The essence of photography

[gobble]

Gobble: Photographing still objects like sculpture in a studio setting is quite an art and you need to get the appropriate set up to make sure the light is bouncing off correctly to minimize shadows etc.
This is quite different to barrel distortion or convergence of parallel line (which by the way will not be all that bad I think at an 18mm ff equivalent lens) which will be evident if you take a photograph of a brick wall or large building using a particularly wide angle lens. Many reviews of lenses provide a picture of a wall to show you how a particular lens performs with this regard.
I used to use a tilt and shift lens with my Canon rig, which was just superb but over GBP 2.000, to get perfectly parallel lines. Nowadays distortion can be easily correct in PP.

Yeah ok, but I dont plan any studio shots. On-site onlee.
Guess I am nit-picking now, should just get the stuff and enjoy it.

--G

 

[Staxxx]

Yeah ok, but I dont plan any studio shots. On-site onlee.
Guess I am nit-picking now, should just get the stuff and enjoy it.

--G

Haha ! Yes....I didn't say it you did Let's go photo taking sometime .....get your new camera soon.

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

On the impact of power conditioners, Art Dudley writes "I powered down the iMac again, removed its very nice, pliant AC cord, and replaced it with the Shunyata Black Mamba, the plug of which fit perfectly after all. I sat back down, booted up the system, and actually made a little noise of surprise when I saw my "wallpaper" picture: a photo I took of my daughter some four or five years ago, on a day when the cows from Glensfoot Farm climbed the hill, breached the fence, and began to fill our yard. The resolution and contrast apparent in that image had increased, unambiguously and without doubt. I was mildly stunned. "

I had previously not thought in this direction, but now it may be time to do something...

 

[Hiten]

Rahul,
Yes they are from private collection. (Already feeling guilty as I have not taken their permission. But had to post as they were very good) Remember these are lower resolution JPGs, which obviously looses grain and fine texture.

Lets not go in to digital vs analogue photography, all can be enjoyed as this is creative field where we express ourselves where as music and audio gear is different thing .

As for Black and white feel, there are good number of techniques like mixing different channels etc. But I am of the school of thought that it is best to take your pictures such that there is no further or as little as possible manipulation is needed to make them look good. But I am not knowledgeable nor am I a photography enthusiast so let experienced people shade some light on this.

Regards

 

[gobble]

But I am of the school of thought that it is best to take your pictures such that there is no further or as little as possible manipulation is needed to make them look good. But I am not knowledgeable nor am I a photography enthusiast so let experienced people shade some light on this.

Regards

I agree. My tilt towards PP is only in the (mispaced) hope of giving a more analog look and feel to the snaps. Since many archeological temple sites are stone color pics make no sense and I tend to use B&W a lot.

That said after looking at some marketing promo of the SilverFX Pro software that staxxx posted about I have started dreaming about being creative and making some surrealistic dali-isque "tweaks" to pics of abandoned ruins and forts just for fun. Maybe I wil try to learn some stuff using GIMP on linux.

I just remembered I have a strong incliniation to visit SE asia this year. Should I just buy the camera gear from abroad like Thailand/Singapore or wherever I end up going? I think I will save some money by postponing my purchase and buying it from there. Correct?

--G

 

[Staxxx]

Hi Gobble. When I last checked there wasn't a big difference in the prices of the OMD between here and the East, but check it out. However, the best camera is the one you have at hand and know how to use well so it would be much better to buy one as soon as possible and learn to get to use it well. No doubt that with these camera familiarity and practice is very beneficial.
If you plan to visit SE Asia, then Cambodia (including Ankor Vat) is a great place for photographs.

 

[Hiten]

Since many archeological temple sites are stone color pics make no sense and I tend to use B&W a lot.

It's great that you have chosen a theme for this hobby. One of my friend (A very senior pro in this hobby) has chosen residential dwelling of rural India as a subject. He photographs huts/dwellings/authentic homes in rarest interior part of our country, which one may not see in cities. He has almost covered most of the country. Will request him if he has any pictures which I can post. Other friend is first a bird lover and secondly a photography enthusiast. He has low end camera but his work is good. He clicks mostly birds, knows most of the birds by their scientific and local name.
Regards

 

[gobble]

Hi Gobble. When I last checked there wasn't a big difference in the prices of the OMD between here and the East, but check it out. However, the best camera is the one you have at hand and know how to use well so it would be much better to buy one as soon as possible and learn to get to use it well. No doubt that with these camera familiarity and practice is very beneficial.

Well at least the price of lenses appear to be unfairly exorbitant on ebay and in local shops. I asked the local contact for some tentative pricing and I can see that the benefit of starter kit pricing is not offered with the default lens. For example -
1. Body ($999) + 12-50mm ($299) is offered at $1099 Internationally but at an equivalent pricing of $1299 + local tax in INR.
2. For the 9-18mm ($699) the offer appears to be at $810 or more.

