Other than to sell and share with friends, my house is my gallery. I get to change photos every few months giving me an inexpensive (?) makeover of my living environment.
There are a lot of basic "How to" videos on the internet.Go to youtube and search how to photoshop. Youtube is a fabulous reference for a ton of photography questions.
I use Sony RX100 as a smaller companion to the Sony A7ii. Find it an excellent pocket camera and shoot a lot of low light situations. Only downside for me is large fingers, small buttons.
I exhibit a lot, so every time after a show, different photos go back
on the walls. Easy way to redecorate.
I have had the Sony A7ii for over a year, matched with the Sony 18-200 lens for at least 90% of all my shots. Do use the 18-70 Sony lens that came with the camera sometimes. Have never owned Canon or Nikon, so have no comparisons personally. Do love the Sony for my purposes.
Small island so can pack a lot in 6 days. Was there over labor day week as hurricane was passing through. No problems, just high waves. North east side of island is wet and southwest side is dry. Stayed in Poipu, so was about halfway point. Most roads are 2 lane so allow extra travel time. Many beautiful botanical gardens (Allerton/McBride the best), Fern Grotto river cruise, Kilauea Lighthouse, Princeville area, then North to end of road., Old Koloa Town, Salt Pond, Spouting Horn, coffee plantation, Waimea Canyon.. all the way to the end, tree tunnel, .... too many great photo ops. Also, there are wild roosters and a few wild pigs in all parts of the island. Also a stop at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Poipu and walking along the coast there. Have a great trip.
Nice photos, however I currently hate dragonfly's. On Labor Day was in Kauai At Waimea Canyon overlook when a dragonfly crashed in my right eye and broke a wing under the eyelid. Took an eye doctor 4 days to get all the larvae and body parts out of the eye. Now everywhere I look there is references to dragonfly's. So much for vacations. Positive side, great high waves after the hurricane.
Looks very good to me. Some of my best shots are ones that I almost deleted. I find that when they age, I get a new perspective on them.
An Eagle's flight from the top of the world's tallest building to his handler below. On Saturday, 14th March, an eagle was fitted with a camera and released from the top of the 2,715 foot Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Here is the film.
The eagle has no idea where the tiny speck of land was that his handler is standing on or what it looked like among all of the other islands and buildings and people.
Somehow from that altitude, the eagle actually picks out and recognizes the trainer from all of the other objects, people, etc.
You can see him looking, looking, looking for the trainer, completely invisible to a human eye and the camera, then fold his/her wings [right at the end of the video] and then drops like a bullet straight to that trainer... very cool. What surprised the experts is not only how efficiently the eagle spots his trainer from that altitude, but how smooth its flight is with no camera shake whatsoever, even when it goes into a power dive.
http://www.flixxy.com/world-record-eagle-flight-from-worlds-tallest-building.htm?utm_source=n
Thanks to those who asked. Don't know if this will help or not. My current camera is a Sony A7ii. I will alternate 28-70 and 18-200 lens. Sony is a great low light camera, so my settings are mostly from experience. I start fully automatic, then make adjustments from there depending on multiple factors in the room.
Typically dance competitions have approx 24 couples in quarter finals, narrowed to 12 in semi's and 6 for the finals. The dance floor is usually about 4,000 square feet. Lighting is mostly terrible, from too much or too little and too many flashing colors. There are numerous levels of competition from novice to professional and many dance categories, typically American Smooth and International Ballroom, which tend to dress in the flowing dressy gowns and tuxedos, and American Rhythm and International Latin with the ladies outfits designed by structural engineers to keep everything in place. Each category has certain rules as to the moves and steps the dancers can take. I concentrate on the professionals. Most categories include 5 different dances lasting approximately 60 to 70 seconds each with a 15 second break in between. There are only a small number of moves couples can make in the short time period. Also, colors of the outfits are a problem in combination with the lighting. I start with the quarter finals, looking first for interesting couples and the routine they dance. I want to watch mostly the ones that have a chance to move on. Most will do 10 to 12 steps, then repeat once or twice during the time period. I try to remember their routine and then anticipate a good shot. The floor is very crowded, so I shoot mostly to get into the competition mode and check for any camera adjustments that need to be made.
Semi's are less crowded and am more into the flow of the dancers. Another chance to adjust camera settings. As lighting brightness and color are so different in different facilities, I can't recommend camera settings that would meet everyone's needs. In the finals, there are only 6 couples on the floor, so by now, I know which couples I want to concentrate on. Again, interesting couples and color/style of outfits are more important that the dance ability. Most ladies will change outfits for the finals, so some camera adjustments may need to be made. Black outfits are the worst to shoot and lighting is darker for the finals. After the competition is over, there are usually "show dances" by the best dancers, where there are "no rules" as to the moves. Lighting here is usually by spotlight following the couple or group dancing. Best chances here for good shots. Again, lighting is a problem, so need to adjust settings on the fly.
I tend to take a lot of shots, perhaps 2,000 for two days, then narrow down to about 100, then down to about 25. (As Wayne Gretsky said, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take"). Then into photoshop to get just the "feel" I want.... whatever strikes my fancy. I tend to keep the top 100 shots and check back a year to two later, letting me take a fresh look. Am working now processing photos as digital negatives with fun results. I find that galleries don't want to exhibit photos by anyone except the very top level photographers. Interesting that most painters want to make their work look like a photo, while many photographers like me want to make their work look like a painting as a way to get into galleries.
Hope this helps. Good luck and take time to enjoy the dancing.... Ted
Have been shooting dance competitions for over 7 years and flash is a NO NO! Competitors hate the flash as it can disorient them. Also, have had great photos ruined by someone with a flash as I shot. Lighting at competitions is bad enough without photo flashes.
I have owned the Canon Pro 100 for nearly a year and have used LD replacement cartridges for over 6 months with no problems.
http://www.4inkjets.com/Canon-PIXMA-PRO-100-printer-ink-cartridges-toner.
I do try to print something at least every 48 hours and leave the printer on. I can't tell which of my photos have been printed with Canon ink and which with LD ink. Caveat.. I do not know what the results would be a few years after printing.