Show us your camera's best pix! Part II

Just as a reminder to the previous thread:
Show us your camera's best pix! Part I

Nice pix, Man-Fai! (The Asian girl in the "Friends" section kinda reminds me of Wallace from Wallace & Gromit. . .)

Man-Fai, I know quite little about photography but I know one thing, I LOVE your pictures, the way you capture people . I am in the city every other weekend or so, perhaps you could teach me some tricks some day.

--
H

Here are a few Photos for you

Here's what happens when you drive an F-150 into the side of a train traveling 50mph.
Collision

Locomotive on fire
Fire

Roadsigns mean what they say...or How to get your tanker truck stuck on the RR track
Stuck

Here's me shooting folks sitting around me at yesterday's Braves-Astros playoff game with my Canon S1 IS. I was mucking around with the DoF for the faces when possible.

Thanks for the comments. It's sort of chaotic jumping back and forth between snapping photos of a sporting event and faces in the crowd. You almost have to commit to one or the other while setting up the shot.

Here are some pictures I've taken with my Sony F505v. Its a great camera but the quality could be better. I do however love its macro capabilities. Please take it easy on me as I am just a casual photographer. I have not done any reading on photography but I just might if I ever do manage to get a Digital SLR.

1. This is the Food Court of BCE Place in Toronto.

2. Going up the stairs, you are immediately encountered by the outstanding Architecture.

3. In front of Union station is this artwork. It was removed for a few months for cleaning. This was before that.

4. This is the GO Train I take to work on a daily basis.

5. Looking through the fence at all the cars queued to exit.

6. The Scotia Bank tower seen between the TD Centre towers.

7. Canada Geese landing on display at Eaton's Centre Toronto.

8. Fountain at First Canadian Place.

9. My friend warming up for Curling.

10. Another friend on his delivery taken low to the ice.

11. The ultra confusing Curling scoreboard. - I think this was created to confuse those who do not understand the game even more.

12. Portrait of "Max".

13. View from the CN Tower.

14. Long exposure from Hotel Room.

15. Engagement Ring macro shot.

I know it was requested for there to be no discussion, but the entire reason for the forum is discussion....


Andrew, I suggest you make a conscious effort to not center your subjects so much. Several of those shots are almost there, but just need the composition changed a bit.

I agree w/ John. As a general guideline, centering your subject rarely works best. For those who'd like to know more on that and perhaps the why's, do a search for "rule of thirds" or "golden rectangle" or "golden mean", etc. Here's a freebie (that I found fascinating) to start you off -- and it also attempts to explain how we got the 3:2 ratio for 35mm format:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/g...rectangle.html

Of course, it's just a guideline and does not always work best, but if you want a rule to follow, then that's a good one -- I certainly don't follow it all the time nor very exactly when I do. And also, you can often do a little cropping to improve the photo although it's generally best to make the most of the composition during the shoot even if you shoot w/ the intention to crop -- eg. for different ratio.

And oh, if you are a Nikon DSLR user, then that site has some extra info that you might like to check out.

And Richard, I like the idea of that shot, but I think it could use more contrast in the sky -- actually, it needs some interesting clouds to really work. But not sure why you should qualify its quality so much as you did since you felt it "looks cool" and wanted to share it anyway -- and did not appear to be asking for a critique.

And well, since we're supposed to post photos, guess I'll offer up some recent additions to my pbase galleries:

Handful from an August b'day party that I finally uploaded...
http://www.pbase.com/mandnwong/birthday_parties

"The Accordianist"
http://www.pbase.com/mandnwong/the_accordianist

In between some early Autumn showers...
http://www.pbase.com/mandnwong/autumn_showers

"Neighborhood Foot Traffic"
http://www.pbase.com/mandnwong/image/35290160

"Youngsters Night Out"
http://www.pbase.com/mandnwong/image/35290158

http://www.pbase.com/mandnwong/image/35290159

"Night Stand"
http://www.pbase.com/mandnwong/image/35292233

_Man_

Man,

I have to chuckle a bit. You are delving into a whole other realm of photography. I expect you haven't dealt with seriously challenging technical situations. I'll give you a bit of advice, or more of an analogy, on shooting stuff for pay. Shooting stuff for yourself is... "Hey, this is a neat shot, I think I'll take it." Where doing it professionally is... "I want you to take this pile of shit in the middle of a dirt field and make it look like a bed of roses in the middle of a pasture of daisies... and I might even pay you $20 if I really like the shots."

