The "Post your pictures here" thread.

James J · 15 Aug 2012 at 23:10

Just noticed that I've got numerous images that I've taken that I never bothered uploading to Flickr so heres a few:

Nothing Says Love Like Pretty Flowers by jjohnson2012, on Flickr

Moonlight Flora by jjohnson2012, on Flickr

Hey there human by jjohnson2012, on Flickr

Wet White Flower by jjohnson2012, on Flickr

James J · 15 Aug 2012 at 23:13

One of the rare times I do a B&W photo:

Disease by jjohnson2012, on Flickr

Based on the concept of disease, with it not just appearing in humans or animals, with plants falling ill to bacteria and viral infections. Was on a walk yesterday when I took this and noticed the leaf immediately in a "sea" of green healthy plants.

James J · 15 Aug 2012 at 23:15

And for the sake of it, another in the usual style:

Bee by jjohnson2012, on Flickr

and another shot I like:

Leaf Shadow Puppets by jjohnson2012, on Flickr

Dj_Jestar · 16 Aug 2012 at 00:02

My first ever long exposure

(this is literally the only one I've taken, too)

First Night shot by Noob With A Nikon, on Flickr

85mm f/25 25sec shutter. White balance needs tweaking but hey ho, will have more of a practice when I've actually got the time!

James J · 16 Aug 2012 at 00:23

Thats pretty good for a first attempt! How'd you work out the exposure for it? Still never tried this in all the years I've had some sort of camera.

Raymond Lin · 16 Aug 2012 at 00:35

James J said:
Thats pretty good for a first attempt! How'd you work out the exposure for it? Still never tried this in all the years I've had some sort of camera.

It's easy. Think in stops.

First, put it in AV and auto ISO (or pick one, it doesn't matter), half press and see what settings it gives you and then work backwards.

for example, lets say it's

F/4.0
ISO 6400
1/10th second.

Clearly if you take that by hand it'll be grainy and blurry. Put it on the tripod and then work the F-stops, one thing at a time. The idea is you can get the time as high as you can, but want the ISO as low as you can as you have a tripod.

Lets stick with F/4 for argument sake.

You then bump ISO to 3200, thats 1 stop. So you need to double your time.

1/10 -> 1/5th

now ISO 1600, hence 1/2 and a half second...that doesn't happen so it's 1/2th second.

ISO 800 then is 1 second
ISO 400 is 2 second
ISO 200 is 4 second
ISO 100 is 8 second.

So, put it in Manual, F/4, ISO 100, 8 seconds. That should be pretty close and if you start with that and then can adjust to 6 seconds or 10 seconds to see.

If you want more DoF then bump it to F/5.6 will be 16 seconds (15 seconds). F/8 would be 30 seconds. Anymore you'll need a remote release and bulb mode.

This is what you have to do if you shoot film. Starts from the top, work your way down.

James J · 16 Aug 2012 at 00:50

How do you compensate for bright oncoming traffic lights (fog lights) on cars and lorries etc? Do you need any filters to block certain types of light to reduce the glare from streetlights?

The only long exposure shots I've really done properly are night sky shots of stars, yet thats easy as the light source doesn't change enough (fast enough anyway) to make a difference to the exposure upto 30secs shutter.

Zaf · 16 Aug 2012 at 00:50

Raymond Lin said:
It's easy. Think in stops.

First, put it in AV and auto ISO (or pick one, it doesn't matter), half press and see what settings it gives you and then work backwards.

for example, lets say it's

F/4.0
ISO 6400
1/10th second.

Clearly if you take that by hand it'll be grainy and blurry. Put it on the tripod and then work the F-stops, one thing at a time. The idea is you can get the time as high as you can, but want the ISO as low as you can as you have a tripod.

Lets stick with F/4 for argument sake.

You then bump ISO to 3200, thats 1 stop. So you need to double your time.

1/10 -> 1/5th

now ISO 1600, hence 1/2 and a half second...that doesn't happen so it's 1/2th second.

ISO 800 then is 1 second
ISO 400 is 2 second
ISO 200 is 4 second
ISO 100 is 8 second.

So, put it in Manual, F/4, ISO 100, 8 seconds. That should be pretty close and if you start with that and then can adjust to 6 seconds or 10 seconds to see.

If you want more DoF then bump it to F/5.6 will be 16 seconds (15 seconds). F/8 would be 30 seconds. Anymore you'll need a remote release and bulb mode.

