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FEATURED The Big Photography Thread

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Remember that aperture is a trade off. Large apertures not only allow the artsy depth of field, it also let's more light in through the bigger opening. Smaller apertures require either slower shutter speeds, higher ISO or a combination of the two to make up for less light making it to the sensor.

Everything is a tradeoff. I can't even begin to make accurate tradeoffs manually yet. I just use aperture priority mode and let the camera handle the rest. For now.
 
We had a storm blow through here in a half-hearted manner, but it left a cool rainbow that was crazy bright. This was taken right at sunset, which was also when the storm had passed. I took this picture sitting at the chair at my desk. All I did was open the screen door, swivel around, and frame the shot.

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Here is the (somewhat) same shot without framing, less zoom, and after a few minutes had passed. This gives perspective of where I was sitting and shows how quickly conditions can change. I had roughly 20-30 seconds to get the original picture.
 
That's an awesome photo of the rainbow. Great catch at precisely the right time!
 
Brought the kids to the zoo last weekend, and this is probably my favorite shot of the day. The lioness had chased a chipmunk down into the stump, and was pacing around trying to figure out how to get at it. First time out with anything other than a nikon coolpix in many many years. It's coming back slowly...

Canon 60D, Canon 55-250 zoom

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I do NOT do full manual. Adjusting white balance is very much beyond my skills. I don't know where to put it on that graph and anything I try isn't as good as auto. The other white balance settings throw everything off (in a 'studio' setting), it'e either too warm or too cool.

99.9% of the time I use Av (on Canon, A on Nikon), or Aperture Priority mode, with ISO & white balance on auto.

I'm still learning a lot myself, but as I didn't see an expicit response to this...

Always leave your camera on auto WB. Get a grey card and take a reference photo with it in the shot. PS, LR, and I'm sure other good applications will use that as its WB reference (18% grey) and you can batch adjust ALL your photo's WB for that shoot.

On a side note, I never use auto ISO. I almost always shoot aperture priority and only during dusk/night will I shoot full manual. I don't shoot auto ISO as I want to control that sensitivity. I don't want it to be noisy just to capture a low light shot. Get a better lens, open your aperture, or get a tripod.

Of course, it will depend on what your goal is, and these are just my opinions. :)
 
I have auto iso capped at 3200, which has very minimal noise. 6400 is when it starts to get noisy and I just don't let it go there.

Iso is my next manual step though, after I get a grasp on how it needs to adjust with different apertures.
 
Always leave your camera on auto WB. Get a grey card and take a reference photo with it in the shot. PS, LR, and I'm sure other good applications will use that as its WB reference (18% grey) and you can batch adjust ALL your photo's WB for that shoot.

What sort of grey card do you like to use? The times I've set WB beforehand, I set it using a letter sized white paper, and set it in camera. It would be nice to have a little card or something I could attach to my strap and not loose/trash it.
 
Rum River Dam at daybreak, because what else would you do that early in the morning? Use slower shutter speeds to make moving water silky smooth. Slower than about 1/15 sec and you'll want a tripod and a remote shutter release, or you can use the self timer if you don't have a shutter release.

Canon 60D, 18-55 lens, f/13, ISO 100, 1/2 sec.

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Nice water; I assume that was with a tripod using such a slow shutter speed? (side note - please resize your photos when you upload them per the OP).

Here are a couple from our visit to a farm / fall festival thing to get our pumpkins for this year. The sky was just amazing the entire time.

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Nice water; I assume that was with a tripod using such a slow shutter speed?

Thanks. That was my second time out trying to figure out water, first time didn't go so well. Used a tripod this time around. Early morning is a good time to shoot, before the sun breaks the horizon... not so much. I seem to have trouble figuring out exposure anyway...

(side note - please resize your photos when you upload them per the OP).

My bad... Duly noted!
 
That is one heck of a sunset!

Here's the kiddo on a dreary, cloudy day after a hokie game on campus. That's Burruss Hall (the most iconic building on campus) in the background.

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Here's the kiddo on a dreary, cloudy day after a hokie game on campus. That's Burruss Hall (the most iconic building on campus) in the background.

I really like that pic, hokie... very nice!

I'd like to ask everyone for some tips for shooting at night. I haven't done much of it, but I've been dabbling a little bit. My main question actually has to do with flares, around streetlights etc. Although not very good, I'll post this shot I took the other night as an example. It flares pretty badly compared to others I have seen from the same location. How do you minimize them? I do have LR5, but I almost never do any post processing to my pictures, and it's very minimal if I do. Most of the fun in photography, to me, is just getting the shot right to begin with....

canon 60D, 50mm prime lens, iso 200, f22, 6 seconds
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Nuthin' wrong with that pic Dark!

If the sun ain't shinin' I ain't shootin' (pictures) :)
 
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