-= T2i / 550D users UNITE! (2) =-

first image post here


hope to get some creative criticism from the potn experts that would hopefully improve my photography.

Bobobird, Congrats on getting the featured article! The image is certainly a great capture. Nice seeing all the comments people have given you there as well, lots of very thoughtful words. Congrats again.

Rafa.

abuha wrote in post #12183749
first image post here

Welcome Abuha to both POTN and to the T2i section! You are up to a fantastic start here with those two images, being the first my pick of the group. Incredible background blurring there with the 2.8! And the focus is perfectly placed on the image as well! Fantastic capture, there isn't anything I could suggest to improving it, that is just as good as it gets.

The second image has something that distracts me, not sure what it is. Perhaps the severe vignetting? I assume that bright center with the fast dim was done in post or was there a shadow cast on the left group of flowers? Also, in that particular image, the severely shallow DoF makes it difficult to 'choose' what was the focal point of the image, as the in-focus section appears to be in the dimmed part of the image. At any rate, the composition is very well achieved.

About the shutter speed, well, on the T2i you can go up to 1/4000th, so you still had almost 2 full stops to dim the image further and keep your other settings. But, if you, for whatever reason (video being one that comes to mind) want to bring the shutter speeds down, you can purchase Neutral Density filters. A ND8x (3 f-stop reduction) would have given you 1/150~ 1/200th for correct exposure. They are handy things for several circumstances. A CPL filter could also be interesting as it cuts 2 stops of light (1/300th in this particular case) but you are able to concentrate sky light or filter away some reflections.

At any rate, welcome and thanks for sharing! Looking forward to many more pictures from you and that fantastic lens you have there. By the way, what equipment are you working with lens-wise?

Rafa.

Ok, so... I was reading DPreview about the new LensBaby Composer Pro. I have heard about LensBaby before, but never delved into exactly what the product was. I find it very interesting concept to create very 'artistic looking' images. Basically they have different 'lens containers' that hold a variety of optics. The containers are all but one able to tilt, which produces a very defined area of sharpness and the rest of the image remains blurred. For those interested in what it is LensBaby offers, here's a nice link to a video on their page:
http://lensbaby.com/vi​deo.php?id=7

The whole concept is really interesting, but, for a non-dedicated photographer, I find that it is a bit pricey for the few times such a result is wanted or needed. So, I decided to try and replicate the concept of the result in post. The concept being: you have regular DoF and, by tilting, you add a specific area of the frame that can be in focus, the rest is blurred even if it is at the same distance from the sensor plane. After some trial and error, testing, and trying to replicate both the blurriness and the haloing this lenses produce, I was able to come to a result I am more or less happy with (specially if the results mimic a $400 lens combination! ).

Have any of you looked into this and had interest in the results achieved? Well, here's my take, done all in post, of course, I don't have a lensbaby .

RafaPolit wrote in post #12183832
Welcome Abuha to both POTN and to the T2i section! You are up to a fantastic start here with those two images, being the first my pick of the group. Incredible background blurring there with the 2.8! And the focus is perfectly placed on the image as well! Fantastic capture, there isn't anything I could suggest to improving it, that is just as good as it gets.

The second image has something that distracts me, not sure what it is. Perhaps the severe vignetting? I assume that bright center with the fast dim was done in post or was there a shadow cast on the left group of flowers? Also, in that particular image, the severely shallow DoF makes it difficult to 'choose' what was the focal point of the image, as the in-focus section appears to be in the dimmed part of the image. At any rate, the composition is very well achieved.
your right it was done in post, i think i might post the original image later


About the shutter speed, well, on the T2i you can go up to 1/4000th, so you still had almost 2 full stops to dim the image further and keep your other settings. But, if you, for whatever reason (video being one that comes to mind) want to bring the shutter speeds down, you can purchase Neutral Density filters. A ND8x (3 f-stop reduction) would have given you 1/150~ 1/200th for correct exposure. They are handy things for several circumstances. A CPL filter could also be interesting as it cuts 2 stops of light (1/300th in this particular case) but you are able to concentrate sky light or filter away some reflections.

