Due to Gosthok mentioning this. We should post our photos we take here. AKA need more content round 2!

http://cakvalasc.deviantart.com/art/Rusty-118810309


http://cakvalasc.deviantart.com/art/Model-Floor-with-some-Glamour-118652428


http://cakvalasc.deviantart.com/art/Red-Tulip-Close-Up-118501687


I hope these links work!

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"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

Gotta jumpstart this thread a little...


Jellyfish at the Chattanooga aquarium:



Chicago from Michigan Ave:



My last house near Augusta before we moved to ATL:



Took this on my back porch this weekend. Getting some practice in before Switzerland!





Also, I just bought this superzoom on Amazon for about $600. Hope to get it in tomorrow. Will be nice, as it'll replace both my 300mm and wide angle lenses.

Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Zoom Lens with Built in Motor for Nikon DSLR Cameras
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DY ... oh_product

Looking at that house I don't know wtf you moved. Great pictures!

Hehe I've the top of the line in the Nikon Coolpix series..........but no DSLR. Makes me wish I'd bought one.

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Larreth Wolfsong (long retired)
Lanys T'vyl, Everquest

Zinky, Lvl 60 Warlock
Thunderhorn, WoW

Playing around with Strobist's "make a $10 light cube for Macro shots"


Candidate Obama in Iowa, just 2 weeks prior to the election


Monument in Edinburgh


Our backyard in London was a slug rave or something. Oodles of them.


Paris at night


Brighton beach


And can't forget my pooch. Probably the best photo of her I've ever gotten since she never holds still...

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I love the slug and paris. Odd sentence, that.

What was the green stuff the slug was slugging over to? And what are you shooting with Rugen?

Surcam - we moved because my newspaper job was about to implode, doomed company. Not many jobs in Augusta making what I made, so we were pro-active and moved to ATL. Turned out to be a good move, but yeah.. that land was awesome (it was my wife's before I married her). No internet access out there, though.

There was this odd clover stuff that behaved like moss and grew all over everything in our backyard. Given how wet it was ALL THE TIME, this isn't that surprising.

Canon Digital Rebel XTi.

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Nice Pics, and yeah please mention what Camera you used, I've finally decided I should upgade from my old SLRs and join the digital age.

No shit - those pictures are friggin amazing.

All my pictures suck (but I use cheap cameras).

I would love to know what you're shooting these with.

I shoot on a Nikon D50 body with the nikkor 18-55mm kit lens and a 300mm Sigma entry level lens for zooming in and for macro shots.

My longterm plan is to upgrade to a d300 but i'm a ways from getting that, heh.

Joxur -- are you looking to sell your old lens that the new one is replacing?

If so, how much?

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Hey! Sorry, I had thought about it and forgot to circle back.

I got the new lens yesterday. Presumably it will replace both of my two lenses, but let me double check on this trip to Switzerland. I'm back on Jul 22. But I think I would definitely sell them. They're both quite good especially for entry level lenses.

Here's what I have:

1) Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5 - 5.6G
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/1855.htm
I took the chicago, jellyfish and house on a hill shots with it. Happy to send my Flickr URL in a PM if you want to see more.

2) Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG MACRO
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses ... avigator=3
I shot the flower macro shot with this.

They're both in excellent condition and honestly, I haven't used them much in the past 2 years (after baby was born travel kinda slowed down a bit heh).

I already have an 18-55mm lens, I really just want the sigma =P

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

These are two of my favorite pics of my boy. I have a Sony alpha 300. Just the standard lens that comes with it. The last one my wife took, around Halloween time obviously, and is a little fuzzy, but it's still a great picture.

Took this today in Centennial Park without a tripod, 400mm effective focal length. The vibration compensation is no gimmick, it really works.

Posted the other ones in the wrong thread. Here are some more I finally finished editing.



Schloss Spiez - looking at the castle church from the tower. Sitting on the Thunersee.



