The Official Photography Thread - Vol. 3

[mylesp]

Very rarely manual focus.

Sometimes I manually choose focal points though.

Use youtube for lightroom tutorials, can be very helpful.

I don't ever shoot on P, but someimtes I do AV. Try AV mode out.

I thought i was cool doing manual focus but no longer do it either. Sometimes I do when I want to change focus with shallow depth of field instead of changing focus point. I shoot film cameras so that's why I do it, but other wise manual focus can slow me down when auto is the same thing and possibly even sharper

 

[ddh1122]

So, I have my first photoshoot in September (hopefully). Someone who is like family hit me up on IG asking me to do it and said he'll pay me $100 - I didn't even ask for money and I told him I'm not even good yet but he doesn't really care and he said it'll be good practice, so hey, why not.

I'll be going back and reading this thread again for tips and knowledge until the date, but I'd figure I'd ask to get some quick info to help with my research. Not sure where the location will be yet but does anyone have any tips? What equipment will I need? Anything I shouldn't/should do?

Current setup:
Nikon D3300
Nikon 18-55mm kit lens
Nikon 55-200mm kit lens
Tripod I found in the house (dad never really used it)

I know I'll probably have to (or should) cop/rent a 50mm prime lens but I'll look into that a little later. Just want to make sure my first official shoot is decent enough.

 

[Nawzlew]

So, I have my first photoshoot in September (hopefully). Someone who is like family hit me up on IG asking me to do it and said he'll pay me $100 - I didn't even ask for money and I told him I'm not even good yet but he doesn't really care and he said it'll be good practice, so hey, why not.

I'll be going back and reading this thread again for tips and knowledge until the date, but I'd figure I'd ask to get some quick info to help with my research. Not sure where the location will be yet but does anyone have any tips? What equipment will I need? Anything I shouldn't/should do?

Current setup:
Nikon D3300
Nikon 18-55mm kit lens
Nikon 55-200mm kit lens
Tripod I found in the house (dad never really used it)

I know I'll probably have to (or should) cop/rent a 50mm prime lens but I'll look into that a little later. Just want to make sure my first official shoot is decent enough.

Shooting outdoors or indoors?

 

[harmito]

So, I have my first photoshoot in September (hopefully). Someone who is like family hit me up on IG asking me to do it and said he'll pay me $100 - I didn't even ask for money and I told him I'm not even good yet but he doesn't really care and he said it'll be good practice, so hey, why not.

I'll be going back and reading this thread again for tips and knowledge until the date, but I'd figure I'd ask to get some quick info to help with my research. Not sure where the location will be yet but does anyone have any tips? What equipment will I need? Anything I shouldn't/should do?

Current setup:
Nikon D3300
Nikon 18-55mm kit lens
Nikon 55-200mm kit lens
Tripod I found in the house (dad never really used it)

I know I'll probably have to (or should) cop/rent a 50mm prime lens but I'll look into that a little later. Just want to make sure my first official shoot is decent enough.

DEFINITELY rent a prime lens ..

 

[ddh1122]

Shooting outdoors or indoors?

Most likely outdoors

DEFINITELY rent a prime lens ..

I just gotta find a shop in my area that does renting

 

[harmito]

Most likely outdoors
I just gotta find a shop in my area that does renting

If you can't find a shop ..

https://www.lensrentals.com

&

https://www.borrowlenses.com

I have yet to rent from them personally ( I will soon actually), but I know people who do and vouches for them.

 

[benzilla427]

So I had a family party and picked up my D3200 for the first time in months. I completely forgot that I had lent my camera to my uncle over 4th of July weekend and my settings were messed up. I switched everything back to my liking except I forgot to go back from JPEG to RAW :x


Only reason I realized is because the photos looked like **** when I imported to Lightroom and tried editing.

 

[kdawg]

^^^^^^It sort of depends but I would get a new camera. The D40 is damn near a fossil at this point and technology has progressed so much. If you are just doing some daytime shooting though, the D40 might be fine but you'll see the wear and tear of it when you try and shoot night stuff.

While good glass makes a huge difference you're working with 10 year old tech so I would upgrade your body first.

I just changed from a D40 to D5200 (went for a D3300 but that was on offer) and the difference is tremendous. Low light performance is much better, autofocus is much better and more. You'll definitely enjoy it too.

 

[djyoung08]

So I had a family party and picked up my D3200 for the first time in months. I completely forgot that I had lent my camera to my uncle over 4th of July weekend and my settings were messed up. I switched everything back to my liking except I forgot to go back from JPEG to RAW :x


Only reason I realized is because the photos looked like **** when I imported to Lightroom and tried editing.

shooting jpeg wouldnt make them look all that bad.

shooting jpeg just applies a color + contrast bump and seals the deal of the image the photographer chose to take.

If they look THAT bad its because the exposure was off.

You should be able to successfully shoot jpeg a photographer. Don't let shooting RAW be a crutch.

I understand as much as the next person its easy not to change your exposure every time lighting changes & shooting RAW has allowed me to recover 2+ stops of light

 

[djyoung08]

^^^^^^It sort of depends but I would get a new camera. The D40 is damn near a fossil at this point and technology has progressed so much. If you are just doing some daytime shooting though, the D40 might be fine but you'll see the wear and tear of it when you try and shoot night stuff.

While good glass makes a huge difference you're working with 10 year old tech so I would upgrade your body first.

I just changed from a D40 to D5200 (went for a D3300 but that was on offer) and the difference is tremendous. Low light performance is much better, autofocus is much better and more. You'll definitely enjoy it too.

All of this.

