The Photo Snob Thread

[Ek155]

Andrew, mate I think there is a whole lot of room for improvement on these. Like it has been said so many times in this thread, really think about the image you are composing before you click. With both of them, there doesn't really seem to be a true subject, and as a viewer I'm left wondering what exactly you are taking a photo of.
With Photo 1, the light in the top left corner is the first distraction. The trees in the bottom left then throw you completely out. Try and simplify what you are showing, however it may be - a higher angle, tighter crop/longer lens being used on the buildings/subjects etc. With Photo 2, same thing - simplify. The sky has to much presence in the image for not enough interest or place - it doesn't create any sense of openness that a clear sky often does. If you had included the foreground and its potential activity it may have been more interesting. The horizon doesn't appear horizontal, and your eye is left with two things to look at that each could have warranted their own shots, the barge and the wheel.
Just some things to think about. You have the exposures pretty down

 

[wombat]

Anybody here ever come into contact with 3 Legged Thing tripods?
Saw a mailing list email today from an Aus shop that has them now, and I have to say I like the look of them. I was watching my gear shake in the wind, on top of a cliff on the Alabaster Coast yesterday, and got to thinking "man, I'd love a head/'pod that was a bit more solid but still compact". The Eric in particular looks to have a pretty stellar features list.

Not that I'll be buying (anything other than food) anytime soon, but I'm curious.
Link for those who share my curiousity:
http://protog.com.au/3lt-legged-thing-brian-carbon-fiber-tripod-blue-ballhead-p-590.html

 

[Tristan23]

Anybody here ever come into contact with 3 Legged Thing tripods?
Saw a mailing list email today from an Aus shop that has them now, and I have to say I like the look of them. I was watching my gear shake in the wind, on top of a cliff on the Alabaster Coast yesterday, and got to thinking "man, I'd love a head/'pod that was a bit more solid but still compact". The Eric in particular looks to have a pretty stellar features list.

Not that I'll be buying (anything other than food) anytime soon, but I'm curious.
Link for those who share my curiousity:
http://protog.com.au/3lt-legged-thing-brian-carbon-fiber-tripod-blue-ballhead-p-590.html

A guy Callan and I have shot plenty of weddings with has one (or at least something very similar) and loves it. Light and sturdy, and super quick to set up and use. Not sure if it'd be a decent replacement for something more chunky, but for traveling i'm sure it'd be a good solution.

 

[wombat]

A guy Callan and I have shot plenty of weddings with has one (or at least something very similar) and loves it. Light and sturdy, and super quick to set up and use. Not sure if it'd be a decent replacement for something more chunky, but for traveling i'm sure it'd be a good solution.

Yeah cool, that's what I figured. I've got the 055 at home, and it's great, but I can never be bothered carrying it anywhere, and I sure as hell don't take it when I travel. The little one I've got over here now is sweet for travel, but it's cheap and I reckon something in a similar packed size, but more sturdy, would be perfect. Might actually end up using it at home then too!

Whilst I'm here, don't think I posted this one yet:


Looking across Lake Forgansee towards the castles in Bavaria.

 

[Tristan23]

Whilst I'm here, don't think I posted this one yet:

Looking across Lake Forgansee towards the castles in Bavaria.

Pretty nice. Just a couple of things:

I don't like the portrait-orientation. The foreground is kinda...meh. I like the reflection, but with the horizon in the center of the frame it's just not quite as optimal as it could be. Do you have any landscape versions? Or wider angles? A wide angled landscape oriented shot from the same spot would be rad. And also, it may just be my monitor but it looks a bit underexposed to me. Obviously it was getting dark, but I reckon bring up the highlights a bit more to give it some more dynamic range and 'pop' and it'll be a nicer image overall.

 

[wombat]

Fair point on the highlights, I really have no idea what exposure is like from this screen, it changes everytime the screen adjusts brightness, so I've kinda given up on getting too fussy on that for now. That said, like you say, it was dark, and I kinda like the feelling it had there too.

As for the crop/format, yeah, I can see what you mean, buuuuuut, I didn't like the alternative any better. I dunno, I guess with the wider crop it seemed like there was too much dead space for me, and that the bits I liked, like the mountains, were too hard to make out. Maybe I'll revisit it though.
Thanks for the CC!

 

[TWChikn]

I love it man! I see where Tristan is coming from but I love the emptiness of it leading up to the light and mountains.

 

[rhyno]

Hey Snobs,
I promised my wife a macro lens when the tax return came in. The day has come, and I have to come good on the promise.
She has a Cannon EOS 450D, which I understand is fairly basic.
Needless to say I don't know much about lenses, and since she is only getting into photography doesn't really know much more.
What would be a good lens for her? I don't want to spend too little and waste my money, yet I don't want to buy the most expensive one only to find out it's too good for the body.
She's found this one, which we think might be OK, but want confirmation that a) it will work with her camera, b) not be a waste of time/money, c) find the best place to get one from as I hear you can get ripped pretty hard buying camera gear retail (like bikes i suppose):
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-100mm-f-2.8-USM-Macro-Lens-Review.aspx

Budget is fairly open, but obviously there is a limit to the capability of the body, so don't want to exceed that ratio.

Any other suggestions? I'm completely open...

