***DSLR/Photography MegaThread***

[rinkrat]

What kind of concerts and what kind of concert photography?

For the moment, just small clubs since they are the only ones who allow cameras. I'm not really looking to sell photos, I just like taking action shots of things that I like. Having this cool setup inspires me to take pics and since action is what I like then what the heck. So far I have taken pics of a few bands and emailed them and they seemed real pleased with the results, so maybe I can find something to do that is fun and useful like supply a fanzine or something. In a dream world I would be taking hockey photos.

[HeShootsNScores]

+1

Hands down my favorite thread on LGK... weird huh?

Okay... if not my favorite thread, then the thread I check everyday for sure.

[FBJ]

In a dream world I would be taking hockey photos.

You and me, both.

I'd thought about trying my hand at concert photography as well, but I think it's going to have to wait until I get the new camera body and a faster wide-angle lens. I'd like to be able to do that without having to stun the performers with flash.

So on that note, how would you all augment your current portfolios? What kind of stuff would you like to try shooting that you haven't tried yet?

For me, I'd like to fill the portfolio out with some more sports (field or court-level stuff) like basketball and volleyball. I'd like to get an opportunity to shoot aircraft air-to-air. I'd like to do some macro and super-macro work. I'd also like to work on my portrait skills a well.

[trdi]

In a dream world I would be taking hockey photos.

That's one stressful job as a pro. We take great care of our toys, but their equipment is all bumped and half broken. As long as it focuses and the glass is not scrached, it's great, they say.

Hey, talking gear is fun, so I'm sure collectively that part is a pleasure for all of us! But although the tools make it easier, the photographer makes the image, so really any kudos you have should go to yourself. It is always nice when you can capture the image that you are envisioning, especially when things are moving quickly, such as with the Derby Dolls, and a lot of those images are fantastic.

I remember when I was participating in a workshop, led by a top photographer (when you get 7 pages in National Geographic (the main edition), you know you are good). First of all, his equipment was top of the line, I mean that stuff costs a fortune. When he goes working, he carries about 140 kg of equipment (that's why he needs an assistant). He said a couple of things regarding that:
- he needs top equipment, nothing else is good enough
- the difference between top equipment and just very good equipment is not about the "more perfect" photo quality, it might be the difference between getting and not getting that photo you wanted to take. It's not just about very bad conditions, where that helps. Sometimes you have only a moment to take a photograph you've been waiting to take for more than 6 months. With top equipment, your chances to actually get a photo are higher.

That was the best photo educational stuff I've participated in so far. The guy was so friendly, he told us everything we wanted to know, including how much money different magazines are paying and even how photo stock industry is working (damn, that's tough and mean). The stories of his experiences are just priceless. When you see a top photographer (=world class) is having anything similar near you, grab the chance, it's invaluable. When you hear how a certain photograph has been taken and that preparations for that particular photograph might have taken as long as 7 months (!) and bribing a police officer to let you when other photographers can't go, you see that damn photo from completely different perspective, I assure you that.

[rinkrat]

RR in the trenches. These two came through the railing. So much for protection.

(I didn't take this one, that is me about to get kicked in the face)

[FBJ]

(I didn't take this one, that is me about to get kicked in the face)

Holy **** I laughed my ass off at this!!!

I'm SO making that my new avatar!

BTW, looking at your pics from Chix-Pack, I wondered what ISO you were shooting. Looks like if you'd jacked the ISO up a little bit to get some faster shutter speeds, you'd get much less motion blur (from both subject movement and camera movement) in images like those.

I forget if you've mentioned it, but do you shoot jpeg or RAW? Just curious. Either way, if you process in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, you can check out an add-on called Noise Ninja to help out with the noise from higher ISOs.

[HeShootsNScores]

(I didn't take this one, that is me about to get kicked in the face)

Still a good shot... hahaha

[VF]

So on that note, how would you all augment your current portfolios? What kind of stuff would you like to try shooting that you haven't tried yet?

For me, I'd like to fill the portfolio out with some more sports (field or court-level stuff) like basketball and volleyball. I'd like to get an opportunity to shoot aircraft air-to-air. I'd like to do some macro and super-macro work. I'd also like to work on my portrait skills a well.

In reality, I need to work on everything. I think I would like to focus this year on working with lighting more. I have a limited lighting setup now, that I mostly use for work, taking very drab progress pictures, orthographic type pictures of objects to be drafted, which means very flat, uninteresting even lighting so you can clearly see the entire object, so I can't really play, but it has gotten me intrigued to try it more with portrait work (most of my portrait work is available light, or very boring lighting setups). So, I need to make a few more purchases to try it, and find a willing model (the cat doesn't count, and besides he only sits for one flash, then freaks out and takes off )

[FBJ]

Set up my POS tripod underneath our hummingbird feeder this morning. Put the camera on top with the 50mm and the IR shutter release on it and took an 8gb card full of captures. I got five mediocre ones out of the lot, and all of those were of the least-colorful hummingbird that showed up. That's my luck as a nature photographer.

Here's one. Rest are here.



I set the camera up in manual focus and focused on my hand that was placed where I thought the birds would be. It worked okay, but still the bird was kind of soft-focused. The background is crap, too (the undeside of the eaves on the back of my house).

[rinkrat]

Walking around the neighborhood drunk with a camera and a dog