The essence of photography

I have some close friends who let me borrow their RE's very often ;) , owned a Pulsar 180, which I let go off recently, now downsized to just a HH Karizma R.

Sorry for the OT, Ajay!
Pertinent to the thread, I use a Nikon D200 with an 18-55VR, 50mm f1.8 and 70-300 sigma.
I have been dabbling with photography for the past few years, but never really indulged 100%, so have not progressed much either. Another handicap I have is post processing! How many of you here are good with PP, be it PS, Lightroom, Gimp?
Madhu, I am kinda in the same place as you I think. Seriously considering selling my gear, as I am not doing justice to it. Thinking of going for a P&S with Aperture and Shutter modes.
 
iaudio

The jeep has a palpable presence. It seems ready to drive out of the pic :)

I have used Photoshop and Lightroom and both are very good. iPhotos has pretty decent editing options. Apple's Aperture (79$) is also considered to be quite good. I have downloaded Gimp twice but found it unusable.
 
Madhu, I had a Canon S3IS before I got my D200. The former got stolen and then 6 months later I took the plunge and got a DSLR.
The G series is too expensive and again bulky, defeats the purpose.

Kittu, If I do jump boat, I'd go for a Canon s95.
Canon unveils PowerShot S95 premium compact: Digital Photography Review

Ajay, Thanks.
I use Gimp, but yes I too find it difficult, unintuitive. I had this whole no piracy, only open source free blah blah phase!
 
Photoshop is a Lamborghini and gimp is a Alto with out power steering , both can take you to the market , to your office ,take your GF or Wife to a movie but if you are a need for speed kind street racer you need a Lambo. You can do almost all photo editing for a photographer with gimp only thing you have to get used to its interface . which will take some time for a windoooz user .
 
One of my fave pics:

7222551208_2b0b6b6348_b.jpg
 
after a long research, and holding cameras in my hand, I too found Nikon D90 the best in my stretched budget, and went ahead with it. Though I wanted to go for a "pocketable" camera, but was pushed to DSLR by mates :)
I went for the kit lens, 18-105 as the non kit was not available for several days and I HAD to buy a camera when I made up my mind, so one sunday I got a call from this shop in TGIP and he said only 2 kits available, come and take it in 2 hours or they are gone.
Then I took a 50mm 1.8. It is VERY good lens as it can take some pics in low light, and is LIGHT. However, I have felt that it gets easy to get out of focus shots for noobs like me with a wide aperture, as the dof is pretty shallow.
I also went for a wide angle, as one wide angle fan agreed to get one for me from S'pore. In fact when I was almost decided on S95 (and posted on fb) he called me one sunday morning at 6am and told me that I can not buy anything but a DSLR. Wide angle is tokina 11-16 (quite expensive, and I haven't used it much).
Looking for a fast tele - sold on 70-200mm f/2.8
But I am mentally back to the square one. I need something pocketable.

In this trip (right now out on a vacation), I seriously considered leaving the DSLR behind. With a 3 yr old kid, there is lot more stuff to carry and worry about than a DSLR!

Maybe I will look into a 4/3 or a mirrorless soon. Current mirrorless from Nikon look interesting - but maybe they will launch something with a larger sensor soon.
For the dslr, I am thinking of moving to full frame, for the situations where I CAN carry so much weight around.
Regarding photos - I am still struggling to shoot a single pic that is worth sharing.


In January 2012 I sold my Nikon D40 DSLR with which I had been pointing and shooting for close to 4 years. At the time of the sale the shutter count was around 7000. The exif data of the 2000+ pictures which I had retained shows that all the pics were shot in the Auto mode. For four years I used a Nikon D40 with it's kit lens, blissfully ignorant of what a digital SLR was capable of achieving :sad: Today when I look at those pics the shortcomings of expecting the DSLR to do all your work are blatantly obvious to me. Now I feel that shooting in the auto mode may sometimes give acceptable results, but one would rarely get a memorable picture.