This is what you have to do if you shoot film. Starts from the top, work your way down.

Bookmarked

Raymond Lin · 16 Aug 2012 at 00:57

James J said:
How do you compensate for bright oncoming traffic lights (fog lights) on cars and lorries etc? Do you need any filters to block certain types of light to reduce the glare from streetlights?

The only long exposure shots I've really done properly are night sky shots of stars, yet thats easy as the light source doesn't change enough (fast enough anyway) to make a difference to the exposure upto 30secs shutter.

It's part of the fun! and hard to tell until you've done it. There are also other aspects such as the refractions inside the lens that you can't see until afterwards. Some lenses are better than others.

James J · 16 Aug 2012 at 01:10

Raymond Lin said:
It's part of the fun! and hard to tell until you've done it. There are also other aspects such as the refractions inside the lens that you can't see until afterwards. Some lenses are better than others.

Noted, I'll have a go at some point as theres a few roads very close to my house that would be good for this sort of shot.

rG-tom · 16 Aug 2012 at 02:46

Few from a wedding a few months ago, which was my first in 2 years near enough! Rusty doesn't even begin to describe it. Have done two more since and i'm getting considerably more relaxed/back into it

They shall follow.

Phate · 16 Aug 2012 at 06:58

James J said:
Noted, I'll have a go at some point as theres a few roads very close to my house that would be good for this sort of shot.

I've done a few of these shots now. Whilst Rayd theory is spot on...I find it a little over complicated

(I'm a simpleton you see)

For me the general rule I follow is, high F number, ISO 100, play with the shutter speed/fstop for desired effect.

Tripod is a must!

I'll post one of mine later.

Dj_Jestar · 16 Aug 2012 at 10:09

James J said:
Thats pretty good for a first attempt! How'd you work out the exposure for it? Still never tried this in all the years I've had some sort of camera.

Thanks

I Used the D5100's meter to gauge exposure - but deliberately over-exposed a little. I'd just watched a vid on youtube about city night shooting and the guy said "always use ISO100 and a tripod - longer exposure is always better than shorter shutter." Delayed exposure/mirror lock was a must too, I guess

Btw, I'm avoiding all things auto on my camera. I'm using the gauges as a guide, but even then only as a rough guide.

I see Raymond and others have answered too, so if my info conflicts, go with theirs

Photogirl · 16 Aug 2012 at 11:20

some recent shots

Iv been renting a studio more recently just to refresh my memory and skills on this type of work, as I was last in one over 10 years ago dont think they are too bad still need some practice. Iv remembered how much fun a studio with a good model can be!

Schizophonic · 16 Aug 2012 at 11:25

I do like the lighting set up on the 1st one.

Ksanti · 16 Aug 2012 at 17:18

Very nice but on the first one, tone down the burning/masking over her eye. It's very conspicuous at the moment particularly with her other eye in there

Photogirl · 16 Aug 2012 at 18:39

Agreed, her eyes were a little dull but I think I have overdone burning them back in. I will have another try with the raw file.

Sonea Fifer · 16 Aug 2012 at 20:32

Took a few pictures while out for a walk earlier tonight, nothing as fancy or professional as some of the others here but I thought you guys might like to see a couple:

Guitarman0 · 16 Aug 2012 at 20:56

I know its a long shot but they weren't taken in Angle were they?

Devrij · 16 Aug 2012 at 21:06

Sonea Fifer said:
Took a few pictures while out for a walk earlier tonight, nothing as fancy or professional as some of the others here but I thought you guys might like to see a couple:

http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy324/stuartsinc1972/IMG_0353.jpg[/IMG

[IMG]http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy324/stuartsinc1972/IMG_0358.jpg[/IMG[/QUOTE]

Good stuff mate. The second shot is a tricky situation to expose for. Either you expose for the land, and the sky blows out, or you expose for the sky and the land is black. Your camera has tried to do both, but ended up with a bit of a blown out sky and dark land anyway. You can combat this with a graduated filter which darkens the sky to the same exposure of the land and gives you detail in both. Or, if like me you don't have one, try to find some interesting shapes to silhouette against the nice sky and try to avoid merging them together (overlapping). You can also wait until the sun is below the horizon and is lighting the clouds from below for some great detail and colours. A tripod would help you use a lower ISO setting to reduce noise too. There's a nice article on it in this month's Digital Camera

EDIT: just seen you were using an iPhone. Forget all that then lol