Since I've been so busy...
I've lost a lot of my motivation to get out a photograph stuff. Especially anything outside due to the heat being ridiculous at 8am. Last time I photographed anything was NYC back in May so its time I fire up the battery and gave her a go(on the Mark II). I'm thinking about either getting more shots at the bird sanctuary or around Tempe, mainly ASU tomorrow and this weekend.
One thing I've learned is never let your gear be an excuse. Even if you only have one lens or a crappy cameara you can still shoot anything how you see it, you just have to make other adjustments/compensations outside the camera. This has been the truth except when my photography teacher and I shot the same exact set of photos on our respective cameras (mine rebel xti and his a 5d) same lens and settings early this year. I could have eventually compensated enough to get my photos fairly close to his quality but it would have required a tripod and many more shots with adjustments to the aperture and ISO.
The Mark II has evened the playing field and has made me the weakest link. It's like having an R1 - it's almost too much for what I need. I've pushed my camera several times while photographing rockets, cars and bikes on speed but it's like using her on a straight road where you just go, or shoot in my case, without any boundaries. Open the throttle and take those 8.5 frames per second.
There are always limitations but so far, I haven't found many except with my own skills. Its time I stepped up and started investing the same time I put in when I first started doing this seriously. I was out every weekend with the rebel - shooting 1k or more shots a month. I think she's got around 15k which was done in under 11 months. Since I've had the Mark II I've shot around 4k - those first few months were awesome but like I mentioned - I haven't shot anything since May with her.
Taking some time off has given me the opportunity to review my photos, and critic a lot. Now I need to work some basics and grow my knowledge.
-I need to learn more about light exposure and how to compose and set up light for my pictures. All my gear is f4+. This drives me nuts and I never have a tripod. I don't really like the results above ISO400 so I try never to go above it if I don't have to. Lighting is key and it still at times eludes me.
-I need more time to pan and tilt - my pan is good side to side but tilt... sucks and is definitely an area of improvement. Best comment so far from my rocketry photos.
-Slowing down and focusing on all my settings- I always seem to overlook something when shooting in a hurry - mainly WB and sometimes my ISO -D'oh. Thank god for photoshop.
-I really want to learn more about HDR photography. Ever since I read a majority of the HDR Handbook by Christian Bloch I have been amazed and intrigued by this art and want to start practicing it.
-And stamina - the weight in the camera. It's all up to me to grow some guns able to hold that sucker steady for 10 minutes at a time. I used to hold 2 5lb weights steady for close to 5 minutes at the gym. I tried on Tuesday this last week and was shaking at just over 30 seconds. I made it past a minute but that's not what I want and need when taking photos.
- Better composition - I have had many critics of "why didn't you take a wider shot?" and "why did you cut _____ out/off in this photo?" It difficult to see everything until you look at the final piece on a computer screen later. Like cutting out a reflection in water on a lake. Like the photo below. I took another close up but again - did not even see the reflection I could have caught until on a computer screen a week later.
Anyway - time to get to bed if I'm going to be up at 5am tomorrow for bird watching.
One thing I've learned is never let your gear be an excuse. Even if you only have one lens or a crappy cameara you can still shoot anything how you see it, you just have to make other adjustments/compensations outside the camera. This has been the truth except when my photography teacher and I shot the same exact set of photos on our respective cameras (mine rebel xti and his a 5d) same lens and settings early this year. I could have eventually compensated enough to get my photos fairly close to his quality but it would have required a tripod and many more shots with adjustments to the aperture and ISO.
The Mark II has evened the playing field and has made me the weakest link. It's like having an R1 - it's almost too much for what I need. I've pushed my camera several times while photographing rockets, cars and bikes on speed but it's like using her on a straight road where you just go, or shoot in my case, without any boundaries. Open the throttle and take those 8.5 frames per second.
There are always limitations but so far, I haven't found many except with my own skills. Its time I stepped up and started investing the same time I put in when I first started doing this seriously. I was out every weekend with the rebel - shooting 1k or more shots a month. I think she's got around 15k which was done in under 11 months. Since I've had the Mark II I've shot around 4k - those first few months were awesome but like I mentioned - I haven't shot anything since May with her.
Taking some time off has given me the opportunity to review my photos, and critic a lot. Now I need to work some basics and grow my knowledge.
-I need to learn more about light exposure and how to compose and set up light for my pictures. All my gear is f4+. This drives me nuts and I never have a tripod. I don't really like the results above ISO400 so I try never to go above it if I don't have to. Lighting is key and it still at times eludes me.
-I need more time to pan and tilt - my pan is good side to side but tilt... sucks and is definitely an area of improvement. Best comment so far from my rocketry photos.
-Slowing down and focusing on all my settings- I always seem to overlook something when shooting in a hurry - mainly WB and sometimes my ISO -D'oh. Thank god for photoshop.
-I really want to learn more about HDR photography. Ever since I read a majority of the HDR Handbook by Christian Bloch I have been amazed and intrigued by this art and want to start practicing it.
-And stamina - the weight in the camera. It's all up to me to grow some guns able to hold that sucker steady for 10 minutes at a time. I used to hold 2 5lb weights steady for close to 5 minutes at the gym. I tried on Tuesday this last week and was shaking at just over 30 seconds. I made it past a minute but that's not what I want and need when taking photos.
- Better composition - I have had many critics of "why didn't you take a wider shot?" and "why did you cut _____ out/off in this photo?" It difficult to see everything until you look at the final piece on a computer screen later. Like cutting out a reflection in water on a lake. Like the photo below. I took another close up but again - did not even see the reflection I could have caught until on a computer screen a week later.
Anyway - time to get to bed if I'm going to be up at 5am tomorrow for bird watching.