Getting MORE from your photos !

[04OFF]

this is great as ever since I got a digital slr my photos have been crap ill be watching and getting involved closely I have a canon 550 with a efs 17-85 and a 70-300 and I cant get a good photo at all on the 17-85 and should be getting a 24-105 l lens in the next few months.

While I admit ,I really don't use my 17-85 a great deal, I do find it can be a pretty useful lens at times, I mostly find I grab it out when i may need to quickly adjust zoom for fast moving objects, ive found mine reasonably sharp, and certainly capable of some great images.

Perhaps you can take a couple of basic shots using the 17-85mm lens, post here and we may be able to see if we have any pointers or we may even see if there is a problem with your lens ?

I plan close ups and family shots or day to day lense until I come across a 50mm lense as well. but a macro no I cant get anything close hence the 50mm coming

Are you looking at a Macro 50mm or a fixed 50mm ?


I also have a "fixed" 50mm, again, don't use it heaps, but in low light, family portrait shots, or when you just want "Bokeh" (basically where the subject is sharp but the background is blurred) its a great lens, but not so great for Macro, plus no zoom may have you walking lots to compose your shots (lol)


If your going for the Macro 50mm lens, then disregard the above

I thought the 17 -85 would do it but its crap cant get anything close

Again, are you talking about using the lens for Macro Photography here Kev ?

I have a Nikon D40 and have played around with it a fair bit...these are by far not perfect photos but I submit them to show that a flash is so often not needed for a set shot...I try not to use flash at all at night especially indoors under in-candescent light...the colours come out more true...I also use a power flash pack on the camera if shooting action shots a night...it enables you to be further away and probably would rival my led driving lights ...lol
I also use a Canon A620 and A70 powershots merely for their size and ease to carry...they aslo can be played with regarding settings with good results

Although I try and consider everything , maybe you can pick any issues 4off and explain how to improve with the settings etc..

below:...no flash..with aperture adjustment , with slow shutter speed...this will enable the camera to take in or digest everything that is there as much as possible without lighting up everything
Attachment 43870
Attachment 43869
Below..canon power shot A70
F.2.8
Exposure .6 sec
Focal length 7mm
max aperture 2.968
no flash
Attachment 43871

below for silhouette shots
Nikon D40
F.5.6
Iso 200
Max aperture 5
exposure 1/1000 sec
no flash
Attachment 43872

Kevin 07..that lense is a macro lense..which is the next one I plan to also get for insect photos etc and maintain distance...what did you plan to do with it ??

hope any of this helps

Hi menace, very true about the flash, while flash can be a extremely valuable tool, if you get it wrong, you will call it the devil (lol), I also pretty much avoid it when ever I can, but sometimes it can really make a pic, others it can ruin.


As for your pics, (IMO) the first one is a little blurred, I would suggest everyone always try and use a tripod when shooting sunsets, this should remove any shake, plus your camera should also have a built in shutter release timer, this will allow you to press the shutter button, and the camera will have a few seconds to settle any movement you add by pressing the button, before snapping the pic for you.

Personally, Id have liked to have seen it without the foreground items (trees roof etc), I think "just" those awesome islands on the horizon, and the rest of the seascape, with those colours you captured, may have made for a very beautiful pic !




The second one im unsure about, I like the sun/person thing you have going on , I do suspect I would like it more if a little of the foreground (road, grass) was cropped off the bottom, perhaps id have tried a slightly faster shutter speed, this may have seen richer colours from the sky, and made the foreground/person darker, and so more of a silhouette adding to the effect ?



The third pic has nice a nice tone and texture, but the whole pic seems a bit tight, I think id like to see things wider/further back, to show the setting, and so give more of a "feel" to the place, id like to see more of the effect the light is having on the surroundings chair/floor etc.



The fourth one is just awesome dude !, I like pretty much like everything about it , id be interested to see what it looked like if you could also see the boat, but not sure if it would be better or worse really, great job IMO

[04OFF]

Don't mind me Steve, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

In Auto focus it doesn't focus anymore so won't take a photo
In manual focus when you look through the view finder it looks darker than what it should be and when you take a photo it also comes out dark unless your taking a picture of something bright.

I know its something 2 do with the lens as my other lens works fine.

I have been getting an error code 99 occasionally since it has failed.

Can't remember if I shooting in high speed when it failed but more than likely was

If you've cleaned the contacts, I bet its the aperture flex cable as it common problem with the 17-85mm, can buy replacement ribbon cables off ebay I think ?