Every step which I have taken to gain manual control of what I am shooting has yielded an improvement. After shedding the Auto mode I gradually played around with the program, aperture priority and shutter speed modes. Now I have finally, and forever, settled on the fully manual mode. I tried the Auto ISO and White Balance settings on my Nikon, and finally rejected them, as they are at best a hit or miss affair. To get the right exposure, color and focus it is essential that your mind and hands can fluidly take control of many inter related factors. The most important being:

aperture setting
shutter speed
white balance
iso
exposure compensation
matrix/center weighted/spot metering
single point/dynamic area/auto area focusing

Beyond this, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the body and the lens you are using is absolutely essential. Before I made the decision to acquire my present kit, I gave serious thought to the kind of photography that I wanted to do. I made a list of my preferences and interests:

I was absolutely convinced that I only wanted single focal length (prime) lenses. I believe that true high resolution pics require an affordable prime or ( for me ) an unaffordable pro zoom lens. Therefore ONLY primes.

I am only interested in natural light photography and absolutely require the wider apertures from 1.8-3.5. Therefore ONLY primes.

I love both Hollywood and Creamy bokeh's therefore ONLY primes.

I wanted a semi-pro portrait lens for half body and head shots. I wanted a general purpose lens which could also double as a portrait lens. I wanted a lens for landscapes. And I wanted a lens for micro shots. All for a cropped sensor DSLR with a crop factor of 1.5.

I wanted a reasonably priced DSLR which felt nice in my hand, had a pentaprism viewfinder, manual buttons for all the essential features and the right weight. Both for carrying around and for balancing the prime lenses I would be using.

I wanted to shoot people, streets, nature. Primarily in a candid, non posed, reflective mode. I wanted to attempt to take photographs which revealed the inner essence of a person or an object rather than the dumb mask of their outer essence. Sounds ambitious!

A couple of weeks ago I finally decided on the following kit. I have highlighted what I have already acquired and the rest will be bought in the future.

Nikon D90 (body only) 36K
Nikon 85mm 1.8D 20K
Nikon 50mm 1.8D 5.5K

Nikon 24mm 1.8D 20K
Nikon 105mm 2.8D 30K

Expecting enthusiastic contributions from the pro's/semi pro's and amateurs on the forum :)

My recent pics on Flickr. Ordinary but improving.

Flickr: rublev's Photostream
 
anm

D90>18-105>50 1.8D>Tokina 11-16>70-200 2.8>4/3>mirrorless>full frame.

My humble opinion :)

Too many transitions in too short a time. Don't be in such a hurry. Give the D90+50 1.8D your time and devotion. Personally I find the D90+50mm 1.8D combo perfect for both holiday and everyday use. A Lowepro top loading bag is a great option for carrying, using and protecting a camera. I bought the Toploader AW45 from Letsbuy.com. for 1K. Absolutely love it! I intend to buy the sexy looking Slingshot 102 for D90+1 or 2 medium sized lenses, travel documents etc for use during holidays. Check the Lowepro bag finder options to decide which one suits your requirements and budget.

Lowepro | Toploader Zoom? AW Series

Lowepro | Adventura Series

Lowepro | SlingShot? AW Series

Find the best camera bag with Lowepro Bagfinder

Possible reasons for out of focus or blurred focus shots:

Unsteady hands at the moment the shutter clicks
Subject moves at the moment the shutter clicks
Slow shutter speed. For a 50mm focal length keep the shutter speed above 1/50. For an 85mm focal length keep the shutter speed above 1/85 and so on.
Prime lenses do not have VR (Vibration Reduction) therefore one needs steadier hands.
Wider apertures from 1.8-3.5 would also require steadier hands.

But the most common reason for focusing problems may be the Auto Area Mode. Nikon D90/D200/D3100/D5100 use the Multicam 1000 DX focusing system with 11 AF sensor points. Sensor points are the 11 illuminated red dots you see in the viewfinder. The center one is a crosshair type, and the most accurate, but the other points are almost equally good. D90 offers four Auto focus modes:

Auto Area mode: The default mode where the camera decides which part of the subject to focus on and which of the 11 AF sensors to use. It normally latches on to and focuses on the nearest subject. So if you are clicking a pretty girl and there are other objects/people in front of her and closer to you, the camera would probably focus on the nearer objects and render the pretty girl as part of the background. The resulting picture would not be out of focus but the pretty girl will probably look for a different photographer in the future! Auto Area mode is an amateur mode for folks who don't want to take the trouble of selecting and using only one of the 11 AF sensors. It is useful when you want to highlight everything you see in the viewfinder without focusing on a particular point. But you should be careful that there is no distracting object in front of your subject. Auto area mode may give untended results from f/1.8-2.8 because the shallow depth of field may confuse the camera into focusing on the background or the foreground instead of the actual subject.

