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Anyone else here in to Photography? I used to take pictures when I was in junior high, was photography editor for my high school yearbook. I stopped taking serious picture until recently. I got a digital camera, Nikon D40x, some lenses, took a course in Photoshop and I am back. I used to be more nature photographer but getting in to glamor and photo essay.

I did a couple of sessions for friends and they came out decent. I am still learning a bit about lighting because most of the outdoor picture, you rely on the sun. Indoor, it's all about right setting of lights.

Here is my gallery of some work I have done in the past. Any care to share their photos and tips?

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Eben I'm not a potographer but can you some general knowledge about lighting I have lit several TV news and interview sets. Caneras are more sensitive now and dont take as much light. The first studio I lit took 12 1000 watt halogens for a news desk. However it is critical indoors. The main reason outdoor photos come out great is because the lighting is even from the camera to the clouds.

For studio lighting hear are some do's and dont's. Lighting should not be at subjects level directly into their eyes. It shoud be at ceiling level or close. Do not hang close to the subject where it casts shadows under their eyelids or facial features It makes them look old. The lighting should be even from 45 degrees on each side. I'm not familiar with that Nikon (I did do Nikon tech support for a couple of years) but I think it should have the indicator to check light distribution across the lens area. It is obvious not to have light behind the subject. It's like outdoors always have the sun atut  your back to light the subject and not have shadows. Always check for shadows also.

I have forgotten more than I ever knew but these are simple lighting tecniques.

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Hi Eben,

Although I wouldn't call myself a photographer, I do like to take as good a photo as I can with the camera I have.  I'm more into catching scenes and images of places I have visited more than taking posed or "arty" type photos.  This is probably due to what you have touched on re the 'natural' outdoor lighting... I just haven't got around to learning all the do's and don'ts of indoor lighting techniques.  One thing I do know is that I need to get an external flash unit as the camera-mounted one is highly inadequate.  But then, I'm only using a Minolta D-Image 5 which is 3.3MP with non-interchangeable lense.  One day I will splash out on a Digital SLR, and a few accessories in the hope of improving my shots.

I have a few photos loaded onto my KS personal gallery...

http://www.karaoke-forum.com/album_pers ... er_id=3236

Excellent photos both of ya..

Here are some winter pics out of my window and a macro shot. Notice the refections of the wood grain in the left coin edge.. The winter shots are with low lighting but because of even lighting turned out fairly well.

These were taken with a Pentax Optio M30.

one

two

three

coin

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I was fortunate when growing up to live in Germany.....I spent all my spare time at the photo hobby shop....My dad gave me a Yashica electro 35 to get me started...all B&W at first....did all my own processing.....The hobby continued to grow until I had a full darkroom at home...still all B&W.....An old German mast photog told me once that it takes a lifetime to master B&W, then 2 to master color....he was right.

There are two sides to photography...one is behind the lens, and the other in the darkroom.....You will never be able to master light until you master developing and exposing prints.

On my last fast attack sub I was the ship's photographer....I got to do lots of candid stuff but was also responsible for processing all our top secret spy material....I had an oe158 processor and makeshift darkroom in the doc's office.....Now a days everything on subs is digital tho....You can shoot and transmit directly from the scope to HQ via sat in low light, no light, and infrared...even shoot movies that way.

I gave my whole rig to my son years ago.....Now I simply shoot digital snaps, but it was a very interesting hobby for a young man back then

I took a class from a professional about lighting and I learned a lot, specially portrait lighting. They have it down to a science, sort of. There are 5 types of lighting, Paramount, Loop, Rembrandt, Split and Rim. Every photograph taken by a pro falls in to one or more of those categories. I have learned so much from that one class about lighting. He gave some good hints for outdoor lighting as well.

I have a couple more people who are looking for some pictures of themselves, in exchange to fill my portfolio. Once I fill in my portfolio, I can start on my web site. I am also working on a photo essay. I am just starting out.

Keith, I used to work in dark room as well. I did all my pictures in black and white. I did all the dodging and burning, exposure control, etc. It was an art that you need to master before you got good at it.

Now days with Photoshop, everything I used to do in the dark room can be done on a computer. Not only that, it's more a science then before. You still need a good eye for composition, color and exposure but everything can be done digitally so it's cheaper and quicker.

I am working on some photos I took at Amgen California Tour, a pro bike race that went by about 3 blocks from my house. I will post some of that when I have done some adjustments.

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Eben

Here is everything you ever needed to know about the Nikon..

(I have one too)  :hi5:

http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40.htm

Never forget the final resting place for photographs just may be the paper print..

The maximum contrast ratio on paper will be 3 to 1 or less..

Your job, is to compress the contrast in the image using light and shadow.. and still have detail..

