Camera Pros

[AngelsLakersFan]

I've been a little too scared to get into underwater stuff. There are some somewhat cheap options if you aren't getting too deep and are comfortable putting a camera in a glorified plastic bag. Once you put down a big of money for a real enclosure you probably should just bite the bullet and put a decent camera in it.

My buddy is really into scuba diving and as such I helped him pick out an Olympus mirrorless system and housing, but my take away from his experience is that you have to pay a lot more to get less quality. Shooting underwater is tough because there is very little light and the color balance is all off. The trick to great underwater photography is an underwater lighting kit, and once you've gotten to that level you really have to be serious about it.

Id' see about going really cheap with a cheapy camera in a cheapy bag, and see how that works for you. After that I'd consider a legit enclosure. 

I believe my friend ended up getting his stuff from here: https://www.opticaloceansales.com

[ten ocho recon scout]

Yeah, everything ive seen is that its expensive as hell. And i dont get in the water enough to justify it. But, theres been a few times ive dove and couls have used a real camera. So id like to get one "just in case".

I guess i wouldnt have to go real dslr. A decent point and shoot would probably still be better than the gopro (for stills).

[AngelsLakersFan]

8 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Yeah, everything ive seen is that its expensive as hell. And i dont get in the water enough to justify it. But, theres been a few times ive dove and couls have used a real camera. So id like to get one "just in case".

I guess i wouldnt have to go real dslr. A decent point and shoot would probably still be better than the gopro (for stills).

Try renting

[ten ocho recon scout]

Good call.

Tell your buddy nobody cares about his hobby or wants to see pictures of it , and he wasted his money. Then tell him you know another idiot that will buy his camera for cheap.

[AngelsLakersFan]

9 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Good call.

Tell your buddy nobody cares about his hobby or wants to see pictures of it , and he wasted his money. Then tell him you know another idiot that will buy his camera for cheap.

He's fragile and needs encouragement.

Haha, actually he's a doctor, so I try to get him to buy the top of the line shit but he never does. Being raised 'poor' has taught him to always spend the least amount possible. Perhaps one of these days I can convince him to upgrade.

[ten ocho recon scout]

11 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

He's fragile and needs encouragement.

Haha, actually he's a doctor, so I try to get him to buy the top of the line shit but he never does. Being raised 'poor' has taught him to always spend the least amount possible. Perhaps one of these days I can convince him to upgrade.

Do it. And tell him im sick, so he should help me out and sell it to me cheap. Or straight up trade for my playstation 2.

[AngelsLakersFan]

1 minute ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Do it. And tell him im sick, so he should help me out and sell it to me cheap. Or straight up trade for my playstation 2.

He's the least sympathetic doctor I know. He's like Doc Cottle from Battlestar Galactica. If you're sick, you are the problem. He might be interested in the PS2 though... I'll ask. lol

[ten ocho recon scout]

Tell him it wont come cheap, though. It comes with ready 2 rumble boxing.

[Tank]

2 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Yeah, everything ive seen is that its expensive as hell. And i dont get in the water enough to justify it. But, theres been a few times ive dove and couls have used a real camera. So id like to get one "just in case".

I guess i wouldnt have to go real dslr. A decent point and shoot would probably still be better than the gopro (for stills).

I'm doing snuba on Monday and there's an option to rent a camera. Yay or nay? This is new territory for me.

[Tank]

There's a small art gallery here inside the Grand Wailea and one of the features is some really amazing photography. Talked to the shop keeper and he said the photographer is a local guy who uses this rare, super expensive camera that costs $55k (not a typo - probably bought it at the resort gift shop). 

@red321, do you know what kind of camera this would be and have you ever seen one? 

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Tank said:

I'm doing snuba on Monday and there's an option to rent a camera. Yay or nay? This is new territory for me.

Absolutely! Who knows what youll see, but even if you strike out and nothing cool swims by, at least get some shots of you and the family diving hawaiin waters...who knows if youll ever get to again!

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Tank said:

There's a small art gallery here inside the Grand Wailea and one of the features is some really amazing photography. Talked to the shop keeper and he said the photographer is a local guy who uses this rare, super expensive camera that costs $55k (not a typo - probably bought it at the resort gift shop). 

@red321, do you know what kind of camera this would be and have you ever seen one? 

Who knows (answering for red). But the pro cameras can get super duper expensive.

Over the last year or so i met and became friends with a couple of pro photographers. At first i was blown away by how much they paid for their stuff, and how much they travel. But then they explained how they get to write it off, because photography is their job. 

It would obviously take a ton of photos being sold to pay off a 55K camera. But, maybe you get lucky, and somebody buys a few of your prints for a lot of money.

