Ahhh!! I new i was missing something. Thank you!

^^ what lens are you using for those shots?

AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED with led light ring setup. Im liking the light ring. Not as good as the nikon macro kit but will work for macro videos i plan on making. Can light up on right, left or both sides.

Wonder what that bug was eating haha. I didnt notice till post process.

i wish i could rent light setups hahahaha

anyway guys...it's pretty obvious i'm the rookie of the group now. i'm not too thrilled with how any of these came out, except for maybe the lobster one. but...photodump time. any thoughts or tips would be GREATLY appreciated :tup:

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0856.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0855.jpg
^ this shot was really hard to get for me. i was in a car going 40 km/h, on a bad road, and i'm surprised it came out. granted, it was stuck on a high ISO so i could snapshot it in manual with a quick shutter speed...so i kind of got lucky. and i ran a few noise reduction filters to help out.
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0852.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0826.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0811.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0733.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0707.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...DSC_0698-1.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0664.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0663.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0450.jpg
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0400.jpg

bonus lol shots:
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0588.jpg
^ what's so hellaflush about a damn scooter...
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0576.jpg
^ nate robinson, slam dunk champion, reacts to watching the FAIL that is a bunch of asian high schoolers trying to do a slam dunk contest. one guy couldn't even dunk :facepalm:

last one: me playing with lightroom results in...
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0796.jpg

Man Nitex I really want a macro lens!!! Macro looks like soooo much fun. How much was that lens if you dont mind me asking?

i like this shot but IMO you need to bump up the exposure quite a bit and then blast the contrast. give it a shot and see what you think... it looks a bit "cold and flat" (but that may be your intention)

Yes alchemy it is! This lens was $980, but nikon has a 60mm for $599 and the newest to the line up is a 40mm macro for $279. I chose the 105mm because it gives me more room to work with. But all 3 lenses can produce great results!

If you get the 60mm or the 40mm you will just have to put the lens almost on what ever your shooting. May be harder when shooting insects and other live things that may decide to bugoff or attack the giant protruding piece of glass hitting it in the face :icon17:

Phelan! That looked like some tasty lobster :icon17: Some of those shots were great. I liked the squirrel and the beach shot with the car.

The shot of nate was good also hahah. Hes like, Damn..... and they said white men cant jump :facepalm:

Thanks, yeah it's kind of funny how out of all of them...I like a food picture the most :rofl2:

Pat - I purposely wanted to keep it on the 'cooler' side, if that's the right terminology, but I'll have to go back and mess with the exposure / contrast again. I left the exposure purposely down right now to give a better effect on the ground, I felt like bumping it up made it look flatter; but I could have been tweaking the wrong settings :icon17:

nitex- damn... nice camera and lens! :tup: didn't know they had angel-eyes for cameras. :rofl2:

i like that fly shot. :tup: looks great, colors are rich and deep. :)

phelan- wow that lobster and crab looks good. :D are you going to make menu's and restaurant posters professionally or something? :yum: btw, where are you taking these shots? in socal?


beach- yah, i dont plan on spending any more $ on this hobby other than a full sized manfrotto when the current one im using dies. :icon17: what my shots are lacking is experience and experimentation.

Ken thanks! And not investing more money into this hobby is the safe bet hah. While specific lenses really do add some missing elements to most pics, and IMO make it that much more fun. Its really expensive!

Those food shots were taken in Indonesia. And if you saw their menu...yeah, I'd use my photos too :icon17:

Yeah I remeber looking at macro and was horrified by the prices. It sucks that quality lenses are soooo expensive. I would love to have an arsenal of lenses but I just cant afford it:(

ha! wat is on the menu next? :icon17: your shots are definitely professional grade! :tup:


indonesia... huh, ive not visited there. :) you should make menu's for them and sell 'em. :tup:

Thanks ken! Long ways from anything that has "pro" in it. But im enrolling in the local CC for photography this fall.

Next up is a Nikon prime 50mm 1.2 manual focus. They have a 30year old used one thats cheap, would be really fun to play with. Much cheaper than the newer, and albeit better version for $724.


Phelan - Nice! i wondered where that was, what with all the mopeds :icon17:

here's a couple pics i took with the 85 f/1.2 L last year in savannah just for comparison. 50mm on a crop body will be about the same focal length since this was on my FF 5D camera:

son
http://jpmcgphotography.smugmug.com/...3_ZSgP4-XL.jpg

father
http://jpmcgphotography.smugmug.com/...0_CiUs2-XL.jpg

anybody have pointers on what to watch out for when purchasing used lenses?

make sure the lens is in good condition (obviously). look for scratches/dents on the outside casing. if there are more than one or two marks it could have lived a rough life and be soft when focused. i would take your camera with you to buy the lens (if possible) and make sure the AF works and doesn't sound harsh. if a zoom lens, make sure it is smooth action completely through the zoom range. it's not unreasonable for a higher priced lens (let's say $500 and up) to ask the seller to take the lens to a local camera shop and have a 3rd party evaluation (which you can pay for) to be sure the quality of the product in question. also worth noting, L-glass in canon and nikon's top shelf lenses have such a good construction that i would be less hesitant to buy one used than a cheaper lens since it takes a good whack to do any real damage to one...

