Project 52 by Wendy (ScoutR)

[Ricco]

Personally I think you are being too harsh on yourself. The 2010 photo is different, not necessarily better and not necessarily worse. If you had never seen the 2010 version, my suspicion is that you would have loved your results from 2011.

Either wouldn't look out of place hanging on your wall.

For me, my preference is the stand alone 2011 branch without the out of focus in the background (and this includes comparing back to 2010).

Good luck with this weeks!

[ScoutR]

You know, I really like that second photo. I think I'd like to see the indentations in the snow cloned out and a touch more negative space below the main subject but there's something about that photo that works for me.

Thanks Malcom, I sort of like that one too, but it needs a bit more work. I'll try some of the suggestions you mentioned. The branches are still in the back yard. I have to try in different light and with a bit more DOF too if the branches hold up till we get more snow.

That's my theme!

Ooops, sorry I missed that. Can we share. I'm sure I'll be able to learn a few things from you. The most movement I have to deal with is weeds blowing in the wind, and when it comes to camera settings I'm in a real rut. I only change the basic settings.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Personally I think you are being too harsh on yourself. The 2010 photo is different, not necessarily better and not necessarily worse. If you had never seen the 2010 version, my suspicion is that you would have loved your results from 2011.

Either wouldn't look out of place hanging on your wall.

For me, my preference is the stand alone 2011 branch without the out of focus in the background (and this includes comparing back to 2010).

Good luck with this weeks!

Thanks for the kind words Peter.
I also want to thank you for suggesting Project 52. Great idea, and seems to be working out pretty good so far.

Wendy

[joewatt]

#1. For this one I wanted a long narrow format. I was thinking I'd like to have a set for printing with 1 in portrait mode and then 2 smaller landscape mode shots to hang beside them. This shot was supposed to be in portrait mode but it did not look right so landscape it is.

Wendy

Wendy - I think reshoot #2 is the best of all - I really like the horizontal format - to me the composition is reminiscent of a Japanese painting.

[Edwin Harvey]

EXCELLENT captures Wendy

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Ooops, sorry I missed that. Can we share. I'm sure I'll be able to learn a few things from you. The most movement I have to deal with is weeds blowing in the wind, and when it comes to camera settings I'm in a real rut. I only change the basic settings.

Wendy

I was being obnoxious I look forward to comparing notes - I've had an interesting couple of attempts so far already and it's less to do with shutter speed and more to do with focus mode to get the right focus points. Given we have the same body I'll be interested to see what technique you end up using

[Letrow]

I like Winter Leaves 2011 Reshoot Ver 2 Wendy. I think the structure of the leaves comes out well and there is enough dark in the snow as well. One of the differences with the 2010 shoot is your shooting distance I think, which is why the 2010 fills the frame so nicely. The amount of leaves in 2010 is one third of what you used in the other photos. Big difference in how it looks.
I am not even sure that the colour matters that much.
And, by the way, your snow colour is more natural in the 2011 photos.

[Ricco]

Thanks for the kind words Peter.
I also want to thank you for suggesting Project 52. Great idea, and seems to be working out pretty good so far.

Wendy

No problem - I must admit the response has been amazing and I'm learning heaps from everyone. I have to admit - this week I wouldn't have had the camera out at all if not for the project. By getting it out I learnt an extra thing or two \ about macro lighting that I didn't know before. And all in all, that is the purpose!


In terms of your photos, I think we all can often get overly critical about small aspects whether that be sharpness, composition, tone, colour or some other factor and we don't recognize that they are just great to look at. I think this can be even worse with our own work which we see the blemishes without appreciating the good parts. Case in point, look at a post from this forum:
First Attempts at Portraits.
In terms of traditional measures, the images are soft, blown highlights and you could critique them to death - but gee they work and they are great shots!

Anyhow - look forward to seeing more!

[Rob Douglas]

I love the texture a colors of the second image.

