Photography Chat and Questions Thread

[C.J]

It's bothering me for a while now, looking on other people's images and looking on mine. Mine just don't seem to have that colour punch, the richness in colours. Do you think it's my editing or just been on the 500D with it being what it is?

I like your photos.

What is it that it's lacking? When I used the 500D + Sigma lens, I thought it was fine. Colours weren't an issue for me, it was more the sharpness (plus mine suffers from backfocus) and clarity that made me move to mirrorless.

 

[Aaron..]

Definitely the editing.
The only reason I moved from my 550 was I predominantly shoot night time and the iso handling on the 6d is superb compared to the 550, plus my 17-35 would actually be that rather than 28-50 or whatever it works out as on crop.

Spend a bit longer on your editing.
I can't edit generally in photoshop. I use lightroom for 95% of my images and you can change so much in there. One wrong move on a slider will massively change the image. Just keep persevering mate, you'll get it how you want soon enough.

 

[Geddes]

what i mean, they look a bit flat and dull. maybe i don't spend enough time on the editing. There isn't that many editing sliders compared to lightroom like, think it's like 65% less stuff than LR. I do spend just like 5 mins on editing, i just now when to back off and when it's been over sharpened or too much contrast and. I'll have another go on one of my recent pics.

 

[C.J]

What's the spec of your PC? Could you run an older version of LR?

 

[Geddes]

What's the spec of your PC? Could you run an older version of LR?

Not sure if this is all you need

Pentium E5300 duel core @2.60GHz 1800mz Processor
ASUS EAH6670 GFX Card
ACPI x86 based pc 32bit Gigabyte brand pc
it's a buildy up PC too, and i didn't build it.


@Aaron.. mentioned about using lightroom 4, My pc is a 32 bit, would be nice if i could use LR 4 on mine.

 

[Dredz06]

Is it because your shots are long exposure @Geddes? have you tried taking some normal shots at the same time and comparing?

 

[Geddes]

One the filters i use, they give off horrbile colour cast esp the Big Stopper and not so much on the ND4. Some times i get stuck on the white balance if there's no white or grey in the image. What do people do when this happens? I know you could use the sliders and go by eye. But it is nice to know where white is white.

I've had another go at an image, just did the basics and finished and re adjusted the clarity and sharpness which added more depth and glossy feel to the image which i wanted. Pretty much both are around 45-50% which before was around 25-30%

First final editing on this image

Second attempt just now at this image with much more increased clarity and sharpness

 

[Dredz06]

If your photos are taken in the evening when the light is lower you're bound to lose some colour surely? try taking some shots in brighter daylight and see if its a filter or editing issue

 

[TimmoUK]

This has probably been asked loads of times, but a search didn't yield much.

I have a Canon 500D with the standard kit 18-55m lens, I am wanting to get a cheap-ish zoom lens to compliment the kit lens and help get some better motorsport shots. Any recommendations for what to get?

I have a Sigma 70-300mm APO DG, I really like it and picked it up for £80 from eBay. Took it with me to the F1 test day at Silverstone last year:

 

[Geddes]

If your photos are taken in the evening when the light is lower you're bound to lose some colour surely? try taking some shots in brighter daylight and see if its a filter or editing issue

yeah i'll do that tomorrow, have a wonder round somewhere local, need to save money on petrol no job at the mo

 

[Mr R.]

Ive had my camera for just over a year but haven't done much to learn how to use it. (i hate reading the instructions)

I got my son to have a play with it today and these are the pictures he took, not bad for a 12 year old i don't think.

Billy's Pictures 003 by Scott Raven, on Flickr

Billy's Pictures 002 by Scott Raven, on Flickr

Billy's Pictures 001 by Scott Raven, on Flickr

 

[Aaron..]

@Geddes I just go by what looks right for white balance if I don't have anything to go from.
You should try to find Lightroom 4. It will run on your pc, maybe a bit slow but it should work. The good thing about lightroom is that it is a non destructive programme, so you can go back to the original image anytime by pressing reset. You export a copy of the image rather than saving over the original file.
And you will get a cast off any ND filter, some more than others.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

yeah i'll do that tomorrow, have a wonder round somewhere local, need to save money on petrol no job at the mo

I assume you're shooting RAW ? Jpeg just doesn't cut it for me.

 

[Djw John]

Picked up the old D40 again a couple of months back after not touching it for about 6 months and really enjoying it again, got some variable filters to see what I thought of them and was pretty pleased on my 35mm that I could get a pic like this on a really sunny day

13-DSC_0815 by john.holligan, on Flickr

But I am a sucker for DOF. And I was very pleased when the BBC used it in their pics of the week thing they do (in Scotland anyway!)

