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Digital Camera pic of the day (3 Viewers)

OK, say I know nothing about lenses and stuff, and I want to take better pictures at night. What kind of lens am I looking for? Is there a certain thing I should be searching out? I'd love to be able to grab some candids without needing a tripod or a 15-sec exposure time.
What you need is a lens with a fast aperture. A good prime would probably be best as fast zoom's are $$$. Something like a 50 1.4.. It won't be able to shoot night time candids but it is a good macro lens. If you want a good nighttime lens that you can use from a good distance you are looking at the 135 2.0 but at that price point ($1200) you might as well get a 70-200 2.8
 
OK, say I know nothing about lenses and stuff, and I want to take better pictures at night. What kind of lens am I looking for? Is there a certain thing I should be searching out? I'd love to be able to grab some candids without needing a tripod or a 15-sec exposure time.
What you need is a lens with a fast aperture. A good prime would probably be best as fast zoom's are $$$. Something like a 50 1.4.. It won't be able to shoot night time candids but it is a good macro lens. If you want a good nighttime lens that you can use from a good distance you are looking at the 135 2.0 but at that price point ($1200) you might as well get a 70-200 2.8
OK, if I go to a swap meet, is there a way to tell what I'm looking for if I don't know what "fast aperture", "50 1.4", "135 2.0", or "70-200 2.8" mean? Pretend ( :unsure: ) I'm an idiot. TIA.
 
'Sarnoff said:
'Cowboys#1 said:
OK, say I know nothing about lenses and stuff, and I want to take better pictures at night. What kind of lens am I looking for? Is there a certain thing I should be searching out? I'd love to be able to grab some candids without needing a tripod or a 15-sec exposure time.
What you need is a lens with a fast aperture. A good prime would probably be best as fast zoom's are $$$. Something like a 50 1.4.. It won't be able to shoot night time candids but it is a good macro lens. If you want a good nighttime lens that you can use from a good distance you are looking at the 135 2.0 but at that price point ($1200) you might as well get a 70-200 2.8
OK, if I go to a swap meet, is there a way to tell what I'm looking for if I don't know what "fast aperture", "50 1.4", "135 2.0", or "70-200 2.8" mean? Pretend ( :unsure: ) I'm an idiot. TIA.
Sorry, the first number is the focal length of the lens in mm. so the "50 1.4" is a 50mm lens with a maximum aperature (f stop) of 1.4. Primes typically are faster than zooms. In terms of focal length 50mm is typically good for macro (really close) photography, 85mm and 135mm are usually portrait lenses. Zooms run a wide range from 18mm-300mm so really you can get that lens and be done with your entire range (From wide angle at 18mm to extreme zoom at 300mm) although it will be slower and not as good for night-time photography.Essentially what you are looking at is probably a lens like the 70-200mm f4 or 135 f2. They are both around $1k. If you do not want to spend that much you will need to sacrifice zoom (50mm 1.4 is around $400) or speed 18-200 f3.5-5.6 is about $550.
 
Another long exposure from the CNE, this time of the giant ferris wheel.

Round it goes

Thanks for all the comments on the photos, I appreciate them and love looking at everyone's shots!

 
Thanks cowboys :thumbup:
Prime lens are great value for the money. I have an 85 F 1.8 that I paid only $ 350 for. Great quality and fast. I was going to buy the umber fast 85 F 1.2 for $ 2,700 and borrowed my friends. I was surprised that I liked the cheaper lens much better.

You can buy a canon 50 F 1.8 for ~ $ 120 and it is great lens.

If you like taking pictures of people low f -stops because in blurs (a low DOF) the background and puts the focus on the person.

xample: Girl is focus: The people in background are blurred and not distracting.

Humming bird both taken with low f - stops.

Fun pictures taken at the beach this week.

Light house

fisherman

fishing

Garden

 
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Just a photo I took while out wandering the waterfront one night. The moon was brilliant on this night.. too bad there were so many clouds! (Though the clouds definitely made this shot!)

Somewhere A Wolf is Howling

 
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Biking the world's most dangerous road from la paz, to coroico, bolivia. a ride I will never forget! Going from 15000 feet to 3900 feet in 4 hours, from alpine passes to rainforest.. simply an awesome experience. The road is 3 metres wide, unpaved, extremely rocky, and has 600 meter sheer drops. 18 cyclists have died here in the last 15 years. Before that it was a TWO!!! lane road with nearly one fatality daily on it. Crosses line the road making it even scarier!

