Photography

[i am travvy]

I'll have to go check that out on Flickr.
Also, do yall ever get prints done? I've been wanting to print some 8x10 or so sized pictures but all I have around me is walmart and they usually come out hit or miss.

[GoldenSpydie]

I'll have to go check that out on Flickr.
Also, do yall ever get prints done? I've been wanting to print some 8x10 or so sized pictures but all I have around me is walmart and they usually come out hit or miss.

I use Shutterfly for prints between 8x10 and 20x30. There are probably better options, but I get lots of coupons/sales for Shutterfly and they seem to be good quality.

[bdblue]

BTW, that 50mm f1.8 is equivalent to an 80mm lens (if you reference 35mm full frame film cameras as the standard) when used on your APS-C sensor camera, a 50mm lens was the "standard" lens on most 35mm film cameras for decades, while an 80mm is considered to be ideal as a portrait lens. Different focal length lenses offer a different perspective and more or less depth of focus, not just more or less "reach". Multiply the stated focal length on a lens by 1.6 to get the equivalent full frame focal length.

To the people that might be starting out...

When thinking about focal lengths it reduces confusion if you think in terms of "35mm equivalent". I still do that even though I've been using DX format digital for over 10 years. I started in photography over 45 years ago and back then most 35mm cameras automatically came with a 50mm lens. It seemed to give about the same view as your eyes although I found for indoor photography I preferred something a little wider and I thought about 40mm would be a better standard for most people. Back then 28mm was a significant wide angle but landscape photographers were usually using more like 24mm. As mentioned portrait photography was about 80mm and sports and wildlife photographers were using 400-600mm. People will tell you to buy one lens or another, but depending on what your interests are you may have different needs. When I had a film body I had a 50mm f1.4 for it but I never used it, it just didn't fit what I needed. Now that I am using a crop sensor body a 50mm would be even less useful for me. A lot of people recommend 50mm and it has a lot of advantages- relatively inexpensive, very sharp, very fast aperture, but you also have to have a need for that focal length. On my old film body I mostly used a Vivitar 28-50mm lens. People that do landscape could get by with only a super wide angle. People that do wildlife or sports might only want a couple of really long lenses, and so forth.

Now using crop sensor cameras you multiply your actual focal length by the crop factor to get the 35mm equivalent focal length. A Canon crop sensor DSLR has a crop factor of 1.6, the Nikons are 1.5. I don't know what some of the other brands are. So now that I'm using a Nikon crop sensor camera I like my standard lens to start at 17mm or 18mm (about 28mm equivalent on a film body), and for landscape photography I have an ultrawide lens that starts at 10mm (15mm equivalent on a film body!). I'm also lazy so I almost always use a zoom of some sort, so I also had to go from an f1.4 standard lens to a zoom of f2.8 or worse. Lots of brands have lenses that go about 18-50 or 18-70. The average person can do most of their photography with one of those and not need anything else. Many brands make something like 18-200 and a person could buy one of those and never need to take it off of the camera. But I like to play with gear too so I have a half dozen lenses.

But as has been said, the gear does not make the photographer. It is about being able to see the image, having the patience to create an image, and being able to use the light.

I also think it is worthwhile to learn what the different exposure controls do and what the significance of ISO is. When I started I was using a twin lens reflex and a single lens reflex, neither of which had any electronics, they didn't even have batteries for anything. So I had to learn how to set exposure for the light conditions. It helped that I was usually using black and white film which is very forgiving of exposure errors.

Once you learn exposure controls you can also learn the conditions where you have to adjust the exposure on the camera to compensate for unusual light conditions such as back lighting, etc. If nothing else search libraries and used book stores for old books and do lots of reading.

[GoldenSpydie]

I played around with an old trick I learned for Photoshop. It's called multiplicity, and it's a convincing way to make people think you have way more M4 PM2s than you actually do. :p All of the knives in this photograph are actually the same single knife.

[i am travvy]

Alright guys, I'm looking to add another lens in the collection. Right now I have the kit 18-55 and the 50mm 1.8. I absolutely love the 50. It's cheap yet very sharp and fast. I'm looking for something with a little more range, 200-300mm. Cheap (don't mind used or refurbished) yet still sharp. Price range $300 or less. I'm finding some sigmas and tamrons in that zoom and price range but I just don't know. Most of them are 75 or 70-300 telephoto macro lenses. Also some I beleive 18-135 wide angles lenses. What will be the best bang for the buck all purpose lens?

[i am travvy]

Some I'm looking at

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... 200mm.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... 300mm.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... macro.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... ii_ld.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... po_dg.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... di_ii.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... 5_4_5.html

And I kind of want this one because I love macro

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... _90mm.html

[awa54]

Here's where the Digital body gets to be a frustration... I'm pretty certain (though I'm far from expert when it comes to Canon hardware) that some of those older lenses don't function fully on your camera, that's one reason they're cheap. The sad truth is that tele-zooms that are cheap usually have at least one major flaw; soft at certain focal lengths, chromatic aberration, bulky, slow aperture, poor durability, flare/purple fringe, or a mix of any or all of these. Really great telephoto lenses are expensive, though there are a few affordable ones that are decent compromises.

Here is a site that claims to offer compatibility data for Canon bodies: http://lenshero.com/canon-lens-compatibility

This may be as good as it gets without dropping $1500: http://www.adorama.com/tm70300vueos.html These are recent enough ang good enough, that they aren't common or cheap on the used market. Here is a bunch of reviews for it in the Sony/Minolta mount: http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/Tamron-SP-A ... ns595.html There are probably test images as well on that site.

I find telephoto to be my least used lens category, with wide to short tele zooms being my most used on the Sony and the 50mm and 90mm equivalent fixed lenses getting the most use on my Olympus.

