky. I opened some windows and doors to equalize the pressure. The phone rings, it's her screaming, "GET TO THE BASEMENT, THE TORNADO'S RIGHT ON TOP OF THE HOUSE!"



I followed her advice, went to basement and got the camera and started snapping pictures from the street. I was getting beaned by hailstones so I went inside, put on a motorcycle helmet and took some more. Safety first...

You gotta be kidding, Tom, that's Insane.
Beautiful photo

J

[David A. Fisher]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Holy cow, Tom, that's a remarkable shot!

Nothing trashy about it -- that's an L-series lens and it's worth about $1200.
It's a great lens, and it's the best L-series lens to bundle with the 5D2 kit.

Hey Chris,

Na it's not the "L." It's the left over kit lens that originally came with my Rebel XT. It nice and light, due the high quality plastics it's made of ;)

Actually I've always like it's bokeh, that's why I keep it around.

This weekend I rented a 85mm 1.2 L. WOW! Here's something at little test shot:

[Chris Hurd]

Endeavour on the pad (mild crop and tight crop) for STS-127.

Handheld w/IS, 105mm, f/8, 1/400, ISO 100, Standard profile, Auto WB.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Here's a small moth on the kitchen window at night.

Nikon 105/2.8 Micro AF (pre-G lens); fluorescent lighting; handheld; 1/60, f/3.5, 3200 ISO.

It took a number of shots to get this right. The position was awkward. Small movements would mess up the framing and move the focus plane, and I didn't have enough light to stop down further without adding motion blur or noise.

I love the eyes and beak.

[Chris Hurd]

Fun with long exposure and high ISO.

Tripod, 24mm, f/5.6, 8.0 sec., ISO 12800, Standard profile, Auto WB, Bulb Mode.

Polaris on the right, Cor Caroli on the left, Big & Little Dippers in between at about 9pm.