I typically say GLASS GLASS GLASS

but the d40 is a dinosaur & that sensor is probably all dried up a gross

 

[benzilla427]

 

So I had a family party and picked up my D3200 for the first time in months. I completely forgot that I had lent my camera to my uncle over 4th of July weekend and my settings were messed up. I switched everything back to my liking except I forgot to go back from JPEG to RAW

Only reason I realized is because the photos looked like **** when I imported to Lightroom and tried editing.

shooting jpeg wouldnt make them look all that bad.

shooting jpeg just applies a color + contrast bump and seals the deal of the image the photographer chose to take.

If they look THAT bad its because the exposure was off.

You should be able to successfully shoot jpeg a photographer. Don't let shooting RAW be a crutch.

I understand as much as the next person its easy not to change your exposure every time lighting changes & shooting RAW has allowed me to recover 2+ stops of light

lol yeah I'm exaggerating a bit. 

My main issue was with the dim lighting. I only had my 18-55 Nikon kit lens so I was limited to a 3.5 aperture and since it was just a little family get together I wasn't too worried about getting great shots. I noticed the off color and underexposure and just shrugged it off telling myself, "Eh, I'll fix it in post." As you said, I definitely got used to using RAW as a crutch. 

I had my cousin try and snap a pic of me and my immediate family but forgot to explain to her I had it set up for back-button focusing. The pic was a mess. 

 

[picasso swerve]

So in midday super bright conditions? Whats a good average shutter speed/iso/aperture to stay at? Just for a referance point.

Im at the park shooting pics of my dog to get some practice in, keep the iso at 100 and shooting between 1/60-1/250 depending on the shade, which apparently makes a huge difference.

 

[djyoung08]

Old shot of one of my pop vinyls.

I need to get back into shooting more for recreation

Starting to miss it

 

[benzilla427]

So in midday super bright conditions? Whats a good average shutter speed/iso/aperture to stay at? Just for a referance point.

Im at the park shooting pics of my dog to get some practice in, keep the iso at 100 and shooting between 1/60-1/250 depending on the shade, which apparently makes a huge difference.

Sounds like you've got the right idea. From my understanding: the more light available, the lower you want your ISO.

As for shooting a moving subject, that all depends on what kind of look you want to achieve. If you want some motion blur you'd slow down your shutter speed. If you have too quick a shutter speed it'll look like your subject is just frozen. And this depends on the speed your subject is moving at too. I don't think there's a "right" answer for what your shutter speed should be.

Aperture depends on the look you're going for as well. Of course with larger apertures you'll let in more light but outdoors that probably isn't a problem.

Have you read up on the Exposure Triangle?

https://fstoppers.com/education/exp...ure-shutter-speed-and-iso-work-together-72878


Getting a good understanding of it will really help you in determining what settings are appropriate for situations.

 

[picasso swerve]

Repped.

 

[Nawzlew]

So in midday super bright conditions? Whats a good average shutter speed/iso/aperture to stay at? Just for a referance point.

Im at the park shooting pics of my dog to get some practice in, keep the iso at 100 and shooting between 1/60-1/250 depending on the shade, which apparently makes a huge difference.

If your dog is moving, 1/60 will give you motion blur.

 

[Nawzlew]

Shooting outdoors or indoors?

Most likely outdoors

DEFINITELY rent a prime lens ..

I just gotta find a shop in my area that does renting

I would avoid shooting around noon unless you get can get shade. If it is bright out, use a reflector.

Try shooting during golden hour.

 

[ddh1122]

I would avoid shooting around noon unless you get can get shade. If it is bright out, use a reflector.

Try shooting during golden hour.

Yeah, I'm in Florida so it'll probably be right before sunset.

 

[timelessflight]

Alright my Nikonians, who's copping?!

105mm f/1.4

http://nikonrumors.com/2016/07/25/n...f1-4e-ed-lens-to-be-announced-this-week.aspx/

 

[picasso swerve]

Constructive criticism?







First two shot with the T5 and a 28-70 telephoto lens or whatever my friend said it was.

Last is the stock 18-55.

 

[yanky]

^Not sure if those are edited but I would brighten up the first one a bit and shift it to the right as it's a bit crooked.

Can't really comment on the other two as I don't shoot people...ever lol but they look good!

Before:

After:

Beautiful Sight by Mayank, on Flickr

 

[djyoung08]

Fairy Photoshoot tonight

 

[picasso swerve]

The bottom is slightly edited, the first two arent but yeah it is a bit crooked for the first. Didnt have my tripod so I put it on an uneven platform.

 

[djyoung08]

The bottom is slightly edited, the first two arent but yeah it is a bit crooked for the first. Didnt have my tripod so I put it on an uneven platform.

You can straighten the horizon in post processing. But always make sure your lines are as straight as possible.

Very good set of the 3 images.

image 1 - Crooked horizon

image 2 - IMO isn't very interesting. Its definitely an okay shot.

image 3 - IMO strongest of the 3. Just add a light brightness

 

[Fong$tarr]

Swerve......you could have just adjusted the first photo to be straight. There is enough of the skyline in the back where you won't crop out too much in the photo. As long as the sun is in the middle, the photo should still read the same.

That last to (to me) is really just posing. Portrait style shooting is really a combination of the camera and your subject matter. I am sure that can be said with almost all of photography but I really think portraits can be achieved really with the most basic camera. I think what really isn't effective in those photos is the faces of the people. I know you are going for inconspicuous shots but unless you are isolating say a specific clothing of the person, you really need to see the people's face to sell the shot better. Also get low with your camera and try not to shoot top down.

Mighty Killers put up some good lookbooks. Check out this one for reference. Sort of similar to the look you were achieving. Mind you they were isolating on the hat which makes some of the posing good but you can still get similar shots without having to focus on just the hat: http://www.mightykillers.com/sm006