Will be instructions on the net on how to do it, never done one myself, both my 17-85s are still sweet, but pretty sure the cable is in there "deep", so you will have fun with that one mate, lol

[fracster]

If you want to do macro guys, get a macro dedicated lens. Anything else just does not cut it.

Autofocus on a macro lens is not really worth a biscuit, put it in manual focus and rock back and forward gently. Also, at such distances the field of view is minute, so you will need F11 and above, unless your camera body has great high ISO then you may need a ringflash. It all starts adding up quickly dollar wise.

I do not do a great deal of macro, but do look at other peoples stuff and know how they do it, it is a very difficult genre to get right.

As for camera modes, I shoot 90% of my stuff in aperture priority, but I live in a dark grey country most of the time. You guys get seriously good light, so Kev will have better experience than I, however, if I can help then I will post when I can.

[wildgu6]

Hey Steve, just checked out your last lot of pics, bloody brilliant.
What settings did you use for stars in the night sky and what lens. Have tried same shot before with a big fail.


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[BigRAWesty]

While I admit ,I really don't use my 17-85 a great deal, I do find it can be a pretty useful lens at times, I mostly find I grab it out when i may need to quickly adjust zoom for fast moving objects, ive found mine reasonably sharp, and certainly capable of some great images.

Perhaps you can take a couple of basic shots using the 17-85mm lens, post here and we may be able to see if we have any pointers or we may even see if there is a problem with your lens ?

Are you looking at a Macro 50mm or a fixed 50mm ?

I also have a "fixed" 50mm, again, don't use it heaps, but in low light, family portrait shots, or when you just want "Bokeh" (basically where the subject is sharp but the background is blurred) its a great lens, but not so great for Macro, plus no zoom may have you walking lots to compose your shots (lol)

If your going for the Macro 50mm lens, then disregard the above

Again, are you talking about using the lens for Macro Photography here Kev ?

Hi menace, very true about the flash, while flash can be a extremely valuable tool, if you get it wrong, you will call it the devil (lol), I also pretty much avoid it when ever I can, but sometimes it can really make a pic, others it can ruin.

As for your pics, (IMO) the first one is a little blurred, I would suggest everyone always try and use a tripod when shooting sunsets, this should remove any shake, plus your camera should also have a built in shutter release timer, this will allow you to press the shutter button, and the camera will have a few seconds to settle any movement you add by pressing the button, before snapping the pic for you.

Personally, Id have liked to have seen it without the foreground items (trees roof etc), I think "just" those awesome islands on the horizon, and the rest of the seascape, with those colours you captured, may have made for a very beautiful pic !

The second one im unsure about, I like the sun/person thing you have going on , I do suspect I would like it more if a little of the foreground (road, grass) was cropped off the bottom, perhaps id have tried a slightly faster shutter speed, this may have seen richer colours from the sky, and made the foreground/person darker, and so more of a silhouette adding to the effect ?

The third pic has nice a nice tone and texture, but the whole pic seems a bit tight, I think id like to see things wider/further back, to show the setting, and so give more of a "feel" to the place, id like to see more of the effect the light is having on the surroundings chair/floor etc.

The fourth one is just awesome dude !, I like pretty much like everything about it , id be interested to see what it looked like if you could also see the boat, but not sure if it would be better or worse really, great job IMO

I can also add that a tripod is a must in some shots. The ability to have a steady camera for long shots is huge.
But also don't feel afraid to set a timer.
Wife was having a killer time getting a crisp shot on a staged shot she took a while back, and the combination of pod and timer made the shot..

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/64084422@N08/9480944109/

[Cuppa]

I consider myself very much as an interested & experimental long term beginner!

Most of the shots I’ve posted here were taken during our jaunt around the country when capturing what we were seeing became a significant part of our activities. I have plenty of results that I was happy with & many more that were duds. One thing contributed to the results I found pleasing more than anything else..... the subjects. Australia just has so much photogenic opportunities it’s hard not to take the occasional decent snap, particularly if you have the time to ‘get in tune’ with your surroundings.

I learned a bit about composition as I went but still couldn’t easily describe what makes a good composition & what doesn’t, but I know it when I see it. Another thing which made a difference was looking at the world around me from a photographic perspective. i.e. Even without the camera in my hand, evaluating what I was looking at in terms of ‘Ooh, that’d make a good shot’. Add to that an appreciation that different light conditions can totally change a shot (“Ooh, I think I’ll come back when the sun is just poking over that hill to try getting a pic of that”).

