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GAF Photography Thread of 2017

J

jongkookie

Member
This loud as shit bird(does anybody what kind it is?) was sitting on a tree close to my window just a few minutes ago:



Lol jk I didn't hate it. I wanted to take more pics actually as that one was done handheld. But by the time I decided to go grab my tripod, it was already gone. :(
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
Pachimari said:
Where is this shot?
Click to expand...

Hi - sorry for the late reply! It was taken at the beach at a town called Balintore in the North of Scotland (just down the road from me). I'd like to go back to try a few more, as I think I can get better than this - I arrived just as the sun was disappearing behind the point, so I had just a few minutes to set up and try to get something worthwhile. Better planning next time!
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
I like them. I'm not as keen on blue-lit shots as I am on the others, but they're neat. Love the way her rings pop in the B&W shots and I think DSC_1810 is cracking - I like the way her eyes are swallowed up by the shadow, with the catch lights just picking them out.

I'd be happy coming away with a set of shots like that!
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Cosmonaut X said:
I like them. I'm not as keen on blue-lit shots as I am on the others, but they're neat. Love the way her rings pop in the B&W shots and I think DSC_1810 is cracking - I like the way her eyes are swallowed up by the shadow, with the catch lights just picking them out.

I'd be happy coming away with a set of shots like that!
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Than you, I think half of my problem was that she was 5 hours late and the whole thing wrecked my entire day and part of my Sunday in the process. I guess when stuff goes wrong like that it kind of just effects my enjoyment of a shoot and the pictures that come from it.
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
JadedWriter said:
Than you, I think half of my problem was that she was 5 hours late and the whole thing wrecked my entire day and part of my Sunday in the process. I guess when stuff goes wrong like that it kind of just effects my enjoyment of a shoot and the pictures that come from it.
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Ooof! Yeah, I can see why that would sour you on the photos that came out of it. Perhaps popping them in the metaphorical drawer for a week or two will help? I tend to find myself coming back from shooting really happy with the photos having reviewed them on the back of the camera, then brought down when I review them on a big screen ("Oh, no I missed focus! Crap, I botched the framing on this one! What was I thinking!" etc.) to pick out the keepers and it's sometimes only after a week or two (and going to shoot something else) that I'm able to come to them clean.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Cosmonaut X said:
Ooof! Yeah, I can see why that would sour you on the photos that came out of it. Perhaps popping them in the metaphorical drawer for a week or two will help? I tend to find myself coming back from shooting really happy with the photos having reviewed them on the back of the camera, then brought down when I review them on a big screen ("Oh, no I missed focus! Crap, I botched the framing on this one! What was I thinking!" etc.) to pick out the keepers and it's sometimes only after a week or two (and going to shoot something else) that I'm able to come to them clean.
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Yeah this still happens to me as well. Especially on my 810. I'm still trying to figure the shutter speed sweet spot on this thing, that and sometimes I'm at a dumb shutter speed in the studio. People say 1/60th is fine, but not on the 810 with no stabilization, I don't think I found consistent keepers till I got to 1/160th. Just depends. I think these days I try to not really sort through stuff till the next day.
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
JadedWriter said:
Yeah this still happens to me as well. Especially on my 810. I'm still trying to figure the shutter speed sweet spot on this thing, that and sometimes I'm at a dumb shutter speed in the studio. People say 1/60th is fine, but not on the 810 with no stabilization, I don't think I found consistent keepers till I got to 1/160th. Just depends. I think these days I try to not really sort through stuff till the next day.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's probably the best way to handle it. Most of my stuff tends to be outdoors, and over the next year it's likely to be at day-long events so I have an excuse for getting in and sticking the gear in the corner and not looking at them until the next day :)

re: Shutter speed. Aviation photography is absolutely unforgiving with regard to shutter/aperture/ISO and technique and it's been a real learning curve for me. For fast jets, you want the shutter speed high - you're talking at least 1/1000 if you're not panning for effect - but you're also looking for nailing focus and good depth of field so you can't shoot wide open, but those two factors mean using low ISO is difficult on all but the brightest days... and bright days often means flat light, which isn't great for the subject! Prop planes kinda reverse that - you want the shutter speed down to 1/60s-1/125 and low ISO with a really narrow aperture (f16-f22) - so you can get good prop blur and the sense of motion that prop planes and helicopters need to not look like they're hanging in mid-air, but as even a prop plane moves pretty sharpish you're going to be shooting handheld (or if you're lucky on a monopod or high-end tripod) which - even with IS - is not easy!