Thanks JD for the link. The manual that came with D40X really is bad. I ended up buying a DVD that showed me all the features of the camera and that helped me a lot. I am going to look at the site for more info nuggets.

I bought an Epson R2400 printer with 8 ink printing. This one is great for B&W and pretty good on color printing. I had a choice between R2400 and the R1900, which offered wonderful color printing but so and so with B&W. They both have archival quality ink that lasts at least 100 years. I chose R2400 because I think it's versatile and I hope to print more B&W in the future.

One thing I love about going digital is everything can be adjusted. My monitor is calibrated and the printer and paper has configuration files that you can load to your computer. That way what you see is what you get on the printer, more or less. It's still not perfect but it's much better than what it was few years ago. Also, it sure beats trying things out in the darkroom. It's really quick.

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Photoshop is the best.. Much can be done to correct flaws in the digital image..

(It easier if exposure is close before you open Photoshop)  LOL

Buy the larger Nikon flash, and learn to use it..

The expression "Paint with light" means a lot..

Paint with light..

Hey JD. I got Nikon  SB-600 flash to use. It's not 800 but does a great job. I have a diffuser that goes in the front to soften up the image as well.

As I said, I do well outdoors because you have fixed light source, the sun. I can position myself to where I want to take the picture, light meter it then it's all good. Indoor is different. I have not only position the model but now I have to position the lights too. It's so much easier to just move the model in sunlight.

BTW, nice pictures. Are they from Egpyt?

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Good guess..  :hi5:

I always use the flash outdoors to fill the shadows and even out the contrast..

Bright daylight, shadow to high light, can be 10,000 to one contrast ratio.

Expose for the bright, fill the shadow with flash..

After that, Photoshop works well..  :drunk:

Featuring Nikon's next generation i-TTL(TM) flash control technology, the SB-600 Speedlight delivers automatic balance fill-flash and advanced wireless lighting capabilities for outstanding results and creative possibilities. The SB-600 is seamlessly compatible with the D70 digital SLR camera's built-in speedlight as well as the Nikon D2H professional digital SLR. The SB-600 effectively integrates with the Nikon SB-800 Speedlight, both individually and in arrangements of multiple SB-600/800 speedlights, offering consistent i-TTL control for automatic and accurate lighting for creative and complex situations.

   * Versatile Remote Speedlight for the Creative Lighting System
   * Available Options with D2H Pro Digital SLR and D70 Digital SLR: i-TTL Mode, Advanced Wireless Lighting, FV Lock, Flash Color Information and Wide Area AF illuminator
   * i-TTL Flash control : Accurate, seamless fill-flash capability under the most difficult, tricky lighting situations
   * FV Lock (Flash Value Lock) allows photographers to change the compostition or zoom for the shot while maintaining desired lighting of the subject
   * Auto FP High Speed Sync Mode when used with D2H Pro Digital SLR delivers needed fill flash in bright light or with wide aperture Nikkor lenses

Designed for a variety of customers ranging from experienced and amateur photographers to beginning enthusiasts, the SB-600 incorporates a host of new features designed to make flash photography simple, accurate and creative. As part of the newly evolving Nikon Creative Lighting System, the SB-600 includes support for Nikon Advanced wireless TTL operation, and can function as a remote flash when controlled by the SB-800 Speedlight or the D70 digital SLR camera's built-in speedlight set to Commander Mode. Additionally, the SB-600's Auto FP High Speed Sync Mode allows it to fire at shutter speeds as high as 1/8000 second when used with the D2H professional digital SLR camera. Other major features include Flash Value (FV) Lock, flash color information, wide area AF illuminator and built-in modeling flash.

SB-600 Continuing Advanced Wireless Lighting - The SB-600 speedlight features wireless TTL technology first introduced in Nikon's SB-800 Speedlight. Photographers using the SB-800 as the Controller can employ up to three groups of compatible Speedlights, with any quantity of compatible SB-600 and SB-800 speedlights within each of the three groups, to achieve Advanced Wireless i-TTL exposure control. Most major functions of the SB-600 can be controlled remotely by the master SB-800. Photographers using the D70 digital SLR camera's built-in speedlight as the Commander Speedlight can employ any number SB-600 speedlights within one group for wireless i-TTL operation. The SB-600 can be remotely controlled either in i-TTL mode or manual mode for maximum creativity. Used with the D2H, the SB-600 can employ up to four individual frequency channels, and three groups of flash units. The selection of channel settings help photographers avoid inadvertently triggering flashes not being used by them. Used with Nikon's D70 camera's built-in i-TTL speedlight as the Commander, the SB-600 settings require use of Channel 3, Group A. In addition to the wireless capabilities, the SB-600 offers a host of additional features for Nikon's Creative Lighting System.