[Tobman]

Wendy,

I really like the pattern of twigs in the very fist version you posted; I find it very artistic and captivating, but lacking in detail in the snow. And I really like the detail in the snow and leaves in the very last one you posted, and the color of the leaves is more prominent. A combination of the two would be exceptional.

As for your week two goal of capturing movement or freezing the action, I can't wait to see what you come up with. I have three kids, and am quite challenged getting good photos of them playing their sports. One is a hockey player (very poor lighting and odd white balance), one is a cross-country skier (either flat gray light, or super intense sun and shadows), and they all play soccer (fast and typically harsh light). It is a lot of fun working on getting that perfect action shot. I recently got a 3-stop ND filter to practice getting shots of the local river here with that silky look to the water - kind of the opposite by capturing a sense of movement.

[ScoutR]

Thanks everyone for all the feedback since last time I checked in. I won't take time to reply to each post right now, but I'm not ignoring anyone, just got busy with a Chestnut horse.

Week 2 will be a challenge for me. As I look through my shots, I really don't ever take anything that's moving and I always use the same camera settings. I hope by the end of it I will at least know when and how to switch focus modes when the opportunity arises.

progress is pretty slow right now
Day 1: decided on a project
Day 2: read the manual and decided to do a predictably moving subject using AFC 9 point AF
Day 3: trying to think of a subject (can I borrow your kids) I will probably go down to the arena and see about hockey and/or swimming shots.
Day 4: quit procrastinating and get some shots
Day 5: quit procrastinating and get some shots
Day 6: get some better shots
Day 7: Post something

[ScoutR]

Got some shots for this weeks project today. Below are the settings, the description of the settings from the Nikon manual and my rationale for using these settings

AFC: Continuous Servo AF - Camera focuses continuously while shutter release button is pressed halfway. If subject moves, camera Will engage predictive focus tracking... and adjust focus as necessary. Shutter can be released whether or not subject is in focus
9 point Dynamic area AF: Choose this when there is time to compose the photo or when photographing subjects that are moving predictably.

The above 2 settings made sense to me in order to photograph cars moving on the highway or in this case a horse and buggy coming towards me. I did some cars and trucks BUT they are boring. I really wouldn't need AFC for a horse and buggy, they move slow enough that I'm sure I could refocus using AFS (for stationary subjects) but this seems to work and it's much easier than having to stop and refocus all the time. Actually as I write this I'm thinking that AFC is the better choice. I believe focus locks when the shutter is released with AFS SO that means that there will always be movement between the time I lock the focus and the time I press the shutter. I don't know how fast the focus calculations are with AFC BUT I suppose there is more of a chance of keeping even a slow moving subject sharp with AFC.

Continuous shooting low speed: While shutter release button is held down, camera records 1-5 frames per second. Frame rate can be chosen using Custom Settings CL mode shooting speed.

Very interesting. This was firing much faster than I needed so I controlled the rate myself by keeping the shutter release half pressed but only releasing the shutter when I was ready. I will have to set up the mode shooting speed - didn't know I could do that.

EXIF:
All shot were taken in AV mode f 5.6. I opened up the lens because in my mind this seemed like a better way to test if the camera was tracking. I'm really not sure about this???? It just seems that if the lens was closed down then the greater DOF could be what's keeping things in Focus. In a real shot, I would want the increased DOF, but for the test I thought the shallower the better. Not sure if that makes sense but they are all taken at 5.6
because there was only a few seconds between each shot EXIF is the same for each shot
1/500s: ISO 800: 200mm: +1/3 EV
Focus point should be on the horses face.


I saw the horse and buggy coming in the distance and framed the shot and picked the focus point I would want to use so I could take the first shot just before the horse got to the bend. I figured I would be able to keep shooting until the horse was rounding the bend. I didn't have enough time to move closer and zoom out or I would have, so all shots are taken at 200mm

Well, I don't know if that helps anyone else, but it helped me get it burned in my brain by typing it out. So, the results are not wonderful, but for a first try I'm happy that the camera is doing what it is supposed to do and I think with practise and experience. I will get better with action shots.