There are few types of photography that demand high-end kit, but aviation photography - at the enthusiastic amateur level and up - is definitely one where the kind of glass you're using will determine what kind of shots are possible (unless you have an in to an airport or military base, in which case you can get some amazing shots with just about anything because you have the proximity to the subject).
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Cosmonaut X said:
Yeah, it's probably the best way to handle it. Most of my stuff tends to be outdoors, and over the next year it's likely to be at day-long events so I have an excuse for getting in and sticking the gear in the corner and not looking at them until the next day :)

re: Shutter speed. Aviation photography is absolutely unforgiving with regard to shutter/aperture/ISO and technique and it's been a real learning curve for me. For fast jets, you want the shutter speed high - you're talking at least 1/1000 if you're not panning for effect - but you're also looking for nailing focus and good depth of field so you can't shoot wide open, but those two factors mean using low ISO is difficult on all but the brightest days... and bright days often means flat light, which isn't great for the subject! Prop planes kinda reverse that - you want the shutter speed down to 1/60s-1/125 and low ISO with a really narrow aperture (f16-f22) - so you can get good prop blur and the sense of motion that prop planes and helicopters need to not look like they're hanging in mid-air, but as even a prop plane moves pretty sharpish you're going to be shooting handheld (or if you're lucky on a monopod or high-end tripod) which - even with IS - is not easy!

There are few types of photography that demand high-end kit, but aviation photography - at the enthusiastic amateur level and up - is definitely one where the kind of glass you're using will determine what kind of shots are possible (unless you have an in to an airport or military base, in which case you can get some amazing shots with just about anything because you have the proximity to the subject).
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Yeah aviation and wildlife is pretty much long glass territory. I'm always curious about what lens to buy next and I'm always like...what the fuck am I even going to do with it and just don't even bother. I kind of am in "if it ain't broke don't fix it" territory. Like what am I going to do with a 200-500?
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
JadedWriter said:
Yeah aviation and wildlife is pretty much long glass territory. I'm always curious about what lens to buy next and I'm always like...what the fuck am I even going to do with it and just don't even bother. I kind of am in "if it ain't broke don't fix it" territory. Like what am I going to do with a 200-500?
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Heh. I've got my eye on a 150-600mm lens, but even that "budget" long lens is £1,000+, and at that price you have to start getting serious about trying to make money out of what you do (unless you're an amateur with deeeeep pockets, dropping four figures on one lens is not "this is a hobby" territory :) )
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Cosmonaut X said:
Heh. I've got my eye on a 150-600mm lens, but even that "budget" long lens is £1,000+, and at that price you have to start getting serious about trying to make money out of what you do (unless you're an amateur with deeeeep pockets, dropping four figures on one lens is not "this is a hobby" territory :) )
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No kidding...I do my best to get paid stuff, but it's not exactly easy. I think I turned someone off cause they asked if I did TFP and my response was you asked to work with me so I'm going to charge you something. If you like my work and want me to work with you then yeah I'm going to charge you.
 
V

vern

Member
What up guys, long time no see. Glad everyone is still putting out quality stuff.

I don't think I've contributed yet in 2017, though I've been out with my camera a few times. I mentioned at the tail end of 2016 I got offered a job at a photo studio in Shanghai, after a few other interviews and meeting them in person they ended up wanting me for business development in their head office. So I'm not really shooting much at all, but learning a lot about the business side of things, especially as it pertains to wedding photography in Asia. Turns out the studio I was offered a job at is just one of our over 100 stores across China, Korea and Malaysia. And we are expanding into other markets, hopefully the USA/Canada even this year.

