General photography related stuff thread

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 4:45 pm

Thanks, you guys are the best. It is so nice for me to have pro's to occasionally ask questions of.

I'm not a 'pro' nor am I producing fine art but do like decent quality along with choices

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 5:49 pm

Inamo wrote:Suzon, it was a workshop organised by Lusitano World with Russian photographer Katya Druz. They're running another one in April I think, the info is on their Facebook page. We had some magical moments.

I'm going to have to look into that. It looked like some amazing opportunities.

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 5:56 pm

viscountessleftfield wrote:
Snapfish and Shutterfly prints are horrible next to the pro labs, I don't even bother!

I never do prints with Shutterfly. The only products of their's I like are the photobooks...and then don't go for the layflat option (they fall apart. :roll:

). Their ordinary hardcover option is great for when your aunt or someone is begging you for something they can show all their friends but you can't justify spending a bazillion dollars.

viscountessleftfield · Postby **viscountessleftfield** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:14 pm

Suzon wrote:
viscountessleftfield wrote:
Snapfish and Shutterfly prints are horrible next to the pro labs, I don't even bother!

I never do prints with Shutterfly. The only products of their's I like are the photobooks...and then don't go for the layflat option (they fall apart. ). Their ordinary hardcover option is great for when your aunt or someone is begging you for something they can show all their friends but you can't justify spending a bazillion dollars.

I use Artisan State or Miller's lay flat press printed books. Both are the same price point as Shutterfly, but better quality, IMO.

I haven't done work for family or friends, so no one bugs me for prints of anything. :lol:

The few that ask me, I turn around and ask them for free stuff from their day job. :twisted:

viscountessleftfield · Postby **viscountessleftfield** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:27 am

Suzon,

Looks like I'll be in your neck of the woods around 3/30. I'm waiting on some final details, but I'll have a wedding out there on the 31st!

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:48 am

viscountessleftfield wrote:Suzon,

Looks like I'll be in your neck of the woods around 3/30. I'm waiting on some final details, but I'll have a wedding out there on the 31st!

OOHHHH! I'll put it on my calendar!

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:45 pm

Make me jealous, why don't you

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 2:16 pm

Nikon released the specs on the new D5. The ISO literally goes up to 3,288,000, and it costs around $7kish I believe. Anyone interested? lol

I will admit that I'd like to rent one to play around with and see just what I could do with the ISO and how it handles grain/noise.

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 3:44 pm

But RTR, you know you'd want to buy one after you rented it

I saw the intro on the new equipment from Nikon but I've tapped out for the moment after the acquisition of the 58mm f1.4 (which I love

).

viscountessleftfield · Postby **viscountessleftfield** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 12:18 am

If all goes well I'll have either a D4s or a D5 this year and probably a D500.

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 1:52 am

VLF, you realize, of course, that we (well, at least I) will be looking for a vicarious report on the new cameras

My D750 will do me more than good for quite a long time (combined with the 70-200 and the 58 prime

).

Waiting for March-April here when I understand the wildflowers will be blooming!

viscountessleftfield · Postby **viscountessleftfield** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 4:19 am

WheresMyWhite wrote:VLF, you realize, of course, that we (well, at least I) will be looking for a vicarious report on the new cameras

My D750 will do me more than good for quite a long time (combined with the 70-200 and the 58 prime ).

Waiting for March-April here when I understand the wildflowers will be blooming!

The D750 is a kick ass camera. My D700 has about 40000 clicks on it's new shutter, I know next year will be it's last and Mom needs a second camera. I was going to go Sony to replace my D700 and retire the D700 to mom - she shoots a lot less than I do, but with the D500 - I might just go with that, having the extra reach a crop sensor gives you with the low light performance that baby has, I think it would be a great addition to our lineup.

The D4s/D5 would replace my D750, I shoot a ton and need the durability.

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 3:44 pm

I'll make you guys a deal. If I win the Powerball, I will buy WMW and VLF a new D5 (and Suzon if she wants one..lol).

For now, I'm currently stalking a D3 that popped up for sale with a pretty low shutter count (63k) and for a good price. If it the price holds, I'm going to try and jump in and grab it.

I think I"m going to sell my old D5000 and the kit lenses that came with it. Any idea what a fair price would be? I was thinking $200-300? It has 2 Vr lenses (18-55, 55-300 or maybe it's 200, I forget), a grip, and extra battery. I could maybe even throw in a bag for it.

