bugmeister

Well chosen Kobione and well done Colin. A different kind of picture that works extremely well.

Hmmm Nice try

That's a man of many talents and interests. Good on you!

As for the SF image, it's the kind of thing I like but one observation..... the four brightest appear to be two pairs rather than four independent stars.

Those are, as usual, excellent pictures with two stories behind them, your travels and that of Capt Melville.

Just loving the textures on, and contortions of, the trees.

Good news for those who like their bugs

I wonder if we're also going to get more exotics coming into the south of the country (probably not Kobione's spiders though )

Hello Ian and welcome to the friendliest place around   pull up a chair and get comfy.

Well done Martyn, a fabulous picture.

(and well done to Heather for trawling through a fabulous selection of pictures over the last week)

Greetings and  welcome, Stan.

I use Cokin and very happy with them.

One thing to bear in mind is the physical diameter of your biggest lens. That will determine the size of filter you need. My biggest lens has a front ring size of 82mm so to avoid getting the filter holder in frame I had to go for the large ZPro size. Expensive, yes, but I don't get the holder blocking part of the picture.

Mirror - shutter - sensor, three different bits of kit that could be replaced

And yes, you can get your camera serviced, they clean it, realign all the optical bits if needed, check the electronics etc. I haven't needed to have it done yet so I can't say how it works, but i doubt if they change any of the bits without extra cost

I take one heck of  a lot of pictures when I'm at events, but other days I take none and I've averaged about 12k per year over the last 7 years or so.

The shutter assembly can be replaced by Canon service (I think about £250) and I would assume Nikon are the same, but by the time you reach that, will the sensor still be up to scratch? I remember my 300D was showing hot pixels at 25K shots and had become too noisy to use at over 400iso, when I retired it at 35K

The newer sensors are better (no problems at 50K on my current one)

Well done!  

I'm with Leon on this, I'm pretty sure that I'd never be able to complete the project, too many things going on.

Sorry, no milky waterfall, it was a bit flat for that, but I have a lone tree

If I have a patch, it would have to be Wicken Fen.

I don't get there as regularly as I like but it's definitely a place for all seasons. I know most of the walks and trails and what you're likely to find and where, but still get surprises.

Well done Colin, an excellent study

Too true Graham...! 

 

I see our Leon is on form today in the comedy department....

I thought he was serious

(remembering someone warned me about our Annie when I first joined)

Here's one from the other side

When I first started getting reasonably serious about photography (ok who said I haven't managed that yet?!!!), I looked around this area for a camera club to join and learn from..

I went to the closest one and immediately felt like the outsider, I mean I only had a budget 35mm SLR and a little point and shoot digital and between the film purists and those with the latest kit, I was very intimidated. Add to that the fact that every other meeting was a competition of some sort. A couple of visits and that was it, I never went back.

A bit of investigation showed all the other ones within reach were pretty much the same especially with regard to competitions, so having found a number of like-minded people in the village, we started up our own. That was a few years ago and the ethos was very much like this forum. Enjoy everything, learn when you can and teach if you can.

We only have three competitions a year. one is the 'formal' one with an outside judge. One is far more informal with just the members choosing, and one is a fun 'what is it' evening. All the other meetings are either speakers or practical nights, and the practical nights can be anything from trying to photograph model helicopters in flight to water drops, still life, or even the occasional portrait session with willing victims. Add in a few outside trips if the weather is good.

Techniques are widely shared and played with, and we have people who are of all ages from about 20 upwards (including some even older than me).

It doesn't matter what kit you use, someone will always be willing to help you with settings or suggestions and there's even one sad person with many manuals downloaded as reference for most of the cameras we use between us.

As I said earlier, very much like here at TIPF, we all try to help each other, whether it's camera, lens, technique, software etc etc etc

Hi Graham, you've found your way to a very friendly site. Lots of people willing to help and the equipment doesn't matter anywhere near as much as having 'the eye'

Well done David, and good choice Chris

Love it!    I missed the original series so I'm off to take a look....  

Good choice Annie and well done BP

Meeting up with Bugs and John was a truly wonderful day, and I never showed myself up once I don't think. 

Not daring to answer that

It was a fun and interesting day wandering around hunting dragons and damselflies, spiders and butterflies....   etc etc etc

That's an interesting shot. Yeah it's noisy, but nowhere near as much as I would have expected at 3200. The fastest I ever used routinely was 800 black and white and 400 colour. I didn't even realise this stuff existed (although in the mid 80s I had other things on my mind), could have been fun playing with it.

Are todays sensors better? yes, I'd say so. There's a picture on here somewhere that I took at 25600. That was rather extreme  and it was noisier than this one before I ran it through neat image, but not that much noisier.

3200 is reasonable for most things on the latest cameras, and I'm happy to use 1600 if i need to.

Greetings Brian, love the avatar picture Welcome to the madhouse

i went to several weddings last year and each time the bride and groom asked Richard and I to take photos inside the church and out and at the reception... we were asked to be the official photographers but politely refused as its not something i want the responsibilty of. However my point is that they asked us to take the photos as guests. So perhaps we need to take into consideration the wishes of the bride and groom before we complain about guests taking photos 

I just reread that and nearly got the wrong end of the stick. If they asked you to be the official photographer then you'd not have beeen 'just guests' but since you declined and were still asked to take photographs as guests, then that is the bride and grooms wishes and of course should be respected.

The problem is much more with the guests who just snap away during the ceremony, when all they will get is shots of the couple's backs, especially when they don't know how to turn off the flash (or can't be bothered).

I have to add that if the bride and groom asked you, then obviously they think you are up to the job and whether you're the official 'main' photographer or a guest photographer, they obviously know you are of a certain standard and know what you're doing. That's not intended to sound patronising, but is a recognition of your work, which they obviously see as of a high standard.

well that was a dead duck thread!

 

 

Not really

I think there's two aspects to this.

Firstly the point that anyone thinks they can take pictures....   ok they can, but as photographers we see all the little (and big) imperfections in other peoples work as well as in our own, and we are certainly our own worst critics.

I see some superb pictures that people have taken with their phones but when I ask them if they'll print them, very often they look blank and ask why? Conversely many photographers (and I include myself in this) won't consider a picture to be reasonable unless it could be printed at A4 or larger.

Maybe this is the way photographers and snappers will be separated in the future, do they print or not?

Secondly, as for when it's appropriate to take pictures, I have to agree 100% that an occasion like a wedding should be enjoyed by the guests (mothers tears included) and any photographs should be taken outside, never in the church/venue/whatever.

Most venues do not allow flash during the ceremony but there's always some plonker with a phone or compact camera who doesn't think and it fires, annoying everybody else.

If I'm there as the official photographer I normally have a camera set up with a wireless remote so I can take a few pictures of their faces during the ceremony (with the vicar's permission of course) as well as me standing off to one side with another camera for the other shots during the ceremony. Sometimes even another one at the back of the church or up on a balcony with another wireless remote.

The guests get a good view of the couples backs or the soles of their shoes, why even bother with pictures like that? They do though! <rant>