Introduce Yourself & Welcome Other Members (archive)

[rick55]

Hi, Josh;

If you're doing mostly architecture and city scenes, I'm not sure the 50mm f/1.4 will be a good investment for you. The main advantage of the 50mm over the 18-55mm kit lens is the aperture. At 55mm, the kit lens will only open up to f/5.6. This could be a problem for hand-held, although since the kit lens is image stabilized (IS) and the 50mm isn't, that isn't as big an advantage as it may seem. And if you're looking for a lot of "tack-sharp" images, you won't want to use it much more open than about f/2.8, I think. I'll offer another review site (might as well try for overload, right? ). SLRGear tests lenses, and I really like the "blur units" graph, which helps show where you want to stop down a lens to get a really sharp image.

The main reason for the 50mm might be to open it to f/2.8 to get a tighter depth of field (DOF). For example, if you had an archway, and wanted the foreground and something inside to be blurred so as not to distract, that will be easier with a bigger aperture.

My suggestion would be to spend some time with the kit lens and see where you're feeling pain: do you want a wider angle, a longer telephoto, a narrower DOF? Once you know that, you'll know what kind of lens you want to expand in that direction. The kit lens is really a pretty good lens: I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Cheers,
Rick

[JBeales]

Hi all,

I am from Portsmouth UK and have been into photography for a while but only really started to develop (no pun intended) over the last couple of years. I am interested in all aspects of photography from image capture to the digital processing. I prefer landscape photography but am keen to get into sports/action. I have a lot to learn and look forward to exploring this and seeing how creative I can become.

Justin.

[brandyknvb]

Cheers for the advice Klickit and Rick. I'm gonna stick with the Canon + Kit Lens to begin with and then work out what sort of additional lenses I ight need. I'll be sure to show you guys some of the first Photos when it all finally arrives.

Just lastly I'm probably going to purchase from PIXMANIA as they have good warranty and have bben great in the past plus very low prices.
Are there any other suggestions for where I could buy the camera from?

Thanks again,
Josh

[Dave Humphries]

Hi all,

I am from Portsmouth UK and have been into photography for a while but only really started to develop (no pun intended) over the last couple of years. I am interested in all aspects of photography from image capture to the digital processing. I prefer landscape photography but am keen to get into sports/action. I have a lot to learn and look forward to exploring this and seeing how creative I can become.

Justin.

Hi Justin,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me, this is a great place to learn, the more you join in, the more you'll learn, so I guess I am saying; don't be shy.

What camera and lens(es) are you shooting with?

best regards,

[tammy]

Hi everyone. I found this site yesterday and have really enjoyed reading and looking. I am an amateur photographer and love everything about it.

[rick55]

Just lastly I'm probably going to purchase from PIXMANIA as they have good warranty and have bben great in the past plus very low prices.
Are there any other suggestions for where I could buy the camera from?

Hi, Josh;

I've bought a good bit from Adorama and B&H Photo Video. They're both in the US (as am I), but I've seen B&H recommended by Colin, who's in New Zealand, so I'm guessing they should be a good choice in Cardiff, as well. There's also Amazon, of course, who supplies lots of things from Adorama, and seems to consistently have the same prices as Adorama, at least in the US.

Perhaps some people in the UK will add some suggestions.

Cheers,
Rick

[carregwen]

Hi everyone,

I'm Josh from Cardiff UK.

I'm an entry level chap to all this D-SLR stuff and I'm about to purchase a Canon 550d with the 18-55 mm kit lens. I'm considering getting a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM prime lens (is it worth it?)

I predominantly do street photography, mainly architecture and city stuff.

Hi Josh, and welcome.

If you have already handled a 550D and are happy with it, you could try Warehouse Express. I use them a lot, and they are excellent for both price and service - never had a problem. http://www.warehouseexpress.com/digi...37-r2371#first best to go to a camera shop first and get the feel of it.

Are you in Cardiff Uni? My wife went there, years ago - Botany!

[Dave Humphries]

Perhaps some people in the UK will add some suggestions.

Almost inevitably I use Amazon.co.uk, e.g. as I did for my two recent Nikon lens purchases - not the absolute cheapest, but I've used them many times before and not had a problem even with the free delivery, their re-sellers are good for Hoya Pro-1 Digital filters too.