At any rate, welcome and thanks for sharing! Looking forward to many more pictures from you and that fantastic lens you have there. By the way, what equipment are you working with lens-wise?

Rafa.

thanks man,I have seen your images, so that means allot coming from you.

The ND filters sound incredibly useful, it would be great if you could recommend a few.

lens wise I use the 70-200mm f2.8 L, 17-40 f4 L and the 24-105 f4 L I do have a hoya UV Filter but I seldom use it.

haven't had the opportunity to test the other lenses though.

I had the choice of either getting a 5dII or some L optics...went for the optics instead.

Very interesting Rafa. I hadn't heard of the lensbaby systems but have seen one of the swiveling lens bodies for sale and couldn't for the life of me figure out what it did or how it could be used. It was just a weird looking lens that I don't think I would ever foresee the need for.

I myself have done what you demonstrated above to draw focus away from uwanted elements in the background of an otherwise good picture.

So after looking through the site I could see it's appeal. You get unique looking images straight out of the camera and spend less time processing them...perhaps? The drawback as you said is the price for someone who isn't making a professional business investment.

However If I was wealthy I could see wanting to play around with these until the novelty wore off.

abuha wrote in post #12183969
...lens wise I use the 70-200mm f2.8 L, 17-40 f4 L and the 24-105 f4 L...

Ok, you are going to get some WOWs, some Uhhhs, some Ohhhs, and some drooling from many people in here, me included! .

I always praise people that can actually live up to the "lenses first and better than body" rule that is always preached but seldom actually carried on. You are living prove of that, and with your lens choices if ever you decide to upgrade to a FF, you won't need to purchase a single additional lens, so you can even have a better-than-5DmII in the future, but you have right now the best quality of images available. Kudos for that!

About ND filters... I bought a cheap Tiffen one for my 18-55 (58mm thread) and a much more expensive Hoya one for my 70-200 (67mm). There is a difference, clear and noticeable. While the Tiffen does the job, you can see haloing and fringing, but it has very little hue change. I find the Hoya much better in all respects, you almost don't notice the change in IQ but is has a slightly more evident hue tint. I don't mind tint at all, it can be fixed if needed, but since its warming, I actually like the effect.

Now, I have a 17-55 of 77mm thread and I need yet another one for the lens. Seeing this trend, and seeing that its not like UVs that need to stay on the lens at all times (at least for me!), I recommend getting a good ND filter (I'd go with either Hoya or B+W) of the largest diameter and buying step-up-rings which can be had for very little.

For your lens lineup, you are even on better ground, since all your lenses have a 77mm. The donwside is that filters cost proportional to the diameter, so your filters will not be cheap. The best part is that you can buy once and it will fit all the lenses you posted above.

As to NDs, they come in different strength. You can find from 1 to 10 f-stop reductions. I think 3 f-stops are the most helpful, as anything less is probably easier done changing camera settings. 3 is a nice sweet spot. But, if you want to drool a little (as you made us drool with your lenses ), head over to this thread:
Post your 9 or 10 stop ND photos

Some day I'll have one of those. At 10 f-stops, a picture that will normally require 1/30th to expose properly you actually need 35 seconds to expose properly. So, at dusk or dawn when you would need around 1 sec to expose properly, you can actually expose for 17 minutes! Its not for everyone, but some of the results are just breathtaking.

You can also stack the filters, so, a ND8 (3 fstops) and a ND64 (6 fstops) on top of each other are equivalent to a 9 fstop filter.

So, a final link to what would be my choices for 77mm ND filters:
- Hoya HMC NDx8 - Filter - neutral density 8x - 77 mm (3 stops)
- B+W 65-066534 77mm Neutral Density 1.8-64x Filter #106 (6 stops)
- B + W 77mm #110 3.0 (1000x) Neutral Density Glass Filter (10 stops)

I'd personally buy the 3 stop first, get a hang of what it does and, if you think you are into ND photos, purchase the 6 stop. Try that and watch the result combining both, and if you fall in love with ND photography, go for the 10 stop, as it requires a lot of preparation in anticipation of the shot: you need to focus before adding the filter, you need to manually calculate the exposure and you need bulb exposure and remote triggering to take the picture.

