[Sticky] Submit your glamour shots!

I shot this one last Friday in WV. 

@dev I like the color of the gravel, inside the tracks, in the foreground. Cool shot

@ria 

Thanks. 

 I did some portraiture Sunday for a local artist and fellow Spyder owner for his new album. After getting my strobe serviced its able to have consistent exposure and color accuracy that I barely had to do any post process. These Japanese flash units are worth it over the popular Chinese units everyone seems to buy because they are cheaper. 

@dev wow! If the strobe really is as accurate as you say, that definitely speeds up the process in post. I've been editing a lot of product photos recently for my website and exposure/channel adjustments get annoying when you have to do them on every shot. I'm finally putting together a mini studio lighting setup though so hopefully it will get easier/ more consistent

Posted by: @ria

@dev wow! If the strobe really is as accurate as you say, that definitely speeds up the process in post. I've been editing a lot of product photos recently for my website and exposure/channel adjustments get annoying when you have to do them on every shot. I'm finally putting together a mini studio lighting setup though so hopefully it will get easier/ more consistent

 It’s also the quality of the light, duration and how its properly synced.   I can’t explain it but not all strobes are equal even if they have color mode and claim color accuracy. My best advice is to stay clear of the popular Godox stuff that everyone raves about for value. When I had their stuff the lighting was just ok and will do the job if you are on a budget but it’s not great stuff. The big time pros shoot with stuff like Broncolor and elinchrom for a reason and the hobbyist YouTube shills try to justify the cheap Chinese stuff as just as good. 

The best value is the Paul C. Buff studio strobes which you can purchase used for a great price on EBay. 

Here is a shot of my nieces using the famous Nikkor 105mm Ai . This lens shot the famous Afghan girl from National Geographic and I found out that Linda Eastman McCartney (sorry the late Lady McCartney) use this lens to shoot the Beatles. 

This lens might not have that modern optic look but what it does have is an authentic vintage rendering that some people try to make in photoshop that ends up looking fake. 

 This was shot with a very old Canon lens that is over 30 years old. EF 300mm f4L .

This is an interesting test because for this extremely cropped image that has far less information than a cellphone capture. What is saving this image from destruction is the lens optics and the quality of the photo sites on the sensor.

 This was shot with my small camera Fuji XT1 and the Ef 300mm lens with a aggressive crop. I was testing a new program that is able to uses AI to increase the resolution. There have been other technologies that do this but it tends to ruin the photograph when it upscales the image. I think this did a great job, its crazy but is it real. 

 I waited two weeks to get this guy when I was out for my  walks.  The day I didn't bring my camera he showed up so for the last few days I bought my camera in the hopes he would return and he did.  I forgot my monopod so I shot handheld and at very high ISO to keep the shutter speed up since I am shooting a telephoto lens which makes a noisy image but I have a new program that uses AI to take out the noise and it did a great job. 

Posted by: @dev

 I waited two weeks to get this guy when I was out for my  walks.  The day I didn't bring my camera he showed up so for the last few days I bought my camera in the hopes he would return and he did.  I forgot my monopod so I shot handheld and at very high ISO to keep the shutter speed up since I am shooting a telephoto lens which makes a noisy image but I have a new program that uses AI to take out the noise and it did a great job. 

  

 

That looks like a blue heron,

we have one that’s been living at the town pond for the last few years

(correct me if I’m wrong)

graceful bird

Posted by: @cspidy

Posted by: @dev

 I waited two weeks to get this guy when I was out for my  walks.  The day I didn't bring my camera he showed up so for the last few days I bought my camera in the hopes he would return and he did.  I forgot my monopod so I shot handheld and at very high ISO to keep the shutter speed up since I am shooting a telephoto lens which makes a noisy image but I have a new program that uses AI to take out the noise and it did a great job. 

  

 

That looks like a blue heron,

we have one that’s been living at the town pond for the last few years

(correct me if I’m wrong)

graceful bird

 I was wrong. I overheard someone calling it a Crain. It is a Blue Heron as you correctly pointed out and I looked it up to know the difference. Apparently Crains have their necks straight and the Herons have their necks closer to its body in an S.  

 It is certainly a graceful bird and when it would show up people would gather with their cellphones and take pictures. It wasn't that scared of people and seemed to like being photographed.  After spotting it I went back to my car to get my photo gear and by luck he flew over to my side of the pond.  I was lucky that I got enough of him to fill the sensor so it shows excellent sharpness and color detail.  What makes this shot special is it was hand held for such a long focal length but what saved the day is taking multiple photos until I got five good ones out of so many.  Another interesting  thing to note is medium format cameras are not used for this kind of photography because its too slow to capture birds.

 Somewhere around 2011 I made a big mistake with photography.  I upgraded to a supposedly better camera that shoots video and has more megapixels. It never felt right even though the image specs said so and all of those phony YouTube photographers peddling the latest gear. Looking back at old pictures I could clearly see that the original Canon 5D has a rendering that is very close to film. It is a camera that only has 12mp however the photo sites are very large unlike newer digital cameras that try to cram as many mp on a digital sensor but what ends up happening is images look more digital and clinical, and less analog.  Canon worked closely with Kodak to develop this sensor for professional photographers as they transition from film to digital. It has been rumored that they were going for the Kodachrome look.  

I re-purchased the Canon 5D for only $200 used but when it was brand new it was $3200.  It is not a perfect camera in regards to dynamic range and other things but in good light and getting it right in camera it can produce results I have not seen with other digital cameras. People try to use all of those fake film simulations and although they can do a good job there is still something not quite right.  This camera is the exception. 

This old camera delivers. 

Car show on Saturday. I went to the garden for testing but its the same old but I did find something that works. 

 Some pics from the car show. This old camera is known for its filmic rendering. 

Canon 50L@f1.4 1/6400