Shooting Practice

[Stagecoach]

Fiji day celebrations today and 18 chances to capture that instant, loads of images of smoke and one measly little bit of flame

Oh well, it was good fun, I even knew the firing timing sequence, burst mode at max but nothing synced.

No 1 - 1/1250, f/4.8, ISO200, 195mm



A chance to try out the new Tamron 28-75mm 2.8
No 2 - 1/2000, f/3.5, ISO200, 75mm


Grahame

[PhotoByTrace]

Number 1 is a pretty cool image... I think you did well to get the flame! Lovely separation of the subject from the background in the 2nd image, nicely sharp too.

[Stagecoach]

Number 1 is a pretty cool image... I think you did well to get the flame! Lovely separation of the subject from the background in the 2nd image, nicely sharp too.

Thanks Trace,

No 1 was not as cool as that captured by a pro I met there who managed to get a quarter of the frame showing great flame and smoke but I can't think of anything I could have done different

[Shadowman]

Nice captures.

[Kodiak]

•
I am very disappointed!
The title lead me to believe I would see some practice shooting from YOUR part!
+1 to Trace's comment about the flame.

[deetheturk]

Nice captures Grahame, another new lens? You can't hide money as they say

Cheers David

[rpcrowe]

Grahame, did you shoot the guns in burst mode? (camera burst, not gun burst) If so, how fast was the burst? It is difficult for me to capture an artillery shot in single shot mode because my reflexes are not fast enough anymore. Nice capture of the flame from the gun's muzzle!

Also, nice capture of the marching troops. As an old U.S. Navy photographer, I well know how difficult it is to capture individuals with dark complexions who are wearing white uniforms; as it is hard to capture dark complexioned brides in white dresses. This is especially true on a bright sunny day.

I'd like to have seen the sword hilt and the other hand in this image. However, when looking at the image, my eyes immediately are drawn to the officer's face and eyes. The hilt and other hand are only secondary...

As an aside... I kept looking at the image and wondering what is different about it. I finally I realized that I don't remember ever seeing military men marching in formation while bare headed. If my memory holds (which at my age is tenuous at best) I have always seen marching military formations in which the members are wearing hats or helmets. This makes the capture of the individual's faces even more difficult since the hat or helmet will usually place the face in shade...

[Stagecoach]

Nice captures Grahame, another new lens? You can't hide money as they say

Cheers David

Hi David,

Yes, I treated myself after being impressed with the Tamron 70-300 I purchased a week before.

A short time ago the VR packed up on my Nikon 18-200mm, by packing up I mean remaining on and making gearbox noises so I had to revert to my old 28-105 Nikon which suffers not quite satisfactory edge sharpness unless stopped down to f/22.

So I got this to give me a sharp landscape lens but also with it's 2.8 throughout the range it's useful for events and candids. So far it looks good but I have not had a chance to try it with landscape work yet.

And as for choosing Tamron, it's all I could get here off the shelf

[flashback]

As an aside... I kept looking at the image and wondering what is different about it. I finally I realized that I don't remember ever seeing military men marching in formation while bare headed. If my memory holds (which at my age is tenuous at best) I have always seen marching military formations in which the members are wearing hats or helmets. This makes the capture of the individual's faces even more difficult since the hat or helmet will usually place the face in shade...

My thought exactly; Class A's and no cover. Still both shots are great and the officer is a classic shot.

[Stagecoach]

Grahame, did you shoot the guns in burst mode? (camera burst, not gun burst) If so, how fast was the burst? It is difficult for me to capture an artillery shot in single shot mode because my reflexes are not fast enough anymore. Nice capture of the flame from the gun's muzzle!

Also, nice capture of the marching troops. As an old U.S. Navy photographer, I well know how difficult it is to capture individuals with dark complexions who are wearing white uniforms; as it is hard to capture dark complexioned brides in white dresses. This is especially true on a bright sunny day.

I'd like to have seen the sword hilt and the other hand in this image. However, when looking at the image, my eyes immediately are drawn to the officer's face and eyes. The hilt and other hand are only secondary...

As an aside... I kept looking at the image and wondering what is different about it. I finally I realized that I don't remember ever seeing military men marching in formation while bare headed. If my memory holds (which at my age is tenuous at best) I have always seen marching military formations in which the members are wearing hats or helmets. This makes the capture of the individual's faces even more difficult since the hat or helmet will usually place the face in shade...

Richard, I used burst mode for most shots which is 6 fps on the D300 in Jpeg mode that I used.

There were seven seconds between each gun shot so my procedure was to count to 5 and start the burst and stop on hearing the gun fire. My theory was that if you wait to hear the gun with the delay of the sound travelling along with human reaction delay you have little chance.

The light was very bright as you can see from the settings but fortunately to the right and behind the shot so the hottest parts were the left arms but metering performed well with exposures only having a few specular highlights on the buttons.

I was especially pleased that I captured the insignia on the sword.

With regard to the hats only navy personnel in the parade were wearing them looking at the shots I have. Rather surprising as these guys were stood in the sun for over two hours at this function.

[IzzieK]

...
With regard to the hats only navy personnel in the parade were wearing them looking at the shots I have. Rather surprising as these guys were stood in the sun for over two hours at this function.

One thing to note -- and this includes me even though I have light olive skin -- is that coloured skin people can stand in the sun for hours and yet on a hot summer day without airconditioning inside a structure or house, we sort of refused to go near a light too much because ... it is too hot...I thought I was the only one like this but we used to have a darker skin employee at the shop who was using the light from the window to do his work. When hubby came to open the light on his bench, he shut it off and told hubby ... "it is too hot."

Anyway...I like both shots very much, especially #2.

[FootLoose]

Grahame, I would be happy with these two photos as a set. I understand it is disappointing not to have captured the flame from the barrel, but I would be tempted to try to pull more detail out of all that smoke.

And the guys marching... well if the expression on that fellows face doesn't say committment, I don't know what does. You have caught them in time, with arms raised and the sheen and insignia on the sword... Well done, I say.

[Stagecoach]

My thought exactly; Class A's and no cover. Still both shots are great and the officer is a classic shot.

Thank you Jack,

[Stagecoach]

One thing to note -- and this includes me even though I have light olive skin -- is that coloured skin people can stand in the sun for hours and yet on a hot summer day without airconditioning inside a structure or house, we sort of refused to go near a light too much because ... it is too hot...I thought I was the only one like this but we used to have a darker skin employee at the shop who was using the light from the window to do his work. When hubby came to open the light on his bench, he shut it off and told hubby ... "it is too hot."

Anyway...I like both shots very much, especially #2.

Hi Izzie,

I too can stand under the sun all day but I sure regret it when I get home and find I'm bright red

Pleased you like them.

Grahame

[Stagecoach]

Grahame, I would be happy with these two photos as a set. I understand it is disappointing not to have captured the flame from the barrel, but I would be tempted to try to pull more detail out of all that smoke.

And the guys marching... well if the expression on that fellows face doesn't say committment, I don't know what does. You have caught them in time, with arms raised and the sheen and insignia on the sword... Well done, I say.

I had a go at pulling more detail out of the smoke Greg but failed and suspect I need to do it locally rather than try it globally. I'll have another go.