Mohill Horse Fair

mystic86

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fret_wimp2

Great set. Candid ones work best for me, 3rd from bottom and 5th from bottom in particular.

mystic86

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

Great set. Candid ones work best for me, 3rd from bottom and 5th from bottom in particular.

Thanks, I took your advice from my thread with the pics from the water protest and just picked 15 photos (also convenient as that's how many fit in one post). I also made them all black and white.

Surprised you didn't mention the first one :-)
Think it might be my favourite I've taken since I started. Maybe.

pixbyjohn

Great set from Mohill, well done and thanks for sharing.

fret_wimp2

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Great set from Mohill, well done and thanks for sharing.

first one is a very nice portrait, but im not into portraits these days, not candid enough!

AnimalRights

I'd like them that much sharper.
I can't get to your exif either to see how you shot.

I like half for composition but you haven't got them numbered for me to be able to say which :P

mystic86

AnimalRights wrote: »

I'd like them that much sharper.
I can't get to your exif either to see how you shot.

I like half for composition but you haven't got them numbered for me to be able to say which :P

Really? I'm new to this craic, I use Lightroom for post processing and I turned the clarity slider up to about +25-30 on them and I already was wondering if I was cheating yet

What would people turn it up by, is this a high amount of editing of clarity levels?

As for the exif, that's right, you can't see them! haha, the files are on the mac, I'll see what I can do later.

Numbered now, comment away on them P.s. you could also have just said 3rd one down, 5th one etc...

AnimalRights

Clarity I use +10 because I shoot Raw, if I shoot JPEG (rare) I don't touch...
I ofc meant sharper as in your technical shooting :P
and I tried picking my favs but I kept losing count and remembering which pic was which..

Referring exif I was curious to see why some pics were softer than others....I may have had a few tips

mystic86

AnimalRights wrote: »

Clarity I use +10 because I shoot Raw, if I shoot JPEG (rare) I don't touch...
I ofc meant sharper as in your technical shooting :P
and I tried picking my favs but I kept losing count and remembering which pic was which..

Referring exif I was curious to see why some pics were softer than others....I may have had a few tips

I shot in Raw.

Yes, please, I would love some help

Here, I uploaded them to Flickr so you can see the EXIF:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk5Mivcv

AnimalRights

Hi
I couldn't work out the focus points you used from the exif.
Most of the shots that I checked were shot at between 5.6 and 6.3 aperture which is ok, ISO is between 800 and 1600 which is perhaps high and I assume that was auto ISO which chose high daytime ISOs because the day looked dreary and you used a high shutter speed?
I couldn't work out the focus points you used from the exif.
For the static shots I use about 100 SS
The only other thing I can think is that the lens you used is a budget lens?
I don't shoot Nikon so not exactly sure.
In fact I wish I had time now to get out and shoot in similar conditions but I'm quite busy at the moment.

I'd like other peoples input too.

mystic86

AnimalRights wrote: »

Hi
I couldn't work out the focus points you used from the exif.
Most of the shots that I checked were shot at between 5.6 and 6.3 aperture which is ok, ISO is between 800 and 1600 which is perhaps high and I assume that was auto ISO which chose high daytime ISOs because the day looked dreary and you used a high shutter speed?
I couldn't work out the focus points you used from the exif.
For the static shots I use about 100 SS
The only other thing I can think is that the lens you used is a budget lens?
I don't shoot Nikon so not exactly sure.
In fact I wish I had time now to get out and shoot in similar conditions but I'm quite busy at the moment.

I'd like other peoples input too.

Hi there thanks for your reply.

The camera was on auto focus. I often change up the metering and focus points (single point etc) depending on the shots I'm taking at the time, I honestly can't recall what I had it set to now though.

Yea I would have liked to have used f8 or something but I was struggling with getting the shots bright enough.

I actually had the camera on manual, I almost always do. The day was indeed very dreary.

Yea I set the iso quite high, I didn't think at the time my shutter speed was that fast for handheld walking around the fair, hence the iso being high, but I'm probably wrong.

I often find that shooting on a non manual mode, such as aperature priority mode, results in my images being darker than I like, but again that's probably me being wrong.

The lens I used is the Nikon kit lens, 18-55.

I have 4 lenses but I felt this was best because of the distance I wanted to shoot from.

I only started this year and I've already spent a good bit on equipment, can't afford anything else for now unfortunately... There was loads of photographers there with their 70-200 f/2.8, I was very jealous :-)

AnimalRights

I just re read my last post and it's confusing to say the least.

If that was me shooting what you shot I would generally use this set up....

ISO on auto
f5.6 - 6.3 for the shots of more than one person
AF and depending on the subjects centre or pattern.
Kit lens is holding you back but ofc lens are so expensive.
And I almost always shoot on Aperture Priority Mode unless it's fast action so then TV mode or shutterspeed in Nikon language?

Now that is just my set up, ofc everyone could have their own what works best set up.

mystic86

AnimalRights wrote: »

I just re read my last post and it's confusing to say the least.

If that was me shooting what you shot I would generally use this set up....

ISO on auto
f5.6 - 6.3 for the shots of more than one person
AF and depending on the subjects centre or pattern.
Kit lens is holding you back but ofc lens are so expensive.
And I almost always shoot on Aperture Priority Mode unless it's fast action so then TV mode or shutterspeed in Nikon language?

Now that is just my set up, ofc everyone could have their own what works best set up.