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 6:02 pm

I should buy a Powerball ticket as well and then I could return the favor

I was lazy and just sold (well, got a quote and have shipped them off) my DX-only lenses to B&H. I know I probably could have done better price wise trying to sell them on my own but the hassle for me with getting the $$ and then shipping off individual items just wasn't worth it.

I am still amazed when I am shooting in the "dark" at how much light I can gather between the D750 and that 58mm lens with not ridiculously high ISOs.

Those fiber optic pieces are a challenge between very bright light and very dark backgrounds but still fun to mess with

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 6:27 pm

I'll add my name to the powerball pot. Going to buy a ticket this afternoon. If I win, I'll buy you guys your dream kit. :lol:

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 7:01 pm

WheresMyWhite wrote:I should buy a Powerball ticket as well and then I could return the favor

I was lazy and just sold (well, got a quote and have shipped them off) my DX-only lenses to B&H. I know I probably could have done better price wise trying to sell them on my own but the hassle for me with getting the $$ and then shipping off individual items just wasn't worth it.

I am still amazed when I am shooting in the "dark" at how much light I can gather between the D750 and that 58mm lens with not ridiculously high ISOs.

Those fiber optic pieces are a challenge between very bright light and very dark backgrounds but still fun to mess with

DD Powerball pool! lol I never buy tickets but my mother bought "Tanner" a few tickets for the Powerball.

I want to sell it all as a kit, not splitting or anything. The next person can sell off the parts if that's what they want to do, but, like you, I don't want to deal with all of that.

I can imagine how nice the light is with that combo WMW!!

viscountessleftfield · Postby **viscountessleftfield** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:11 pm

Racetrackreject wrote:I'll make you guys a deal. If I win the Powerball, I will buy WMW and VLF a new D5 (and Suzon if she wants one..lol).

For now, I'm currently stalking a D3 that popped up for sale with a pretty low shutter count (63k) and for a good price. If it the price holds, I'm going to try and jump in and grab it.

I think I"m going to sell my old D5000 and the kit lenses that came with it. Any idea what a fair price would be? I was thinking $200-300? It has 2 Vr lenses (18-55, 55-300 or maybe it's 200, I forget), a grip, and extra battery. I could maybe even throw in a bag for it.

The D3 is kind of meh - your 610 is a better camera. The D3s is the better deal.

But, the batteries are about $200 a piece and they're dual CF card slots - so again, cards are crazy pricey. I'd like to have one, but I'm unwilling to go the D3 or D3s route because of those things. The D3 and D3s batteries don't last a ton of recharges for the price. I like the D750 over those.

I'd totally own a D4, D4s, or D5, though, they have advantages over the D750.

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 6:58 pm

viscountessleftfield wrote:
Racetrackreject wrote:I'll make you guys a deal. If I win the Powerball, I will buy WMW and VLF a new D5 (and Suzon if she wants one..lol).

For now, I'm currently stalking a D3 that popped up for sale with a pretty low shutter count (63k) and for a good price. If it the price holds, I'm going to try and jump in and grab it.

I think I"m going to sell my old D5000 and the kit lenses that came with it. Any idea what a fair price would be? I was thinking $200-300? It has 2 Vr lenses (18-55, 55-300 or maybe it's 200, I forget), a grip, and extra battery. I could maybe even throw in a bag for it.

The D3 is kind of meh - your 610 is a better camera. The D3s is the better deal.

But, the batteries are about $200 a piece and they're dual CF card slots - so again, cards are crazy pricey. I'd like to have one, but I'm unwilling to go the D3 or D3s route because of those things. The D3 and D3s batteries don't last a ton of recharges for the price. I like the D750 over those.

I'd totally own a D4, D4s, or D5, though, they have advantages over the D750.

See, I do love my 610, but it's focusing in low light can be an issue, which is something I'm told the D3 excels at. The one I'm looking at comes with a couple of batteries and some CF cards. I know the D750 would be the wise choice, but I'm not wanting to lay out that kind of money for gear at this point. Maybe if the price comes down, idk.

viscountessleftfield · Postby **viscountessleftfield** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 1:35 am

Racetrackreject wrote:

See, I do love my 610, but it's focusing in low light can be an issue, which is something I'm told the D3 excels at. The one I'm looking at comes with a couple of batteries and some CF cards. I know the D750 would be the wise choice, but I'm not wanting to lay out that kind of money for gear at this point. Maybe if the price comes down, idk.