Valley view on the hiking trail from First on the way to Bachalpsee.



Bachalpsee



Zurich waterfront.

Jox, any way to link the original size pic for the lake shot. I would love to have that as my desktop. Using the one here looks like shit stretched out...

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"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken
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VEGETARIAN -Noun (vej-i-tair-ee-uhn): Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride.

Yeah, I'd like to see the full size gallery myself.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Jox, those pictures are unreal. Awesome.

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Here's my Flickr photostream. You can get larger sizes by clicking "all sizes", I believe. I have tons more that I'll be uploading.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joxur223/

And thanks a lot of the compliments. I really appreciate it.

Yeah, they really are great wallpaper shots.

I use a Sony A300. I have like 5 lenses though, and don't know what they are off hand.. really none of them are anything special sept the 50mm prime f1.7. It is great for portraits.

I really need to get out there and shoot more.

what is your new lens jox?

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Any chance you can get me some full size shots jox? The biggest available on fickr still looks pixelated to hell on a 1920x1200 monitor when I make it my wallpaper. =(

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

I upgraded to pro yesterday - you should be able to get "Original" as a file size now. I tested it by logging out and it displayed for me when I did. Try now

Couple of new ones. From a vacation in FL in October:

Nice work. I was just toying with HDR myself the other day on some older photos and trying to get a handle on the whole "post processing" thing.






Pretty happy with the second one. In larger size it looks almost like an oil painting, which I dig.

And a portrait I did of the bf that I am very happy with how it came out.

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nice work Rugen-- you guys are making me want to go get a camera like that.

Hey Jox, are you doing true HDR or fiddling with the RAW image in a post processing program?

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The portrait is amazing. That's one area I want to get better at, controlled lighting portrait photography. I don't have any lights, is the problem...

I've found that using a single RAW photo and adjusting the exposures in Lightroom to be superior to using 3 individual shots. I had major problems with blurriness, and the difference in color saturation in the highlights and shadows was negligible. For some, I've had to go in and mask certain parts of the HDR to be more normal, as they just look too unrealistic.

edit: for example, the two pics from the beach were 1 RAW. I exported the default exposure as 1 jpeg, then stepped it down 2 steps, exported for the dark, and 2 steps above for the light. Imported those 3 jpegs into Photomatix.

2 Things - Rugen, you're a hairy bastard.

Second, I realize this is a brutally ignorant and open-ended question, but I can get away with asking it here... I am looking to buy a camera and I am really not sure where to start. I am not looking to go crazy. I want something that is a step up from $200 Best Buy camera.

Maybe the question is - what's the "sweet spot" for getting a good camera. Anyway, just curious.

That's not me. I was behind the camera. That's my boyfriend. There's a reason why this subset of the gay male community call themselves "bears"



Honestly, I'd try to do what I did. Find someone on the next step up the photography chain from yourself and buy their old equipment from them as they upgrade. You're going to get a well maintained used camera that is the next step up for you without paying the full upgrade price.

That may or may not be easy, depending on your social circles. My link was a co-worker that was moving up and sold me his canon rebel for a much easier price for me to justify than the full price of a new one, given that I am largely "playing" and teaching myself.

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Starting a photo series on Atlanta. I decided to work out 4 days a week and take the 5th each week to walk around downtown and midtown at lunch to improve my skills. Plus, I figured whenever I leave my current job, which hopefully won't be for a long time, I'd always regret living in a big city and not exploring a bit.

Here's a link to the series itself:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joxur223/c ... 724609287/









Took these yesterday at lunch. Think I may do a series on the homeless soon, too.

In terms of camera, I'd go with the entry-level Canon or Nikon Digital SLR body. I have a D50 nikon, which is pretty old and you can't buy anymore, I don't think. The new ones are very good, have great sensors and in general, you don't need the expensive bodies unless you're getting real fancy and serious.

