DFW'ers photographic challenge - use those £££ cameras!

MrsMoo2U

Like LT said that is a wonderful photo. I particularly like that you have used a manual camera as it inspires me to carry on using mine. Now you all sound so knowledgeable I am so behind the doors with equipment.
EH, sorry for being a thicko however I am not afraid to admit this if it helps me learn a bit more. Can you please explain why using the 50mm lens is a challenge for you?

Louise, love your pictures, I particularly like the dogs playing but then I am a sucker for dogs

Frozenace

Hey cheri,

in my opinion, lots of the compact digital cameras and the dslrs advertise super zooms 18-300, you don't really have to move to take pictures.

fixed focals force you to slow down, frame, adjust aperture, adjust shutter speed. It's pretty much useless for action photography.

EssexHebridean

Frozenace has pretty much summer it up - my "standard" lens is a 24 - 70mm - so I can get a good range of options on a shot with my feet planted firmly in one place. With the 50mm, you don't have that option of just zooming out if something doesn't fit in the frame, so you either have to move and find a position where you can get the shot you originally wanted, or, a lot of the time, you actually have to re-think the shot totally and come up with something different. It's generally speaking a useless lens for taking shots of a whole building, but rather good for picking out detail, so makes me think a lot more. I have a couple of shots posted under the title of "nifty fifty project" on my Blog, the text with the first of those explains my original thinking when I started. (Nifty Fifty by the way is the nickname given by photographers to Canon's rather excellent - and startlingly cheap all things considered - 50mm f1.8 lens, they can be picked up for around £50 and are truly superb lenses for their money.)

Frozenace by the way I have added you to the list - and am currently sitting drooling over your Leica - I've often thought I'd love a camera like that but in honesty know I haven't the patience to do it justice. Maybe one day. The exposure on the second of those shots is wonderful - tricky to manage the balance between the dark interior and the window, but you've got it spot on.

Pippi - This weeks challenge was almost "designed" to get you thinking really - I'm trying to come up with stuff that I *know* will challenge me, but also to think about where other people's comfort zones are and target those as well. Evil EH! :cool:

Lemon_Tree

EH i could just hear you going mwwwaaahahahaha with that comment lol

Pippilongstocking

Lemon_Tree wrote: »

EH i could just hear you going mwwwaaahahahaha with that comment lol

Very evil - and you appear to be so innocent and secretly you're a plotter!

I'm loving the theme so far - I DID take pics at our local cathederal - which I've never done before - although couldn't get inside as they shut for lunch over the winter -so I froze outside for you all - but I think I'll try that again, indoors next time - the stained glass in there is awesome - having looked at the photos - I'm struck with how hard it is to get angles working right - something about me is always wonky:rotfl:

I'm use to being fluid for flowers - not coping well with this angle lark! And I can't do anything fancy with my camera - I just point and click - it does all the fancy hard work!

EH - I have to tell you though - when you put up 'architectural' my thought went right to overdrive thinkign OK what kind of architectural plants can I take a picture of.

You can lead a horse to water.....................:rotfl:

EssexHebridean

Pippilongstocking wrote: »

Very evil - and you appear to be so innocent and secretly you're a plotter!

I'm greatly entertained that I;ve had you fooled for so long!!

I'm loving the theme so far - I DID take pics at our local cathederal - which I've never done before - although couldn't get inside as they shut for lunch over the winter -so I froze outside for you all - but I think I'll try that again, indoors next time - the stained glass in there is awesome - having looked at the photos - I'm struck with how hard it is to get angles working right - something about me is always wonky:rotfl:

I'm use to being fluid for flowers - not coping well with this angle lark! And I can't do anything fancy with my camera - I just point and click - it does all the fancy hard work!

EH - I have to tell you though - when you put up 'architectural' my thought went right to overdrive thinkign OK what kind of architectural plants can I take a picture of.

I was half expecting that you would, to be honest!

You can lead a horse to water.....................:rotfl:

As for the angles thing, remember, any time you photograph something with straight vertical lines which you are looking up at, (or indeed down at!) the lines will always appear to go out of true and will slope in to the centre of the frame. Try using the widest view you can with your lens, and with the camera in portrait or upright orientation look up at a nice tall building - turn the camera so that ONE of the vertical lines is straight to the side of the viewfinder, then look at the camera to see how far out of true it is! With image editing software you can "pull" the corners outwards to straighten which can work quite well, but sometimes it's fun to use an extreme wide angle lens and really exaggerate it. (Trying to think if I have a shot handy I can post as an example but can't think that I have.)

Lemon_Tree

Pippi i also had my contrary hat on and thought of all the other 'architectural' things in life, such as trees, underwear etc. Thankfully for you all i'm not ever planning on taking photo's of the latter.

diable

Not my best but I had to post something for the challenge and this was taken today when I nipped out of the office for 5 mins and taken on an iPhone, anyone notice whats missing?

Pippilongstocking

um brilliant photo - is it cars that are missing? (traffic?) or snow - haven't you got any doon sooth?

MrsMoo2U

No you have me there!

I might struggle again this weekend - off to meet friends and family for a weekend of birthday frivolity. I will take my camera but I might be otherwise engaged.