Thanks for that, so going back to the original comment about getting more clarity in the shots, in taking them rather than post processing, is there anything I can do differently? I have no idea what gets more clarity when taking shots

fret_wimp2

I wouldnt worry about being pin sharp, they are "sharp enough". sometimes you cant get it tack sharp, and really sometimes tack sharp doesnt help a picture anyway. the sharpness looks ok to me for the most part.

If you dont like autofocus, use manual! For street I use zone focus. Aperture set to 8, shutter to 250 and i focus about 3 metres in front. this keeps eveything from about .5m - 8m in focus. is it tack sharp if i zoom in to 100%? No. Do i care? no, Ive given up on being a pixel peeper. The only people that bothers is other pixel peepers, who are more interested in technical issues with a picture than the actual content.


Kit lens is not holding you back, dont be jealous of various fancy lens's, it wont make you a better photographer. Just get in there with what you have and take more photos. a good photographer with a camera phone will outshoot a mediocre photographer with 10k of equipment. Think of the most memorable photos in history, the ones that are our memories of major events, taken 60 years ago. you think they had L grade glass? Think Vivian Maier had a camera that would be the equivalent of 5k modern money?


High ISO generally isnt an issue for me either, i usually pump it up as i like grain. If theres not enough i add some! "Grain is a photographer's brushstroke" - Constantine Manos!

This all works for me and allows me to enjoy shooting without worrying about how sharp my image is when zoomed in to 100% and my nose pressed to the monitor, or being envious of other peoples super expensive gear. Hopefully some of it might work for you.

mystic86

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

I wouldnt worry about being pin sharp, they are "sharp enough". sometimes you cant get it tack sharp, and really sometimes tack sharp doesnt help a picture anyway. the sharpness looks ok to me for the most part.

If you dont like autofocus, use manual! For street I use zone focus. Aperture set to 8, shutter to 250 and i focus about 3 metres in front. this keeps eveything from about .5m - 8m in focus. is it tack sharp if i zoom in to 100%? No. Do i care? no, Ive given up on being a pixel peeper. The only people that bothers is other pixel peepers, who are more interested in technical issues with a picture than the actual content.


Kit lens is not holding you back, dont be jealous of various fancy lens's, it wont make you a better photographer. Just get in there with what you have and take more photos. a good photographer with a camera phone will outshoot a mediocre photographer with 10k of equipment. Think of the most memorable photos in history, the ones that are our memories of major events, taken 60 years ago. you think they had L grade glass? Think Vivian Maier had a camera that would be the equivalent of 5k modern money?


High ISO generally isnt an issue for me either, i usually pump it up as i like grain. If theres not enough i add some! "Grain is a photographer's brushstroke" - Constantine Manos!

This all works for me and allows me to enjoy shooting without worrying about how sharp my image is when zoomed in to 100% and my nose pressed to the monitor, or being envious of other peoples super expensive gear. Hopefully some of it might work for you.

I appreciate the feedback.

Just a few things there didn't come from me at all.

AnimalRights said he would have liked them sharper, that's where that conversation came from.

I didn't say I didn't like autofocus at all.

Thanks for bringing up zone focus, never heard of it.

I didn't say the kit lens is holding me back, AnimalRights said it and I said I was jealous of the f2.8 70-200 lens. And I'm not gonna stop being jealous, the bokeh and the ability to shoot in lower light etc are legitimate desires imo

Thanks again.

fret_wimp2

mystic86 wrote: »

I appreciate the feedback.

Just a few things there didn't come from me at all.

I never said they came from you, but they are in the thread and I wanted to challenge some of them.

mystic86

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

I never said they came from you, but they are in the thread and I wanted to challenge some of them.

OK cool, apart from the not liking autofocus part

Thanks fret_wimp2, do you have much street photography done? Could I see some of your shots please?

fret_wimp2

mystic86 wrote: »

OK cool, apart from the not liking autofocus part

Thanks fret_wimp2, do you have much street photography done? Could I see some of your shots please?

I spend a lot of time at street, getting out 2-3 lunchtimes a week & i usually head to the city centre for 4-5 hours on a sat or sun with the camera. Sometimes I end up with a lot of photos, more often than not i end up with nothing, most of the time i dont come out with anything worth uploading. But on occasion i do get something im happy with!

The ones Im currently ok with people seeing are on flickr, although im steadily weeding this down, went from a few hundred on flickr to now having less than 45 up there. Aim is to get it down to 25-30:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/schmintan

AnimalRights

As I said different strokes for different blokes!
You said how to get sharper and I have to ask a silly question but are you holding the camera rock steady?

Some people are shy doing street photography and jerk the camera unintentionally to get the shot away as quickly as possible without being 'caught'

mystic86

AnimalRights wrote: »

As I said different strokes for different blokes!
You said how to get sharper and I have to ask a silly question but are you holding the camera rock steady?

Well, I don't know for sure? But I think so.. I mean how do I know?

A colleague who is into photography expressed surprise before that I was able to take certain shots handheld because of the low shutter speed, so I was under the impression that I might be good at holding her steady... I dunno

AnimalRights

Well that's a good sign, but again depending on the situation to slow can cause softness, having said that your shots all had fast ss so that isn't the issue there...

I am just overly fussy in sharp and as Fret said not everyone is as fussy!

If I didn't like the pics at all I wouldn't bother commenting btw...

mystic86

AnimalRights wrote: »

Well that's a good sign, but again depending on the situation to slow can cause softness, having said that your shots all had fast ss so that isn't the issue there...

I am just overly fussy in sharp and as Fret said not everyone is as fussy!

If I didn't like the pics at all I wouldn't bother commenting btw...

Appreciate your help