Hope this helps, best regards
Rafa.
ps. Thanks for your kind words.

well as the day gets closer (May 28) to the sweet 16 birthday i decided to buy just a bit more gear since im going to be AAAAAALL DAY with my niece.

got 2 more opteka battery packs because i dont wanna stay out of power

RafaPolit wrote in post #12184153
Ok, you are going to get some WOWs, some Uhhhs, some Ohhhs, and some drooling from many people in here, me included! .

I always praise people that can actually live up to the "lenses first and better than body" rule that is always preached but seldom actually carried on. You are living prove of that, and with your lens choices if ever you decide to upgrade to a FF, you won't need to purchase a single additional lens, so you can even have a better-than-5DmII in the future, but you have right now the best quality of images available. Kudos for that!

About ND filters... I bought a cheap Tiffen one for my 18-55 (58mm thread) and a much more expensive Hoya one for my 70-200 (67mm). There is a difference, clear and noticeable. While the Tiffen does the job, you can see haloing and fringing, but it has very little hue change. I find the Hoya much better in all respects, you almost don't notice the change in IQ but is has a slightly more evident hue tint. I don't mind tint at all, it can be fixed if needed, but since its warming, I actually like the effect.

Now, I have a 17-55 of 77mm thread and I need yet another one for the lens. Seeing this trend, and seeing that its not like UVs that need to stay on the lens at all times (at least for me!), I recommend getting a good ND filter (I'd go with either Hoya or B+W) of the largest diameter and buying step-up-rings which can be had for very little.

For your lens lineup, you are even on better ground, since all your lenses have a 77mm. The donwside is that filters cost proportional to the diameter, so your filters will not be cheap. The best part is that you can buy once and it will fit all the lenses you posted above.

As to NDs, they come in different strength. You can find from 1 to 10 f-stop reductions. I think 3 f-stops are the most helpful, as anything less is probably easier done changing camera settings. 3 is a nice sweet spot. But, if you want to drool a little (as you made us drool with your lenses ), head over to this thread:
Post your 9 or 10 stop ND photos

Some day I'll have one of those. At 10 f-stops, a picture that will normally require 1/30th to expose properly you actually need 35 seconds to expose properly. So, at dusk or dawn when you would need around 1 sec to expose properly, you can actually expose for 17 minutes! Its not for everyone, but some of the results are just breathtaking.

You can also stack the filters, so, a ND8 (3 fstops) and a ND64 (6 fstops) on top of each other are equivalent to a 9 fstop filter.

So, a final link to what would be my choices for 77mm ND filters:
- Hoya HMC NDx8 - Filter - neutral density 8x - 77 mm (3 stops)
- B+W 65-066534 77mm Neutral Density 1.8-64x Filter #106 (6 stops)
- B + W 77mm #110 3.0 (1000x) Neutral Density Glass Filter (10 stops)

I'd personally buy the 3 stop first, get a hang of what it does and, if you think you are into ND photos, purchase the 6 stop. Try that and watch the result combining both, and if you fall in love with ND photography, go for the 10 stop, as it requires a lot of preparation in anticipation of the shot: you need to focus before adding the filter, you need to manually calculate the exposure and you need bulb exposure and remote triggering to take the picture.

Hope this helps, best regards
Rafa.
ps. Thanks for your kind words.

wow those images you linked are amazing.

is the gradient sky effect [does that make sense] a characteristic of the ND filters?

Thank you for the links i really appreciate it.

btw i just did some quick search on google and found there are filter holders available. so is there a clear advantage to having the filter holder over the circular filter...

cant find the 17-55 thread

ps, sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes English isnt my first language.

DigitalTuned wrote in post #12184198
...should i stick to one lens or should i alternate between the 3 that i own?

Congrats on the new gear Digital! For a moment there I read it like you were turning 16! That would have been a shock to me You are not overdoing it with the gear, IMHO, all you have just purchased are the bare essentials!

