^ i need to get a CPL! Best buy tried to sell me some rocketfish stuff. I politely told him that id do some research first.

I use the B+W one. Its goooooood... their special coating is a dust magnet though for the first couple of times cleaning it.

Picture from a wedding I did back at the beginning of July.

http://www.parkerphotog.com/Other/Je.../DSC1531-L.jpg

Nice shots guys! Weddings are fun but the processing is a pain!

Here are a couple of shots along the aquatic line...

http://www.the370z.com/members/beach...sea-turtle.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/beach...6786-coral.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/beach...e-close-up.jpg

^ You are very good Beach, I envy your skills:tiphat:

Thanks man. Hey, even a blind squirrel gets a nut every now and then.:tup:


I have to post a couple of sports shots because that is where it all started for us...shooting our kids sproting events. No perv comments. That is my daughter.

http://www.the370z.com/members/beach...my-daugher.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/beach...volleyball.jpg

parker- very emotional shot! very nice, tells a story. :tup:

beach- as always, your colors and depth is :tup: :D

here is more down to earth beginner stuff from me... i posted my alfa on mr.onzedge's thread regarding composition...

btw, no cropping used on my picts.

http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...mini-front.jpg

on this pict i should've focused on the tail lamp... kenchan scratching his head... :rolleyes: ill keep trying.

http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...-mini-rear.jpg

and heres my alfa...


http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...alfa-front.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...-alfa-rear.jpg

Thanks kenchan.

That is very good DOF practice!!! Very nice work grasshopper. :)


....and the cars look awesome! I dated a girl when I was in Naples that had and Alpha just like that (but bigger)!!! My first true sprots car experience!

thanks beach! yah, thanks for noticing that im trying to blowout the background. :tup:

thanks. it's a tamiya kit.

wow... i always loved this alfa. :tup: wish i could drive the real thing. hahaha. :rofl2:

Looks great ken! Could only get a bad pic of the RC, ill have to try again.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...i/IMG_0229.jpg

Got a decent shot of the stable atleast!

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...i/IMG_0216.jpg

Cat insisted on getting in on the fun..

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...i/IMG_0219.jpg

Nice Mini Ken, my buddy at work just built the same exact one.
Another snap of my rc from the other day...
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...yan/ax10-2.jpg

Nitex- thanks! dang, look at all the toys you got! :tup: and you have a cat too? :D nice picts.

Alchemy- thanks! I like the deep colors you got in there. :tup: I need to put more punch in my picts for sure.

Im going to play with the lighting so I can get more blue variation from my rug. Will also fix focus and use a click higher f/stop on the alfa's rear shot. :)

I watched a few vids on you tube about ISO, aperture, shutter speed etc. Then followed that up with a quick lightroom 3 tutorial.

I think i learned a few things.. I took this RC pic before i watched the videos, so i think there is much to improve upon when using manual mode. But i tried to use tips from the photoshop tutorial. Here was the result.

Not great but i think my post process is starting to improve.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0244-2.jpg

In lieu of my recent and very small amount of lessons learned, i would have raised my aperture just enough to get all the car in focus, and move the stupid stick. Also, for what ever reason i set my shutter speed at 1/25 using my 50mm. Would it have been better at 1/50th?

I should have manualy set my focus point after moving the stick as well :icon17:

Nitex-good color and clarity! :tup:

here's my take for today... biggest change from yesterday is i got rid of the annoying reflections on the panels by moving things around in the basement, adjusted apeture to get more of the car in focus yet tried to maintain interest on the front end of the car while lighting a bluer hue on the rear wheel to keep the eye moving. no adjustment made other than resize (no color, lighting, crop done)

http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...-frontside.jpg

Nitex, MUCH better than the first rc pic.
Ken, You are gettin good pretty damn quick. Nice shot.
I went out in the woods shooting this evening, was uninspired and came home empty.

What LR3 tutorial did you take? I feel like I'm not using the program correctly.

also - i'm debating grabbing an sb-400 speedlight and a 50mm prime lens. thoughts on the external flash? too early for a beginner to use / stick to the built in? or go ahead and try it out?

I wouldn't get the SB-400, to my knowledge you can't bounce it.

If you could find yourself a used/new SB-600 that would be a good start.

