Photographer's Corner - equipment

[explanade]

Lightroom CC would be worth $10 a month if I had any interest in using Photoshop.

Upgrade price of LR alone is $80.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Last Europe trip I filled two 64G cards and one 32G card. This time I'm taking a 128G and two 64G cards.

!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what to say. Does you camera generate 100 mb files? Or do you take very long trips to very many places.

And I thought I was a profligate photographer.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Pun intended? (shutter) LOL!

Unintended <doggoneit>

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 I really have very, very little time to process photos while traveling. If there is something particularly great I may try to pull together something for email or posting, but most of it waits until I get back home and can use the big HD screen workstation. Last Europe trip I filled two 64G cards and one 32G card. This time I'm taking a 128G and two 64G cards.

Yeah, I don't spend much time processing images while on the road either... other than to get the images copied to the hard drive... which is not that quick with six cameras. (Sounds like a lot but includes two cell phones and two pocket cameras.)

Our last trip (got back a week ago -- California and Arizona) was a month long and about 1,500 images. During that time I used Lightroom on less than 20 images that "needed" to put on Facebook. We camped on the (Dockweiller) Beach in Los Angeles and the Sunsets were fantastic. I purchased a Tamron 150-600 lens (with the APS-C 7D Mk II that is 240-960mm) that I was learning to use. The "Blood Moon" eclipse happened while we were there also.

These are all hand-held, BTW... love this camera.

0N6A0637 Canon EOS 7D Mark II 03-25-2015-19-09-54.jpg

0N6A0622 Canon EOS 7D Mark II 03-25-2015-19-08-17.jpg

0N6A0611 Canon EOS 7D Mark II 03-25-2015-19-05-25.jpg

_MG_0811 Canon EOS 7D Mark II 04-04-2015-04-51-24.jpg

_MG_0771 Canon EOS 7D Mark II 04-01-2015-19-13-49.jpg

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Last Europe trip I filled two 64G cards and one 32G card. This time I'm taking a 128G and two 64G cards.

Yeah, three of our cameras (7D, 7D Mk II, & EOS-M) create ~22mb RAW images and the two PnS's are in the 5mb JPG range. We have about (guess) a dozen 32gb cards that we carry with us. The 7D Mk II has two card slots and I have 2 extras attached to the camera straps of each of the larger cameras. Over the years I have run out of film or storage space too many times... and always at the most inopportune time to not be very paranoid in this area.


I, also, have a difficult time accepting the use of cards larger than 32GB -- "too many eggs in one basket" ... and even then.

[explanade]

I still pack laptops.

So every night or every other night, I offload the images from the cards. The D750 RAWs are about 25 MB.

However the biggest card I've use is 16 GB and most days I don't fill it. Have an 8 GB in the second slot.

I do cull as I shoot but when I end up with 400 in a day, it's an especially long day. Often involves night shooting too, to end up with that many.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Lightroom CC would be worth $10 a month if I had any interest in using Photoshop. Upgrade price of LR alone is $80.

Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan 1-Year Subscription - $99.88 (Reg. $119.88)

Quote:

Use promo code BHOPTIC15 ($20.00 off) at B&H to get one full year of the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan (Photoshop CC + Lightroom CC) for only $99.88. Regularly $119.88. Note from Sean: I've been an Adobe CC Photography Plan customer ever since it first became available. It is undoubtedly one of the best investments I make each month and well worth the normal price of $9.99 per month. However, at this price ($8.32 / mo), it's an absolute steal. [Sean]

[NW-Bound]

We only own pocket point-and-shoot cameras, are not serious photographers, and do not take as many photos as people here. Even so, I often wonder if we have spent too much time taking snapshots than to enjoy the scenery though our eyes. The above is perhaps the main reason I have not invested in a better camera.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound We only own pocket point-and-shoot cameras, are not serious photographers, and do not take as many photos as people here. Even so, I often wonder if we have spent too much time taking snapshots than to enjoy the scenery though our eyes. The above is perhaps the main reason I have not invested in a better camera.

Above?

Oh! But I did savor every moment of the sunsets and the full moon/eclipse. Granted sunsets happen very quickly (relatively) but, even so, there is plenty of time to take pictures without it taking away from the enjoyment of the event. The eclipse, on the other hand, took so long that it became quite boring actually. Of course, that it happened at 4:00 in the morning didn't add much excitement for me personally.

[NW-Bound]

Oh, sorry. I did not mean the set up to take any particular photo, but was just thinking of travelers taking mucho megabytes gigabytes in their trips.

But I can also see that if one is serious into this hobby, then it is not a detraction but an enjoyable activity. It is of course chicken or the egg, but my lack of dedication does show up in the snapshots that I take.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut !!!!!!!!!!! I don't know what to say. Does you camera generate 100 mb files? Or do you take very long trips to very many places. And I thought I was a profligate photographer.

25MB raw files.

We were in Germany and Austria for almost 3 weeks.

On the day we visited Neuschwanstein and Linderhof I shot 1000 images, filling most of the 32G "extra" memory card I had thankfully brought along. Some of the reason for many images was the early morning lighting was high contrast (bright sun and deep shadow) forcing HDR exposures for several landscape views. And then several views were highly amenable to panoramas.

When presented with amazing scenery I just keep shooting and shooting......

I did a huge amount of building interior photography as well on the 3 week trip, although unless there is something like stained glass or a lot of light coming in a window I don't usually do multiple exposures.

This new Lightroom seems to work better with fewer HDR exposures than my previous software, so I may be able to get away with taking fewer. But I need to gain practice with it first to be convinced I am shooting enough when in the field.

[explanade]

I used to think that way. Had a moratorium on cameras between a film SLR I owned in the 80s and a compact I picked up about 10 years ago.