Single Point mode: You control where the camera focuses by selecting one of the 11 AF sensors. While framing the picture in the viewfinder or live view use the 4 arrows on the navigation button (round knob with O.K. in the middle) to select the AF sensor hovering over the point on which you want to focus. Press O.K. to lock that sensor point and then fire away. The camera will now focus on the exact point where you actually want it to. Personally I use the Single point mode for 90% of my shots. Auto focusing (AF) should be on AF(A) or AF(S) for this mode.

Dynamic and 3D modes: Used for shooting slow moving/fast moving subjects. In this case the 11AF sensors will track the moving subject and decide when and where to focus. Auto Focusing should be on AF(C) for this mode.

For selecting Focus mode press Menu. Go to Custom Settings. Highlight and enter (a) Autofocus. Enter (a1). Select mode and press O.K. Remember to repeat the exercise when you want to switch to a different mode! You can program the Fn button to give you quick access to (a1) and speed up the process. Use AF(A) for switching automatically between still and moving subjects, AF(S) for still subjects and AF(C) for moving subjects can be selected by pressing the AF button and toggling the rear wheel. The 3D Focus mode + AF(C) works best for fast moving subjects.
 
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a few recent pics of mine

Cam: Nikon D3100
Lens :55-300MM Flickr: subhashrai68's Photostream

subhash

Your photo stream revives memories of a trip I made to the Andaman's with my wife - Port Blair, Havelock, Radhanagar beach, Vijaynagar beach, Jolly Buoy, Wandoor - it was a memorable holiday.

You have shot some great pics with your D3100+18-55 kit lens.
 
hi ajay let me know of any good underwater cameras

had a stint with the go pro HD2 @ havelock but pics not too good

or should i go for a casing for the D3100 nikon, but then it would be too bulky
 
I have not been able to decide which wide-angle lens to buy for shooting landscapes, architecture and more particularly for experimenting with curves, straight lines, distortion, perspective and 'innovative' portraiture. Nikon offers DX format wide-angle's like:

AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II
AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR (5.3x)
AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR (3.0x)
AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED
AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED
AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED

The first four are multi purpose lenses covering a broad focal range. These lenses offer a lot of convenience and value. Many wedding photographers seem to have bought the 18-200 and are now looking at other options. Used 18-200's keep cropping up on OLX and Quickr for 15K-20K. For 15K the 18-200 would be a good all-in-one lens. On a DX camera 18-200mm would effectively translate into 27-300mm. Good enough for any kind of photography. An 11x zoom like the 18-200 offers convenience, but it would not be able to match the resolution and speed of a prime. It also suffers from barrel distortion and vignetting problems. The 16-85mm usually gets better reviews than the 18-200, but is less frequently available on OLX/Quickr. I don't think it is worth paying 35K+ for a new 16-85. The 18-55 and 18-105 kit lenses offer modest build quality, but reasonably good optics at affordable prices. Nikon's higher end DX wide's like 10-24, 12-24, 17-55 would probably provide superb results but they are all very expensive. Personally I am only buying FX lenses as I plan to shift to a full frame Nikon sooner or later. FX lenses work well with both DX and FX format's therefore it makes more sense to buy them. Buying DX lenses makes sense only if one does not plan to upgrade to FX in the future. There are several third party wide angle zooms which are more affordable than the 10-24, 12-24, 17-55 Nikon's. All of them are primarily meant to be used with cropped sensor cameras.