And now for your viewing pleasure, here they are:

#1

AFC 9 point Test by Wendy FS, on Flickr

#2

AFC 9 point Test by Wendy FS, on Flickr

#3

AFC 9 point Test by Wendy FS, on Flickr

#4

AFC 9 point Test by Wendy FS, on Flickr

Suggestions welcome. I'll be doing this again... practise practise practise. I want to stay on the same focus settings though.
These look to me like the focus gets better as the subject gets closer, which is fine I guess and perhaps normal for this lens. I never have liked shots where I had to focus on something in the distance. I don't know if it is the camera or the lens or if that's just the way things are.

Anyway if I missed any settings or didn't explain something properly let me know.

Wendy

[MiniChris]

What lens was it?

[ScoutR]

18-200mm f3.5-5.6 VRII

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Hi Wendy,

#3 and #4 look great - very sharp and the shallow DoF doesn't seem to impact your capture of the horse's body - I'm guessing you must have been a ways back given you were at 200mm. I think #2 is okay too but #1 doesn't appear to be as sharp for some reason and I've been mulling over this since you posted your photos.

As far as I'm aware the 18-200mm is supposed to be pretty good. As a comparison, not sure if you've seen my more recent surfing photos, but they're taken with Kerry's 55-300mm kit lens, both probably moving at the speed of a horse drawn carriage while on the wave. They're taken at f/5.6, slower shutter speed, and different ISOs (the first was after the sun was well and truly up while the second was just after sunrise) - similar enough I think to your conditions to be a comparison. I'm thinking that at 200mm you should still be able to get part of your image still reasonably sharp, even while moving provided you have enough light. I did notice that you were shooting at ISO 800 which to me indicates that you probably didn't have as much light as the photos give the impression of. The only other thing that I can think of is that because you were in AFC, there's the potential that the first shot was fired when the shot was just very slightly out of focus. I'm not 100% sure but more experimenting I think will help you figure it out.

On what you wrote, I agree with you that AFC was the better choice. The horse was continuously moving towards you so you would have wanted to be continually focussing and AFS does lock the focus once it has obtained it. On 9 point the calculations would be very fast - it handles 39 points with colour and distance alterations just fine (what I used when the kids were off the diving board). It comes down to then how quickly your lens shifts focus. Incidentally, you can set up both modes so that they fire when focus lock is or isn't achieved, depending on your preference.

CL Mode - When you're on AFC, it fires as fast as it can go for that mode because it doesn't care whether or not a subject is in focus. It slows down when you're on AFA because it will want focus lock before it will allow the shutter to fire. To be honest, you can probably fire off 3 shots per second on single shot mode - I do it accidentally sometimes when I'm a bit excited

Beautiful horse and setting by the way We never get a horse and carriage running around here!

[Sam Smith]

Wendy, I like the concept of your study. I cannot comment on the setting as you are shooting the other brand. I like #3 the best over all but I like the horse in #4 the best as I can see it's eyes. Colors look great.
Just on side note, never understood why buggies require so many review mirrors, it not like they are going to back into a parking spot or parallel park.

[Wendy Stanford]

Hi Wendy, #3 appeals, is in focus, fills the frame more than #1 or #2, but still has space around the buggy that allows you to see the background and the curve of the road, #4 not all the buggy is in the frame, which I think detracts from the image, great project

[ScoutR]

#3 and #4 look great - very sharp and the shallow DoF doesn't seem to impact your capture of the horse's body - I'm guessing you must have been a ways back given you were at 200mm. I think #2 is okay too but #1 doesn't appear to be as sharp for some reason and I've been mulling over this since you posted your photos.

Thanks Malcom: These were all shot from my car window at 200mm. Not quite the plan I had in mind, but I was leaving the scene when I (finally) heard a horse and buggy coming up the side road. I just put the car in park and lined things up as well as I could.
I'm pondering the distance focus issue too. I thought it might be because the distant shots were in the shade, BUT I had just been out on the road practicing on some cars and I was getting the same results. I will have to check this out. One of the other posters mentioned the centre focus point being the strongest. These were all taken starting with the focus point just right of centre. I'll fool around a bit more and see what I can come up with. If it was just this series, I would say it was operator error, but every car/truck series was the same, and they were in the sun.

