The Photographers' Corner 2013-2020

[seraphim]

Ally canoe by jglennhart, on Flickr

Ally canoe by jglennhart, on Flickr

iPhone 4S

[Ronstar]

Went out yesterday at 6am to take some street scenes. Almost froze, but got a couple decent shots

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar Went out yesterday at 6am to take some street scenes. Almost froze, but got a couple decent shots

Fantastic! I love night street scene with lights. Did you use multiple exposures?

[Major Tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade I have the Canon A-1. A couple of years ago, ordered some rolls of Fuji Velvia to try it out. Back then I only had a little Panasonic Lumix, no DSLR. Thing was huge to take on trip and waiting for the film to be developed was a chore. Then I sent it away to have it scanned. Too much hassle for too bulky gear to pack and the results didn't blow me away exactly.

I had a similar experience a few years ago when I decided to take a trip down nostalgia lane and buy a Pentax Spotmatic in excellent condition. The Spotmatic was the camera I had as a teenager and this one had been serviced and cleaned. I was so happy with it that I bought another one from the same guy. I also bought a Yashicamat with the intention of trying some medium format photography.

I ended up running one roll of film through each camera. As fun as it was using a film DSLR again (I had forgotten how svelte they were compared to DSLR's), it took too long to see the results, which ended up being not as good as digital anyway. It's very possible that the results from the Yashicamat would have been better but at this point, I realized I was too enamored with digital to continue my experiment, so I sold all these nice film cameras and stuck with the DSLR.

It was a fun trip down memory lane though and sometimes I find I need to do it in order to "remember" that we have indeed progressed. I get nostalgic for tube radios too but always stop myself just before buying one when I realize that solid state works better and consumes far less power.

These excursions are definitely worth it for the nostalgia kick though!

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom I had a similar experience a few years ago when I decided to take a trip down nostalgia lane and buy a Pentax Spotmatic in excellent condition. ... It was a fun trip down memory lane though and sometimes I find I need to do it in order to "remember" that we have indeed progressed. ... These excursions are definitely worth it for the nostalgia kick though!

DD had a photo class in HS a few years back. She needed a film camera, so I pulled my old Fujica SLR from the closet. I think I bought in the mid-late 70's (not a high end SLR, but decent I guess).

I clicked through the lower shutter speeds, and they all sounded right to me. Put in a new battery and the meter worked. It seemed 100% functional, I was impressed.

Yes, it was fun, but nothing like that instant feedback with digital now that the quality is as high as it is. And the ability to just shoot away, and pick the best shot ( and sometimes that's all you can do if you don't have time to focus or set up a tripod - shoot and hope one comes out) w/o worrying about 'wasting' film.

-ERD50

[Major Tom]

Agreed ERD50. It is a pleasurable experience handling these solid pieces of equipment. This is one of the shots I used to sell one of mine on eBay. Nice piece of gear.

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Fantastic! I love night street scene with lights. Did you use multiple exposures?

Thanks - No - just a single exposure, 5" ISO100 55mm F13. I've been looking on Flickr and most of the night street shots I liked were in this range. I haven't tried multiples yet

[audreyh1]

5 seconds! That's nice that the street lamps didn't blow out.

[Ronstar]

The lamps weren't bad, but I adjusted the highlights, shadows and whites in Lightroom to get them under control

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar The lamps weren't bad, but I adjusted the highlights, shadows and whites in Lightroom to get them under control

Sure - fortunately you had enough detail so Lightroom was able to do its magic.

[FIREd]

Against my most vigorous protest, I have been asked to play wedding photographer by a family member looking to save money. Any advice? It's going to be an evening wedding in December, so forget about daylight. I also have to travel light, so I won't have a tripod, a lightbox, or anything like that. Just a Canon SX50HS camera with a Canon Speedlite 430EX II flash (fitted with a cheap diffuser dome).

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd Against my most vigorous protest, I have been asked to play wedding photographer by a family member looking to save money. Any advice?

Extra batteries.

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Extra batteries.

Checked. I have 3 spares.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd Checked. I have 3 spares.

+1

How about spare SD cards?

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo +1 How about spare SD cards?

Hum, I only have one. It's 32GB so I don't think I'll run out of space, but getting a spare in case of malfunction might not be a bad idea...

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd Hum, I only have one. It's 32GB so I don't think I'll run out of space, but getting a spare in case of malfunction might not be a bad idea...

+1

As you go you might also occasionally review the photos you've taken in the past few minutes to insure all is well with the card. Much easier to backtrack/retake the shots then than the following day.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd Hum, I only have one. It's 32GB so I don't think I'll run out of space, but getting a spare in case of malfunction might not be a bad idea...

Absolutely. Maybe the more experienced can chime in here, but I think I read that the pros re-format the card before every important shoot. I do know that flash memory can develop bad blocks, and these get mapped out dynamically - but I think that only happens on a format.

If I was in charge of capturing an important one-time event, I think I'd want to upload the shots to a computer a few times during the event. I hate being dependent on a single source of failure.

-ERD50

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Absolutely. Maybe the more experienced can chime in here, but I think I read that the pros re-format the card before every important shoot. I do know that flash memory can develop bad blocks, and these get mapped out dynamically - but I think that only happens on a format. If I was in charge of capturing an important one-time event, I think I'd want to upload the shots to a computer a few times during the event. I hate being dependent on a single source of failure. -ERD50

Good ideas. I'll only have my iPad with me but I can load the pictures on it and they will be backed up immediately to the cloud.

[frayne]

Back up camera and flash are essential, IMHO.

[Mr. Paul]

The family member saves money but what do you get? A bunch of stress and you get to miss a lot of the fun. I hope your family member knows what they're asking but I'm guessing they do not. I've done weddings and there is a reason photographers get paid. Everyone wants the group shot after the fact but cooperation getting folks together for the shots can be a daunting task.

If I were looking to save money on wedding pics I would never ask a friend or relative to do it ... I've said "no" more than once. What I would do (If you are in a metro area) is check the Craigslist "services" section. In Denver, there are always young photographers looking to build their wedding portfolio. I am always amazed at how cheap (75 - 100 bucks) some folks are willing to photograph a wedding.

Again, if you are in a metro area check to see if a local university / community college offers a course in wedding photography. When I took a wedding photo 101 class students were scrambling to find weddings to shoot and a lot of the students were already very, very good.

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