[i am travvy]

From what I've been reading anything ef or ef-s should work.

[ShaneInDenver]

I have been extremely happy with my Canon 55-250 STM. I would highly recommend checking it out.

[i am travvy]

ill check that one out!

a couple from yesterday

IMG_1061 by Travis Raffety, on Flickr

IMG_1062 by Travis Raffety, on Flickr

[i am travvy]

IMG_1165 by Travis Raffety, on Flickr

IMG_1267 by Travis Raffety, on Flickr

IMG_1252 by Travis Raffety, on Flickr

IMG_1243 by Travis Raffety, on Flickr

IMG_1188 by Travis Raffety, on Flickr

[GoldenSpydie]

Very nice, Travvy!

[i am travvy]

Thank you!

So I found a used canon 70-300 is usm for a decent price. Not the L version but a lot of reviews I've seen have said that it's a really good lens. Can't wait to try it out.

Also, I'm thinking about putting up an ad on a local Facebook page about doing some pictures for people. That way I can start building the portfolio and possibly making a tiny bit of side money. If I charge what would be a good starting point?

[GoldenSpydie]

If I charge what would be a good starting point?

The only commissioned work I have done is a wedding, and that was $300, which was not very much compared to most wedding photographers, but as you said, it helps to build the portfolio when you're new.

[awa54]

Nothing ruins a great hobby like trying to make it in to a business...

There's a lot more to being a pro than a few lenses and a good eye (though those are a good start), so unless you want to get serious about it and really learn everything about lighting, flash and *many* other details, I'd say don't charge for work, or only do so if you're 100% certain you can supply a really professional result. After all, bad word of mouth is much worse for your reputation than the money you might make is worth in the short term, especially if you aspire to do this as a "real job" some day!

Personally I let people who want my skills name their price, or just do it as a favor.

[i am travvy]

Beleive me, I won't be ruining anything. I love photography, and I feel like I'm getting a lot better at it. My dream has always been to have my own business doing what I love. Right now is my best opportunity to finally do this. I was thinking of having some friends and friends of friends help me out by letting me photograph them for free. That way I can practice a little more, give them some great pictures and start getting my name out there by word of mouth. Im not trying to jump in and charge a bunch of money for my pictures but if I don't jump in its never going to get done. For me the best way to learn is to do.

[Water Bug]

So I found a used canon 70-300 is usm for a decent price. Not the L version but a lot of reviews I've seen have said that it's a really good lens. Can't wait to try it out.

A 70-300mm is a nice zoom focal length... just remember to be aware of the amount of useful light available and ISO. You can really "reach out and touch" a subject with a lens like this, but low light might result in very low shutter speeds, which could lead to less-than-sharp images due to movement... unless you can adjust the ISO to compensate or use a tripod.

Were you able to have the lens checked out...? When I bought used lenses, I was fortunate that the camera shop I liked to frequent had a working relationship with a nearby camera repair shop where I could take the lenses to be inspected... if the camera repair shop found any issues, they'd inform the camera shop, which, in turn, would let me bring the lenses (or used cameras) back to either swap out or receive a refund.

Also, I'm thinking about putting up an ad on a local Facebook page about doing some pictures for people. That way I can start building the portfolio and possibly making a tiny bit of side money. If I charge what would be a good starting point?

If you want to do photography as a profession, perhaps starting out doing photo shoots for family and friends for free would be a good way to start... great practice and if they wish to compensate you then that's fine. From there you could build up your portfolio and reputation, as well as determine whether you really want to make photography a profession versus a hobby. Perhaps even take some photography classes, if you haven't done so already.

[i am travvy]

So I found a used canon 70-300 is usm for a decent price. Not the L version but a lot of reviews I've seen have said that it's a really good lens. Can't wait to try it out.

A 70-300mm is a nice zoom focal length... just remember to be aware of the amount of useful light available and ISO. You can really "reach out and touch" a subject with a lens like this, but low light might result in very low shutter speeds, which could lead to less-than-sharp images due to movement... unless you can adjust the ISO to compensate or use a tripod.

Were you able to have the lens checked out...? When I bought used lenses, I was fortunate that the camera shop I liked to frequent had a working relationship with a nearby camera repair shop where I could take the lenses to be inspected... if the camera repair shop found any issues, they'd inform the camera shop, which, in turn, would let me bring the lenses (or used cameras) back to either swap out or receive a refund.

Also, I'm thinking about putting up an ad on a local Facebook page about doing some pictures for people. That way I can start building the portfolio and possibly making a tiny bit of side money. If I charge what would be a good starting point?

If you want to do photography as a profession, perhaps starting out doing photo shoots for family and friends for free would be a good way to start... great practice and if they wish to compensate you then that's fine. From there you could build up your portfolio and reputation, as well as determine whether you really want to make photography a profession versus a hobby. Perhaps even take some photography classes, if you haven't done so already.

I purchased it from adorama.com and it had a pretty good rating. I beleive that is the route I'll be going at first. Reach out to some friends and start building.

[bdblue]

For buying used gear check out keh.com. They have a good variety and very good reputation.

[awa54]

I purchased it from adorama.com and it had a pretty good rating. I beleive that is the route I'll be going at first. Reach out to some friends and start building.

I have gotten some excellent lenses from Adorama's used section (new too..), they tend to grade very conservatively and have nice prices, the only downside is that the selection can be a bit thin.

As far as going pro, just be prepared to struggle at it, I know several pros who have 9 to 5 jobs now because the photography field is so hard to make money at these days. Not to say it can't be done, just that it's likely to be seriously hard work. Attitude and energy count for a lot though, so go for it!