I had two cameras, one bought whilst away after the first was destroyed after being dropped down a cliff in Karijini NP. Very different cameras with very different specs, but to be honest each have contributed to my favourite shots, which in itself suggests that the ‘machinery’ is only part of the story. The first camera was a point & shoot ‘ultra compact’ (Sony DSC T1), an excellent little camera. Apart from it’s quality, it’s main feature was it could be carried in a shirt pocket meaning it was always available within a few seconds. It’s main limitation was having only a 3x optical zoom (digital zoom was a bit longer, but digital zoom is never as good as optical). Following it’s unfortunate demise I decided to replace it with a camera with better zoom capability, particularly for ‘getting closer’ to wildlife & to assist with better framing of subjects. To this end I bought a ‘Superzoom’ camera (Canon SX10is) which although having higher specs cost less than the tiny Sony. This gave me 10x optical zoom (& 20X digital zoom) without the need to carry a variety of lenses around. A DSLR was out of my price range at the time (still is) but the main issue was one of size. If it can’t just slip into a pocket then I find that I have to go out on ‘photographic expeditions’ as opposed to going out to explore my surroundings with the ability to capture it photographically. This is a significant difference. There is no doubt in my mind that the larger camera changes how the user experiences their surroundings. With the Canon if I could I would often prefer to walk twice. Once with the camera & once without. Of course this also often meant missing wildlife shots, but it was a compromise I preferred, rather than seeing everything through a viewfinder or on a screen. If I wanted that I might just have well stayed home & watched TV. Just my preferences, but perhaps worthy of consideration for anyone thinking of buying a camera?

Whilst I rated the diminutive Sony very highly, I consider the Canon ‘ok’. It’s main downside, (& I suspect most ‘superzooms’) might be similar, is that it doesn’t handle low light situations very well. This can be ‘got around’ by using slower shutter speeds combined with a tripod & the camera’s timer, but of course necessitates lugging a tripod as well as the camera around. Ok in some circumstances, but often not convenient.

Although I’m not in the market for a new camera at the moment, I would welcome any advice on a future purchase which would give me the greater flexibility of portability & low light capability, whilst retaining a decent zoom capability & as broad a range of aperture priority (depth of field) as possible. (I tend to use aperture priority over shutter speed priority whenever I can).

Cuppa

[04OFF]

Hey Steve, just checked out your last lot of pics, bloody brilliant.
What settings did you use for stars in the night sky and what lens. Have tried same shot before with a big fail.

Thanks bud, assume you are talking about this pic ?......



Details are...

Canon 50D
Sigma 10-20mm
Exposure 178 sec
ISO 320
F-stop f/3.5
Focal length 10mm
Metering Mode Centre Weighted Average
Exposure program Manual
White Balance Auto


You obviously need a Tripod and a Remote Timer (depending on your camera), it helps to have a very dark location so the sky is not lit by city lights etc, even kilometres away lots of light will very quickly wash out the night sky background , and wont help "bring out" the stars (you can see this happening on the right above the trees), in my pic, this light helps highlight the profile of the trees a little.

To speed up the process ,I often use a Hot Shoe bubble level to ensure the horizon is level, well, it actually lets you get only the "camera" body level in reality , but that's normally a good place to start.


IMO, This is far from my best pic with stars, and I normally would have lit the trees for a much better pic, I was a bit rushed because I had someone "waiting" for me to finish, so we could go to meet some other people further up the beach, I had to lay in the sand to compose the pic, of course getting covered sand, normally not a problem, but not so great when you have to touch your camera gear

[kevin07]

If you've cleaned the contacts, I bet its the aperture flex cable as it common problem with the 17-85mm, can buy replacement ribbon cables off ebay I think ?

Will be instructions on the net on how to do it, never done one myself, both my 17-85s are still sweet, but pretty sure the cable is in there "deep", so you will have fun with that one mate, lol

my fingers are fat and clumsy so I wont delve into that one but what should I clean the contacts with

[kevin07]

if and when I could get a 50 mm it would be a dedicated macro just for the intricate stuff that you come across in this wide land of ours. but first I will get the L lense that should help me a bit ill put some photos up after this weekend see how things go with time. thanks kev

[04OFF]

my fingers are fat and clumsy so I wont delve into that one but what should I clean the contacts with

Id try a clean dry lint free cloth first, you could try a tiny drop of alcohol (that does not mean you drink some RUM, lol ) on the rag if a dry rag does not work, be very carefull as the contacts are easy to damage.

You can also get proffessional Metal Electric Connection Cleaners like Deoxit.


You could wrap your clean rag around a pencil that has a eraser on the top (obviously using eraser end), that way you don't need to worry about fat fingies