The Photography Thread

[mkreku]

I had to share this with someone and I didn't know where to put it, so it ended up here.

 

Anyhow, I recently bought the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 and I'm still only trying to learn the camera and all its features. One thing that's been really fascinating (and the reason why I bought this camera in the first place) is the huge built-in optical zoom. It works wonderfully and together with the optical image stabilizer, the pictures it produces have been very sharp and nice. Of course, I suck at photography so the images look like crap anyhow but at least I can't blame the camera.

 

I experimented with the zoom and a feature called Extra Zoom the other day, and the two images below is a result of that.

 

This picture is taken from a castle overlooking Uppsala. I kind of kept the focus on the church on the hill down below since that was a fair distance away..

 

This is what I was able to see when I zoomed in as far as my little camera (with Extra Zoom turned on) could reach! Nevermind the horrible image quality (I assume it uses digital zoom and then calculates the image back up to 3 MP or whatever..), but damn that zoom works well!

 

Soon I'll try taking some more interesting shots too. I've been trying to take shots where the object you're trying to catch is in focus but the background is all blurry. Not been doing too good so far.. Photography is difficult.

[kirottu]

Meh. You took pictures of two not-a-woman. I

[LadyCrimson]

I've been trying to take shots where the object you're trying to catch is in focus but the background is all blurry. Not been doing too good so far.. Photography is difficult.

Shallow DOF - need a wide-open f-stop (smaller number - like 2.8 ), if your camera will let you. There's other factors but DOF is the place to start.

If your camera uses a lot of auto-exposure modes, try increasing to a higher shutter speed, which should set the f-stop to whatever it's minimum may be.

[mkreku]

Thank you for the advice, LadyCrimson; the one sane female brain on this board.

 

I've tried taking your advice but I'm still not doing too good. It's difficult to remember white balance, ISO, DOF, shutter time and every other little factor you can fiddle with. I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I must say that I am impressed by the camera so far. It's been very forgiving to my clumsy newbie photographer hands.

 

A few examples (scaled down to save Feargus' server):

 

This is somewhat cheating (since I used the macro function), but this is basically the only time I've gotten the really blurry background effect going. I don't think it only has to do with DOF and short shutter times, I also think the distance between the object in focus and the background that's supposed to be blurry has to be in certain proportions. Basically, the background has to be like ten times (estimation) further away than the object in focus. Or something.

 

This is another picture I took where the light was really good and I could turn down the shutter speed and get a really shallow DOF. It's noticeable in both the background and the foreground as there seems to be a relatively thin band of focus going horizontally through the picture. I like that effect. Wish I could get it to work like that more often.

 

Panasonic digital cameras has been known for their sub-standard night condition pictures (low light sensitivity). It's been said that they don't handle high ISO very well. The TZ3 is the first camera using the Venus Engine III (or one of the very first) which is supposed to be Panasonic's newest sensor/digital processor. They claim to have improved their blur reduction and ISO sensitivity. I took this picture of Uppsala by night to see if Panasonic's claim was true. I think it might be. Probably the best picture I've ever taken in my entire life (should tell you something about how horrible I am at photographing).

[LadyCrimson]

Decided to split the discussion from the Community Resources sticky to its own thread.

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The 2nd and 3rd pics are very nice.

 

This is somewhat cheating (since I used the macro function), but this is basically the only time I've gotten the really blurry background effect going. I don't think it only has to do with DOF and short shutter times, I also think the distance between the object in focus and the background that's supposed to be blurry has to be in certain proportions. Basically, the background has to be like ten times (estimation) further away than the object in focus. Or something.

 

Yeah, I said there was more to it than just fstops. The true technique-geeks - of which I am most assuredly not one - can go on and on about formulas and all that.

But there are three basic factors: the apeture setting, the focal length of the lens in use, and shooting distance. With that in mind ... if any two of these things are equal, then the third is what you'd want to change to try and achieve a desired DOF.

 

In this day of digital cameras, another factor appears to be coming into play, and that is sensor size, which varies from full-frame SLRS to 1.6 SLRs to consumer cams. You can read all about the tech jargon on that on this page. But I think it essentially boils down that digital DOF is inversely proportional to format size - many smaller digicams, for example, have sensors 1/6 the size of 35mm film, which can result in such a large depth of field that's it can be almost impossible to get blurred backgrounds from them.

 

The following are examples of my own, showing how if focal length is the same and your distance from the subject remains the same, the f-stop does affect DOF. I hope it's obvious these aren't meant to be examples of fine photography.

All 4 were shot using 100mm focal length.

 

 

 

 

[LadyCrimson]

Out of curiosity, does anyone else besides me and mkreku like to take pictures?

I miss the days where photo threads were really active.

 

Anyway, going to use this thread to post this sheet of the silly cat pictures I took today. A lot of them are blurry full-size (hard to focus/aim with one hand) but since I'm horribly biased, I still think they're cute.

 

 

[Guest Accept]

Well, i have som pictures on my dog, and on the small stream running just beside my house.

 

And oh, i'm sorry for the bad quality, i've used a cellphone...

 

 

 

[LadyCrimson]

Yay! Pictures!