Tokina 11-16 f/2.8
Tokina 12-24 f/4
Sigma 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM
Tamron SP AF 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II LD Aspherical (IF)

I would love to have a Nikon's FX wide but I can't afford one. The 17-35, 16-35 and 14-24 all sell for 'scary' prices. Therefore the lenses I am considering are prime's in the 12-30K price range. I would prefer to buy a lightly used one for 50-60% of the new price. Because of the 1.5 crop factor, DX camera's offer additional benefits at the telephoto end. But the crop factor is bad news at the wide angle end. 20mm translates into 30mm, 24mm into 36mm and so on. My shortlist after lengthy consideration:

1. Voigtlnder 20mm f/3.5 SL-II
2. Nikon 20mm 2.8D
3. Nikon 24mm 2.8D
4. Nikon 28mm 2.8D
5. Tokina 11-16 f/2.8
6. Tokina 12-24 f/4 Pro DX 2

Wouldn't mind a manual focus lens if I could get a good one, at a good price. For shooting landscapes auto focus may not be not as important as it is for shooting portraits, wildlife and sports. Even for portraits I prefer manual focusing if the subject remains still and exhibits patience (!)
 
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I was hunting around for some books on photography and shortlisted the following:

The Photographer's Eye/Michael Freeman
The Art Of Photography/Bruce Bambaum
Chasing The Light/Ibarionex Perello
Understanding Exposure/Bryan Patterson
Mountain Light/Galen Rowell
The Camera/Ansel Adams
The Digital Photography Book/Scott Kelby
Digital Exposure Handbook/Ross Hoddinott
The Complete Guide To Digital Photography/Michael Freeman

I have already placed an order for The Photographers Eye. It is available on Flipkart for 1341 with delivery within 2-3 days. I preferred to economise and ordered it from Pustak.co.in for 910 with delivery within 4-6 weeks. Four weeks have gone by and I am still waiting :)

pustak.co.in: Buy Online Magazines store in India
 
I was hunting around for some books on photography and shortlisted the following:

The Photographer's Eye/Michael Freeman
The Art Of Photography/Bruce Bambaum
Chasing The Light/Ibarionex Perello
Understanding Exposure/Bryan Patterson
Mountain Light/Galen Rowell
The Camera/Ansel Adams
The Digital Photography Book/Scott Kelby
Digital Exposure Handbook/Ross Hoddinott
The Complete Guide To Digital Photography/Michael Freeman

I have already placed an order for The Photographers Eye. It is available on Flipkart for 1341 with delivery within 2-3 days. I preferred to economise and ordered it from Pustak.co.in for 910 with delivery within 4-6 weeks. Four weeks have gone by and I am still waiting :)

pustak.co.in: Buy Online Magazines store in India

out of these I have Understanding Exposure/Bryan Patterson. The photographic mantra of Patterson is what he calls the Creative Exposure. Creative Exposure is when the 'photographic triangle' of aperture, shutter speed and ISO combine optimally to give you the shot you desire.
This was the book that helped me move away from the the Automatic mode to the greater creative freedom of the Manual mode.
I guess as far as absolute novices just getting to grips with an SLR this is the book. It steers clear from technical jargon (though when absolutely necessary those things are explained too, at times with simple illustrations) but gets right to the point. The book comes with a lot of handy tips ( i guess most self-help books do).
The page size is that of a large magazine.There are plenty of photographs too. All of them come with explanations as to how the shot was arrived at. Sometimes more than one shot are featured with various different combination of apertures, exposure times,focal lengths etc.
This book is not for those with point and shoot cameras, for those seeking advice on some special aspect of photography (like macro or night shots etc- these are just explained in the passing but for the amateur its enough).
But for the absolute novice seeking greater control over newly acquired DSLRs I guess this book is an absolute gem. Anyway I think the book justified the Rs1200/- or something like that I paid for it.
For those more philosophically minded Rolland Barthes' , Camera Lucida also makes for delightful reading.
 
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Some art and artists who could help in developing "the photographer's eye"

Books like Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes, The Ways Of Seeing by John Berger, Sculpting In Time by Andrei Tarkovsky and Images by Ingmar Bergman.

The photographs of Alfred Steiglitz, Helmut Newton, Henri Cartier Bresson, Ansel Adams....

The films of Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky, Robert Bresson, Kenji Mizoguchi, Satyajit Ray, Bela Tarr, Lars Von Trier....

The paintings of Brueghel, Rembrandt, Goya, Van Gogh, Picasso, Munch....

WebMuseum: Bruegel, Pieter the Elder
 
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