I would rent one before I laid out the cash for it. The focus system on the D3 is older and not as good as the focus system on the D610 - I've rented the D3 and used my second's D610 when she was struggling with low light focusing and I think the D610 works as well, if not better than the D3.

viscountessleftfield · Postby **viscountessleftfield** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 1:40 am

From my googling it looks like the D3 and D700 share on AF system, The d3 has a faster focus motor and quicker processor, but the sensitivity of the focusing is the same as the D700.

The D700 sucks in low light. I love mine with a passion, but she's not the camera I grab for shooting candlelight weddings.

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:01 pm

RTR, FWIW, I had 3 DX-only lenses that I shipped to B&H to get rid of. Very painless process... got an online quote from them, shipped them the lenses (prepaid by B&H), and got the value from the quote

(I rated excellent condition even though no owners manual and I had written on the bottom of the soft side bags). About 3 weeks start to finish, check is in the mail. Could I have gotten more if I sold myself, yeah, pretty sure that is the case but this was no hassle.

I'd check eBay and B&H for value estimates as a place to start.

I prefer the term "collector" over "hoarder" when it comes to lenses

VLF, for the Nikon lenses, if it doesn't say DX on it, it is probably FX-DX? I have one that doesn't say DX but also not positive it is FX

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:47 pm

WheresMyWhite wrote:RTR, FWIW, I had 3 DX-only lenses that I shipped to B&H to get rid of. Very painless process... got an online quote from them, shipped them the lenses (prepaid by B&H), and got the value from the quote (I rated excellent condition even though no owners manual and I had written on the bottom of the soft side bags). About 3 weeks start to finish, check is in the mail. Could I have gotten more if I sold myself, yeah, pretty sure that is the case but this was no hassle.

I'd check eBay and B&H for value estimates as a place to start.

Thanks! That's probably what I will end up doing, but I kind of feel bad because I'm a bad camera owner and it's never been cleaned or serviced or anything. Of course it works perfectly, doesn't have a very high shutter count, and it looks brand new, so maybe I would get something for it.

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:57 pm

Some photos from last weekend.

He wanted to get me..lol.

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:29 pm

Those are great

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 6:01 pm

Great photos - love the ones of the bulls

and the clown getting ready to eat dirt!

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 6:38 pm

WheresMyWhite wrote:Great photos - love the ones of the bulls and the clown getting ready to eat dirt!

I like the sheep with his little legs in the air.

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:10 pm

Suzon wrote:
WheresMyWhite wrote:Great photos - love the ones of the bulls and the clown getting ready to eat dirt!

I like the sheep with his little legs in the air.

Thanks! That poor little sheep. The bull fighter ran out there and grabbed the sheep to stand her up first, but the kid wouldn't let go, so the the bf is holding the sheep in the air while trying to pry the kid off of her.

WMW- I wish the 2 previous photos in that series would have turned out. That bull fighter had just been launched into the air by the bull. I had my back turned, but heard the commotion and swung around. I just couldn't get my camera up and focused in time. I missed the big air, then the first ones were blurry. I was so mad at myself! Bradley was great about it though. He messaged me the next morning after I posted the photos, "Bradley Arnold-Lol great way to start off my morning".

The after image:

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 8:23 pm

Those guys (the clowns) have a tough, tough job... great job getting the shots you did!!

Jan & PJ · Postby **Jan & PJ** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:41 pm

I'm late to the party! Love seeing everyone's photography. I'm still enjoying my new Nikon D-5500 and my Tamron 600mm zoom lens. I'll try to post a couple of my favorite photos. I'm using Fine Art America to display my art and have made a few sales to friends on there but not much else. I've done some portraits for friends and they love them. I'm using Cyberlink Photo Director to do post processing and I like the simplicity of it. It also handles my raw files. RTR, your pictures are stunning. Lots of beautiful photos posted by all. Thanks for sharing!

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Tue Jan 19, 2016 2:16 pm

Thanks! I love the little squirrel!

So jealous of a big 600mm..lol.

