Enjoy the eclipse and the kids! I hope your weather is good.
By the way, if you use the solar glasses as a filter on a camera, be sure to cover the lens (aside from the solar filter!) with the black tape to exclude light. The filter has an attenuation of 1-million (20 stops), so any stray light will be bad for the image.
For the middle school camera club I advise we don't have money for real filters. I find that half of a paper eclipse glass works fine. Trim it to size and tape it to the back of a uv (clear) filter with black tape. 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO 800 works for me.
Second curtain flash synchronization can be fun. For example, I once took a photo of a snail "streaking " across the table with a 30 second exposure and second curtain flash. My 70D even computed the exposure correctly!
The pictures are fine. I print them at 12x18 inches (as large as my printer will go) with no problem. But I'm old and the feel of the DSLR is comfortable to me. Really, the only noticeable difference is that in some circumstances the DSLR is quicker to focus, unless it's in live view, in which case it's about the same.
I got my G3 X when I broke my hand and couldn't heft mu DSLR. My hand is fine now but my G3 X is still my go to camera for hiking (light weight) parades etc (smal) and wildlife (long zoom). If I had to go back to one camera I'd have a difficult time choosing. Be sure to get the lens hood/filter holder and the electronic viewfinder. Oh, and a spare battery. Enjoy!
Truly beautiful! What did you use to get it? Did you do anything in post processing?
I use my cell phone, or for long exposures (such as an ant farm) an old phone. There are lots of apps to choose from; I use Lapse It.
Mayby having other kids involved would be good. A friend of mine and I and the school librarian started a camera club at a local middle school. The PTO bought 10 Panasonic bridge cameras (about $4000) and the club is oversubscribed. We get tremendous satisfaction working with the kids.
I love my G3 X. I stick it and a beanbag tripod in a fanny pack and I have everything I need. I also have a 70D with several lenses but for hiking and walking or any time I want to travel light the G3 X is my go to camera.
I love my Canon G3 X with its 25x zoom and 1 inch sensor. When I broke my wrist I couldn't handle my 70D, but now that I can, I still go to the G3X. It fits in a fanny pack with a beanbag tripod, 2 small water bottles, a Power bar, and a light rain jacket. Everything I need. As a Canon guy, I got used to it quickly. Be sure to get the electronic viewfinder. Adorama has a good price for the bundle. Enjoy your travels wherever you go, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks for the comment, Bridges. This becomes a matter of artistic objective, of course. Since my objective was to emphasize the curves, rather than the texture of the surface, and add drama, I chose to increase the contrast over the original image, relying on the softness of the light to make soft shadows that would emphasize the curves. Another critique that I received (see above) suggested that I should have increased the contrast even more. Decreasing the contrast or using "surround lighting" would have decreased the sensation of the curves, but might have been beautiful in other ways. Certainly, the photo of the young girl, in this contest, was lovely in the uniform soft light surrounding the model.
Thanks, PithyDoug. Nice job on the ear. I agree that increasing the contrast and raising the highlights helps this photo. Unfortunately, placing the statue in the soft light of the windows prevented me from using a tripod, but a longer exposure (and smaller aperture) would have been possible handheld, and would have improved the overall focus. I agree that when photographing live animals, the eyes are the thing, but in this case I think that keeping all of the statue in focus would be better. The eyes are not so revealing!
Thanks for the suggestions, Mogul, and for the the generous comments. I could have used a smaller aperture to get greater depth of field since the focal length was only 35 mm and image stabilization would allow a longer exposure. I try to avoid ISO greater than 800, but it might have been useful in this case. I'll try to pay attention to this in the future.
Regarding your second suggestion, I used the radial filter tool and was able to bring out the edge of the ear a bit, after much tweaking. I hadn't used that tool before, so it was good practice.
Thanks, again, Mogul.