Photographers - what equipment do you use?

[jimbo45]

Hi all
Have a look at a GREAT photography site -- this is a site visited also by a LOT of pros who are usually willing to discuss problems and find solutions with amateurs at ALL skill levels.

They often need advice on the COMPUTING side of the business so I'm sure your computer / windows 7 input would also be extremely valued on that forum.

fredmiranda.com: Specialized in Canon - Nikon SLR Cameras, Forum, Photoshop Plugins, Actions, Reviews, Hosting and Digital Darkroom

Great place, friendly forum and probably the best general purpose photography site on the web.

I've used it for YEARS -- I sometimes do som PJ gigs - Canon 1D MK III, decent -L lenses, etc.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[fseal]

D200 with severall lenses covering every use

Photoshop CS3

I do all my own filing of the "digital negatives". I am considering getting lightroom 3 when it comes out, but generally I take dozens or hundreds of photos on an outting then pick the best 8-10 and spend a half hour or more on each in PS. The rest I toss.

I LOVE doing digital darkroom stuff . And the Astrophotos are REALLY complex to process. My normal 2-5 layers in photoshop becomes 10-25 layers in multiple groups if it's an astro image. All planes are processed seperately and there is frequently more than just "RGB". In fact L-RGB is minimum but then there may be Ha, SII, OIII or other planes that get mixed into the final output. Each "color" is photographed seperately with 10-30 exposures each, then stacked into a single plane, then brought into photoshop as agrouped layer and merged into the final image. I live for that kind of thing

 

[Lomai]

Hi Lomai

Try Picasa. It's a free download Google product and is very easy to use. It catalogues all your pictures by date taken, you can do some basic editing but it is extremely simple.
For example: you take a shot, it's a bit dark and you've managed to include your car bumper in the corner of the shot, also there's a dark spot on the image because there's a bit of dust on your sensor.
In Picasa you can lighten it slightly, crop it so you loose the car bumper and make the composition better and finally use the magic eraser to get rid of the spot.
You can then print it from Picasa, make a slide show or even send a small version direct from Picasa by email to a friend.
It really is good for a freebie in fact I think it's better and easier to use than some of the paid for editing software.
Also, it doesn't alter your original image. That remains in My Pictures, if you want to keep your Picasa edited version you export it back to My Pictures in its own folder.
You really can't go wrong. I've saved loads of shots simply by cropping them or straightening the horizon.

Anyway, those are my thoughts (I don't work for Google)
I notice you're from Fiji. I have a friend/colleague from Fiji who is also a keen photographer and he has taken some wonderful shots out there. It looks lovely. I'm sat here in Britain, it's Easter and it's snowing!

Best wishes, John

Bula John

Thanks and will give Picasa a try. Somehow I bought the camera just because I was told DSLR's were better than your normal point-and-shoot cameras. It's been sitting in my wardrobe for about a few months now after an initial 2-month honeymoon period after purchasing it.

Yes, its 9pm at night and the temp is around 27 degrees Celsius It's not too bad given the max is around 29 to 30 during the mid-morning and early afternoons.

Thanks for the tip and keep safe wherever you are in the world right now

 

[Lomai]

Thanks jimbo for the link

 

[nate42nd]

I have to agree with johnwillyums about Picasa. It really should be tried by most photographers. It is SO easy to use and does SO much. The way it preserves your original image in the "picasa originals" folder within the folder you edited the picture is very nice. I too have saved many images with it's "retouch" and "straighten" and "crop" features. It also has very good "shadows" and "highlights" features. I have some very expensive image editing software but use Picasa more than anything. It will make an aspiring photographer get better results and still keep the originals.

I now have an EF-S 55-250 F4-5.6 Canon zoom lens to go with my T1i and 18-55 kit lens. I LOVE the Canon stuff.

 

[johnwillyums]

Hmmn. Envy you that lens Nate. Have you got a good tripod?

I think they are the most crucial accessory a photographer can have. Got a Giottos myself and it is superb

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
Have a look at these Photographers -- this was for the 100 metres Mens Olympic Final (2004 games not Beijiing BTW)

Don't some of those nice Canon long white lenses make you want to drool


cheers
jimbo

 

[johnwillyums]

I'm slavering Jimbo

We're looking at literally thousands and thousands of pounds worth there.
I would love one of those but they cost about 6 to 10 grand each so I'll stick with my Sigma 100-300 Apo, which is surprisingly good for the money

I've been told that the reason they are white is so they don't get too hot, expand a millionth of an inch, and throw the optics out. Wow!
Sounds true anyway

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
just to whet your appetite some more -- here are some more pics of setting up gear on the finish line for the Mens 100 m olympic final.


enjoy

Cheers
jimbo

 

[johnwillyums]

Watch this and weep folks. This is an available light video sample shot with Canon top end DSLR cameras and lenses.
It's hard to believe.
Nice bit of music as well

ps. I just want one of those cameras.

http://vimeo.com/10442861

 

[johnwillyums]

They look amazing Jimbo. You would need strong shoulders to carry them though. Very awkward on the bus.

Whatever happened to mirror lenses? I know they weren't very good but the principle seemed sound.
Am I out of touch or have they just given up on them?

Cheers, John

 

[nate42nd]

Watch this and weep folks. This is an available light video sample shot with Canon top end DSLR cameras and lenses.
It's hard to believe.
Nice bit of music as well

ps. I just want one of those cameras.

Winter Solstice: A Sneak Preview on Vimeo

Nice bit of video. They shoot great video. Even the new T2i has external stereo mic jacks. I wish my T1i had it.....but I would rarely use it. I will be upgrading to a $2000-3000 camera (probably) within a year or two.