Not sure why I'm telling ya'll this except that most of us have been around these GAF photo threads for a few years at least, so kind of feels like a community within the community... also in case anyone is looking for a job as a photographer shooting engagement photos in Asia hit me up. Pay isn't great starting out (around 30k USD) but you can live a pretty good life out here anyway if you are interested in giving it a go. If we do get a store up and going in LA or Vancouver this year I'll let you guys know.


Also, I'll contribute some photos I took recently next time I leave mainland China, VPN and flickr are refusing to play nice.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
vern said:
What up guys, long time no see. Glad everyone is still putting out quality stuff.

I don't think I've contributed yet in 2017, though I've been out with my camera a few times. I mentioned at the tail end of 2016 I got offered a job at a photo studio in Shanghai, after a few other interviews and meeting them in person they ended up wanting me for business development in their head office. So I'm not really shooting much at all, but learning a lot about the business side of things, especially as it pertains to wedding photography in Asia. Turns out the studio I was offered a job at is just one of our over 100 stores across China, Korea and Malaysia. And we are expanding into other markets, hopefully the USA/Canada even this year.

Not sure why I'm telling ya'll this except that most of us have been around these GAF photo threads for a few years at least, so kind of feels like a community within the community... also in case anyone is looking for a job as a photographer shooting engagement photos in Asia hit me up. Pay isn't great starting out (around 30k USD) but you can live a pretty good life out here anyway if you are interested in giving it a go. If we do get a store up and going in LA or Vancouver this year I'll let you guys know.


Also, I'll contribute some photos I took recently next time I leave mainland China, VPN and flickr are refusing to play nice.
Click to expand...
Congrats on the job. The business side is very important as well.
 
J

jongkookie

Member
vern said:
What up guys, long time no see. Glad everyone is still putting out quality stuff.

I don't think I've contributed yet in 2017, though I've been out with my camera a few times. I mentioned at the tail end of 2016 I got offered a job at a photo studio in Shanghai, after a few other interviews and meeting them in person they ended up wanting me for business development in their head office. So I'm not really shooting much at all, but learning a lot about the business side of things, especially as it pertains to wedding photography in Asia. Turns out the studio I was offered a job at is just one of our over 100 stores across China, Korea and Malaysia. And we are expanding into other markets, hopefully the USA/Canada even this year.

Not sure why I'm telling ya'll this except that most of us have been around these GAF photo threads for a few years at least, so kind of feels like a community within the community... also in case anyone is looking for a job as a photographer shooting engagement photos in Asia hit me up. Pay isn't great starting out (around 30k USD) but you can live a pretty good life out here anyway if you are interested in giving it a go. If we do get a store up and going in LA or Vancouver this year I'll let you guys know.


Also, I'll contribute some photos I took recently next time I leave mainland China, VPN and flickr are refusing to play nice.
Click to expand...

Congrats man!

Do y'all have anything going on in the Philippines?

I currently live in Texas but was born and raised over there but I'd love to move back over there for a few years to experience it as an adult.

Truth be told I'm looking for some kind of escape here... not that I hate my fam or anything crazy like that, it just feels like opportunities here are drying up and being in my mid-20's I feel like I should take the opportunity now while I'm not locked down and go for an adventure while I still can.
 
V

vern

Member
jongkookie said:
Congrats man!

Do y'all have anything going on in the Philippines?

I currently live in Texas but was born and raised over there but I'd love to move back over there for a few years to experience it as an adult.

Truth be told I'm looking for some kind of escape here... not that I hate my fam or anything crazy like that, it just feels like opportunities here are drying up and being in my mid-20's I feel like I should take the opportunity now while I'm not locked down and go for an adventure while I still can.
Click to expand...

I'm doing some research into the Philippines but right now it doesn't look like a great market for us. We will see what happens, but currently leaning towards more studios in Malaysia and one in SG, plus the aforementioned North American markets. I'll keep you posted. At our mainland china stores we have a lot of Indonesian and Filipino photographers, and we are looking for more. Americans too. Anyone really lol. Our head photographer at our flagship store is a French guy.

The website of our primary brand is here: www.artiz.com.cn
If anyone is interested. It's in Chinese but there are photos duh.
 
