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Jul 16, 2017 17:36:01   #
Apaflo wrote:
So you admit that in other cases it does proceed to technology for better fullfillment!

Contradicting your own point...


"In many cases"

... gave myself an escape hatch...
...no contradiction ;-)
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Jul 16, 2017 17:33:02   #
Bill_de wrote:
Then what is the purpose of your post?

---


....more of an encouragement and agreement with the post'er than an application of pure logic that you correctly noted, would have rendered my comments redundant. :-)
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Jul 16, 2017 12:48:53   #
SS319 wrote:
Is there a card you can hold between your teeth and read the contents to the left side of your brain? No, but you can do things to bump your creativity.

There are exercises, such as those put up each week by DPS to take the assignment and find a creative way to express their subject. This week, for instance the subject is "hiking". Think it through, create an image in your mind, and only then grab your camera and go try and shoot that image that exists in your mind.

Take your pictures in your mind! Rather than going out and shooting a thousand frames and then seeing if you happened to get a good shot, create a shot in your mind, then go out without your camera and find that image, frame it from this viewpoint and that viewpoint, study the way the light falls on your subject at morning, in mid day, and evening, on sunny days, and cloudy days. I spent the 80s and 90s shooting the South Haven Light, morning evening, summer, winter, - do you know you have to change positions by over a half mile to set the sun behind the lighthouse between solstices?

Know everything about that subject? now go shoot a few shots, study what you got for a picture compared to the vision you created in your mind. Figure out what you must do to merge your vision into that photograph - take another few shots, review. Eventually, you will get that perfect shot, or, quite possibly, you may so enjoy the art of nature or the art of urbanity, or the art of technology so much that you lose the need to express it with film.

Slowly, over the course of a lifetime, you will gain that creativity upgrade you are seeking.

Photography is about seeing and using technology to show your fellow man the vision that has captured and held prisoner your mind.
Is there a card you can hold between your teeth an... (show quote)


...and this post should be all that needs to be said on the topic....well done !
Vision, creativity, insipiration preceeds technology and, in many cases....does not proceed to technology as the fullfillment of the vision of the image can be done with what is in your hands right now....
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Jul 16, 2017 09:01:25   #
SusanFromVermont wrote:
Sometimes being satisfied with what you have is the smart way to be. However, if you are not entirely satisfied, think about the source of that dissatisfaction.

Is it your photographic results? Is it your artistic vision and creativity that are lacking? Or is your photography being held back by the gear you are using?

As long as you can accomplish your photographic goals with what you have, with the quality you desire, then being satisfied with your current gear is good. But if you have begun to feel the need for some way to improve the quality, then an upgrade might be just what you need! Sometimes it is not a new camera, but a new lens, or a specific type of filter, etc. Or a new, better computer.

The D7000 was my first DSLR, purchased in 2012, and I still have it and use it. But the more I learned about photography, and the more progress I made in being able to get the desired results, it soon became clear that an upgrade was in my future. That was when I started trading in my DX lenses for FX lenses. I also bought a selected few filters and some other accessories that would be useful, but only when I recognized that these items would be a benefit. I was looking for better resolution in my images, and a FF camera was what I chose to fulfill that requirement. But no precipitous GAS attack - planning over time and preparation for me, so I only had to buy the camera when ready. Just got the D810 last fall when Nikon had some nice price reductions around the holidays. Love it!

Part of my "upgrade plan" was the computer, because shooting in RAW means editing to achieve the desired final result. So I also acquired a new desktop computer, tower was custom-built, with a 27" monitor. It is like a jig-saw puzzle - the pieces have to be put together in a certain way to produce the final picture!
Sometimes being satisfied with what you have is th... (show quote)


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Jul 16, 2017 08:35:48   #
gvarner wrote:
Sometimes I think of upgrading my camera so I can take better pictures with the latest technology and doing the same with my computer and software for post processing. But seriously, has anyone found a firmware update for artistic vision and creativity? Until then, I'll just stick with what I have. Your thoughts?