I recently checked out Peter Lik's gallery. One of the guys i know is an aquaintance of his, and has his shop in the same complex. This guy peter lik ( not a porn star) recently sold one of his pictures for 6 million dollars! And honestly...i dont see it. My buddy shot the same place, very similar pictures. I have no clue why some obviously rich person paid 6 mill for a photo literally hundreds of others have shot.

My buddy and i talked about it...whoever bought it could have bought a flight, flown to this place in a helicopter, ate lobster for days and days at the same place for far less than buying that picture.

[mrwicked]

There is a fantastic Maui photographer named Scott Reither. He usually shows his stuff at the Four Seasons, if you walk over definitely check him out! He might be at the Grand too.

[red321]

Most likely he's using a medium format camera. Top of the line models from hasselblad or Leica with lenses would absolutely be in that range. Massive image files that capture a tremendous amount of detail and images can be blown up to very large print sizes. 

 

[red321]

I've seen Lik's work. It's good. Overly saturated for my taste but I can see why it's popular. To folks who like pretty things on the wall and have disposable income...he has a well manicured image.  To me Lik is like the artist who draws a black line on a blank canvas, calls it modern art and cashes in. Art is subjective, good for Lik that he has the stones to do it. He can craft a story and is a helluva marketer. Why is his work worth 6 million? Because he convinced someone it was worth 6 million. 

I do take issue with that photo though. He originally published it as color. Again, nice photo but nothing earth shattering. Hell, for that image he probably had an assistant toss sand to create the dust image. So he uses silver efex pro, high contrast preset. Voila. Black and white magic. Call it one of a kind and convince some sap its worth 6 million. Or at a minimum...tell everyone you convinced someone to buy it for 6 million...furthering your own legend.

 

[gotbeer]

And in the no way can I even come close to these photos category.

Winners of 2017 NatGeo Travel Photographer of the Year

 

[red321]

All of those better than Peter Lik....unfortunately for them as part of entering the contest they signed away their image rights to Nat Geo. But lucky for them they can now order a nat geo calendar with their image in it for 20. 

 

 

(Note...this was based on how nat geo used to run contests...not sure they still require the photographer to give up a good portion of their rights to an image when submitted)

[gotbeer]

Stunning images capture the moment lightning strikes over Monument Valley

So @red321.  How are lightning shots done?  Is it tripod, with like a 30 second exposure, and hope you get lucky?

[red321]

There are a couple of approaches. 

1) hold down shutter and take photos every second and pray! This doesn't work. Option 1a) is to set to bulb, put cover over lens and remove light blocking cover when you see lightening  again  doesn't really work  

2) put camera on tripod. Compose shot and set focus/exposure. there are triggers that detect lightening and will automatically fire off a shot. 

3) best option. Start with step 2. Place neutral density filter on camera if required. You want a shot that takes 30-60 plus seconds. Base exposure on time of shot. So if darkness requires 60 seconds to expose background, that's what you set.  Set trigger to fire shots one after another. Pray lightening strikes where you have composed shot. 

For digital cameras Light is cumulative. So the lightening will be exposed and the rest of the shot will continue. Since the background is now darker than what was already exposed by the lightening, won't really impact the lightening exposed parts. 

 

[gotbeer]

any idea how they did this picture?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/milky-way-shines-down-mount-slideshow-wp-113232015.html

I guess there might be a mountain higher than Mt Fuji nearby that he took the picture from.  But wow, I've never seen this angle before.

[red321]

There is a reason why you have never seen Mt. Fuji photographed from that angle...because it's a long long way from Mt. Bromo and Indonesia

[gotbeer]

1 hour ago, red321 said:

There is a reason why you have never seen Mt. Fuji photographed from that angle...because it's a long long way from Mt. Bromo and Indonesia

Haha.  Yeah, I guess they did the ole bait and switch on caption to actual photo.  Still, a cool pic though.  

[red321]

4 minutes ago, gotbeer said:

Haha.  Yeah, I guess they did the ole bait and switch on caption to actual photo.  Still, a cool pic though.  

It is a cool photo...I've seen some pretty awesome shots of Mt. Bromo from that similar location.

[Tank]

to lazy to check, so i'll ask here . . . 

any opinions about the nikon D3200 or D3100? not looking for anything super fancy but need an upgrade from my kodak. i've been watching the canon cameras on a facebook "for sale" pages, but they're still expensive. the nikons seem to be lower priced but i don't know anything about them.

just looking for a solid DSLR.

[red321]

5 minutes ago, Tank said:

to lazy to check, so i'll ask here . . . 

any opinions about the nikon D3200 or D3100? not looking for anything super fancy but need an upgrade from my kodak. i've been watching the canon cameras on a facebook "for sale" pages, but they're still expensive. the nikons seem to be lower priced but i don't know anything about them.

just looking for a solid DSLR.

You might want to look at fuji, sony, or olympus mirrorless options if you want interchangeable lenses as well.