A Long Way Down!

 
So I didn't want to jinx it or anything before I actually saw it in print. But I am now officially a columnist for Photography Monthly. I'm basically writing stories about being an amateur photographer in America. This is the October issue. I've written my columns for November and December as well and they already have one letter to the editor about my first one—and it's a good letter, not a bad one! I'm pretty excited about this. I've written column before, but never for this big of an audience, and never for a foreign audience (the magazine is in the UK). Just wanted to pass along the news.

 
So I didn't want to jinx it or anything before I actually saw it in print. But I am now officially a columnist for Photography Monthly. I'm basically writing stories about being an amateur photographer in America. This is the October issue. I've written my columns for November and December as well and they already have one letter to the editor about my first one—and it's a good letter, not a bad one! I'm pretty excited about this. I've written column before, but never for this big of an audience, and never for a foreign audience (the magazine is in the UK). Just wanted to pass along the news.
Freaking awesome!
 
So I didn't want to jinx it or anything before I actually saw it in print. But I am now officially a columnist for Photography Monthly. I'm basically writing stories about being an amateur photographer in America. This is the October issue. I've written my columns for November and December as well and they already have one letter to the editor about my first one—and it's a good letter, not a bad one! I'm pretty excited about this. I've written column before, but never for this big of an audience, and never for a foreign audience (the magazine is in the UK). Just wanted to pass along the news.
:thumbup: :pics: :clap: :headbang:
 
Thanks. I got a lot of constructive feedback in this thread over the years. It means a lot to me. Really, and you guys probably know this, but just a positive comment here and there can really light a fire under you when you're wondering if you're wasting your time.

And to any you I argue with in other threads, I'm glad we're all friends in here.

:suds:

 
So I didn't want to jinx it or anything before I actually saw it in print. But I am now officially a columnist for Photography Monthly. I'm basically writing stories about being an amateur photographer in America. This is the October issue. I've written my columns for November and December as well and they already have one letter to the editor about my first one—and it's a good letter, not a bad one! I'm pretty excited about this. I've written column before, but never for this big of an audience, and never for a foreign audience (the magazine is in the UK). Just wanted to pass along the news.
Congrats, that's awesome! :thumbup: You should link your articles in here as the come up.

 
Thanks. I got a lot of constructive feedback in this thread over the years. It means a lot to me. Really, and you guys probably know this, but just a positive comment here and there can really light a fire under you when you're wondering if you're wasting your time.And to any you I argue with in other threads, I'm glad we're all friends in here. :suds:
:hifive:
 
Long a blind spot, I've read/viewed the last two pages of this thread just now. Damn, I can't wait to go back to page 1 and savor the rest.

 
So I didn't want to jinx it or anything before I actually saw it in print. But I am now officially a columnist for Photography Monthly. I'm basically writing stories about being an amateur photographer in America. This is the October issue. I've written my columns for November and December as well and they already have one letter to the editor about my first one—and it's a good letter, not a bad one! I'm pretty excited about this. I've written column before, but never for this big of an audience, and never for a foreign audience (the magazine is in the UK). Just wanted to pass along the news.
Very cool - congrats! :thumbup: Your posts in here have inspired me to look for interesting pictures in places I wouldn't have dreamed, so at least to me, this is well deserved.

 
Thanks. I got a lot of constructive feedback in this thread over the years. It means a lot to me. Really, and you guys probably know this, but just a positive comment here and there can really light a fire under you when you're wondering if you're wasting your time.And to any you I argue with in other threads, I'm glad we're all friends in here. :suds:
Congrats..... We have had some disagreements in other threads, but I think our :wub: for photography has kept our disagreements civil. Always nice to find common ground when points of view differ. :thumbup:ETA - Hmmm, interesting idea for a an article..No?? ;)
 
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'guderian said:
'pantagrapher said:
So I didn't want to jinx it or anything before I actually saw it in print. But I am now officially a columnist for Photography Monthly. I'm basically writing stories about being an amateur photographer in America. This is the October issue. I've written my columns for November and December as well and they already have one letter to the editor about my first one—and it's a good letter, not a bad one! I'm pretty excited about this. I've written column before, but never for this big of an audience, and never for a foreign audience (the magazine is in the UK). Just wanted to pass along the news.
Congrats, that's awesome! :thumbup: You should link your articles in here as the come up.
Thanks!The magazine doesn't post all of its content online, so I won't be able to link it. So here's a legible version I scanned in.

