photography

[tjacksonpfc]

Hi all thought I would start a thread to see if there were any fellow photographers out there.

I have just stepped into the world of the dslr camera. I have got a cannon eos 550d. My dp hs just bought himself a second hand canon eos 350d as he is getting hooked aswell.

We are both very much beginners luckily a good friend is a pro photographer so teaching us loads and I have loads of time on my hands as can't look for a job till at least next Jan due to an operation I had.

If anyone else wants to talk photography then please comment on here and we can all share a mutual interest.

Bump am I the only person on here theen taht enjoys photography

ok last bump for evening gang then ill go and sit in the corner on my own with my camera

I'm love photography too, but I tend to just point & shoot, nothing too technical - I have won places in a few competitions though, so I must be doing something right

One more here

I have a Canon 350D and a couple of lenses but don't really have the time to get too technical - 2 DC under 2 so all my photos are of them at the moment! Very of your expert tuition and free time for practise - not so good about the op though.

rockinhippy you must have a natural talent.

This is a great website for inspiration. I started a journal but haven't managed to keep it up since DD arrived in December.

thank you :) I can handle the creative bit I suppose as its been my line of work (other arsty fields) but I just tend to fumble my way through on the technical side of things ....

I have a Panasonic FZ28 & Olympus c-765 - & a few lenses - the Olympus is an older model, I had the same but it got smashed - the updated Olympus model wasn't getting the best reviews so I upgraded to the FZ28 - but even though its good & gets rave reviews I've never found the picture quality as good as my old olympus - so ended up hunting one down on e-bay :) - I also have photoshop - I think that helps a lot

Oh yes, Photoshop - what would I do without it?! Periodically I have bursts of enthusiasm when I try to learn some new skills, but it can get time consuming - in an enjoyable way for me, but DH and the DC tend to protest after a few hours minutes.

My DH is like you - he's a creative type and has a natural eye for a good shot, but can't always be bothered with the technical stuff and usually relies on the auto settings. He takes more time over a shot than I do though - that's my problem really, I tend to rush in and get a bit snap happy

Thats the beauty of digital though, you can be as snap happy as you like :) thats what I love about it, I suppose if I take enough shots I will get a good 1 at least

• though funnily enough my own DH was a professional photographer, but he gave it up to save commuting & he's just never bothered getting to grips with digital - which is a shame as he could of taught me loads if he did but he's like your DH in that he takes ages over 1 shot - where as like you - I just snap away too - & lots of my Dd too :)

Hi rockinhippy and spanglemaker nice to see some fellow photographers.
Ive got a zoom lens with macro built in its a tamaron 75-300mm. I was playing with it yesterday ill try and upload some pics to my profile on here.

Ive just had a battery grip turn up that I bought off ebay so got more battery power now to take more pics lol. The best news though is that dps canon 350d has arrived so he wont keep nicking mine now lol

I also have photoshop elements 9 but im totally lost with that lol need to spend loads of time learning to use it that will have to wait till dcs go on hols in may with their great grandparents.

what type of things do you both like to photograph. Ive taken normal pis of the dcs the dog and fish but i also like taking diffrent things. We went to stonehenge last weekend as we only live 5 mins away and weve been to the hawk conservancy in Andover i think we are going back there this weekend now dp has his camera aswell.

Looking forward to compareing pics and disaster storys with fellow photographers

I love photography, I just wish my DC would allow me to take pictures of them. I love the photography of Adele Enersen: www.photodonuts.com/adele-enersen

Talking of disaster stories - I've just dropped my camera while trying to do 3 things at once at myself and . Camera seems to be ok but the soom on my Tamron 17-50mm isn't working - now need to figure out if it's worth sending it off to be fixed or maybe I can make a claim on the house insurance .

Will be back later when feeling more positive!

Thats some nice photos Allthegoodonesaretaken my dcs are to old for that now though lol.

Oh no spanglemaker hope you can get it sorted. That is my worse nightmare that i drop something. for you

Oh no Spangle I feel for you, I was gutted when my old Olympus was smashed & the same when I had the first new replacement stolen at the end of a day trip out for DDs birthday - card was full of irreplaceable photos - thankfully our insurance did cover the camera, but sadly photos lost forever :(

nice ideas on the Adele Enersen link, but a bit too twee for my personal taste, I prefer the likes of Robert Maplethorpe, & Hugo Platts landscape stuff

I vary a lot on my subject matter though, don't think I have any real theme, maybe photo journal would be a better description as it just depends on what we are up to & what I see, I do like to take a lot when we travel anywhere, but that can be anything that gives a feel for where we are, & probably nature, I can take a lot of insect photos

Due to our old computer dying a while back I'm currently without photoshop & have (temporarily) lost all my albums :( so can't upload any photos ATM - & really missing my photoshop & seems I'm going to have to invest in the new one, as apparently the software on the old one just isn't compatible with out new computer, so where as I had sussed it all out - looks like I'm going to have to start again

I do like play around with lighting on still life stuff, & tend keep photo records of stuff I make, I regret not doing that when I was younger, so do make a real effort to do that now - intend to put together a recipe book for DD when she's older so currently take a lot of foody ones - I've just remembered I actually already have a few of my pictures on my profile, but not my best ones

well we are off for the day to the hawk conservancy with cameras in tow

tjackson I hope you got some good pictures. We went to Blue Planet (aquarium) as a treat for DS's birthday but it was pretty difficult to get any decent shots in the low light.

rockinhippy how awful to lose your pictures. I've often thought that if I was mugged on holiday or whatever I'd happily hand over my camera but would beg for the card.

