pincheck 0 #51 March 17, 2011 A few from me one for basejumpers largest freestanding stack in scotland 775 ft tall 24 internal levels and 1020 steps to the top from a distance http://www.flickr.com/photos/9483441@N07/3201692460/in/set-72157605004104418/ up top http://www.flickr.com/photos/9483441@N07/5386675987/in/set-72157625776039231/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/9483441@N07/5386680593/in/set-72157625776039231/ urban exploring http://www.flickr.com/photos/9483441@N07/5521024642/in/set-72157626251501484/ shadow fun http://www.flickr.com/photos/9483441@N07/5463495418/in/set-72157625972785707/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/9483441@N07/5358052700/in/set-72157625830079536/ hillwalking http://www.flickr.com/photos/9483441@N07/5518886687/in/set-72157626065507089/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/9483441@N07/5519506360/in/set-72157626065507089/ end of the day time for fish and chips http://www.flickr.com/photos/9483441@N07/5495735960/in/set-72157626065507089/ Billy-Sonic Haggis Flickr-Fun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #52 March 17, 2011 Sick dude, loving that urban exploration image. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skygypsie 2 #53 March 17, 2011 Quote Spent yesterday evening at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Got a couple shots there. These photos are amazing ! The subject & quality belong in "Life" or "Nat'l Geo"... or as prints on a wall...or in a photography exhibit ! Beautiful work Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thomas.n.thomas 0 #54 March 22, 2011 Just got back from Italy. One of my favorites from that trip: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_n7lWe_JZn2g/TYilUL0c8RI/AAAAAAAAABU/oCo2JK337VQ/s512/Window.jpg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #55 March 22, 2011 That link just seems to time out for me Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thomas.n.thomas 0 #57 March 22, 2011 Fixed. +2 more to make up for it: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_n7lWe_JZn2g/TYildAb0YlI/AAAAAAAAABc/v6hDtR4hWq4/s512/%20Basilica%20S.%20Pietro%201024.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_n7lWe_JZn2g/TYilkxvONxI/AAAAAAAAABg/PesZIVD4UUQ/s720/%20Basilica%20S.%20Pietro%201.jpg They look overly sharpened because of the picasa downres. Might soften them up a bit to look better online, but the prints should turn out nicely. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pincheck 0 #58 March 23, 2011 very nice indeed mate Billy-Sonic Haggis Flickr-Fun Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #59 March 23, 2011 Some nice shots there, like the first ones lighting a lot. I went on another nature photographic mission this past weekend and got a few more. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5543079804_af63bd48a4_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5543075434_474e626109_z.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5543076330_a520a50298_z.jpg My new camera body also arrived yesterday (Canon 550D), so hoping to test it out this coming weekend. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thomas.n.thomas 0 #60 March 23, 2011 Let me know how you like it. Always looking at the new Canons and wouldn't mind a second body, especially a crop for telephoto. I'm loving your wide shooting. Landscape and Architecture are such a challenge for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #61 April 5, 2011 Loving the 550D so far. It was a good upgrade from the 350D. The AF is a lot better, the LCD is almost double the size, and much clearer in displaying the current settings. It can also be used for live view which can come in handy. The HD video recording mode is great, with good sound quality too- and allows for taking photos while filming. The body itself fits nicely in the hand, quite similar to the 350D in that aspect. I'm currently saving for a Canon 400mm L 5.6 prime lens. The budget sigma 70-300mm just isn't sharp enough for me anymore, especially with my increasing interest in wildlife and bird photography. Some shots from the 550D. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
likestojump 3 #62 April 5, 2011 here are a few from my Kenya trip. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
likestojump 3 #63 April 5, 2011 and a few more Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #64 April 5, 2011 Nice shots, what lens you shooting with? That bird on the rock is pretty. And that giraffe and tree make a great scene. (I'd probably have tried to compose it so they were on the right of the image with white space on the left, but I'm a sucker for white space) I'm trying to organize to make a trip to other countries in Africa in the next odd year. Lots to see in Botswana too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
likestojump 3 #65 April 5, 2011 the giraffe gave a lot of photo ops, it just posed for us :) shot with 7D + 70-200 2.8 IS and a 1.4 extender Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #66 April 5, 2011 Thanks for the info. Was up in Bloemfontein earlier this year for a music festival and ended up coming across 2 giraffes crossing the road about 20 feet from us, one can't really appreciate their size until you experience them with your own eyes :) I've been looking at all the options for a new telephoto lens lately. Between the 70-200 with extender, the 100-400mm L IS or the 400mm 5.6 prime. Finally settled on the 400mm prime (one of the sharpest pieces of glass ever made). While not having IS, I've only heard good things about it. Apparently really good handheld as well which will suit me well with bird shots. The 70-200mm offers some good speed if you only need 200mm. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