I opened a Fine Art America account, but that's as far as I got. Kind of hard to sell anything that way eh? lol

Has anyone sold photos to stock photo places like Getty?

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 3:12 pm

I was talking to SO last night about our Glacier trip and about the new Nikon cameras coming out. Guess who's getting the Nikon D500????? This girl! SO said "I will help you buy it". *shock* I told him that I could buy it, but I didn't know if I wanted to spend any more money on equipment and he said to get it when it comes out and that he was sending me money. Yay! lol Of course this means I'm selling both of my DX cameras, and just keeping the D610 and the D500 to use, for now.

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:25 pm

Whoo-hooo!!!!

Congrats and waiting for a camera report when you get it!

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 4:36 pm

WheresMyWhite wrote:Whoo-hooo!!!!

Congrats and waiting for a camera report when you get it!

Thanks! I think I'm going to pre-order it today and I hope that I get one in the first or second wave they send out.

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 7:17 pm

IMO, might also, before you leave on your trip - check for firmware updates

I'm still bummed you want to take SO and not me

You still being safe and ok?

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 7:49 pm

WheresMyWhite wrote:IMO, might also, before you leave on your trip - check for firmware updates

I'm still bummed you want to take SO and not me

You still being safe and ok?

Yeah, I'm sure there will be a few glitches that they may have to patch up, but I'm ok with that. I'm so excited to use this thing for sports and I hope that the low light is good. 10fps with the reach of crop sensor? Get out of here..lol. I'm hoping that the lack of scene modes will keep a lot of people from buying it so they will be more readily available.

I know! I told SO that he almost lost out. He didn't think it was as funny as I did. lol

Yes, all good so far, but to be fair, I haven't really been "in town". I've been building Basco a new barn/run in the last 2 weekends, so I've been mostly just out at the farm and the hardware store and lumber yard.

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 7:16 pm

Well I just had an interesting week. Last weekend I took photos at a double header bull riding. I had made friends with the bull fighters there before the thing started, which made the event much more fun and the time went by much faster, since they would let me know which bulls would do what and they would tell me to be ready for bull X to do Y, etc.
Later in the week, as I'm uploading photo previews, I started getting messages from people wanting to buy photos of one of the guys. Now these people didn't seem to be associated with this guy (always the same guy), so I just made a mental note about it. Well, this morning I get an order for 50 photos, all of the same guy, from someone who does not seem to be associated with him. The guy's family did buy a number of photos to gift to the guy for his birthday, but who else would want 50 photos of the guy??? He's single, and fairly recently broken up with someone was the feeling I got after talking with him a bit. Does he have a crazy stalker fan??
I told one of the other bullfighter's wife that I was going to start pimping this guy out and offer life-sized cutouts..lol.
But seriously, how crazy is that? Is there someone out there wallpapering their bedroom with all of those photos?

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 8:46 pm

Ccccccrrrrrrrreeepy!

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 2:05 am

Suzon wrote:Ccccccrrrrrrrreeepy!

Right??? Tomorrow I am shooting another event that this guy will most likely be at as well. It will be interesting if I get hit with more orders next week, after I get the photos posted to the gallery.

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Thu Feb 25, 2016 9:16 pm

I get Trey Ratcliff's Stuck In Customs email newsletter.

Don't always like his style but do like his web page.

Just got notified on this - not sure I would spring for it but some of you might be interested...

https://5daydeal.com/?ref=17

No, I am not getting a price break and yeah, kinda advertising but I am getting nothing out of it

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Sat Feb 27, 2016 5:30 pm

WheresMyWhite wrote:I get Trey Ratcliff's Stuck In Customs email newsletter.

Don't always like his style but do like his web page.

Just got notified on this - not sure I would spring for it but some of you might be interested...

https://5daydeal.com/?ref=17

No, I am not getting a price break and yeah, kinda advertising but I am getting nothing out of it

I'm still on the fence about this one. I went for a 5 day deal about a year ago and don't feel like I got much out of it. However, I do need to learn about marketing. UGH!!! To waste money, or not to waste money. :lol:

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Sat Feb 27, 2016 7:02 pm

Suzon, this made me laugh

There appeared to be some good/useful things if you were running a business and/or attempting to build/advertise a photography business (which I am not).