You can definitely bounce the sb400. You can't twist or swivel, only rotate though

Hey thanks alchemy! :D
yah, at your level I'm sure you don't want to just snap a pict of just anything. :tup:

I've had great success using the chinese flashes made by YongNuo. All the features of the more expensive flashes for a fraction of the price. If you go this route make sure it has ettl, not just manual.

i thought the sb-600 was discontinued, that's why it's stupid expensive on amazon compared to the sb-400...

Ahh, Dang... Im losing it apparently.


But if you were taking a verticle pictures though, you wouldn't be able to bounce it off a ceiling would you? It will only rotate upwards correct?

Thats why I would still suggest trying to find a used SB-600.

A off camera or at least shoe mounted flash is essenstial for indoor, even daytime outdoor work. It lets you control how objects or people are lit in the scene, which can mean the difference between looking like a snapshot or a work of art. If you want to up your photo work quality, a speedlight really improves it because you are less reliant on available light in the scene.

I use a SB-900 & a SB-600 as a slave strobe. I love how easy Nikons are when in comes to wireless speedlights. I would agree with Parkerman, the SB-600, even used is a much better flash, more powerfull, than the SB-400. Its well worth the extra expense. The newer SB-700 is probably out of your budget. The SB-600's also have "gels" you can buy that can match the lighting conditions and doesn't mess with the white balance. If the SB-400 is all you can afford to spend right now, its still worth it because the built-in flash is just about useless.

Also, a lot of people overlook white balance and just set it to "auto". Everyone should learn how to do a custom white balance with a grey card (very inexpensive, accurate and saves you a lot of time in post editing).

Yeah, that's the one downside. I got one for $80 new, so I couldn't pass it up. I just slap on a diffuser I made if I'm shooting vertical and it seems to work ok. I'm months behind on images, but I'll try to get an example shot up.

Well typically I shoot in raw. It was my understanding no white balancing is applied to NEF or raw files, so typically I tweak it later. Is that incorrect?

Any suggestions on where to find / buy reliable used stuff like a speedlight?

Yea, I would probably even went for it if it was just $80.

You are correct. Although, RAW files are still tagged with whatever white balance settings (as well as saturation, contrast etc) were on the camera. The difference are plenty, but the biggest "pro" for shooting RAW is being able to adjust those settings without being "distructive." There is considerably more data recorded with RAW files (12bit vs 8 bit)which means more data to work with in post. I usually shoot in RAW+JPEG. This way if I get it right in, less work for me. Shooting in RAW is great, but sometimes you don't need it.

A local camera store or B&H are great place to start since they usually carry some type of warranty (usually 6 months). They are usually a bit more than say, EBay though. It's probably still around $250-$280 for a used SB-600, so I don't know how that would play into your budget.

Yeah, it's light and I can bounce it, plus it runs on separate battieries. Can't really complain. Since I don't use flash much, it is perfect for me.

point taken, i also shoot in raw+jpeg, but so far i haven't been too happy with the shots i take straight out of the camera. i'm still far behind our super learner kenchan here :icon17:

i found a craigslister that's selling the sb-700 for 275 including the ml-l3 remote and a diffuser...i'm asking for details and negotiating, i might jump on it if it's good, but as always i'm very skeptical of CL

:tiphat: That Kenchan learns pretty quickly, so I woudn't get too discouraged :icon17:

That's a really good price for an SB-700. That little remote comes in handy also.

hey phelan, while i was taking my picts last night i was thinking of you and made this shot just for you. :icon17:

i even illumiated kare-panman's face with a incandescent flashlight to give the nice orange color to differentiate from the rest of the pict. :p

http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...11-rc-joke.jpg

guys, thanks for the :tup: but im just really following all the recommendations from you guys and some things i came up with (which im sure are techniques already done by everyone out there. :D ).

so keep the great advises coming cause im really paying attention. :tup:

baaahahahahahahahah i love that shot :roflpuke2: :tup:

now get rid of the carpet so i can fully enjoy the fuzzy kare-panman! haha!

i'ts even more hilarious with the slightly out of focus foreground looking like he's popping up going "wtf?"

:tup:

:wtf2:

hey now, hope you're not jealous... :tup:

mike's totally jelly. :rofl2:

the sb-700 looks BNIB. i think i'm gonna grab it this weekend before the spocom show and then run amok with it haha

Ken what was your aperture set to? everything is well in focus gj :tup: