I got out and used my camera today...

[Shebba]

Breathtaking? We are very lucky!! :)

[NHsnowpup]

I wanna be you when I grow up! :)

 

I find that's the nice thing about taking pictures. You crawl around on the ground; sneak up into areas no other adults will go; stalk the neighbor's cows; and look at the world with the wonder of a child. I hope to "retire" someday and even if I need a "Hoveraround" chair I'll still be chasing the rainbows.

 

Hubby is very good about standing (far enough away so no one would guess he's with me) and waiting until I get back up and brush all the sand off me before we move on.

 

[Shebba]

Breathtaking? We are very lucky!! :)

 

DOH!! Did not intend to pose that as a question. Meant BREATHTAKING!! ;)

 

Y'all have inspired me to get out and "learn" my new camera and learn how to use other than 'auto' setting. Made a breakthrough (for my little peabrain!!) today. Very excited!!

[pierces]

In between squally showers yesterday ...

 

I see the photos have a DSCxxxxx tag! Congrats on the new camera!

 

Dave

[boeckli]

I see the photos have a DSCxxxxx tag! Congrats on the new camera!

 

Dave

Thanks, Dave - having heaps of fun with it :D

Lots of things to discover and try out - obviously quite a difference from little old 'X' ;). Hope you approve of the results - any advice as usual very welcome :)

[pierces]

Thanks, Dave - having heaps of fun with it

Lots of things to discover and try out - obviously quite a difference from little old 'X' ;). Hope you approve of the results - any advice as usual very welcome :)

 

Looks very good so far!

 

Practice holding the camera still and use the Hand-Held Twilight mode. It fires off about six shots in rapid succession, so hold still until the sound stops (I know this because...:o) It merges the shots and produces excellent results in low-light situations (inside churches, night shots of buildings). Also get some practice with the Sweep panorama. It really works well if you pan shoothly and at the right speed. I use a steady count to 8 in my head and try to time it so I hit the center between 4 and 5.

 

Play, Play, Play!

 

Hand-held twilight - ISO 3200 (not bad for a compact!)

 

Sweep Panorama (notice that walking people weren't "ghosted"...the processing removes the redundant images.

 

Wide mode on the Sweep Panorama

 

Now go practice so you can make us envious of your travels!

 

Dave

Edited November 10, 2011 by pierces

[zackiedawg]

I figured I'd toss in a few samples from my cruise last month, since it involves the new camera, and a different route than I've ever gone on before.

 

 

 

 

 

[boeckli]

Boekli,

 

I see you're in Australia. What is the little bird in your shots? Guess I need to get some kind of Australia bird book before we come down your way so I can identify the birds we see.

 

It's a New Holland Honeyeater

[boeckli]

 

 

 

[sparky-elpaso]

It's a New Holland Honeyeater

 

Thanks.

[pierces]

Still too dark to see much of the back yard. Lit by sky glow from the moon and a bit of pre-dawn glow behind me. Literally couldn't see the trees through my A700 to focus but the A77 was able to gain up enough for me to use peaking with manual focus. The bright spot to the left of center was a faint night light in the neighbor's window.

 

Magical Nights of Lights starts next week!

 

25s - f/5.6 - ISO400

 

 

Still experimenting with the new toy.

 

Dave

Edited November 12, 2011 by pierces

[johneeo]

25s - f/5.6 - ISO400

 

Still experimenting with the new toy.

 

Dave

 

Was that 25 seconds, or 1/25?

[pierces]

Was that 25 seconds, or 1/25?

 

25 seconds.

 

It was DARK!

 

Dave

[johneeo]

25 seconds.

 

It was DARK!

 

Dave

 

How do you determine whether to use one second, 10 seconds, 25, etc.

 

Tried to get a shot of the moon and jupiter the other night, got out my tripod and wanted to try some long shutter speeds, and the stinkin' tripod broke, so got nothing, well nothing worth looking at.

[pierces]

How do you determine whether to use one second, 10 seconds, 25, etc.

 

Tried to get a shot of the moon and jupiter the other night, got out my tripod and wanted to try some long shutter speeds, and the stinkin' tripod broke, so got nothing, well nothing worth looking at.