I will gladly buy locally if the benefit of $200 for starter kit is offered to me for the 14-42mm II R lens to price it around 60K but it is being offered at more than 10K higher for the silver body. I could sell it off if needed to fund the other lenses. In any case I am staring at a initial investment of 1.5 to 2 lacs with the 9-18mm UWA, the 45mm prime and hopefully the new lumix 35-100mm f/2.8 zoom added a months later which is pinching me even as I think about it. Because I am really tempted to drop it and spend that 2 lacs on Travel instead!! Let me visit the shop again and see if he climbs down on his pricing.

If you plan to visit SE Asia, then Cambodia (including Ankor Vat) is a great place for photographs.

Yep. Its on the cards.

It's great that you have chosen a theme for this hobby. One of my friend (A very senior pro in this hobby) has chosen residential dwelling of rural India as a subject. He photographs huts/dwellings/authentic homes in rarest interior part of our country, which one may not see in cities. He has almost covered most of the country. Will request him if he has any pictures which I can post. Other friend is first a bird lover and secondly a photography enthusiast. He has low end camera but his work is good. He clicks mostly birds, knows most of the birds by their scientific and local name.
Regards

Nice. I am glad to hear other prople are out there in a similar quest and approach. Reassuring actually You can post the link to his flickr or other account albums that way you wont have to trouble yourself too much.

--G

 

[ajay124]

I am really enjoying wide angle photography and would like to move beyond the 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D Nikkor lens which I have been using for the past few months.

I am looking for a lightly used AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED at a reasonable price. I am officially requesting all fm's who read this thread to help me find the same. ASAP

AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED from Nikon

 

[arj]

Well at least the price of lenses appear to be unfairly exorbitant on ebay and in local shops. I asked the local contact for some tentative pricing and I can see that the benefit of starter kit pricing is not offered with the default lens. For example -
1. Body ($999) + 12-50mm ($299) is offered at $1099 Internationally but at an equivalent pricing of $1299 + local tax in INR.
2. For the 9-18mm ($699) the offer appears to be at $810 or more.

I will gladly buy locally if the benefit of $200 for starter kit is offered to me for the 14-42mm II R lens to price it around 60K but it is being offered at more than 10K higher for the silver body. I could sell it off if needed to fund the other lenses. In any case I am staring at a initial investment of 1.5 to 2 lacs with the 9-18mm UWA, the 45mm prime and hopefully the new lumix 35-100mm f/2.8 zoom added a months later which is pinching me even as I think about it. Because I am really tempted to drop it and spend that 2 lacs on Travel instead!! Let me visit the shop again and see if he climbs down on his pricing.



Yep. Its on the cards.



Nice. I am glad to hear other prople are out there in a similar quest and approach. Reassuring actually You can post the link to his flickr or other account albums that way you wont have to trouble yourself too much.

--G

G, I had evaluated and almost bought the OMD in australia but could not as the deliverty time was longer than my stay there . it seems to be really overpriced in India at almost 80K right ?
From the reports i read the 12-50 was not really very sharp across. In fact I was thinking of getting a body only and of using it with my 11-22 Zuiko with an MMF3 and additionally a 45mm prime and then a 70-300 for the zoom...all as later upgrades

 

[arj]

I am really enjoying wide angle photography and would like to move beyond the 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D Nikkor lens which I have been using for the past few months.

I am looking for a lightly used AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED at a reasonable price. I am officially requesting all fm's who read this thread to help me find the same. ASAP

AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED from Nikon

you are in too Deep
i am planning a [email protected]. i have shot a lot with a 11-22 on an olympus with a crop factor of 2. 22 is really wide and so a 24 should be enough for most of my shots. with a Monopod you can do a stiching rather well for some good panorama shots

 

[iaudio]

I agree. My tilt towards PP is only in the (mispaced) hope of giving a more analog look and feel to the snaps. Since many archeological temple sites are stone color pics make no sense and I tend to use B&W a lot.

That said after looking at some marketing promo of the SilverFX Pro software that staxxx posted about I have started dreaming about being creative and making some surrealistic dali-isque "tweaks" to pics of abandoned ruins and forts just for fun. Maybe I wil try to learn some stuff using GIMP on linux.

I just remembered I have a strong incliniation to visit SE asia this year. Should I just buy the camera gear from abroad like Thailand/Singapore or wherever I end up going? I think I will save some money by postponing my purchase and buying it from there. Correct?

--G

Gobble, GIMP is a rear PITA! Better use Lightroom or other options.