I'll be honest, I am a big fan of buying the kits that a lot of shops on ebay sell. The key is to find a good store with good ratings, and avoid the upsells at all costs. I got my d50 with two lenses, a wide angle and a super zoom, for about $750 probably 4 years ago.

Stick with Nikon and Canon because they have been around the longest and have the most lenses. Get a body that can interchange lenses, it makes it easier to upgrade in stages rather than simply replacing the whole rig. My new lens is now more expensive than the body I have, but I'll probably get a Nikon d300 in a few years.

dpreview.com (sounds like a porn site) has great information, with sample pictures. Also, I *love* pbase.com, because you can easily see photos shot with particular lenses (you can search by lens or camera body). Really shows you a lot of real world examples before you buy. Look at the photos shot with the camera and lens you are looking to buy.

Love that bee shot. Depth of field is nice, with great clarity on the bee itself.



I'm not really sure what your intentions are, so you may already be inclined to do this, but may I suggest not just shooting them at random and without their permission?

Photographing the homeless is a topic with arguments on both sides, but in the end, I think you are going to provide a stronger portrait and picture of the person if you take the time to talk to them and maintain their dignity than if you you treat them as if they were a building or a sign.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ethics/discuss/38460/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/forsaken/discuss/38622/

There's thousands more online in various places, if you want to consider the sides of the arguments regarding the homeless.

I think probably the one photograph thaat changed my mind about just taking their picture without talking to them first was this one by "Stuck in Customs" as part of his "What they Dream and What they Do " series:


Vespucci's dream is to find his son and tell him important things. He twists his head quickly at me with a lost and quizzical look, and then he returns to a thoughtful gaze.

Vespucci is currently homeless and cannot remember where his son is.

That photo and the text made me realize that the power of the homeless is more in their individual story, not their circumstance alone. In such a simple way, "Customs" maintained this man's dignity and told us something about him. I stopped photographing people quite the same way after I had that realization, because it made me look at the fact that I had been treating the homeless LIKE a building or a sign, taking their identity as homeless without anything of the person themselves. All of their shame with none of their pride. If that makes any sense.

Anyway. Just something to think about. Like I said, there are arguments on both sides of the fence on this one. Just figured I'd weigh in with some of my thoughts on it if you hadn't already considered that side of it.

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I am not into photography at all- don't have pictures taken of me, and I think I might have taken 5 pictures in my entire life. But those pictures that you guys have taken are utterly amazing.

And I echo those about that lake shot- that could be a stunning desktop picture...

Aren't there amateur contests that you guys can enter in? Or have you already and what were your results?

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How much of these pics are photoshopped to clean them up? Are the cameras THAT astoundingly good or is there backwork to adjust stuff going on as well, other then the ones that are obviously modified?

I love photography and have a really nice lil Nikon point and shoot. Top of the line model a few years back. I just simply can't afford a DSLR of any quality right now.

_________________
Larreth Wolfsong (long retired)
Lanys T'vyl, Everquest

Zinky, Lvl 60 Warlock
Thunderhorn, WoW

For me, I've just started playing with the power of post processing. Most of the pictures I have in this thread (for example, the paris/slug/Obama set of pictures) were simply taken with the camera and slight color correction done if required.

The last three I posted were photos taken that I went into Lightroom and played with the color, saturation, sharpness, clarity, contrast, etc. I just fiddled with the variations available to get a better understanding of what they did.

HDR by definition is going to be a post processed image, due to the fact that you are taking 2-3 photos of the same subject, just with different light levels, and combining them into one.

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Yes, all of them except the wide shot of the dome have been color corrected - most using HDR software.

Joxur, you have a very good eye.

I suck at taking pic's but I tried this spring, most of these were taken on my bike. (the date is messed up)

http://picasaweb.google.com/CWiz1974/SouthDakotaTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCOqevtjavfH1-AE#

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Devil

Build a man a fire, and he's warm for the night.
Set a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.

All of you photography folks, I thought you might like to consider using your photography to give a gift this year.