 

In all honesty, I let the camera do the exposure. I almost always shoot on aperture priority, so I set it to f/5.6 for better depth of field and let the auto-exposure control the shutter. The system will work on auto up to 30s and I had to bump the ISO up to 400 to get the exposure down to 25s. I could have dropped it down to ISO100 again and used the remote timer for a 2 min shot,

but it was early an I was lazy.

 

When shooting the moon, start at ISO100, f/8 and 1/250. This is a basic exposure for a sunny day because, after all, the moon is in full sunlight!

 

For night scenes, crank up the ISO until you get a reading under 30s and then do the math to go with a longer exposure if desired.

 

 

Dave

[johneeo]

In all honesty, I let the camera do the exposure. I almost always shoot on aperture priority, so I set it to f/5.6 for better depth of field and let the auto-exposure control the shutter. The system will work on auto up to 30s and I had to bump the ISO up to 400 to get the exposure down to 25s. I could have dropped it down to ISO100 again and used the remote timer for a 2 min shot,

but it was early an I was lazy.

 

When shooting the moon, start at ISO100, f/8 and 1/250. This is a basic exposure for a sunny day because, after all, the moon is in full sunlight!

 

For night scenes, crank up the ISO until you get a reading under 30s and then do the math to go with a longer exposure if desired.

 

 

Dave

 

Maybe it is my camera, I have a Nikon D5000. If it is too dark, I cannot get it to even take the picture.

 

Tried manual setting, I set it at wide open aperture, one second, no shot. Upped the shutter speed to 4 seconds, and it would then take the picture.

 

Guess I am kinda curious, why will the camera not take a picture with bad light if I set it to all manual?

[pierces]

Maybe it is my camera, I have a Nikon D5000. If it is too dark, I cannot get it to even take the picture.

 

Tried manual setting, I set it at wide open aperture, one second, no shot. Upped the shutter speed to 4 seconds, and it would then take the picture.

 

Guess I am kinda curious, why will the camera not take a picture with bad light if I set it to all manual?

 

Likely it was still within metering range and would not release with insufficient exposure. Check your manual or menu dive for release priority settings. There areusually settings to allow or disallow release unless there is focus confirmation or other situations such as exposure extremes.

 

Dave

Edited November 12, 2011 by pierces

[pierces]

Fall is falling..

 

 

Dave

[TheRoff]

:D Is it limited to falling at 15mph?

 

Larry

[TheRoff]

Fall has mostly fell here. Mums have bloomed?

 

 

Larry

[pierces]

:D Is it limited to falling at 15mph?

 

Larry

 

You forgot to mention that the leaves were illegally parked! ;)

[zackiedawg]

Fall doesn't fall around my part of town! That's why it was nice to finally get up north on my last cruise, to actually witness leaves that change color and fall off.

 

I finally got back out to the wetlands with the new A580 the past few weekends - so here are the local wintering fauna of South Florida through the eye of the Minolta 300mm F4 APO lens:

 

A limpkin, up close:

 

A blue-winged teal:

 

A red-shouldered hawk in flight:

 

A tricolor heron in full detail:

 

A roseated spoonbill:

 

A snowy egret flying low over the marsh in sunset colors:

[Victress2007]

I went to Pena Blanca Lake today. I used my new Sony HX9V. I'm practicing with the sweep panorama and different setting. All I can say is WOW! I'm no professional or even talented amateur like many of you - but I enjoy trying to capture a good image. That is an awesome zoom for such a small camera.

[boeckli]

I went to Pena Blanca Lake today. I used my new Sony HX9V. I'm practicing with the sweep panorama and different setting. All I can say is WOW! I'm no professional or even talented amateur like many of you - but I enjoy trying to capture a good image. That is an awesome zoom for such a small camera.

 

I know just how you feel!! (having just got the same new 'toy') ;)

I love panoramas (this will save a lot of time spent on the computer stitching in a separate program :))

 

 

 

Complete with 'critters'

Edited November 15, 2011 by boeckli

[boeckli]

First you listen to the instructor ...

 

 

... then you pair off for some practice steps