Photography Tips & Tricks

[freakofnature]

I tend to leave my auto focus on because my eyes aren't that great. It kinda sucks for night shots because then I have to focus manually and some of my pics end up out of focus because I have to guess a bit. But yeah, I'd say it depends on what you're shooting.

 

[Tuffdisc]

The experts say it is and who am I to argue with them?

Personally I have a hard time with the focus screen on the 50D and have been thinking of getting a different one. I liked the screen I used to have on my old 35mm SLR Pentax K1000. It was a split screen and it made for very easy focusing.

I think a lot of it has to do with what a person shoots as well wouldn't you think? Try focusing on a speck of fly shit doing 50 mph. That's what it's like for me to shoot hummers or other BIF's. I also have to leave my glasses on when I shot so that doesn't help either.

It is hard though, to get the focus right when using the manual focus

I have a function in my 50D which allows for 'micro adjustments'

 

[Guyzerr]

I have a function in my 50D which allows for 'micro adjustments'

?????

 

[Tuffdisc]

?????

Oh, you haven't got that on the 40D? Shame:24: point is, it is nothing but gimmicky

 

[Tuffdisc]

Since I want to do some Macro photography, there are a lot of sigmas and tamron having the word 'macro' on their lenses (they are not real macro, just close focus lenses) what specs of a lens do i have to factor in before i buy the genuine macro lens?

 

[Guyzerr]

Oh, you haven't got that on the 40D? Shame:24: point is, it is nothing but gimmicky

Tuff it seems you forgot I have the 50D. I still don't know what the hell you were talking about? Micro adjustment??? I assume you are talking about the built-in Diopter Adjustment wheel. I have that of course but it isn't strong enough.

 

[Tuffdisc]

Tuff it seems you forgot I have the 50D. I still don't know what the hell you were talking about? Micro adjustment??? I assume you are talking about the built-in Diopter Adjustment wheel. I have that of course but it isn't strong enough.

Nope, in one of your custom functions, the last one on the custom function screen :thumbup

 

[Tuffdisc]

I quite like the Canon G11, it shows the histogram live before you shoot, which is good in a way

 

[Guyzerr]

Nope, in one of your custom functions, the last one on the custom function screen :thumbup

Out of curiosity what # do you have your micro adjustment set at?

 

[Guyzerr]

I quite like the Canon G11, it shows the histogram live before you shoot, which is good in a way

Screwing up just got faster.

 

[Tuffdisc]

Screwing up just got faster.

I know you shouldn't follow the histogram religiously, but it helps me understand photography a bit more, at least I hope it does:24:

 

[Tuffdisc]

For those budding amateurs like myself, search www.meetup.com for photographic meet up groups in your area...they do have meet ups in the US and UK, maybe even in your local area..

 

[Guyzerr]

Thanks Tuffy. Nothing in my area and I'm not about to start a group. Not enough time. I would be fun though.

 

[Tuffdisc]

Manual mode is the best shooting mode for maximum creativeness........

 

[Guyzerr]

Manual mode is the best shooting mode for maximum creativeness........

Depends what you're shooting. Try it with BIF's. :eek

 

[Guyzerr]

Manual mode is the best shooting mode for maximum creativeness........

I'm going to add to that svp.

While shooting a still scene in manual mode try using your " live view " function if the lighting conditions allow for it and if your camera has that capability.

 

[Siphorous]

Didn't want to spoil Guy's thread so I'll post the bokeh thing here.

Bokeh

The dictionary definition sums it up quite nicely The italics is my emphasis:

a Japanese term for the subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of a photographic image

I thinks it's great bokeh but I'm more interested at this point to hear your definition of same.

I've said it before but imho, bokeh is in the the eyes of the beholder. It really is. The bokeh produced by your lens there isn't *bad* per se, and I shouldn't really have said it was "neither good nor bad". It's just not my favourite type of bokeh.

My favourite kind (but I like other bokeh too) is 'fluffy' for want of a better word. e.g. :



It's not the best pic or the best bokeh (but the first pic that came to mind) but it's nearly there in terms of bokeh that fits my favourite type. Which may not be yours or anyone elses favourite type - but that's cool. Would be pretty darn boring if we all liked the same stuff eh.

I prefer it over this kind of bokeh:

 

[Guyzerr]

Didn't want to spoil Guy's thread so I'll post the bokeh thing here.

Bokeh

The dictionary definition sums it up quite nicely The italics is my emphasis:






I've said it before but imho, bokeh is in the the eyes of the beholder. It really is. The bokeh produced by your lens there isn't *bad* per se, and I shouldn't really have said it was "neither good nor bad". It's just not my favourite type of bokeh.

My favourite kind (but I like other bokeh too) is 'fluffy' for want of a better word. e.g. :



It's not the best pic or the best bokeh (but the first pic that came to mind) but it's nearly there in terms of bokeh that fits my favourite type. Which may not be yours or anyone elses favourite type - but that's cool. Would be pretty darn boring if we all liked the same stuff eh.

I prefer it over this kind of bokeh:

I agree, it is very subjective. imo it's difficult to compare the bokeh in my shot with the examples you posted because the backgrounds aren't anywhere near the same as far as a measurement would be. Your shot for example has a bird sitting on a branch surrounded by leaves and other branches. My horse is standing in a field and just happens to be a considerable distance from a background. I suppose if it was standing on a branch the same effect could be achieved. Taking that into consideration I thought it was quite " fluffy ". :24: Both will produce entirely different bokeh effects. That said and taking all of it into consideration I like mine and I also like your first one.

 

[Tuffdisc]

A good tip is to rather take hundreds of photos that are average, it is better to think of what you are photographing, get the composition right or near enough right, average photoshop time should be 5 mins or less (that is touching up the photos, everything after that is superfluous), otherwise the photos are not that right

 

[Guyzerr]

A good tip is to rather take hundreds of photos that are average, it is better to think of what you are photographing, get the composition right or near enough right, average photoshop time should be 5 mins or less (that is touching up the photos, everything after that is superfluous), otherwise the photos are not that right

That depends on what you're shooting. With landscapes, people etc I agree. Try doing that with BIF's.

Tuffy I hope some day you get a bazooka and join my world. It's very challenging.