J

jongkookie

Member
vern said:
I'm doing some research into the Philippines but right now it doesn't look like a great market for us. We will see what happens, but currently leaning towards more studios in Malaysia and one in SG, plus the aforementioned North American markets. I'll keep you posted. At our mainland china stores we have a lot of Indonesian and Filipino photographers, and we are looking for more. Americans too. Anyone really lol. Our head photographer at our flagship store is a French guy.

The website of our primary brand is here: www.artiz.com.cn
If anyone is interested. It's in Chinese but there are photos duh.
Click to expand...

I see. I'm actually not surprised the market in the Philippines isn't that great. I was there in 2012 for my brothers wedding and the crew they hired produces some really good shit so there's not really a lack of photo or videographers there.

Honestly the language barrier is what I'm concerned about. I'm actually looking into teaching English in Korea or China as other opportunities that I could do and yep, the language barrier is my issue. I mean I've been listening to K-Pop for 6 years or so now and I only know a few words haha. Granted I listen for the music not the lyrics but that's for another topic.

Anyway, looked at the website... damn, I wish I can shoot like that. That's some gorgeous photography right there.
 
S

supernormal

Member
Something I shot over the weekend

ae7d6e3c89dce50e0c15df81212a7de1


https://500px.com/photo/197490161/kath1-by-samuel-vasquez

Code:

8998e748781f7edfdd8ff9f79d0903a3


https://500px.com/photo/197490163/katherine-bw-by-samuel-vasquez

Code:

e14eba1a1fcab4d944b3cbedda2b6ced


https://500px.com/photo/197490165/katherine-white-by-samuel-vasquez

Code:
 
V

vern

Member
jongkookie said:
I see. I'm actually not surprised the market in the Philippines isn't that great. I was there in 2012 for my brothers wedding and the crew they hired produces some really good shit so there's not really a lack of photo or videographers there.

Honestly the language barrier is what I'm concerned about. I'm actually looking into teaching English in Korea or China as other opportunities that I could do and yep, the language barrier is my issue. I mean I've been listening to K-Pop for 6 years or so now and I only know a few words haha. Granted I listen for the music not the lyrics but that's for another topic.

Anyway, looked at the website... damn, I wish I can shoot like that. That's some gorgeous photography right there.
Click to expand...

They'll train you to shoot like that plus basic functional Chinese lessons. It's like a factory to be honest. Our biggest studio has 65 photographers and we do up to 45 couples in a day in one building. It's nuts.

You'd make more shooting for us than teaching esl in china at a training school, those are around 10-14k rmb per month. If you can teach at a proper school you could get into the 20s, but those jobs are a little harder to come by. Anyway, let me know later if you do decide you are interested. Korea wages I have no idea, but that country is a little unstable now yea? Or is that mess with the president all sorted out? Not sure how it has affected everyday life to be honest, last time I was there everything was normal but I think it was before shit hit the fan.
 
Jigolo

Jigolo

Member
Question: I exported a RAW image in Pixelmator that was 19.7mb into PNG and it became 75.9mb. Is that normal? How do you guys normally convert RAWs for online use or sending to other people?
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Jigolo said:
Question: I exported a RAW image in Pixelmator that was 19.7mb into PNG and it became 75.9mb. Is that normal? How do you guys normally convert RAWs for online use or sending to other people?
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Probably, might also depend on the bit rate or something. I think if I do 16 bit Tiffs on my 45mb raws uncropped they end up being 256mb's. I can uncompress my raws on my D810 and get them to the size of that PNG.
 
T

theepicoftyler

Member
Jigolo said:
Question: I exported a RAW image in Pixelmator that was 19.7mb into PNG and it became 75.9mb. Is that normal? How do you guys normally convert RAWs for online use or sending to other people?
Click to expand...

High quality JPEG's have always been fine for sharing things online for me, in my experience. If I'm getting something printed I'll send over an uncompressed TIFF or something, but the reality of it is that most people are not viewing your images on a high resolution color calibrated monitors or they're viewing it on a 5" phone screen.
 
J

jongkookie

Member
I think I need a teleconverter... this is at 210mm already and cropped to zoom in on the bird.



Can I just buy any Nikon F mount teleconverter and mount it on my A7 + F to E mount adapter? I have no clue how these things work lolol.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
jongkookie said:
I think I need a teleconverter... this is at 210mm already and cropped to zoom in on the bird.