well i'm meeting with another seller off of craigslist (yeah i'm bargain hunting) for a BNIB SB-700 that he's letting go of, and he also has a nikkor 50mm f/1.4G on sale. i'm gonna bring my d5100 and attach both and make sure they work okay.

someone else was telling me to make sure the lens internals aren't messed up, but i've no idea what exactly to look for. i mean...unless it's a big mess, how are you going to tell if there's fungus and what not in there O_o;

take both caps off and look down the barrel, if it looks weird or there are any cracks/spots, avoid buying it. 50 f/1.4's are pretty good lenses for nikon

^ storm, excellent portraits. FF 5D never fails to amaze me, especially when mated to top quality glass.

I did notice a minor scratch on the glass of the used 50mm 1.2 and im sure thats why the price is low. I may just hold out for a new one.

Phelan - 50mm 1.4 gets great reviews. Also seems to be built well, and is G series glass!

I like some of the pictures, but I think you might want to watch your verticals and horizons some - I'm personally not a fan of wierd angles in most pictures, such as the squirrel or some of the food shots (though I like the squirrel picture otherwise).

I was going to suggest considering the Sigma 105mm Macro 2.8 that I got for about half that price, but it looks like it was just replaced with a much more expensive model :( However, Tamron makes a couple of 90mm, 100mm macro lenses in Nikon format that are under $500 that might be worth considering.

Yeah, after a couple hundred shots on vacation, by the time I hit Bali, I was being a little experimental. Thanks for the heads up though, appreciate it. It is rather jarring to see the ground at an angle.

If I'm taking a picture of a long table, though, is there a good way to frame the shot? That was a photo I put a lot of thought into, and nothing else came out quite as well. Here's the other one I took, I thought it was 'meh' (and yes I'm aware it needs work in more way than one! That's why I'm trying to learn...):
http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/...4/DSC_0812.jpg

...I'm a bit of a nut with taking food photos. I used to run a little food blog, so I guess it's still an old habit; but now that I have a DSLR I can actually take half decent photos, not just point, shoot, hope it wasn't terrible.

Any input on taking better shots of food would be appreciated - I might even start the blog up again :)

Did a shoot of my friends Genesis Coupe a few months back

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5183/...aa5de77d36.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2065/...4e2f60b75e.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3010/...391a3c3ca0.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2079/...f5b6404f_z.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2191/...8138716a95.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/...1fc0005e24.jpg

left the wheel turned the wrong way...sucks. The last two shots are my first time shooting with off camera flash (only have 1 old vivitar 285). I also need a tripod; the cheapy one I found gives me shake still.

Boost- nice shots of your friend's coupe! :tup:

Nice shots, first one seems a little too cold to me though

phelan - im getting hungry!! :yum: :yum: those are delicious looking shots.

great looking genesis! My father has the v8 sedan he calls it the "Jenny" :face palm:

so... the camera store sucked me back in... wallet = lighter. Going to attempt moon shots with the 2x teleconverter.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...0/IMG_9888.jpg

Omg:yum:

Lol. Now he's just showing off. Nice mods Nitex.:icon17:

I thought you shot with a canon.

I think the moon might be a bit far away for flash :D - though flashing some trees while taking a night photo can be interesting.

What lens are you using with the 2X? I tried mine with my Sigma 105mm and my 70-300 which did better than I expected.

Phelan: I think I prefer that shot to the angled one, you're going to make me get a 50mm (or 35mm) prime!

Thanks. Yea on the first, that was my first attempt as replacing the sky in a pic. I want to get back into the camera game

I agree, its a great looking car

Good for you :) I have the 85mm 1.2 II as well, my permanent lens, the sex on lenses ;) love it!!

I would like to see more highlights in the windows and tires, mirrors/foam core.

I like where you're going with original idea, More movement, more exaggerated movements, like a 100 mm prime make it look larger than life, these appear like toys-- I get it but make them appear more real use some nice lighting sunset, tungsten lighting shadows go blue add some nice effects :)

Ce photography

Sorry I'm critiquing earlier on, as a professional and to add that extra OOMF to your photos, make sure you clean your gps. Be careful to mix tungsten (3200) strobes 6000k ;) can get nice effects but for cars its ALL ABOUT gradations.

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/8...10811at112.png

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I tried this...

SORRY...

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/8...10811at112.png

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Thanks for the ideas! I have my 105 macro i could try. Only thing i have thats fixed at that length.

So i got a decent mothra shot tonight. And one moon shot with my 70-300 + x2 teleconverter. It did ok... Ill keep trying. I know its realllyyy noisy but.. im just trying to pick up as much detail as possible.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6083/...60921864_z.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6144/...8a0064bc_b.jpg