likestojump 3 #67 April 5, 2011 if I could afford it, I would have a few long primes :) but most of my shots are landscape and sports, so I stick with 17-55 2.8 IS and a 70-200 2.8 IS and various extenders. Primes cannot be beat for sharpness, and as a birder you will most likely be always looking for the longest piece of glass. here's a really, really, REALLY nice one : http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130498765133 I am sure you will be very happy with it ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #68 April 5, 2011 Yeah the primes are great and the 400mm L 5.6 isn't that badly priced considering. (Probably around $1200 or less). I would love the 600mm primes (or better yet the one in your link haha). But I could save for the rest of my life and still probably not be able to afford one. I'm really into landscapes as well (storm chasing and storm cell structures), I recently purchased the Sigma 10-20mm. Though if one has the bit extra cash the Sigma 8-16mm looks great as well. Not as quick as a 2.8 so wouldn't be ideal for sport, though at that width it's solely for landscape anyway, but a very nice looking piece of glass the 8-16mm. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amstalder 0 #69 April 5, 2011 My favorite from this weekend. Random wall in a bistro. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thomas.n.thomas 0 #70 April 6, 2011 I love the giraffe picture (1st one). They're all great, but that one just strikes me. I really like the shadow on the subject, a bit different than normal composition and contrast. How much sharpening/other PP do you do? I absolutely hate PP and don't do anything behind simple sliders in Lightroom. It was kind of a waste to buy photoshop cs3, but I figure if I learn some basic stuff to do with it, I might actually start to enjoy playing around with some photos. But whatever I do, I'm never really satisfied with how sharp my photos are - I'm pretty sure it's all user error, lack of understanding of light, and not very good settings in post. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #71 April 6, 2011 I'll chirp in with the sharpness topic - My close up animal portraits are currently shot with a sigma 70-300mm which is extremely soft at the 300mm end. Until recently I had done some post-processing on my shots such as temperature balance, light fill etc. The typical RAW post-processing. But spending more time on photography sites lately, I've noticed that almost every professional photographer (specifically wild-life photographers) use sharpening quite a lot if an image appears soft. Even when they're shooting on 600 primes they sometimes add a touch of sharpening. I have lightroom and photoshop CS5 (cs5 is amazing compared to the older versions). I'd definitely recommend CS5, the panoramic area of the program is greatly improved over older versions, and the content-aware area deletion is sometimes very useful, random bird flying past ruining the composure of a landscape shot is no longer a problem. The Camera RAW editor is extremely useful though, giving one full flexibility over your photos (if you shoot in RAW, which I try do each time). Lightroom does offer you with a lot of useful abilities and sometimes I just use lightroom. Anyway, back to sharpening. It will always help to sharpen your images, in essence all it's doing is correcting your lenses shortfallings, and as long as one doesn't go crazy with the sharpening, it doesn't look un-natural in any way. Camera RAW offers several methods of sharpening, a JPEG image can be sharpened with the Unsharp Mask which works well too, though prefer the flexibility of RAW. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Conundrum 1 #72 April 6, 2011 Shot I got from a storm this season. I'm happy with it. Very noisy, I know. That's what you get for shooting with a Rebel and kit lens at 8:30 at night (all I had with me). http://www.raspydesign.com/lightning01.jpg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #73 April 6, 2011 Sick shot! That noise should be quite easy to remove though, at least I found it to be fairly easy with my old lightning shots (using Rebel XT and Kit lens). Setting up photoshops noise reduction setting sliders to the right value. (The default sucks, I remember finding good settings on some tutorial sites). And then running 2 or 3 noise reduction passes should get 80%+ of that noise out the way, and not have to soften the edges too much. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meso 38 #74 April 26, 2011 Went on a road trip over the past 5 days, got back yesterday. 14 hours on the road, managed to get some shots of the South African landscape. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #75 April 26, 2011 Wow, SA looks like Texas and New Mexico. Nice looking country you have there. I've gotta visit there sometime. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