Can I just buy any Nikon F mount teleconverter and mount it on my A7 + F to E mount adapter? I have no clue how these things work lolol.
Click to expand...
Just warning you now teleconverters cut maximum aperture in half. Not to mention a lot of birders use crop sensor cameras.
 
J

jongkookie

Member
JadedWriter said:
Just warning you now teleconverters cut maximum aperture in half. Not to mention a lot of birders use crop sensor cameras.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I sorta read up on it a little bit and it seems like I'd need an f/2.8 which is perfect coz my 70-210 is f/2.8 and IIRC, that ends up as f/5.6 right with a 2x teleconverter right?

Anyway, I'm not really interested in bird photography tbh. I'm actually wanting to do aviation photography instead... I found out that the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has a park on it's outskirts that has an area for those wanting to do aviation photography. I'm probably gonna start going there once or twice a month once I have a teleconverter, I'm just testing out my gear for now lol.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
jongkookie said:
Yeah, I sorta read up on it a little bit and it seems like I'd need an f/2.8 which is perfect coz my 70-210 is f/2.8 and IIRC, that ends up as f/5.6 right with a 2x teleconverter right?

Anyway, I'm not really interested in bird photography tbh. I'm actually wanting to do aviation photography instead... I found out that the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has a park on it's outskirts that has an area for those wanting to do aviation photography. I'm probably gonna start going there once or twice a month once I have a teleconverter, I'm just testing out my gear for now lol.
Click to expand...
Talk to Cosmonaut X about the aviation stuff cause that stuff is tricky to get right, at some point you'd probably need a VR lens.
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
JadedWriter said:
Talk to Cosmonaut X about the aviation stuff cause that stuff is tricky to get right, at some point you'd probably need a VR lens.
Click to expand...

Yup, definitely if you're looking to shoot prop aircraft/helicopters - or to get nice panning shots of other aircraft. It's a challenging branch of photography but very rewarding. Feel free to give me a shout on here if there's ever anything I can help with - I should be heading to my local militry base soon to shoot some of the local aircraft, and I'm hoping to land a visit on the base itself next month, so I'll be posting more aviation stuff here sometime soon.
 
J

jongkookie

Member
Cosmonaut X said:
Yup, definitely if you're looking to shoot prop aircraft/helicopters - or to get nice panning shots of other aircraft. It's a challenging branch of photography but very rewarding. Feel free to give me a shout on here if there's ever anything I can help with - I should be heading to my local militry base soon to shoot some of the local aircraft, and I'm hoping to land a visit on the base itself next month, so I'll be posting more aviation stuff here sometime soon.
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Awesome!

I'll probably pick up a cheap teleconverter for the moment and figure out how things work before I get really into it. I'll shoot you a PM once I've hit a roadblock or something lol.
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
jongkookie said:
Awesome!

I'll probably pick up a cheap teleconverter for the moment and figure out how things work before I get really into it. I'll shoot you a PM once I've hit a roadblock or something lol.
Click to expand...

I started shooting planes at the local RAF base with my Nikon J2 and a 30-110 lens before I upgraded to my current rig, so you can start with just about anything! You might not get the reach you want at first, but if you find the best spots for close access you can still get some cracking shots even with a shorter lens and a smaller body. If you want to start submitting shots to the big plane spotting/logging sites then you might have to think about higher-end kit and long lenses because they're looking for very specific types of shot and have very stringent quality requirements, but if you're looking at this as a fun type of photography to get into then don't worry about the kit as much just now.

Another tip is to look for local airports/military bases offering open days or photoshoots, as they will get you really close to the aircraft and give you a chance to get something that photographers outside the wire won't. Airshows are good too, as you often get static displays and you can get some cracking close-up shots of the aircraft, though displays really require a longer lens (nothing stopping you hiring one for the day, though...)
 
C

captive

Joe Six-Pack: posting for the common man
jongkookie said:
I think I need a teleconverter... this is at 210mm already and cropped to zoom in on the bird.