I'm thinking that at 200mm you should still be able to get part of your image still reasonably sharp, even while moving provided you have enough light. I did notice that you were shooting at ISO 800 which to me indicates that you probably didn't have as much light as the photos give the impression of. The only other thing that I can think of is that because you were in AFC, there's the potential that the first shot was fired when the shot was just very slightly out of focus. I'm not 100% sure but more experimenting I think will help you figure it out.

Well, like I say for this series the distant shots were in the shade, but the car/truck shots were all in the sun. I could actually see the focus change and become sharper in the viewfinder when the cars got closer in the frame, I'm glad it's tracking, but I will keep experimenting to see if I can figure out the distance focusing issue.

On what you wrote, I agree with you that AFC was the better choice. The horse was continuously moving towards you so you would have wanted to be continually focussing and AFS does lock the focus once it has obtained it. On 9 point the calculations would be very fast - it handles 39 points with colour and distance alterations just fine (what I used when the kids were off the diving board). It comes down to then how quickly your lens shifts focus. Incidentally, you can set up both modes so that they fire when focus lock is or isn't achieved, depending on your preference.

Today is read the manual and change some camera settings. I will find out how to set it to lock focus before firing. Then I will be able to tell whether the camera thinks it's in focus or not. If it locks out of focus, well that sounds like a repair job to me. If it won't lock focus in the distance.... hmmm well that sounds like a repair job and/or I have to find something better to focus on. Practice, practice, practice

CL Mode - When you're on AFC, it fires as fast as it can go for that mode because it doesn't care whether or not a subject is in focus. It slows down when you're on AFA because it will want focus lock before it will allow the shutter to fire. To be honest, you can probably fire off 3 shots per second on single shot mode - I do it accidentally sometimes when I'm a bit excited

It does fire off pretty fast, I could have made a movie out of the first series of shots. I managed to lighten up for this set and all the shots are at least 3 seconds apart.

Beautiful horse and setting by the way We never get a horse and carriage running around here!

It is isn't it, a very high stepper, a bit of hackney in there somewhere I think, also quite young. Funny thing is I'm pretty sure I know this guy. I meet him in town one day when I saw an appaloosa hitched to a horse and buggy which is a pretty strange choice of breed for a mennonite buggy. Anyway I stopped to talk to him (the owner, not the horse) He raises and trains horses and obviously loves them. The appaloosa was in beautiful condition and if this is the same fellow, and it looks like him in the picture, this horse looks to be in pretty good conditon also, and very showy for a mennonite buggy.

Thanks again for the tips Malcom. I'll be carrying this project over for a few weeks until I get to try out all the different focus modes and settings.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Wendy, I like the concept of your study. I cannot comment on the setting as you are shooting the other brand. I like #3 the best over all but I like the horse in #4 the best as I can see it's eyes. Colors look great.
Just on side note, never understood why buggies require so many review mirrors, it not like they are going to back into a parking spot or parallel park.

Thanks Sam. I feel the same way you do, compositon of #3 but for sharpness #4 wins

You wouldn't believe the traffic these guys drive in. This used to be a small country town with very little traffic and on any given day not that much going on in town. Everything has changed. All the roads into town are always busy, and downtown is crowed all the time so there is a lot of manauvering going on and the mirrors really are needed. Eyes in the back and sides of the head would help too I think. I get chills sometimes when I see what they have to drive through in town in order to get business done.

Wendy

[Donald]

Well, I don't know if that helps anyone else, but it helped me get it burned in my brain by typing it out.

And that alone makes it so very worthwhile.

Fascinating discussion taking place. Hopefully many others will read it now or in the future in order to understand the considerations that need to be taken into account and learn from the experience of fellow forum members.