I was actually thinking about that - with cheaper but better quality digicams and cellphones having cameras in them, many more can take easy pics w/no special equipment - I think it's great. I don't think those are that bad for being off a cellphone. I wish I had a creek like that by my house. All I have is this dirty pool that always needs cleaning.

 

One more from me then I have to go to bed. This one had a bad exposure and wasn't working as a color photo, so I tried sepia. Still blown out but better than full color. heh *shrug*

 

 

[Guest Accept]

Yay! Pictures!

I was actually thinking about that - with cheaper but better quality digicams and cellphones having cameras in them, many more can take easy pics w/no special equipment - I think it's great. I don't think those are that bad for being off a cellphone. I wish I had a creek like that by my house. All I have is this dirty pool that always needs cleaning.

 

One more from me then I have to go to bed. This one had a bad exposure and wasn't working as a color photo, so I tried sepia. Still blown out but better than full color. heh *shrug*

 

Thanks.

 

Yeah, that creek is really nice. And my dog just loves to take a bath there.

 

 

And gorgeous cat!

 

And when speaking of cats... i think i too will upload a couple of pictures on our two cats this afternoon.

 

Selma and Leo, their names is...

[mkreku]

I've been experimenting with taking shots when the sun is in the line of sight. I read on some online photo course that you can help mlighten up the shot by using the flash, even though you have plenty of light. It's worked very well so far. I've never understood why all my face shots in sunshine became so dark before.

 

Oh, and it was very cold and windy outside and my girlfriend hates having her picture taken.. if you're wondering about her weird face.

 

I need a happier model.

[LadyCrimson]

I've never understood why all my face shots in sunshine became so dark before.

It's because the sun is behind the subject (backlighting). Fill-flash is great, I use it all the time in macros. It's also good sometimes for creating a black background in close-ups during the day.

 

I need a happier model.

Heh, yeah, my husband never smiles when I take his picture. In fact, half the pictures I have of him don't show his face.

 

lol you should bring your camera so you can document these "weird" phenomenon that these people do and post them on the itnernets

Oh, I take my camera. I just don't often post them on the net, since I take pics on the sly and don't ask for release forms. But if their face isn't showing or I can easily fuzz it out some, it's fair game imo.

 

Fishing nets as lightsabers?

 

 

Gotcha!

 

 

Outhouse bandit?

 

[kirottu]

Thanks, mkreku!

[Rosbjerg]

These are some I took to learn some of the functions of my camera (not the best, but it can do some fun stuff once you fiddle with the setup)

 

first picture is me trying to see if I could catch smoke and the delicate structure (changing the contrast) - I ended up looking rather wierd.

 

second and third were made when I was altering the ISO, normally it's around 50-100 and here it's 200. Which allows for the transperancy.

 

the red picture is made with a mirror and natural lighting - thought it looked kinda funky.

 

the ones with the hands have of course been altered - it's made with 2 mirrors and some effects in photoshop.

[Gorgon]

Hhaha you look like every guy I know.

[theslug]

You must really like hands or something. Cool pics though from everyone. Cats were especially awesome.

[Pop]

I am a great admirer of erotic photography. Especially as it pertains to Belgian politics. It's a fine art in itself. Photography, not Belgian politics.

Edited April 25, 2007 by Pop

[mkreku]

I'm a fan of erotic photography too. The problem is convincing the girls of my artistic purposes

[LadyCrimson]

Hubby has a Canon Rebel SLR and during a trip today he managed to accidentally (and fuzzily) catch me in the background of a couple of pics. One of those "picture of someone taking a picture."

 

 

 

I was trying to take a picture of these. There were a bunch in tidepools fighting over some dead snail meat. I failed to get a great shot tho.

 

[mkreku]

Haha, I love the look on that bird's face in the first picture. He looks so.. regal.

 

I tried to take a picture of a huge bug I saw crawling over the road last night. The problem was that I was carrying two bags and a laptop at the time and my camera was in the inside pocket of my jacket. By the time I had dropped everything and gotten the camera out, the little bugger had run into the darkness (it was late evening). It was too bad, it could have been an excellent subject for a macro training shot. Fast little bugger too.

[LadyCrimson]

I rescue bugs out of the pool, pop them in jars, then take pictures of them. heh

Does that camera do pretty well with macros? I need to get a few extenders for my macro lens. I hear they're not too expensive. :D

 

I find in terms of taking pictures I either want to be physically up close (macros) or zoomed in max to get up close (animals/scenes from long distances). Every zoom lens I had in the past (film) was always at max-zoom position all the time. I would love to have a 500mm prime. That optical zoom on your camera seemed pretty impressive, so it'd definitely be the sort of camera I'd like when I didn't want to lug heavy camera gear everywhere.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I rescue bugs out of the pool, pop them in jars, then take pictures of them. heh

First bugs, then small mammals, then humans. It's a slippery slope.

 

I like the expression on the first bird, too.

[Pidesco]

Rosbjerg is all kinds of awesome.

[LadyCrimson]

First bugs, then small mammals, then humans. It's a slippery slope.

There was a small dead rat in our pool a while back. Yes, I took a picture.

So far, however, no human has fallen into our pool.

[Rosbjerg]

Rosbjerg is all kinds of awesome.

 

[Pidesco]

Right now I could steer this thread into tha path of gayness, but I won't.