You would definitely be changing lenses. For 'controlled' and exterior moments, I would definitively give the 50mm a chance. Its donwside is the focus speed, but if you can have the girl on nice place and you are able to focus properly, the quality of image the 50mm gives is far better than the kit IMHO. Don't use f1.8, as tempting as that sounds, use at f2.8 to be sure the picture is sharp and that you have a bit of error margin with the focus.

Of course, for moments where you either need zoom, or a wider angle (group shots) or just need to depend on faster focus, you will need the 18-55. And, I am a sucker for portraits in parties. For that, fit the 55-250 and, from away, shoot portraits of the people, unaware of you, and having fun! The resulting images from that are, for me, usually my favorites of any gathering.

So, I'd alternate lenses... planning a bit ahead so as not to require a change of lens for each shot .

Obviously, share the images here!

Rafa.

I've been experimenting with lighting today but since weather isn't cooperating for outside work I bought a few subjects to shoot.

RafaPolit wrote in post #12183901
Ok, so... I was reading DPreview about the new LensBaby Composer Pro. I have heard about LensBaby before, but never delved into exactly what the product was. I find it very interesting concept to create very 'artistic looking' images. Basically they have different 'lens containers' that hold a variety of optics. The containers are all but one able to tilt, which produces a very defined area of sharpness and the rest of the image remains blurred. For those interested in what it is LensBaby offers, here's a nice link to a video on their page:
http://lensbaby.com/vi​deo.php?id=7

The whole concept is really interesting, but, for a non-dedicated photographer, I find that it is a bit pricey for the few times such a result is wanted or needed. So, I decided to try and replicate the concept of the result in post. The concept being: you have regular DoF and, by tilting, you add a specific area of the frame that can be in focus, the rest is blurred even if it is at the same distance from the sensor plane. After some trial and error, testing, and trying to replicate both the blurriness and the haloing this lenses produce, I was able to come to a result I am more or less happy with (specially if the results mimic a $400 lens combination! ).

Have any of you looked into this and had interest in the results achieved? Well, here's my take, done all in post, of course, I don't have a lensbaby .


What do guys think? I think it helps bring the focal point to the face and helps filter out part of the busy environment. I more or less like the effect, though I clearly see its not for everything and not for everyone either.

Best regards,
Rafa.

Rafa: Isn't this picture getting the same effect? This was done in just Picassa so it may not be the best but same principle I think. I posted this a while back but can't remember when.

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marubozo wrote in post #12184301
I've been experimenting with lighting today but since weather isn't cooperating for outside work I bought a few subjects to shoot.

Great shots I really like the brightness of the flowers on the black background really brings them out.

@ marubozo that's awesome! is it just me or everything you do is just perfect? i'm getting jealous here LOL! care telling us how it's done..

abuha wrote in post #12184244
...is the gradient sky effect [does that make sense] a characteristic of the ND filters?

Abuha, no, the gradient sky effect is actually the result of the day of time those pictures are usually taken combined with the long exposure (which is given by the filter). Although it can be a by-product of GRADUATED neutral density filters, which are also very common. These are filters that have a graduated part and then fade to clear glass. Those are ideal for achieving, in a single exposure, a correctly exposed sky and ground, which is hard to do. I'm sure most of those images use a mix of several filters.

The longer the exposure of an image, the richer the colors get. That is what is most interesting of long exposures, you get a depth of color you can't achieve in fractions of a second. Here's one from me showing the gradient without ND filter:

abuha wrote in post #12184244
...is there a clear advantage to having the filter holder over the circular filter...

The advantage is precisely what I described earlier: you can have a single set of filters and use them on a variety of different lens diameters. They also provide some more easier access for stacking filters and they produce less vignetting when stacked. The extreme downside is that, as mentioned, filters cost proportionally to their size, and filter-holder sized filters are REALLY expensive! Its a tough call... but having all your lenses of the same diameter, I'd stick to circular filters, but that's just me

abuha wrote in post #12184244
cant find the 17-55 thread

Do you mean the lens' filter thread? Its 77mm... if you mean the forum thread where images are posted, its here:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=234558

What is your native language Abuha, where are you from?

Rafa.