Jump to content
  • Sign up for free and receive a month's subscription

    You are viewing this page as a guest. That means you are either a member who has not logged in, or you have not yet registered with us. Signing up for an account only takes a minute and it means you will no longer see this annoying box! It will also allow you to get involved with our friendly(ish!) community and take part in the discussions on our forums. And because we're feeling generous, if you sign up for a free account we will give you a month's free trial access to our subscriber only content with no obligation to commit. Register an account and then send a private message to @dave u and he'll hook you up with a subscription.

Pictures you've taken that you think are cool


JohnnyH
 Share

Recommended Posts

2 minutes ago, Jairzinho said:

I like landscapes and taking pictures of the dogs. Could probably take a few more in the city, especially by the river, but have never done so. Could do with a proper camera as I'm using a shite phone at the moment. It's good fun photography. Therapeutic.

 

 

IMG_20180620_183402~2.jpg

IMG_20180707_122447~2.jpg

I like these photos and fully agree about photography being therapeutic. Phone cameras are pretty good these days.  My camera is nothing very special, a Canon AOS 600D I've had for years.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, RedBadger said:

I like these photos and fully agree about photography being therapeutic. Phone cameras are pretty good these days.  My camera is nothing very special, a Canon AOS 600D I've had for years.

Not my phone camera! Or, more accurately, not my phone.

 

Deliberating about whether I should buy a camera or a new phone with a decent camera. As I probably need a new phone anyway I'll go for the latter.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, moof said:

Complete noob question, scal. How do you get the colours to look so vivid?

For some of them you need a long exposure, so obviously a tripod, a remote shutter release to prevent vibration in the tripod, and then when processing you draw down the highlights, enhance the contrast and the clarity a little, and sometimes dehaze. A lot of it is in the post-processing but it's important to have captured a decent image in the first place.

 

For other images, it's about learning to read the light, to look for the colour and then wait patiently for the right light conditions to evolve and, if they don't, be prepared to return another day when you know the weather suits your art. A lot of it can be learned, some of it is intuitive.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Scal Capone said:

For some of them you need a long exposure, so obviously a tripod, a remote shutter release to prevent vibration in the tripod, and then when processing you draw down the highlights, enhance the contrast and the clarity a little, and sometimes dehaze. A lot of it is in the post-processing but it's important to have captured a decent image in the first place.

 

For other images, it's about learning to read the light, to look for the colour and then wait patiently for the right light conditions to evolve and, if they don't, be prepared to return another day when you know the weather suits your art. A lot of it can be learned, some of it is intuitive.

Fascinating. They look absolutely outstanding, you clearly have a talent 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Jairzinho said:

What are you using to take these pictures, Scal? And what does it cost?

A Nikon D5200, you can get one for about £300 now. It was about £600 when I bought it in 2014. I struggled with it at first because loads of my images were soft, but then I realised that the kit lens is a bit shit, a jack of all trades, master of none, and I find it only produces sharp images at f9 or f10. Whereas I have a 50mm Nikon prime lens and it is as sharp as fuck. I am still a relative novice, but at the stage where I want to start investing more money in better kit to capture crisper images.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Scal Capone said:

For some of them you need a long exposure, so obviously a tripod, a remote shutter release to prevent vibration in the tripod, and then when processing you draw down the highlights, enhance the contrast and the clarity a little, and sometimes dehaze. A lot of it is in the post-processing but it's important to have captured a decent image in the first place.

 

For other images, it's about learning to read the light, to look for the colour and then wait patiently for the right light conditions to evolve and, if they don't, be prepared to return another day when you know the weather suits your art. A lot of it can be learned, some of it is intuitive.

What post processing software are you using, I use Lightroom and a bit of Photoshop? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, RedBadger said:

What post processing software are you using, I use Lightroom and a bit of Photoshop? 