Can I just buy any Nikon F mount teleconverter and mount it on my A7 + F to E mount adapter? I have no clue how these things work lolol.
Click to expand...
you could but you'll probably be left wanting. 300mm is the absolute minimum you need for birds, even then you're going to be cropping and or using a TC. Hell, i still crop with a 1.5x crop camera and a 500mm lens with a 1.4TC. this translates roughly to 1000mm of angle of view.

JadedWriter said:
Just warning you now teleconverters cut maximum aperture in half. Not to mention a lot of birders use crop sensor cameras.
Click to expand...

they don't cut it in half. It depends on the type, there are 1.4x 1.7x and 2.0x each with their own penalties.
 
C

Cosmonaut X

Member
captive said:
you could but you'll probably be left wanting. 300mm is the absolute minimum you need for birds, even then you're going to be cropping and or using a TC. Hell, i still crop with a 1.5x crop camera and a 500mm lens with a 1.4TC. this translates roughly to 1000mm of angle of view.
Click to expand...

Even 300mm is iffy for birds, unless you can get super-close. I thought my 70-300 would be a reasonable starter bird lens, even though I knew it wouldn't get me real close shots, but I quickly found it was really best for shots where I had close access to the birds I was shooting. I occasionally set up feeders etc. in our garden so I can shoot from a makeshift hide or a window and I can get reasonable frame-filling shots, but in that situation I'm only 5-10 metres away.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
captive said:
you could but you'll probably be left wanting. 300mm is the absolute minimum you need for birds, even then you're going to be cropping and or using a TC. Hell, i still crop with a 1.5x crop camera and a 500mm lens with a 1.4TC. this translates roughly to 1000mm of angle of view.



they don't cut it in half. It depends on the type, there are 1.4x 1.7x and 2.0x each with their own penalties.
Click to expand...
Yeah it really does depend on the teleconverter you're putting on, I think I just made a flub by generalizing too much. I'm never in the mood for camera math. Your set up is...some heavy reach and you're still cropping, damn.
 
I

itsbenoclock

Member
brerwolfe said:
My birthday was last week so I bought a thing.
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The flare on that last shot is awesome. I got a Mavic Pro last month but have yet to fly it beyond outside my house because it's either been too windy or raining. Living in England makes it into a £1500 paperweight sometimes. Also not brave enough to fly it indoors like yourself!
 
F

Futureman

Member
I did headshots for this guy and I thought the session went pretty well. He looked at a few on the back of my camera while we were shooting and he seemed to really like them.

We did a mix of smiling and serious... I think some of the serious ones looked a little funny as his expression seemed too... serious I guess ha. But I did sent about 20 photos total. I only charged the guy $50 as I'm still learning on shoots like this. Personally I think he got good value for what I provided.

anyways, I'm kinda bewildered as I sent a Google Drive link to our original email chain and he did not respond (this was about a week ago). I then sent a new email yesterday saying "In case you missed my last email here are the photos." Still no response a day later now. When we were setting up the time to do the photos he was super responsive to emails and he's a really nice guy. I'm probably overreacting but it's making me worried that he hates the photos or something! Here's a few:

0DucH46l.jpg


K5OvbUPl.jpg


qhXzOvWl.jpg


gZm0Mnbl.jpg


G9UZ1Qhl.jpg


802Xdagl.jpg
 
Crazyorloco

Crazyorloco

Member
You guys are great photographers. Just got the Sony A6500 (with a selp18105g lens) loving it so so very much. With the warmer weather coming I'm excited about taking some more pics with it. My previous camera was the Canon rebel T5.

I became a little frustrated that the Sony playmemories app didn't transfer full sized images, but realize it doesn't send raw files. Jpeg works. So if you have a Sony A5100/6000 line phone this is a solution.

Flickr page: Crazyorloco
instagram: Grr8jon - Mainly has Iphone 7 plus pics.
 
J

JadedWriter

Member
Crazyorloco said:
You guys are great photographers. Just got the Sony A6500 (with a selp18105g lens) loving it so so very much. With the warmer weather coming I'm excited about taking some more pics with it. My previous camera was the Canon rebel T5.

I became a little frustrated that the Sony playmemories app didn't transfer full sized images, but realize it doesn't send raw files. Jpeg works. So if you have a Sony A5100/6000 line phone this is a solution.