Was recently up at Knockhill and whilst I'm pleased with a few I do wonder how I can achieve a better look for some. The panning ones I think just need lots of practice to get the timing better but the chicane ones (mostly up in the air) are way more mixed. Full set is here http://www.cliosport.net/threads/btcc-knockhill-pics.780703/#post-10857985 and all hints, tips and constructive criticism is very welcome. I know I can improve but I'm not sure how! Most were shot at ISO200 as I don't like noisy photos and any that I shot with my 18-70 had the filter on. It was a borrowed 70-300mm Sigma so I had nothing on that.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Geddes]

I assume you're shooting RAW ? Jpeg just doesn't cut it for me.

yeah been doing RAW for many months now, just need more practice on editing

 

[Jay_A]

Met a couple of lovely aviation photographers at Wings and Wheels yesterday who donate all profits from the sale of their pictures to Help for Heroes (amazing people!).

Decided this is definitely something I want to do, but just lacking the lens for it at the mo (I have a 24-105mm). So need some winning lottery numbers to buy something fit for purpose

 

[Geddes]

Just been taking some pics say an hour ago outside in the dark but the building is well let up, it's that Penshaw Monument, i kept it on ISO 100 and just kept increasing for a longer Shutter speed. Majority of the pics have micro dots on them is this over exposed with it being on IS0 100 for long periods of time? basicly wrong settings?

Was mixing up from f5.6 to f11 to 30 to 90 secs all on ISO 100

 

[Geddes]

Just posted up my first 500px photo lol. See where this get's me other than flickr

 

[Geddes]

I'm off to the Isle of Skye tomorrow for a few days. Looking at the weather forecast it's going to rain for a few straight days, fingers crossed will be breaks of it. Got a list of places to go and hoping to get a lot of good shots.

 

[Aaron..]

I'm off to the Isle of Skye tomorrow for a few days. Looking at the weather forecast it's going to rain for a few straight days, fingers crossed will be breaks of it. Got a list of places to go and hoping to get a lot of good shots.

Even with bad weather you should be able to get some decent shots.

Have a good trip. Look forward to seeing your shots.

 

[Geddes]

Even with bad weather you should be able to get some decent shots.

Have a good trip. Look forward to seeing your shots.

Yeah at least it's not clear blue sky, just as long there's detail in the clouds that will do spot on for me. Bringing my brolly too lol. Need to buy myself some hicking boots, but for next time though

Got planned is the
Eilean Donan Castle
Neist Point Lighthouse
The Old Mann of Storr
Quirring
Fairy Pools
Elgol
Talisker Bay
Plus many more inc waterfalls lol. Just hope i find some of them, Little to no precise location other than a name of the place. Be camping a few nights too so we shall see if i get the chance to do sunrise or sunsets depends where we camp or stop for the night.

 

[SharkyUK]

There are some fantastic photo opportunities up that way, @Geddes - you'll love it (rain or shine). My only regret is that I didn't take my photographic equipment with me as it was part of a driving holiday... Oh well, it gives me an excuse to visit that area again in the future

 

[Geddes]

Almost setting off now, I've been there once before for the day about 10 years ago. Can't remember what's it like. I'm not driving so plenty of looking about and say pull over here I want to take a photo lol.

 

[Dan The Top Bloke]

Compleat newbie here buttt, what ediiting programs are out there? exept photoshop as i feel the price tag wont warrent my use of it.

 

[C.J]

Compleat newbie here buttt, what ediiting programs are out there? exept photoshop as i feel the price tag wont warrent my use of it.

What are you using it on? If you own an iPad, there are good enough apps on there that are free (Photoshop, Snapseed), or PhotoGene that's about ~£2. I've used all three, and think they're great.

 

[Dan The Top Bloke]

What are you using it on? If you own an iPad, there are good enough apps on there that are free (Photoshop, Snapseed), or PhotoGene that's about ~£2. I've used all three, and think they're great.

missed out the important bit lol , on a PC and I'm useing a Nikon d40

 

[SharkyUK]

missed out the important bit lol , on a PC and I'm useing a Nikon d40

You have things like GiMP (which is a little clunky, but free). You also have options such as Photoshop Elements (which doesn't offer the level of features as full-fat Photoshop, but it's a whole lot cheaper and offers a good selection of editing features). Serif PhotoPlus Starter Edition (free) might be worth a look. If you are into weird webby stuff (and don't need heavy editing features) take a look at Google's Picasa; it's more than just a web album organisation thingy

 

[Dan The Top Bloke]

