Random Thoughts... [Photographic Edition]

So I made a video with a bunch of photos from 2011 that I had mostly forgotten about. Enjoy, don't expect prostuffs. :p

[video=youtube;OUiya-7Ee10]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUiya-7Ee10[/video]
 
So I was taking shots of the partial eclipse in San Diego and got some great shots. However, I had to be at f/40 at 270 mm at 1/4000s even WITH a 6-stop ND filter on. The sun is of course, super bright. What else would you expect at m = -26.

6-stop is enough to get some nice shots at the beach of water moving, and whatnot, but I would really like to get cloud motion, and clearer sunspot shots.

Also the venus transit is happening soon, and so I wanna get shots of that.

I'm wondering if it would be worth investing in a 4-stop AND a 2-stop filter to just stack on top of my 6. Should I get both, should I get just 1 of them? Should I scrap all that and just get another 6 or a 10 stop?
 
So I was taking shots of the partial eclipse in San Diego and got some great shots. However, I had to be at f/40 at 270 mm at 1/4000s even WITH a 6-stop ND filter on. The sun is of course, super bright. What else would you expect at m = -26.
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Cool. How do you compose without going blind? Live view, I assume?

I'm wondering if it would be worth investing in a 4-stop AND a 2-stop filter to just stack on top of my 6. Should I get both, should I get just 1 of them? Should I scrap all that and just get another 6 or a 10 stop?
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Consider that stacking filters will cause vignetting on some lenses. I just bought a 10-stop filter for doing rolling car shots. I love it.





Just don't drop it, it's a $125 piece of glass ;)
 
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Oh I :wub: those shots! Those are awesome.

As for composition, live view it is. It's a must, as glimpsing at the sun through the viewfinder even with the nd filter is bad.

The way I did it was live view zoomed out, got the sun dead center and then zoomed in.

Remote trigger.

I'm on my phone but I will post the eclipse pictures in lens flair once I get home.
 
This was with a 9-Stop ND filter.

tumblr_m4oan93XHD1qcnmbio1_1280.jpg


I did use the viewfinder, but only for extremely short periods of time.
 
I did use the viewfinder, but only for extremely short periods of time.
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:blink:

From what I've read, you run a big risk of permanently burning an image of the eclipse into your eye, even if it's only for split seconds. Man, that would suck.
 
I've also heard that it's no different that looking into the sun on any other day...
 
epp_b said:
:blink:

From what I've read, you run a big risk of permanently burning an image of the eclipse into your eye, even if it's only for split seconds. Man, that would suck.
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Yeah, so I heard. I wasn't exactly all there at the time lol... Then again, I had multiple layers of protection. Not saying it was a smart idea, but yeah. No lasting effects thus far.
 
OM-D doing a 50-second exposure yesterday evening

IMG_0094.jpg


IMG_0095.jpg


I recently purchased a Hama ND fader (2 to 10 stops), and I tried it out yesterday. I turned it down to the darkest, locked the ISO to 200 and stopped the 12-50mm down to f8 here is the result:
P5290922.jpg
 
Very nice, Eirik!
 
So, that's the 10-stop setting? How much did you pay for that thing? The ones I tried (admittedly, the cheap ones) were complete garbage and absolutely useless at anything but their lightest settings.
 
epp_b said:
So, that's the 10-stop setting? How much did you pay for that thing? The ones I tried (admittedly, the cheap ones) were complete garbage and absolutely useless at anything but their lightest settings.
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Yep, that is at it's darkest setting. I misread though, it's 8 stops at it's darkest, not 10... Wasn't that expensive, paid 500 NOK, which is about $80 (USD). You mustn't turn it past the "max" setting though, then it goes all crap with dark spots on parts of the frame... :p
 
So after seeing your guys's amazing shots, and considering the fact that I wanted to take shots of the venus transit, I ended up buying a 3-stop ND filter to go on top of my 6-stop.

I was happy with it, and was rolling and taking shots and having a blast, when suddenly I realized I had my polarizer as well. Which is 1.5 stops. So I had 10.5 stops to play with that day, and this is the end result:



Lovin it
 
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New toys arrived via UPS today! B+W 77mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer MRC Filter and a B+W 77mm 3.0 (10 stop) ND MRC 110M Filter. Should have some fun with these at the end of this month.
 
LP said:
So after seeing your guys's amazing shots, and considering the fact that I wanted to take shots of the venus transit, I ended up buying a 3-stop ND filter to go on top of my 6-stop.

I was happy with it, and was rolling and taking shots and having a blast, when suddenly I realized I had my polarizer as well. Which is 1.5 stops. So I had 10.5 stops to play with that day, and this is the end result:



Lovin it
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Wow, great colours!

[edit: I'm retarded, this picture was supposed to be in Lens Flair]
 
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Yeah definitely, the compo is shit :lol:.

I was more focused on getting the transit shots, instead of the other shots, just thought I'd do that for fun. I'll go back there and take shots freals.

I like the shot of your dog btw.
 
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So recently I've started taking an interest in photography. Specifically, automotive photography. Previously, my experience with taking pictures was limited to just taking quick ones with my phone.

So my questions are these.
Does anyone have any tips or instructions for taking good photos of cars? Doesn't matter if its tips for taking photos in motion or standing still.

I'm looking for a good place to upload the photos. Flickr comes to mind but I'd hit their limits for free accounts very quickly and I don't want to pay for an account yet. Does anyone know of a good alternative to flickr?

I'm also looking for a camera recommendation. Right now, I'm using my dads Nikon Coolpix P7000. It seems fairly good but I know nothing about cameras. I'm not really looking to spend more than $350USD either. I'm just a beginner and I don't want to go and buy the real good stuff just yet.
 
I'm not really looking to spend more than $350USD either.
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I read an article years ago explaining why you shouldn't bother being stingy, just buy the high-end stuff to you begin with and be done with it, because you'll actually end up spending less money that way (ie.: spend thousands now or spend tens of thousands gradually upgrading over the course of a few years). I'd post a link if I could find it, but I have no idea what the title was.

If you're adamant about sticking to that budget, you'll need to be looking at used cameras, which is just fine; digital SLRs are mature enough that getting one that's a few years old -- even an entry-level model -- is perfectly adequate. Don't waste your time looking for "bridge" cameras either; they're exactly the same as your pocket camera, just with extra bulk for the look-at-me-I'm-an-SLR-too appearance.

Something like this paired with this is probably a good place to start. You'll want a polarizing filter to reduce reflections, too.
 
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