 

[ajay124]

: you are in too Deep

arj

I prefer to move fast when the upgrade bug strikes me
Stuff which I bought and subsequently sold this year:
Sony HD Handycam
D40
18-55
D5100
35mm 1.8G
55-200
40mm 2.8G micro
D90
85mm 1.8D

Hopefully my buying and selling spree is coming to an end. Only a wide angle and a Speedlight needs to be acquired. Final kit:

D700 (love it)
50mm 1.8D (favorite lens)
80-200 2.8 (love it)
Manfrotto 679B (love it)
Manfrotto 190 X PROB (love it)
Manfrotto 498 RC2 (love it)
Lowepro Flipside 200 (love it, but I will have to buy a bigger bag for carrying both my telephoto and wide angle lenses)
Elinchrome D Lite 400 (have not used it much till now, but I am planning to open a studio in 2013)
14-24 2.8 (to be bought)
Speedlight SB700 (to be bought)

 

[gobble]

Gobble, GIMP is a rear PITA! Better use Lightroom or other options.

Yes I agree. But does LR run on Linux?

--G0bble

 

[iaudio]

Oops! Gobble, I am ignorant on that count. Thad is the person who would be able to answer this one.

Google yielded this:

Lightroom 3.4 in Linux . . . IT'S ALIVE! (and working pretty well) - PentaxForums.com

Instructions:

http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/...ts-alive-working-pretty-well.html#post1662217

 

[ajay124]

Gobble, GIMP is a rear PITA! Better use Lightroom or other options.

I use Adobe Photoshop CS5 primarily for lens correction. For minor tweaks related to shadows, highlights, brightness, contrast, saturation, cropping and straightening I prefer the iPhotos software on my iMac. It is simple to use and highly effective. I love the elegant and intuitive feel of softwares created by Apple. Keeping simplicity, effectiveness and price in mind, I may opt for Aperture in the future.

Apple - Aperture - Why move from iPhoto to Aperture.

A couple of days ago I went to purchase a Sony T series ultrabook because I needed a Windows based computer for online trading. I was completely underwhelmed by every non-apple laptops I saw. Merely looking at Internet Explorer and Bing sends me into depression. Rather than spending 40-50K on a laptop I am thinking of trading in my Core 2 Duo iMac for a new i5 iMac. I am planning to instal Aperture, Mountain Lion and Windows 7/8 on the new computer to take care of my surfing/trading/photo editing and storing/movie watching and music listening needs

 

[gobble]

I use Adobe Photoshop CS5 primarily for lens correction. For minor tweaks related to shadows, highlights, brightness, contrast, saturation, cropping and straightening I prefer the iPhotos software on my iMac. It is simple to use and highly effective. I love the elegant and intuitive feel of softwares created by Apple. Keeping simplicity, effectiveness and price in mind, I may opt for Aperture in the future.

Apple - Aperture - Why move from iPhoto to Aperture.

A couple of days ago I went to purchase a Sony T series ultrabook because I needed a Windows based computer for online trading. I was completely underwhelmed by every non Apple laptops I saw. Rather than spending 40-50K on a laptop, I would prefer to trading in my old Core 2 Duo iMac for a new i5 iMac. I am planning to instal Aperture, Mountain Lion and Windows 7/8 on the new computer to take care of my surfing/trading/photo editing and storing/movie watching and music listening needs

Maybe the photoediting apps are really great with Apple - I am a complete noob with this so my learning curve is going to be steep. However I use a macbook as a my office laptop and I find it pretty average maybe even pathetic if you compare it to the Hype of Apple. I can do a better job of building a linux from scratch desktop running XFCE WM for sure. My office laptop has saved me the expense of being an apple victim.

Sorry for going OT.

I found this one for Linux and perhaps I will buy that once I get the camera.
Photo Management Software - Corel AfterShot Pro - Formerly Bibble Pro

It is optimized to be multi-threaded and reportedly 10x faster than lightroom with Quad or Octa core cpus and reportedly polished and improved over the origin Bibble
LR runs on windows and requires Wine on Linux. This one is native Linux.

--G0bble

 

[ajay124]

Nostalgia Express

My daughter has been pestering me for a long time that she wanted to travel on the toy train from Kalka to Simla. Late night on Sunday I booked the tickets from the IRCTC website and a few hours later (4am Monday morning) we were on our way to Simla. I was travelling on this train after close to 20 years. I was going back to Simla, my hometown, after 10 years. I have great memories of Simla in the 70's and early 80's. Later I got disgusted with the mindless construction activity which destroyed my memories of a once beautiful town. In 2012 I rediscovered Chandigarh through photography. For me the short two day trip to Simla was a journey into my childhood. As viewed through a Nikon.

simla #12 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[Shivam]

GIMP is limited to 8 bit. If you plan to click raw and properly post process it then you have to shift to something else. GIMP is fine as long as you work with 8 bit files. In that case you can stick to the gnu/open source philosophy.

 

[Staxxx]

Very nice photos Ajay. What post processing did you use? Some of the colours are very saturated and really add pop to the photographs. Thanks.