Most major cities have events gearing up to go. I may do both the official San Antonio event as well as do some work outside of the official event.

http://www.help-portrait.com/

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Jox/Rugen:

Did you use any form of color correction software to calibrate your monitors? I've noticed that out of the box most monitors don't display exact colors.

Also....my dad just called me, apparently christmas shopping lol... "Didn't you want one of those fancy DSLR cameras?"

Assuming he goes overboard with the purchase as is normal, are there any models/brands that you folks would recommend? Starting out but I don't want to have to jump through the expensive upgrade loop. I'd want something that came with a decent package. http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?whse=BC&Ne=5000000&eCat=BC|79|83|87150&N=4040592+5000107&pos=1&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&ec=BC-EC10604-Cat83&topnav=

These apparently are the models they carry =)

he frame delay on my point and shoot has gotten old. Try taking pictures of 2 puppies running around at lightspeed with a nikon that takes a second to autofocus, redeye and then shoot =P


***Edit*** The D5000 package deal looks nice!

_________________
Larreth Wolfsong (long retired)
Lanys T'vyl, Everquest

Zinky, Lvl 60 Warlock
Thunderhorn, WoW

I edit on a Macbook pro with a 24" cinema display. I calbirate for srgb, I believe, on the cinema display. Mostly because the printer I use for large prints can reproduce well for monitors calibrated for that.

The d5000 is a great camera. if your dad has deep pockets, have him get you a d300. You can get refurbbed d300s for in the $1200-$1500 range I believe.

Fort Point, just under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Our entire weekend in San Francisco was grey and rainy, so not too many shots taken as I hate lugging the camera out in the rain. Glad I got at least one I was happy with.

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I just got a D70 so I'll throw in some pictures to revive this a little. Still learning

Joxur, how do you like the Tamron 18-270mm F/3,5 -6,3? I was thinking about getting that, maybe after I get a flash.

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My stuff on facebook.

lenses are more important than external flashes.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

I can borrow a Nikon 50mm/1.4, a Nikon 70-200/2.8 VRII and a Tamron 28-200/3.8-5.6 anytime I want so I am good on lenses for now

I'd really like a sb-900, taking pictures of fast moving stuff (like dancers) in the dark is almost impossible without flash.

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My stuff on facebook.

It's the best lens I've ever owned, especially for value. If you're going on a trip and don't want to carry extra lenses, or switch while shooting, it can't be beat. This is in the prosumer range, though, so there are obviously better lenses if you want to drop several thousand dollars. I really like the lens a lot.

Being bored today I went through almost 30 year old lenses of my parents. Two pictures of the same piece of garden decoration (about 4cm in diameter), reflecting my parents house.

One taken with a 55mm macro, standing a few cm away.

The other with a 500mm tele + a x2 converter, standing somewhere on a balcony about 10m away.

I found it pretty cool

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My stuff on facebook.

that second one is nice.

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Yeah I agree the Second one is cool!

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"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

Just got back from an anniversary trip to Hawaii. I have a crap load of photos to go through, crop/correct, etc, but here are a few of my initial favourites:

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the top one is pretty! Sky is so beautiful!

_________________
"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

I went to the zoo recently so here is some new stuff!

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My stuff on facebook.

They had cats at the zoo?

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Ran across this on a blog, thought I'd share. It is funny because it is true.


http://robertbenson.com/blog/2010/04/18 ... -in-graph/

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Hehe thats awesome, so true

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My stuff on facebook.

A few new pics
Bigger ones onhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/goyko

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My stuff on facebook.

I took this at the ATL Botanical Gardens a few weeks back.

Pretty happy with this one. Just wish I had figured out how to counter the sunlight in the glasses without sacrificing the added light.

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That is *excellent*. The composition and your use of the black and grey in the pillow and his jacket really bring out the colors in the hair on his face. Really well done. I wish I could take people photos. Are you using any lights?