Cheers,

[John T]

Greetings,

This is my first post to the CIC forum. With this message, I would like to introduce myself as well as seek initial advice about the best modes to make best use of the forum. After I secure directions about the best options for interfacing with this group, I will follow up with more specific messages.

By way of introduction, I am a Chemistry and Bioengineering Professor at Rice University. As such, most of the time I serve as the instructor. It is a pleasure to provide instruction to some of the brightest students in the world. My research area focuses on development of affordable healthcare devices. These devices serve as a marriage of medical devices and microelectronics. They work on the principle of capturing digital images and thus the tie back to this community. More information about our work can be found on www.tastechip.com.

Enough … for the science lessons. The real reason I am here at this forum is that I want to learn from the experts. As such, I revert back to the status of the student for the area of photography. There are some many talented photographers these days, many of which participate in this forum. I would be most pleased to learn from the exchanges in this forum en route to becoming more proficient in this area.
I have the good fortune to be able to travel as part of my lecture series. Science is indeed an international profession. On many of my trips I bring along my camera to shoot the local sites. My equipment is listed below:

Equipment: Canon Rebel T1i Camera with Canon EFS 18-135 mm zoom and Canon EF 70-200 mm zoom lenses.

I have just created a photo gallery that can be accessed at the following URL:
http://gallery.me.com/jtmcdevitt

Last month my wife and I took a trip to Europe where we visited London, Rome, and Capri. During this trip, I began my first attempts at HDR. While I am very excited about the potential for the tool, I am humbled at the same time by the challenges associated with getting high quality images from this method.

~

Thanking you in advance for your participation in the forum.
Ciao, John

[Shadowman]

Welcome to the group John.

1. First off, any scene can be transformed to HDR but usually high contrast scenes, skies, nightscapes are the most popular. Most of your HDR photos have a similar style to others in your other photos, mainly the Campania series. It appears you have chosen a low dynamic approach to HDR, not over processing your images, and this works fine in most cases but will separate your style from others who go over the top with HDR. Your images will maintain impact without HDR provided there is something dynamic in the shot to begin with.

~

[John T]

Welcome to the group John.

1. First off, any scene can be transformed to HDR but usually high contrast scenes, skies, nightscapes are the most popular. Most of your HDR photos have a similar style to others in your other photos, mainly the Campania series. It appears you have chosen a low dynamic approach to HDR, not over processing your images, and this works fine in most cases but will separate your style from others who go over the top with HDR. Your images will maintain impact without HDR provided there is something dynamic in the shot to begin with.

~

Shadowman,

Thanks for the prompt reply. This is most appreciated.

I am still in the early stages of figuring out what works best in HDR. I agree that many of my subjects at this point have lacked high contrast and as such might not be expected to be ideal cases for HDR. I will keep this in mind as I move on to the next series of images. I do see excellent results from others with similar subjects, so I think I am missing some key steps. At this stage I have not blended the tone-mapped images with the original images. Many sites suggest this step. My lack of comfort with Photoshop is the initial barrier. I guess I am looking for feedback here to see if this step is critical. If yes, I will make the effort. If others can process much better final results, I will then be motivated to spend more time on the processing. If there are intrinsic limitations to the images, I need to focus on that area. Right now I need the help of the forum to define which of these two issues is the culprit. Perhaps a bit of both...

I am still at the stage of defining my style and some additional experimentation is needed. I agree with you comments that I need to figure this out myself eventually, but to be honest, I have reached the point of diminishing returns on the HDR processing and feel that by seeking input I will be able to more quickly move past the initial barriers.

~

I suppose the next posts will be in the HDR forum.

Thanks for getting us started.

John

[Ellen]

Hi Guys!

The moment I found this site I could not stop reading the tuitorials. I have learned so much from it. Thanks! Just sitting in front of my notebook and thought of checking the site further. This site is fantastic! The tuitorial is quite detailed.

So I decided to join today when I saw your mini-competitions. I thought it's a great idea to get feedbacks from everyone and from the experts. Im using a Canon EOS 50D with EF-S18-200mm IS. I started shooting just 2months ago and I am loving it. Can't wait to get a hold of my 4 different lenses on Friday. Have just ordered them today from Hongkong.

Hope to learn more from here.

Follow me on Facebook "ellen foulds". It would be nice to gain friends from here.

Cheers!