 
Good stuff, dude! Any more pics of the redhead? ;)

Been meaning to post these, the other day was "Photographer's Night" at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Usually they close at 6PM, but Sunday, after they kicked out the tourists, they re-opened just for photographers. For the regular admission price they let us in for four more hours, with the lights in the tanks on and additional black screens up to cut on reflections. We could bring in tripods, lights, remote flash units, whatever we wanted... I don't have a lot of gear but I did bring a tripod.

Canon, Nikon, and Sony sales reps were even on hand, lending out the newest equipment to try. They let me take a 2.8/50 around, so these are with their lens:

Jellyfish

Dunno what this is called

Moon Jellyfish

Lionfish

Orange Fish

Clown Fish

Spotted Fish

I think this is the 3rd one they've done, and they say they'll keep doing them once or twice a year from now on. Can't wait for the next one.

 
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Good stuff, dude! Any more pics of the redhead? ;)

Been meaning to post these, the other day was "Photographer's Night" at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Usually they close at 6PM, but Sunday, after they kicked out the tourists, they re-opened just for photographers. For the regular admission price they let us in for four more hours, with the lights in the tanks on and additional black screens up to cut on reflections. We could bring in tripods, lights, remote flash units, whatever we wanted... I don't have a lot of gear but I did bring a tripod.

Canon, Nikon, and Sony sales reps were even on hand, lending out the newest equipment to try. They let me take a 2.8/50 around, so these are with their lens:

Jellyfish

Dunno what this is called

Moon Jellyfish

Lionfish

Orange Fish

Clown Fish

Spotted Fish

I think this is the 3rd one they've done, and they say they'll keep doing them once or twice a year from now on. Can't wait for the next one.
Nice!
 
I've tried many times to shoot aquariums and man, it is deceptively tough. Those are impressive shots.
Thanks. It was not easy. The lights were on, but I still had to shoot 3200 ISO and did a lot of post processing. The glass/acrylic is so thick you can only shoot perpendicular or else there's too much refraction and distortion. What was nice was that it was relatively empty, so you could sit in one spot for five or ten minutes and just wait for a fish to swim in front of you just right, you didn't have to worry about tourists trying to see around you or people in a hurry. The other photogs were pretty respectful about giving each other time and space to work. We also helped each other out a few times holding someone else's shades & lights, taking turns shooting while we all shared the setup.I still took over a thousand exposures to end up with 10 or so decent pictures. There were some tanks where I took a ton of pictures and not a single one came out well.
 
Good stuff, dude! Any more pics of the redhead? ;)

Been meaning to post these, the other day was "Photographer's Night" at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Usually they close at 6PM, but Sunday, after they kicked out the tourists, they re-opened just for photographers. For the regular admission price they let us in for four more hours, with the lights in the tanks on and additional black screens up to cut on reflections. We could bring in tripods, lights, remote flash units, whatever we wanted... I don't have a lot of gear but I did bring a tripod.

Canon, Nikon, and Sony sales reps were even on hand, lending out the newest equipment to try. They let me take a 2.8/50 around, so these are with their lens:

Jellyfish

I think this is the 3rd one they've done, and they say they'll keep doing them once or twice a year from now on. Can't wait for the next one.
Absolutely :wub: this one.. almost looks like abstract art.. VERY nicely captured!! :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
'pantagrapher said:
So I didn't want to jinx it or anything before I actually saw it in print. But I am now officially a columnist for Photography Monthly. I'm basically writing stories about being an amateur photographer in America. This is the October issue. I've written my columns for November and December as well and they already have one letter to the editor about my first one—and it's a good letter, not a bad one! I'm pretty excited about this. I've written column before, but never for this big of an audience, and never for a foreign audience (the magazine is in the UK). Just wanted to pass along the news.
outstanding! I'd love to see the columns! I love photo mag's!Sarnoff, those pictures are incredible! I agree that shooting an aquarium is not easy!

 

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