Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #61 - February 05, 2012, 07:47 PM

Got a decent shot of my cat today on my phone cam today

Really wish I had a decent cam, cant afford it at all right now.

~My story~
~Collection of unethical hadiths/surahs~

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #63 - February 05, 2012, 08:42 PM

Neighbour's dog in the snow, complete with a bit of motion blur.

Before it gets too late, you will find escape.

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #65 - February 05, 2012, 11:14 PM

why worry?

n513872106_1751323_9943.jpg (54.79 KB, 453x604 - viewed 287 times.)

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #67 - April 02, 2012, 10:04 PM

Thanks, Sprout

To be fair, looking at os' starting post, I cheated slightly, as I did have some idea of what I was doing.

Short version: stick your camera in aperture priority mode, set ISO and autofocus point selection to manual (manual focus isn't my thing), and off you go.

Longer version:

I used a long-ish telephoto zoom (70-300 mm) to get as close to the action as I could without crossing over into the fenced-off areas by the bank of the course.
Vibration reduction (a handy feature, designed to minimise the effects of camera shake) on the lens was handy - as I had to do some running to get shots of one boat in particular - but not really essential.
It was a sunny day, so I could use the 'f/8 and be there' rule - most lenses tend to be at their sharpest between f/8 and f/11, apparently - which works best on sunny days like this one.
High shutter speeds to catch the action best - 1/1000th of a second and up should do the trick.
Another benefit of very sunny days is that you can set ISO fairly low (I used ISO 200/400 all day). The higher the ISO, the grainier the image, but the faster the shutter speed you can use, so you can get higher shutter speeds in lower light by bumping ISO up.
Metering modes - how the camera picks a suitable shutter speed in semi-automatic mode - count. I used centre-weighted metering to expose for the bits I was generally aiming for, as the light bouncing off the subjects kept changing depending on where they were on the course. Spot metering would have meant too many blown out backgrounds, and matrix metering would have exposed for the brightest bits of the image.
Manual autofocus point selection - pick a particular focus point in your viewfinder, make sure this point covers over the thing you're interested in most, focus, take the shot.

Before it gets too late, you will find escape.

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #69 - April 02, 2012, 11:07 PM

Lake/Reservoir near my home where I used to go and act emo. Tongue

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #71 - April 02, 2012, 11:10 PM

Quote from: Aphrodite on April 02, 2012, 11:07 PM

Lake/Reservoir near my home where I used to go and act emo. Tongue

I love country side-like places

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'Life is just the extreme expression of complex chemistry' - Neil deGrasse Tyson

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #73 - April 02, 2012, 11:29 PM

Quote from: toor on April 02, 2012, 10:04 PM

Thanks, Sprout

To be fair, looking at os' starting post, I cheated slightly, as I did have some idea of what I was doing.

Short version: stick your camera in aperture priority mode, set ISO and autofocus point selection to manual (manual focus isn't my thing), and off you go.

Longer version:

I used a long-ish telephoto zoom (70-300 mm) to get as close to the action as I could without crossing over into the fenced-off areas by the bank of the course.
Vibration reduction (a handy feature, designed to minimise the effects of camera shake) on the lens was handy - as I had to do some running to get shots of one boat in particular - but not really essential.
It was a sunny day, so I could use the 'f/8 and be there' rule - most lenses tend to be at their sharpest between f/8 and f/11, apparently - which works best on sunny days like this one.
High shutter speeds to catch the action best - 1/1000th of a second and up should do the trick.
Another benefit of very sunny days is that you can set ISO fairly low (I used ISO 200/400 all day). The higher the ISO, the grainier the image, but the faster the shutter speed you can use, so you can get higher shutter speeds in lower light by bumping ISO up.
Metering modes - how the camera picks a suitable shutter speed in semi-automatic mode - count. I used centre-weighted metering to expose for the bits I was generally aiming for, as the light bouncing off the subjects kept changing depending on where they were on the course. Spot metering would have meant too many blown out backgrounds, and matrix metering would have exposed for the brightest bits of the image.
Manual autofocus point selection - pick a particular focus point in your viewfinder, make sure this point covers over the thing you're interested in most, focus, take the shot.

Good post, toor. Afro

Thanks.
I'm a lazy bugger, so I just set mine to auto contrast and take my piccies. Although, I often apply the last tip you listed (i.e. manual autofocus point selection).

Just one more tip to add to your list (although not a camera feature): Make sure the horizon is perfectly horizontal. Some cameras have a grid that you can bring up. This helps.

"Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so." -- Bertrand Russell

Baloney Detection Kit

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #75 - April 03, 2012, 12:52 AM

The only good photos I found on my phone.

"I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure,
Sky-bound was the mind, earth-bound the body rests."
[Kepler's epitaph]

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #77 - April 03, 2012, 02:04 AM

Quote from: Stardust on April 03, 2012, 01:37 AM

You have a dog?!

It's someone else's.

"I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure,
Sky-bound was the mind, earth-bound the body rests."
[Kepler's epitaph]

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #79 - April 03, 2012, 08:47 AM

Yeah, I met the man walking the dog down my lane and I wanted to pet it. Apparently he's about 80 years old or so and had his photo taken with Jinnah and Nehru and I visit him every week. He nearly lost her a few days ago because someone came to his house to do the aerials and left the door open. The dog went to a train station platform and we were surprised that she didn't reach the train tracks and I found her being walked by someone else on another lane.

"I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure,
Sky-bound was the mind, earth-bound the body rests."
[Kepler's epitaph]

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #81 - April 04, 2012, 08:34 PM

Nice effect there. Would make a great wallpaper if the quality was a bit higher.

Devious, treacherous, murderous, neanderthal, sub-human of the West. bunny

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #83 - April 05, 2012, 08:32 PM

.

Do not look directly at the operational end of the device.

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #85 - April 05, 2012, 08:44 PM

You have to upload directly or use imageshack.

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #87 - April 06, 2012, 08:27 AM

I apologize in advance for any reposts. Just going through my library of old pics.

[boop]

Life is what happens to you while you're staring at your smartphone.

Eternal Sunshine of the Religionless Mind

Re: Teh Official Crappy Amateur Photography Thread

Reply #89 - April 06, 2012, 08:47 AM

Yes I did. Thank you!

Life is what happens to you while you're staring at your smartphone.

Eternal Sunshine of the Religionless Mind

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