The tech and creativity will eventually feed on each other. Milk them both until you have reached the limits of tech that requires an "upgrade" to achieve the new heights of creativity. (....and I recognize that whatever your existing tech will never truly limit your ability to be creative but it WILL keep you from SOME levels of creativity ... lighting being one. Ie you will need off-camera speedlights with CTO gel filters to capture that fill flash landscaped beach couple shot after the sun has just set in the background.....ain't gettin that one without equip and/or photoshop :-) ....and yes, some of my fav photos are still ones I took with my first body and kit lens....
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Jul 15, 2017 17:33:57   #
via the lens wrote:
Your rate of "keepers" should go up when you switch to continous focus. AF-C is the term (Continuous-servo AF) for Nikon, with the other option being AF-S (Single-servo AF) and there are options within those settings as well that will affect camera performance. As the camera manual says, regarding Continous-servo AF, "For moving objects," which is just about everything except a cup/saucer on a table indoors and that is the only time I use it. Everything else I photograph seems to be moving, from leaves in the wind to butterflies on flowers and landscapes scenes with various bushes swaying in a slight wind. I suppose you could use it with some landscapes and other indoor objects, but I don't personally think there is any gain in that. Just my opinion.
Your rate of "keepers" should go up when... (show quote)


Ditto...servo all the time...except the confirmation of focus lock <beep> ...if you have confidence in your AF speed and accuracy per lens....you may not need it.
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Jul 15, 2017 16:20:16   #
amfoto1 wrote:
Using Expansion Points you get much the same effect on any of the Canon models with it.... AF always starts at the point you select, then only switches to use one of the surrounding ones if needed because the subject moved and the photog failed to (or chose not to) keep the first AF point on the subject. Current 7DII I use have two forms of Expansion: 4-point and 8-point. 4-point enables those immediately above, below, left and right of the chosen point. 8-point enables all points surrounding the originally chosen one (including those on the diagonal).

This is different from Zone Focus (which some recent models have in choice of two zone sizes). Zone enables a bunch of AF points, any of which can initiate AF (much like a scaled down version of All Points/Auto Selection).

Also... one of the primary reasons I use BBF is so that I rarely need to switch back and forth between One Shot and AI Servo. I can simply use AI Servo most of the time, as my default setting, with both moving and stationary subjects.

Not sayin' that it wouldn't be useful to have two buttons controlling AF with BBF techniques.... It might be for some folks and certain setups. I'm just not sure of those particular applications. I'm also not sure having two AF-On would be worth giving up quick/easy access to AE Lock (*). On older models that lacked the AF-On button (prior to 40D), we had no choice but to use the * button for BBF and set the camera to either no AE Lock or AE Lock on every shot. There were some fairly easy work-arounds (such as temporarily switching to Manual exposure mode to do the same thing as AE Lock), but it was slower and wasn't as convenient as having both AF-On for BBF and * for AE Lock.

I deliberately don't set up my 7DIIs that way. I shoot a lot of sports/action with them and definitely don't want to accidentally end up in One Shot mode.... Considering the size of my thumb and with the buttons directly adjacent to each other, it would be all too easy to press the wrong button and end up in the wrong focus mode when shooting fast & furious.
Using Expansion Points you get much the same effec... (show quote)


Agree with all of that....except for the "beep" confirmation from one-shot mode that gives that extra little tweak of confidence. I shoot almost 100% BBF Servo but will try this 2nd button programmed to one-shot....will post on my experience in the coming weeks.
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Jul 15, 2017 16:17:41   #
mwsilvers wrote:
Great feature, but its not new or limited to the 5D Mark IV. It's also on the 1Dx Mark II and is on my Canon 7D Mark II which was released almost two and a half years ago.


...thanks !

Anyone else using more than 1 button for BBF with 1 programmed to servo and the other one-shot?
What has been the experience?
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Jul 15, 2017 08:49:20   #
Photomacdog wrote:
Normally I set my camera to single picture focusing. I have used continuous focusing, when trying to capture moving subjects. Recently I got to thinking, why not set my camera to continuous focusing all the time? Can anyone give me reasons for not doing this? Whether it's a portrait or a landscape or a still life, would using continuous focusing, in any way, have a negative effect on the picture. Would single picture focusing make a better picture?


Normally, I am in continuous focus and using BBF all the time...even when shooting stills. Recently discovered ( and posted in another thread), the latest Canon offerings (7Dmkii, 5Mkiv, 5DSR etc) can program additional buttons to be able to instantly change whether you are in continuous AF mode with 1ptAF or one-shot AF mode and zoneAF. Why is this beneficial for me? I can benefit from the focus confirmation "beep" you get with one-shot for stills and instantly switch to continuous focusing for movement without needing to change settings in camera or even taking my eye out of the viewfinder. This sounds subtle but its a game changer for me in my workflow.