@SharkyUK thanks for the reply I'll have a look into those

 

[antnee]

You can actually get a Picasa version to download which has some basic features in

 

[Geddes]

Just come back from Isle of Skye, WOW what a place every single corner, every time you look there's a spot to be had. Weather was shocking like rain, rain and showers and severe wind warnings up there. Miggies were really bad too and way too much rushing about in the car going from place to place missed a lot of shots. Friday was great weather but got there late evening and horrible Sat, Sun and i got sun burnt on Monday was way too sunny, on the Mon evening it rained iirc so no evening shots to be had. And today Tue heavy showers practically all day. I grabbed some shots by some very little luck when there was gaps in the showers some lasted just a minute or so. The weather was very unpredictable.

Managed to visit the main ones.

Eilean Donan Castle
Neist Point Lighthouse
Quirring
Fairy Pools
Elgol
Did go the the old mann of storr but it was very low cloud and showers and hardly cold see it through the clouds.

Managed to get other pics along the way.

Also i did some astro photography on the first night as the sky was really clear. Took some shots of the milky way. Haven't put them on the pc yet so don't know how all my pics have turned out.

 

[Aaron..]

Looking forward to seeing the shots

 

[Geddes]

while i was away in Scotland. My flat mate drove over my camera bag with everything in like lenses and filters and accessories apart from the camera body and lens i was using at that time. Luckly all that was damaged was my Big Stopper SRB and ND4 SRB and a 50mm Big Stopper about £80 lost.

I need some new filters obv the Big Stopper, something close to the Little Stopper, i would love some Lee Filters but no job at the minute still and need to save money. Is it just worth it getting more of the filters i just had of the same quialty. Also i really like some Graduated Filters it would improve my shots quit a bit having these.

 

[Geddes]

I sent 2 or 3 images to Practical Photography magazine couple months ago. Out of the blue this morning they emailed me wanting more info on me and my picture. I replied back with the info and they replied back saying looks like it's going to be published in January's edition.

Not bad at all for a noob

 

[antnee]

I managed to loose my filters kit at Donington this weekend too. I didn't zip up the pocket on my bag enough and I had been all over the place before I realised

 

[Aaron..]

As I'm nearing my 52 week project, I was going to make a collage of all of the images. I started to load them into photoshop when a window popped up saying that "This application does not support the editing of banknote images" (Photoshop CS 2015)

Offending image


Nineten/FiftyTwo- Getaway by Aaron, on Flickr

Going to try turning wifi off and see if it lets me then.

 

[Geddes]

Any of you lot doing the Moon in the morning? I'm going to do a pic with the Moon and the Durham Cathedral in it and other forground interest in it. Is it better to take a shot for the foreground and another pic just for the moon? I expect the moon will be just a dot if i took a normal shot of the cathedral???

What will i need to do to get a good detail shot of the Cathedral and the same of the Moon?

 

[Aaron..]

I'm off out for the full lunar eclipse tonight. Last one was in 1982, next one in 2033 I think. I'm going to try to time lapse it.

If you want to get them both in one shot, you'll need to do two exposures. One for the cathedral at whatever settings are needed for a good exposure, and one for the moon to stop it blowing out - Maybe f8, 1/125th iso 100? Not sure, you'll have to have a play with the settings. Then blend them in photoshop. Might look odd though if you are zooming loads on the moon and then a normal shot of the cathedral. You'll have to do some really good blending to get it looking real IMO.

I think I'm going to try and get to a high spot on the mountains tonight and just set up shooting every 2 or 3 minutes over the 5-6 hours with one camera and I'll do another few time lapses with the other.

 

[Geddes]

I'll have a pop out around 22:00 area and have a test shots see how big the moon will be and where it's located in the sky. I don't want to zoom in on the moon, i wan't it to be the same size just want the moon and the scene to be both properly exposed.

2 separate shots it is then

 

[Geddes]

Also one more thing, when taking pics of sunsets and sunrises where do i put the focus in the centre? to get the forground and sky both properly exposed. So the sky isn't over exposed and can bring back the shadows in the bottom. or do 2 exposures one for the bottom and one for the top. All i been doing is bottom 3rds or just a little higher.

Just been told by 3 people they saw another one of my pics on BBC Look North Weather this time. Must of been week gone. I looked on their website and can't dig out when it was viewed. I know you can go back on ITV weather reports but can't see anything for the BBC

 

[Geddes]

Looked at the forecast looks to be getting more cloudy around the time of the eclipse. Still going to pop out around durham for some inspiration before hand.

Thinking of popping out in the morning for my first Sunrise. Going to the coast i think for that, not sure where most likely Seaham