Flickr page: Crazyorloco
instagram: Grr8jon - Mainly has Iphone 7 plus pics.
Click to expand...
Freeze your hands off like a man and take pics now. I mean I get it, but just limit the amount of time spend out there and still take pictures.
 
J

jongkookie

Member
Had the chance today to visit that park or designated area on the outskirts of the international airport where you can do aviation photography without getting arrested:









Those last two shots are of the same plane is "burst mode." The last pic is a crop whereas the second to last is uncropped at 210mm.

And here's my absolute fave out of the set:



All are shot btw with my A7 and 70-210 lens at f/8 with no teleconverter(I still haven't bought one).

The things I learned from my 15 minutes of hanging out there:
1. Shooting at ISO 800 just so I can set the shutter at 1/1600 or higher is not worth it as the pics can still become blurry and more importantly, the skies look really noisy.
2. Clear blue skies are boring as shit. I need some clouds to make the overall shot more interesting, or get a teleconverter/longer lens and fill up the frame with the plane.
3. Heat waves are visible on camera. On the shot with the fuel truck and Qantas plane on both ends, I did the zoom-to-focus thing on my camera and I could already see the "heat wave" effect take place. Does that mean that the effect will show up regardless of the length of the lens?
4. I need a tripod to do this correctly. All these shots are handheld since I was in a rush to be at my previous engagement and I forgot to grab it lol.

Overall though, I found it really fun to hang out there. There's a loudspeaker that broadcasts what the ATC is saying on that specific runway so if you're a huge aviation nut, you can figure out what plane is about to take off and get ready for the shot. It's kinda weird at first since there's a number of cars on the parking lot but they're literally just sitting there doing nothing; but they didn't really bother me or whatever so I'm thinking they're Uber or Lyft drivers taking a break or something.

captive said:
you could but you'll probably be left wanting. 300mm is the absolute minimum you need for birds, even then you're going to be cropping and or using a TC. Hell, i still crop with a 1.5x crop camera and a 500mm lens with a 1.4TC. this translates roughly to 1000mm of angle of view.
Click to expand...

Goddamn lol. The entire time I was at that park today, I was thinking that I should've grabbed my D3200 instead of my A7.

Cosmonaut X said:
I started shooting planes at the local RAF base with my Nikon J2 and a 30-110 lens before I upgraded to my current rig, so you can start with just about anything! You might not get the reach you want at first, but if you find the best spots for close access you can still get some cracking shots even with a shorter lens and a smaller body. If you want to start submitting shots to the big plane spotting/logging sites then you might have to think about higher-end kit and long lenses because they're looking for very specific types of shot and have very stringent quality requirements, but if you're looking at this as a fun type of photography to get into then don't worry about the kit as much just now.

Another tip is to look for local airports/military bases offering open days or photoshoots, as they will get you really close to the aircraft and give you a chance to get something that photographers outside the wire won't. Airshows are good too, as you often get static displays and you can get some cracking close-up shots of the aircraft, though displays really require a longer lens (nothing stopping you hiring one for the day, though...)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips!! I do know there's a local aviation museum that lets you take photos inside... I might stop by there next time I'm in the area.
 
M

Mr. Hyde

Member
Just catching up on everyone's work! Nice work on the studio lighting, Jaded. You've improved a lot.

I have been posting some of my recent work on Instagram and Flickr. I will post it on here when I'm home. I'm also supposed to do a photoshoot for a local band on Monday. They want a 80s noir style so I ended up buying extra gels for my expo grid and also a light wand since I've been craving one forever. It's not an icelight but with a little diy diffusion, it should be around the same for much cheaper.

It's tough having a baby and a full time supervisor job for whole foods that gives me super random hours because all I want to do is work on photo concepts. My wife is always dragging me out places despite wanting me to push myself further in photography. But I can't complain too much. I also did a normal headshot job the other day which turned out good. A quick one light bounce setup and a bit of editing made him super happy. I also have another possible gig coming up soon for a guy who wants artsy black and whites. And maybe an engagement and wedding in four months. I'd probably have many other jobs if I took the offers. Maybe soon.
 
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