 

[for those about to rock]

Hey Snobs,
I promised my wife a macro lens when the tax return came in. The day has come, and I have to come good on the promise.
She has a Cannon EOS 450D, which I understand is fairly basic.
Needless to say I don't know much about lenses, and since she is only getting into photography doesn't really know much more.
What would be a good lens for her? I don't want to spend too little and waste my money, yet I don't want to buy the most expensive one only to find out it's too good for the body.
She's found this one, which we think might be OK, but want confirmation that a) it will work with her camera, b) not be a waste of time/money, c) find the best place to get one from as I hear you can get ripped pretty hard buying camera gear retail (like bikes i suppose):
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-100mm-f-2.8-USM-Macro-Lens-Review.aspx

Budget is fairly open, but obviously there is a limit to the capability of the body, so don't want to exceed that ratio.

Any other suggestions? I'm completely open...

That's quite a good site and compares the lens with others. I've got the Tamron and it's quite good; my amateur self can't fault it. I'm pretty sure others on here have/ have used the Canon lens and can attest to its quality. You'd be looking at paying around $600 at the cheapest for a dedicated macro lens. As far as I know, it should work fine with her camera but someone else would have to confirm that. If you were after something cheaper to try beforehand you could look at a decent set of extension tubes but going all out for a lens isn't that bad of an investment. If macro turn out not to be her thing, they also make pretty good portrait lenses, for the price.

 

[CraigS]

Can anyone put me onto someone with a good rep for printing images on metallic paper. I'm looking to get a few pics printed and box framed so any advice would be awesome.
Cheers guys

 

[saMfish]

Craig,

Digital Works in Melbourne is the place to go. I can't find the post, but Shane (wombat) had a few of his shots printed on metallic paper from there and they came out so nicely. Their online printing page is here.

 

[skidmarx]

yaaa now this is my kind of thread

ill chime in, have been a photographer for a few years now, dealing mostly with cars and bikes, but have a bit of an artistic thing going on aswell, i kinda gave up on photography after my divorce and put the camera down for a while, but having the iphone with me all the time i still get a few, so yes a couple of them will be my instagram photos, but each to there own, for such a simple app i think it definatly deserves some credit

selfie in an elevator mirror

instagram photo from an engine i was building at work (dont take camera to work or out on the bikes)

view from our hotel room in airlie beach on a boys weekend

eungella chalet

another car i built at work

just north of brizzy on a road trip

 

[skidmarx]

few more

what i see heading home

housemates beemer on the right vs a 1955 bmw we found at the pub

hot chocky lol

out and about taking random shots

the bikes

 

[Hew]

Been taking a few shots with a club photographer friend recently, I'm happy I'm getting a bit better, it's probably the cameras doing though, not mine.

Also went to the Red Bull launch party of their new coloured editions, cool party, great art.

 

[wombat]

Like Sam said I've had some good results from Digital Works on metallic (Ultima) I think. The first lot was really just for my own curiosity and they were pretty good.
Second order was for a night cityscape as a present, and although the print looked great, it hadn't been trimmed properly, and there was a crease in one spot (it came rolled, it was a 60" pano). I sent an email with a pic of the damage the afternoon I got it, and told them it was for a present and I needed it pretty urgently.
I didn't get a response the next morning and was starting to think 'oh shit, here we go', but that afternoon a perfect reprint was waiting for me at home.
I was pretty damn happy with that service, especially since according to their normal schedule they only run the metallic papers one day a week.

I'll happily use them again (and plan to when I get home!) but I've also heard good things about Vanbar's service. Pretty sure they do all their printing in Melbourne though too, so unless I get curious I have no real reason to change at the moment.

 

[wombat]

Craig, like Sam said I've had some good results from Digital Works on metallic (Ultima) I think. The first lot was really just for my own curiosity and they were pretty good.
Second order was for a night cityscape as a present, and although the print looked great, it hadn't been trimmed properly, and there was a crease in one spot (it came rolled, it was a 60" pano). I sent an email with a pic of the damage the afternoon I got it, and told them it was for a present and I needed it pretty urgently.
I didn't get a response the next morning and was starting to think 'oh shit, here we go', but that afternoon a perfect reprint was waiting for me at home.
I was pretty damn happy with that service, especially since according to their normal schedule they only run the metallic papers one day a week.

I'll happily use them again (and plan to when I get home!) but I've also heard good things about Vanbar's service. Pretty sure they do all their printing in Melbourne though too, so unless I get curious I have no real reason to change at the moment.

 

[CraigS]

Cheers boys. I'll be sending them an order soon and let you know how it goes.
Now to decide which image to print:decision::decision::decision:

 

[Callan.]

I've been a bit quiet on here lately...

http://www.callanrobison.com/francis-sandy-mountain-pandas/

 

[Callan.]

ALSO!

selling this if anybody wants it...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160887177532#ht_500wt_1304

 

[PINT of Stella. mate!]

What's the skinny on ordering spare batteries. I need at least one possibly two spares for a Sony A580 but Teds, Harvey Norman et al seem to be hell bent on charging $100 a pop. Ebay however have batteries for $17 - $20 that are compatible. To me that just seems like too good a deal to be true. Will these melt my camera? Does anybody know of any reputable online retailers that will sell me kosher batteries for a bit less? (Amazon do have the original Sony batteries for $50 but they won't deliver to Oz)