Wedding couple moving around between poses i can snap a few continuous shots for candids and then go back to focus confirmation when they are still. Today, I leave it on continuous with BBF during a wedding so I never have a blurry shot.....and I dont want to risk bouncing my settings between continuous(servo) and one-shot....if i forget to set it back to continuous...those aisle walk photos will all be soft).

However, I lose the focus confirmation during stills so you are guessing that it is focussed. Most of the time it is in focus but the confirmation is nice to have...
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Jul 15, 2017 07:10:07   #
....went back to my 6D and sadly...not there...
Wonder if the 6Dmkii has the same ability program up to 4 buttons for BBF with customization like the new 5-series cameras as you noted...feel the GAS rising.
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Jul 14, 2017 23:46:01   #
Ran across something today that I had not seen before. You can customize additional buttons on the back of your camera to do BBF that will allow you to use AF-ON in servo mode with one AF area selection AND * button in one-shot mode with a different AF area selection mode!

This is great to be able to beep lock in one-shot with 1ptAF for a potrait and just slide my thumb over one button and servo shoot with expanded 1Shot while the subject moves or repositions for some candids.
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Jul 12, 2017 19:25:59   #
I boarded that red-eye flight on the return leg back to Toronto...passengers deplaning didnt seem to be aware of how close they came to a disaster....
Found out yesterday what happened....
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Jul 12, 2017 19:22:48   #
rmorrison1116 wrote:
I can't say I do a lot of tree portraits but there certainly are tree's in many of the portraits I do, such as, birds, flying squirrels, chipmunks, various and assorted rodents of unusual size, my puppies, daughters and their daughters and son (yea, one of them finally had a boy), and the occasional cool car or motorcycle, more often than not, my own motorcycle (a silver Honda Goldwing GL 1800B). The 85 1.2L is hands down the most bokehlishious lens I own.


How is the AF accuracy at 1.2? My 50mm 1.4 at 1.4 is miserable and I had read the 1.2 is just as bad....what is your experience?
(And for those who want to say improve your technique, the results were the same on a tripod..wirelessly triggered with mirror lockup and using graduated test sheet at 45degs....3 different bodies (2 FF and 1 crop) and micro and sigma dock adjustments. Real world shooting was about the same :-)

..and love the lens...when it hits....just have to take 5 shots AF and try a few manual and hope i get one that is on the eyeball...
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Jul 12, 2017 19:14:46   #
Jaackil wrote:
Those drives fail too. Any drive can fail just as your camera's cards do as can your shutter curtain you cameras sensor etc. Seriously who wants to carry around a "data center" quality drive! It is not the drives that are an isssue as much as back up protocol and procedure. Proper back ups will mitigate any drive failure. I have had drives fail and never lost a single bit (pun intended) of data. Redundancy is the key.




...and at least 2 physical locations. I dont sleep until the files are backed up to a drive from the SD/CF cards and then replicated to a backup drive...then I sleep....but will then xfer to cloudstorage fairly soon after that.....THEN I erase the memory cards.....

And every year, I buy a 1T drive and backup the last years photos and vid and drop it off at my relatives house when I go back to the east coast so I only keep 1T of storage on the cloud (Dropbox).

A little OCD perhaps but thats me....lost all my family Ski pictures to Big White in BC as a result of bad backup methods (long story....lost sectors on the maindrive and the auto-SW began erasing files from my secondary drive thinking I had erased the files on the main drive....bad rules setting on my part)
...now I backup manually (copy paste skip).
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Jul 12, 2017 18:57:03   #
Great feedback. I will add some other things to consider if you get a chance to reshoot:
Get lower when you take the shot. Shoot from your knees. Perspective is better and photos are more interesting in general.
Dont cut off her head with the horizon (minor issue :-)
Dont have her look into the camera...you are capturing a mothers expectancy and intimacy with her baby...

In general: think about what poses reflect t

As far as backlighting - do it.
Use fill flash if you feel you have to . Expose for the subject....blow out the background if you have to...The golden halo and glow adds to what you are trying to achieve. This is a moody intimate shot and the more halo glow and softness the more it adds to the mood.

As others have said....she is the ultimate decider of what she wants so try different postions and angles and crops. The pp will count less than the compostion in terms of getting generally what she wants.....
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