Lot of trips with no photos.

Now photos are one of the reasons to travel.

I have my photos cycling through my iMac as screensaver and many of them remind me of the time and place I took them.

[explanade]

When I went, photos were not permitted inside Liderhof and pretty sure Neuschwanstein. I snuck one in from the chappel because it looked out to Alpsee.

However, I later found there were better shots from the balcony by the cafe and at the path out to Marienbruke.

I went in the afternoon and the sun was on the opposite side of the lake so the conditions weren't the best.

I played around with HDR and panorama but they take up too much time to process, not to mention the need for additional software. I do take bracketed and overlapping shots, with the thought to process HDR and panoramas of them some day.

But I've liked selected single shots as screen savers well enough. Maybe with LR offering a one stop solution, I'll play around more.

That is when I finally am forced to migrate away from Aperture.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade However, I later found there were better shots from the balcony by the cafe and at the path out to Marienbruke. I went in the afternoon and the sun was on the opposite side of the lake so the conditions weren't the best...

And there's that. No matter how good a photo I think I've got, when I go on the Web, there are always better photos, either due to better lighting or quite often skills.

Still, we take a lot of snapshots more because they are personal mementos. In our travel, we often forget the meals or the places we had them. A quick snapshot of the restaurant or the dishes will bring back a lot of memories when viewed later, though it has no artistic values.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound We only own pocket point-and-shoot cameras, are not serious photographers, and do not take as many photos as people here. Even so, I often wonder if we have spent too much time taking snapshots than to enjoy the scenery though our eyes. The above is perhaps the main reason I have not invested in a better camera.

In a sunset, the camera is sitting on a tripod. I'm usually not looking through the viewfinder - I can see the scene on the back of the camera as well as the view in front of me.

So I'm standing there, watching the sunset, occasionally press the button once to take a series of exposures. Very occasionally make a framing adjustment or turn up the ISO. A lot of time spent just enjoying the view.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Lightroom CC would be worth $10 a month if I had any interest in using Photoshop. Upgrade price of LR alone is $80.

I've only paid for a Lightroom upgrade every couple of years. And I will probably not upgrade my Photoshop 6.

So far Adobe has provided camera raw updates for Photoshop free of charge. And I use Photoshop less and less as Lightroom becomes more capable.

So I haven't been interested in the subscription model. Mainly because I already own stuff.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade When I went, photos were not permitted inside Liderhof and pretty sure Neuschwanstein. I snuck one in from the chappel because it looked out to Alpsee. However, I later found there were better shots from the balcony by the cafe and at the path out to Marienbruke.

Our driver/guide made sure we knew about the view from the balcony by the cafe. And I'm glad he did. I shot several panoramas there - the view was amazing and the light was great.

And we were at Marienbruke first thing in the morning - like 8:30am. This was where a lot of stops were needed because the castle was brightly lit while the ravine was in deep shadow. So I burned quite a few HDR image sequences there. By some miracle we had the bridge to ourselves for a whole minute!!!

No interior shots of course. But beautiful gardens at Linderhof, and you could shoot inside a couple of the small buildings if you were willing to shoot through glass. And we visited a couple of other locations that day.

[explanade]

You had to compete in the balcony with people taking selfies.

Ugh what a stupid trend.

Honestly I would not pay to visit inside again. If I could go to the cafe without doing the tour, that's the way I would go. Otherwise stay outside.

But now that I've been, there are other sights I'd visit, like bertesgaden and Hallstatt.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade You had to compete in the balcony with people taking selfies. Ugh what a stupid trend. Honestly I would not pay to visit inside again. If I could go to the cafe without doing the tour, that's the way I would go. Otherwise stay outside. But now that I've been, there are other sights I'd visit, like bertesgaden and Hallstatt.

The balcony wasn't that crowded, actually.

We first saw the "selfie sticks" when we arrived in Salzburg. Seemed like half the Asian tourists were carrying them. We thought it was hilarious. Quite practical if you are seriously into selfies which apparently they are......

We enjoyed the interior of Neuschwanstein very much. But I'm sure once was enough.

It's the most crowded attraction in Bavaria. That's just the way it is.

I had visited 50 years early where I was barely 5, so it was fun to see the difference from what I remember. I think we only saw the interior great hall when I was 5, as I only remembered the staircase in a huge room. We certainly didn't see any of the upper floor rooms. I didn't realize they existed until the recent visit.

[audreyh1]

OK - so I gave HDR in LR 6 a whirl. Just picked my first HDR set of Neuschwanstein from the Marienbruke. It was challenging because the bright early morning sun lit up the castle and nearby rocks and distance, but the closer trees and ravine were in very deep shadow. So multiple exposures were called for. Also note that the HDR set of exposures was handheld - a multiple exposure sequence done automatically, but no tripod.

I took five exposures, but I selected the middle and darkest, lightest for the HDR: -2EV, 0EV, +2EV.The examples seem to indicate LR works better with fewer exposures/less overlap.

I was quite impressed. Beautiful full range of exposures in the resulting HDR going from all black to all white - much better than the prior solutions. Seemed like a very smooth tonal range. Also no weird edge effects like I was getting in some of my older HDRs.

Did this on the Air. Took a while to crunch the HDR preview, but not super long. Didn't use deghosting - wasn't needed. LR did an awesome job of alignment as can be seen by the 100% closeup of the castle. The laptop I worked on doesn't have a calibrated monitor.

Pretty amazing really. This will be fun while traveling - if I have time!!!!

[Ronstar]

I'm going to get Lightroom 6 soon. I'll just get the standalone version w/o photoshop. I have been using the Google/NIK HDR Haddon for Lightroom, and it seems that the HDR composites are not as sharp as a single photo.

Audrey's LR6 HDR looks very sharp to me.