I use the same, mainly lightroom, but I am going to start learning photoshop in depth, as I would like to take more high contrast images, so I will need to bracket the exposure and then learn how to stack the images in photoshop, that kind of stuff. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Scal Capone said:

A Nikon D5200, you can get one for about £300 now. It was about £600 when I bought it in 2014. I struggled with it at first because loads of my images were soft, but then I realised that the kit lens is a bit shit, a jack of all trades, master of none, and I find it only produces sharp images at f9 or f10. Whereas I have a 50mm Nikon prime lens and it is as sharp as fuck. I am still a relative novice, but at the stage where I want to start investing more money in better kit to capture crisper images.

You can't be that much of a novice half of what you've written appears to be in a different language.

 

I probably couldn't justify spending even 300 quid on a camera yet. Do you think it would be worth spending, for example, half that on a camera? Or just getting a phone with a pretty decent one and if I become slightly more serious about it buy a decent camera for a few hundred quid in a few months/a year/whatever?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Scal Capone said:

I use the same, mainly lightroom, but I am going to start learning photoshop in depth, as I would like to take more high contrast images, so I will need to bracket the exposure and then learn how to stack the images in photoshop, that kind of stuff. 

Sounds pretty much where I am 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Jairzinho said:

You can't be that much of a novice half of what you've written appears to be in a different language.

 

I probably couldn't justify spending even 300 quid on a camera yet. Do you think it would be worth spending, for example, half that on a camera? Or just getting a phone with a pretty decent one and if I become slightly more serious about it buy a decent camera for a few hundred quid in a few months/a year/whatever?

If you want to spend a lot of time doing it, spend the money, because you will quickly become frustrated with the limitations of your equipment as you will improve fairly rapidly. But, if it is an occasional hobby, try to find a price point you are comfortable with. It is a very expensive hobby, some of the lenses I want to get are £800+.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure I want to spend a lot of time doing it. I'd just like to feel that I'm getting more value out of what could have been a really nice photo had I taken it with something other than a shit phone.

 

I think I'd like to demonstrate to myself that I am improving, even if this does inevitably lead to some frustration at the limitations of the equipment. Basically, I'd like to prove to myself that I'm not utterly useless at it before spending a grand on a load of fancy gear.

 

How long have you seen it as a reasonably serious hobby?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Jairzinho said:

I'm not sure I want to spend a lot of time doing it. I'd just like to feel that I'm getting more value out of what could have been a really nice photo had I taken it with something other than a shit phone.

 

I think I'd like to demonstrate to myself that I am improving, even if this does inevitably lead to some frustration at the limitations of the equipment. Basically, I'd like to prove to myself that I'm not utterly useless at it before spending a grand on a load of fancy gear.

 

How long have you seen it as a reasonably serious hobby?

 

Took some 35mm film images on my honeymoon in 2012, realised I might like to do more of it. Got my camera in 2014, hammered it for about 2 years in between writing up my PhD thesis and doing my thesis defence, then we moved to dullsville Arizona, Flintshire, and I haven't done anywhere near as much as I used to, but we went away to the French Riviera  again recently and I realised that I love doing it more than anything else in the world. I have ADHD, so it marries with my personality defects beautifully. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Jairzinho said:

Not my phone camera! Or, more accurately, not my phone.

 

Deliberating about whether I should buy a camera or a new phone with a decent camera. As I probably need a new phone anyway I'll go for the latter.

 

 

Check out these photos apparently taken only on phones

https://www.instagram.com/mobilephone.photographer/

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Jairzinho said:

Stuff like this, for example. could look quite nice with a slightly better camera. No idea what spec mine is. Not good.

 

 

 

From what you've said so far I'd go for the phone upgrade after checking the reviews of the camera.  If you find you are getting into photography look at DSLRs spend as much as you can afford/justify but don't forget that lens are at least as important as the camera for quality photos so save some money for them.  It's not a cheap hobby but you can pick up some bargains on ebay as people upgrade and sell their old kit. 

If you are interested in the subject youtube has loads of instructional videos.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share


×
×
  • Create New...