I don't work actively to promote my skills as a photographer, but I would like to remain active and excited about taking pictures. Lately, I have been unable to come up with things to take pictures of. I recently went to the local aquarium thinking that would be exciting, however, all my photos turned out crappy. Poor lighting/ack of lighting plus those critters don't sit still for the shot-made for a waste of time and money. What can you guys suggest i.e. places to go, things to shoot, etc. that could get me really excited about taking pictures. Seems I am lacking in the area of focusing. I recently took some Halloween photos, which I thought the focus was spot on, only to have soft pictures.
Any suggestions on my request for help would be appreciated. Thanks

I’m new to the forum… thanks for including me.

I’m looking for recommendations regarding quality lightweight tripods. I’m mainly a landscape guy, but I’m interested in upping my wildlife skills. I shoot a Canon 7D Mark ll, with a current heaviest lens being a Tamron 100-400.

Specifically, I’m interested in opinions about tripod construction (carbon fiber, aluminum, or ???), name brand opinions, and cost expectations. I’m willing to spend money, but not needlessly throw it away. Please tell me the “why” behind your opinions.

I’m about 6 feet tall, so I would be looking for a tripod that can reasonably accommodate that height.

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Admin, if I’m in the wrong segment of the group, feel free to move the post.

The EOS R5 changed how we think about mirrorless cameras, how we think about photography, how we think about life. The others, not so much.

But honestly, what are you asking? Canon has delivered mirrorless technology that leverages their change to EOS technology in October 1987, an all-electronic solution that continues to deliver benefits to Canon owners in October 2023. Contrast that to Nikon, a company that dithered on electronics and the basics of Auto Focus, where long-time owners find their long-time lenses are not fully-upward compatible with mirrorless cameras.

But honestly, what are you asking? Mirrorless technology is superior, especially the newest mirrorless lens designs, from every one of all the various market competitors. Some are clearly better at automated tracking of moving subjects, but this is a niche need for certain working pros. The rest of us couldn't / wouldn't know the difference.

But honestly, what are you asking? Did any of your current digital cameras turn to dust recently, or similarly stop delivering already superior images? Did your money start burning a hole in your wallet?

The single biggest difference: you mount a lens and turn right (clockwise) when working with Canon, clearly the right way to mount a lens. Everything else is just a difference mix of technology options. Do you want IBIS? How many megapixels? Full-frame vs cropped? What card format? One or two cards? etc, etc.

Hi Hogs,

I am about to begin the second revision of my landscape photography book by Focal Press.? Exposure and metering are important skills to master. Over 40 years of photographing close-ups, wildlife. and countless landscapes for fun and to earn a living, I have never found a situation where aperture-priority works better than the other choices I prefer that include shutter-priority, manual, shutter-priority and Auto ISO, or just manually setting a known exposure for stuff too small to meter like stars. Can any one think of a situation where aperture-priority really works best in case it should be in the updated book. I never have found a reason to use aperture-priority, but that doesn't mean there aren't any! Thanks for considering this question.

Last night I went to a local carnival and figured it was a good opportunity to practise some night time techniques using only manual mode. This is thanks to you all for recommending reading Understanding Exposure. I was a A type person before. To keep things simple used a prime 35.

So I taking pictures of the colorful rides and the folks having fun at the carnival. I was politely stopped by the police and was asked what I was doing. Simply told them taking pictures of the event. They said some of the parents had complained about me.

WOW...this happens to other folks. We had a brief discussion. One officer said if I wasn't with my SO, he would have asked to me leave. I told him I would stop taking pictures of people and focus on objects. He seemed to be ok with that. It was not too long after that we did leave anyways.

This got me thinking, no doubt it was a mother that got freaked out. What did that one person think a pedophile or some other malcontent was going to do with the pictures of the their kids in an evil way. As a parent not sure how I would have reacted (my kids are grown up and I don't have to worry about stuff like this). Is this simply something they have seen or read in the news that should be reported and action taken on or do they have valid reasons to react this way.

Just wonderin

Willie

Please don't shoot the messenger! I'm not suggesting FF shooters go out and sell their equipment and buy APS-C cameras and lenses.

Booray Perry, professional photographer posted an interesting video on YouTube yesterday that I thought I'd pass along: https://youtu.be/_fOh2LiCc84. If for some reason this link doesn't work, you could watch it on YouTube by searching for APS-C Beats FULL-FRAME.

In a nutshell, he says that advances in technology over the years in sensors, software, and APS-C lenses have enabled APS-C cameras to catch up to FF cameras. So, if you're starting out in digital photography, you should give serious consideration to buying an APS-C camera because they're smaller, less expensive, and now just as good as FF cameras. He says camera manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji are devoting much of their R&D to improving APS-C sensors and lenses because that's where the future is. (And in 5-10 years the same thing will happen with micro 4/3 cameras).

He draws the analogy that that's what happened to medium format cameras, when FF in essence "caught up and was good enough" for the masses. Medium format became "niche" cameras, and the world moved on to FF. He says the same thing has already happened in the world moving to APS-C, camera companies realize this and are making huge investments in APS-C and rolling out more and more APS-C cameras. The general camera community is now starting to realize this.

Just some food for thought, especially for new digital photographers just starting out with their camera/lenses purchases. I certainly don't expect many FF shooters in general to convert to APS-C.

I realize this is just one professional photographer's opinion. Just found the video interesting.