FV-Lock - FV-Lock (Flash Value Lock) is comparable to the way an AE-Lock functions in a camera for ambient light exposure metering. Once the camera measures a correct flash value, the SB-600 locks this value until the photographer resets it -- helping to maintain the flash value exposure as the photographer adjusts composition for a scene.

Auto FP High-Speed Sync Flash - The SB-600's Auto FP function can be used with the Nikon D2H to automatically fire the speedlight in i-TTL mode at shutter speeds up to 1/8000 second, offering excellent opportunities to use flash in brighter light, with faster aperture lenses and for faster action scenes.

Modeling Flash - A modeling flash feature in the SB-600 fires a stroboscopic burst of light for approximately one second, allowing photographers to visually confirm lighting and shadow effects before shooting.

Auto White Balance Adjustment using Flash Color Temperature Information - The SB-600 achieves a high level of color accuracy when used with the D70 or the D2H. With changes in the duration of light emitted by any speedlight, there are always slight variations of color temperature. Using the D70 or D2H in Auto White Balance mode, the SB-600 communicates these slight variations in color data back to the D70 or D2H and the camera's auto white balance system implements the fine adjustment needed for overall excellent white balance.

Manual Mode - The SB-600 also offers a full manual mode with power ratios from full power to 1/64 power, in 1/2 step increments for independent flash output control and creative lighting effects.

Custom Settings - Custom settings in the SB-600 allow photographers to personalize the speedlight according to selected preferences.

Wide Area Illuminators - The SB-600 features a wide area illuminator that assumes autofocus assist functions in low light conditions. The Illuminator covers all AF-points in all Nikon SLR cameras, including the D2H's new 11-point AF sensors, giving photographers the freedom to compose their shots creatively and shoot with confidence.

Additional features - Additional features in the SB-600 include a large LCD screen, ergonomic controls, a rotating flash head which tilts horizontally and vertically, accessory filters for special color effects and emulation of fluorescent and incandescent lighting, front and side ready-light indicators for easy viewing, and a locking flash shoe.

The SB-600 is compatible with all Nikon digital and film SLR cameras, achieving performance that is limited by each camera's capability. The SB-600 will realize full i-TTL control when used with the D2H or D70 digital SLR cameras, and D-TTL control and Auto Aperture Flash (AA) when used with the D1, D1X, D1H and D100 digital SLR cameras. The SB-600 will offer TTL and Non-TTL Auto Flash control when used with all Nikon film SLR cameras.

The weather is finally cooperating so I went out to take some pictures. I took some pictures at the Amgen California Tour bike race. I only had chance to get these two done in Photoshop. Check them out.

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Very Nice Work.. I applaud you.. Much respect..  :hi5:

Question for Eben or JD I'm trying to get a photo of our gals dancing on the bar for this  web page

This is with flash off and indicates the lighting conditions which are worst case..

pic2  is with flash and for some reason on auto wants to expose a bunch..

pic3] is the best at close range and different angle and max flash but would like a wide view.  Other than totally lighting or short manual exposure any ideas?

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Well, you did pick the worst case..  LOL

What camera do you use?

Exposure levels are dependent on the ISO level the camera can shoot at..
THE HIGHER THE BETTER..

Ramp up the iso, shoot a faster shutter speed, and open the lens
up to maximum. f2.8 or so.

Don't overlook increasing the ambient lighting.. (Room lights)

Good luck..

Cool photos everyone.  I consider myself a good ameatur photographer, and I have gotten a lot of help an gained a ton of knowledge from the Porters Camera Warehouse forum.....
http://www.porters.com/message_board

If is a forum by a local business round here, but there are members on it from all over the world.  It is a great resource.

Yikes, I understand what you are going through. I have a little point and shoot Nikon I use for portability.

As JD mentioned, it all depends on what camera you use. Most of the point and shoot (p'ns) cameras do not have control over the exposure, it's all automatic. The only advice I can give is don't use the digital zoom, only use optical zoom. Other than that, it's easier to frame your picture on point and shoot cameras. What I mean by that is make sure you take the picture you want through the view finder in your camera. For p'ns cameras, it's harder to crop pictures to show what you want after the picture has been taken, due to flash limitations. So, if you have step up or pull back, just get the shot you want.

If you are using SLR, then you have tons of control. As JD mentioned, you can increase your ISO on your camera to get higher exposure. Unlike the old film, you can push your camera up to 800 ISO without seeing much degradation. Old film days, anything more than 200 showed a lot of grain. If you increase your ISO, you can control your f-stop to get clearer picture, even with same shutter speed.

If you are looking to take pictures without a flash, get yourself a tripod or a monopod. Stable camera gives better results. However, you can't fix motion blur without better lighting and/or quicker shutter speed.

Good luck with it and let me know how them come out.

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