And just Trey's thing wasn't worth the rest of the $$$

I don't know if I should enable you or not

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Sat Feb 27, 2016 7:21 pm

Yeah, I went through a Trey phase about 4 years ago. Over that now. :lol:

I still love some of his actual photography, but the videos are kinda meh.

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Sat Feb 27, 2016 9:31 pm

And I'm not even that fond of much of Trey's work as I'm not overly fond of too much post and/or HDR

But, some of his photos are awesome

And I do like to read his equipment reviews for just another input...

Suzon · Postby **Suzon** » Sat Feb 27, 2016 9:45 pm

Oh, BTW, if anyone else is thinking about this. I bought my other one on the last day, almost at the last hour and the price had been discounted further.

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 4:42 pm

I've never heard of Trey.... >.> Thanks for posting this though WMW, maybe I SHOULD know who Trey is..lol.

Personal life is going crazy, but I'm still shooting my stuff. I shot a big charity event yesterday and I have absolutely no interest in editing it now. I'm going to have to force myself to do it it seems which is a bad bad thing for me. How do you guys get yourself into the editing groove? Sometimes I'm all "I'm going to edit the crap out of this stuff" and bam, it's done, and then there are other times. lol This time I'm not just indifferent, I'm downright annoyed to have to do it.

I have finals for a few of the associations coming up and I've ordered some big prints for awards to some of the groups. I'm excited to see how those come out.

I have no patience while waiting for my new camera and I've read rumors that the release may be pushed back until April. NO!!! The XQD cards for the thing are wicked expensive. I've spent 500$ on new cards for the new camera and I'm still not sure I have enough.

I am loving shooting the bull riding. I've signed up for as many of bull events as I can find, and my name is starting to get around as one of the better bull riding photographers, which is exciting for me. I'd love to be able to give up shooting barrel racing..lol.

He made it out of the way, but barely (#ineededabiggerbuffer)!

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 8:08 pm

RTR, I used to dislike bull riding but after watching PBR for a while, I really do enjoy it. The good bulls are amazing with how they are thinking and feeling what the rider is doing to try and get them off

Glad to hear from you (and hope you are staying safe).

Trey Ratcliff... http://www.stuckincustoms.com As I recall, he lives in New Zealand.

Interesting web site. He does some good work but some over post processed for me. I like to look at his photos and be more than envious of his travels

Taken one "live" class via internet streaming. Have his LR presets which are fun to monkey around with

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Fri Mar 04, 2016 8:09 pm

I need someone to take my debit card from me please. I just bought another 70-200 2.8..... >.> I booked some really huge shows for later in the year and I had a panic attack about something happening to my current lens and having to rent and all that drama, so I went ahead and bought another lens for backup. Actually my current will be my backup most likely.

Does anyone know XQD cards? I bought some and ordered a card reader, but then one of the cards came with a card reader. I'm not sure if it will only read that series of xqd or all series. If so, I can send back the $50 card reader I ordered. I don't have anything that will shoot an xqd card until my new camera comes in, so I can't rest the reader to see if it will work.

ETA on my Nikon D500 is April 26th, last I heard.

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Sat Mar 05, 2016 1:32 am

RTR, while the card is still hot, maybe a new 70-200 for me too???

April 26th will be here before you know it - who did you order the D500 from??

Racetrackreject · Postby **Racetrackreject** » Sat Mar 05, 2016 1:01 pm

WheresMyWhite wrote::D

RTR, while the card is still hot, maybe a new 70-200 for me too???

April 26th will be here before you know it - who did you order the D500 from??

70-200 2.8 for everyone!

I ordered from B&H, which I'm kind of regretting now that they're under federal investigation. I'm just hoping that doesn't mess up the pre-orders. I've been tempted to cancel it and reorder elsewhere, but I don't want to lose my spot. Lol

WheresMyWhite · Postby **WheresMyWhite** » Sat Mar 05, 2016 4:04 pm

Hadn't heard that about B&H

Sounds like some research is in order...

(Just did a quick read on this. I'd think you are ok with respect to your order. Doesn't sound like closing their doors or stopping business in the cards yet. Having said that, disappointed that this is how they treat their employees in this day and age...

)

I wouldn't think it would.

I've started asking for my camera equipment to be delivered to the local UPS store so I don't have to pay attention to when the UPS guy shows up for me to sign or leave it sitting in the front...

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