I have a similar attitude to my subject matter - I guess I'm an opportunist as I'll have a go at anything that happens to be arround me at the time. When I had my first SLR many years ago - a 60's Mamiya that belonged to my Grandad - I was living with a group of music students (jazz) so took quite a lot of photos at their gigs. My enthusiasm has come in fits and starts since then. I had a dry period for a couple of years until last summer when a friend asked me to take pictures at her wedding (trust me, this was a sign of her lack of money and desperation rather than my talent!). I figured I owed it to her to do my best so I absolutely had to buy myself two new lenses - the 17-50mm I just broke and a Canon f1.4 50mm prime (a lovely lens).

As I said above I did a photojournal on www.blipfoto.com for a couple of months - the idea is you upload one photo a day and try your best to do an entry every day - and it was a really good challenge, looking round the house/garden/office for things to 'blip', and reading people's comments. I had to admit defeat when DD was born and my spare time evaporated - but I hope to get back into the habit when her routine settles down a bit. It's here if you're interested.

In terms of photographers I find inspiring, I like Man Ray's work, William Eggleston, Diane Arbus... in contrast I also love Joe Cornish's landscape photography.

ooh, you've so got to do the 365 project

It's really good fun.

pleased to see this thread. I started a photography course about 6 years ago and didn't complete it due to several babies arriving.. The youngest in now 3 and I'm thinking of dusting down the camera. Are you all on digital? Does anyone take photos the old way?? I've a complete darkroom kit that I was just getting to grips with. Really loved doing B&W - the satisfaction from taking the photo, processing the film and developing the prints. Awesome!! I love landscapes and my favourite is Ansel Adams.

I do have a digital- i've got a proper one too.
if i had darkroom, I wouldn't do digital as much (the reason I got my digital was so I could get a good picture and then apply the iso/aperture/shutter speed to the proper one. I've not had time to do it yet, and my film one eats batteries (i planned to take the battery out when i left it for a few days, but kept forgetting)

Hi pleiades45 ive only got digital now used to have a 35mm but it died

What course did you do in photography as im considering starting a course in it.

I have a 450D I got last year and I love it. Have taken so many photos. I did go on a day's course at the botanical gardens which taught me lots of using the different settings. I hope to do more courses this year.

Trouble is I know want a decent flash, a bigger zoom lens and a tripod.

And I'd love to get the attachedments totry some astro-photography of the moon, etc.

I've an old Nikon FE, and managed to get a second hand flash for it.

I started doing a distance course offered by Amateur Photographer. I basically got the first assignment done and returned with some good comments before everything went pear shape on the home front. Have a look at it, I thought it was a very good course and they do days when you can meet up etc..

My husband has dabbled with astro-photography and has taken some great shots of the moon, the moon eclipsing saturn and even the aurora borealis.

He's my driving force but because of the children, even he has moved onto digital!!

I love photography! I'm a part time photographer and just coming up to the end of my BA (Hons) degree in Photography as well.

Love those pics by Adele.

tjacksonpfc I had the 350D before I got another camera, still got it actually which I sometimes still use for personal stuff. It's a great little camera, I really loved it.

Pleiades45 I have a 35mm camera and rangefinder I sometimes use, but mainly I'm digital. Would love to have my own darkroom, although my tutor once suggested I could do it in my bathroom as I have no windows and if I do it at night, I shouldn't have any lights leaking in through the door. It's something I've yet to try.

nickelbabyhatcher I started a 365 project but got to day 18 and didn't carry on...

I've got a konica minolta 5D and 3 lenses. Unforunately I don't get (much) time to take any photos since having my second child and going to Wales last year!!

My parents were into photography and I think my dad had a dark room at one point. My brother is pretty professional too and is great for hints and help :)

tammybear - you don't need a dark room. We started out with a tank and a 'black out bag'. Really simple way of developing B&W. We then had a room that was good for nothing but storage so we transformed it into a dark room and bought black out material for windows and doors. We've recently moved (to Wales) so there's talk of re-instating the 'black out bag' especially now that I want to dust down my camera.

hi

I'm about to buy a canon EOS 500d which comes with a 18-55 mm IS Lens. I've been lusting after a digital SLR for a while now. What second lens would people recommend? oh and what reasonably priced tripod?

i plan on doing some local courses and then hopefully some wildlife ones based in a zoo or wildlife park.

tammy - it's not too late - you can start again.
I'm only on 21 photos (got to upload yesterday's then it'll be 22)