[Donald]

Ellen

Great to have you on here with us. I see Dave has posted to you in the Mini Comp thread about your problem with posting images. Like he said - We've all struggled to get that one right first time.

As well as the tutorials the other great learning resource on here is the people. My skills and knowledge have grown hugely ... even though I am a member of this forum (sorry ... only joking!!). Just keep asking lots of questions.

[Dave Humphries]

Shadowman,

Thanks for the prompt reply. This is most appreciated.

I am still in the early stages of figuring out what works best in HDR. I agree that many of my subjects at this point have lacked high contrast and as such might not be expected to be ideal cases for HDR. I will keep this in mind as I move on to the next series of images. I do see excellent results from others with similar subjects, so I think I am missing some key steps. At this stage I have not blended the tone-mapped images with the original images. Many sites suggest this step. My lack of comfort with Photoshop is the initial barrier. I guess I am looking for feedback here to see if this step is critical. If yes, I will make the effort. If others can process much better final results, I will then be motivated to spend more time on the processing. If there are intrinsic limitations to the images, I need to focus on that area. Right now I need the help of the forum to define which of these two issues is the culprit. Perhaps a bit of both...

I am still at the stage of defining my style and some additional experimentation is needed. I agree with you comments that I need to figure this out myself eventually, but to be honest, I have reached the point of diminishing returns on the HDR processing and feel that by seeking input I will be able to more quickly move past the initial barriers.

~

I suppose the next posts will be in the HDR forum.

Thanks for getting us started.

John

Hi John,

Good intro post, and there's nothing like diving in the deep end, but the HDR stuff will have missed quite a few members, so I copied these three posts to the HDR forum and snipped the more detailed HDR bits from here - I hope you don't mind.

Welcome to the CiC forums from ...

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Guys!

The moment I found this site I could not stop reading the tuitorials. I have learned so much from it. Thanks! Just sitting in front of my notebook and thought of checking the site further. This site is fantastic! The tuitorial is quite detailed.

So I decided to join today when I saw your mini-competitions. I thought it's a great idea to get feedbacks from everyone and from the experts. Im using a Canon EOS 50D with EF-S18-200mm IS. I started shooting just 2months ago and I am loving it. Can't wait to get a hold of my 4 different lenses on Friday. Have just ordered them today from Hongkong.

Hope to learn more from here.

Follow me on Facebook "ellen foulds". It would be nice to gain friends from here.

Cheers!

Hi Ellen,

I'd better do the official "Welcome to the CiC forums from me", bit here, as I didn't in the Mini Comp (or did I?)

I think I found you on FB too

Best regards,

[DawenL]

Hey guys! I am new here, so glad to be here. I am Dawen, 21 yo. And I am a new DSLR user too, so I hope that I would get to know more new friends here and I need some guidance on how to take a good photograph seriously. Hope to chat with u guys soon, expecting that very much! Cool~

[JBeales]

Hi Justin,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me, this is a great place to learn, the more you join in, the more you'll learn, so I guess I am saying; don't be shy.

What camera and lens(es) are you shooting with?

best regards,

Hi Dave,

I am shooting with:

Canon 5D (with battery grip) Canon 5D
Canon EF 28-135mm USM
Canon EF 70-300mm
Canon EF 17-40mm L Series USM
Canon Speedlite 580 EX II

Regards,

Justin.

[Mike in UK]

Hi,
I'm new here as I just joined after being referred from a Facebook site (Oxford School of Photography).
I started with a Zenit B SLR and now have a Nikon D300s (favorite lens is the 105mm F2.8 Micro VRII), a Panasonic DMC-LX3 and a Samsung NV3 (not used much now).
Looking forward to reading the tutorials and seeing what the folks on here think of my photographs.
There's already a sample set on Flickr if anyone wishes to have a look.
I like this site for it's tutorials and forum though!
Will update my profile soon.

[Wirefox]

Wow so many new members. I reckon it must be Rob's sheep thread. After all if you type "sheep, sex, wellies" into google...and what do you know....not what I was looking for but it may help with my photography (do not try this at home unless using private browsing...not that I have any experience of these things).

A hearty welcome to the weird and wonderful world of CiC

Steve

[carregwen]

After all if you type "sheep, sex, wellies" into google...and what do you know...

If that's what turns you on. man, type away...