Just be prepared.


Yeah, minimal equipment.

LOL! You don't say, John. I don't think I can ever be prepared until I've done it for a long while -- and then, I'll be doing it at least semi-professionally at that point.

Somehow, I think this stuff is kinda like trying to become a doctor (in its own way). The road there is extremely difficult in terms of the learning process, paying one's dues and dealing w/ difficult situations, and the actual photography side of things gets much easier (in a way) after you've made it since you'd probably work under technically better conditions, but of course, the stakes (and pressures) will also be that much higher when you finally become established.

The question for me right now is whether I can really walk the fine line between hobby and profession and only do this kind of thing successfully as a parttime freelancer. I don't really need the income per se although I'd love it to help fund the expensive hobby. OTOH, I'd hate to do it and not get any good at it because I can't devote quite enough time and effort into it.

Probably, fashion photography is not for me anyway given my interests in photography. And if I was all that interested, I probably could find better ways to approach it than what I just did last night. Last night was more a try-it-and-see kinda thing although I did enjoy meeting some nice folks and also do a little "street" shooting at the event -- I even met a curator/producer for the city's JVC Jazz Festival despite the low rent production. But for serious fashion photography, I might be better off trying to get connected through my mother, who actually works in the fashion industry as a patternmaker. Of course, I probably do need to do some more shooting at these low rent shows to hone my skills at dealing w/ difficult situations first.

But yeah, I definitely agree w/ the whole thing about shooting for pay and catering one's photography to the exact demands of the clientele, whether it's "pile of shit" or "bed of roses". So very much of the professional field seems to revolve around sales/marketing afterall, instead of personal vision. Of course, if your personal vision happens to coincide w/ or even pioneers what is fashionable *and* you have the talent and skills to pull it off regularly, then you really hit it big like the late Richard Averdan.

_Man_

Here's a couple of mine...Fuji S2 Pro.

Seattle

Fireworks

Sure, if everyone else practiced medicine on the weekends and considered themselves a very good doctor in their spare time. My point is, everyone takes pictures and think they know what they are doing. but very few do. Hell, most pros have no idea what they are doing. Plus, you are right, success in this as well as many other fields has virtually nothing to do with talent and everything to do with marketing and appearances.

Whatever you do, don't become one of those guys who simply piss in the pool for everyone else who is trying to make a living. If you are going to work for pay, expect reasonable pay and don't do it for peanuts.



Steve, how do you like your S2? I am using an S1 because digital hasn't been a big part of my work, but that is seriously changing now. I'd like to just skip past the S2 and go to the S3 if and when it actually comes out, but it is just a bit pricey.

I've been really happy with my S2. I've had it for about a year. When I bought it, the main compitition was the D100 and 10d. The S2 has higher image quality than both of those cameras. Since that time, both Nikon and Canon have come out with new models. If I had to buy a new system TODAY and I didn't have any lenses, I'd probably buy a Canon 20d.

The S3 looks like a nice camera. I was a little disapointed in the $2500 price tag and lots of people seem to be dismising it because of it's price but if history repeats itself, the fuji will be the most expensive body in it's class and will deliver the best image quality. Thats how it was with the S1 and S2. Now, if that's whats most important to you, great. If you'd rather have faster focus, lighter weight, faster flash sync etc., perhaps another model will be better for you.

I'll be excited to see an S3 in person and play with it. It's kind of hard to get a real feel for it now because everyone on the web has started dissing it when they haven't even seen one yet.

Man,

doing trade with models is a very common practice, especialy when starting out. Both of you are trying to get a foothold and there isn't usually much money to go around. Plus, you both benefit. What I was talking about is more the practice of always undercutting or doing price based work. Of course, being in New York, there is a completely different atmosphere than where I am. Here, one photographer with bad practices can cause serious problems for almost everyone.

For example, there was a wedding photographer here a few years back who charged outrageous prices, really touted himself as the greatest thing since sliced bread and convinced a lot of people. Problem is, he was completely incompetent. One result was that someone who hired him to shoot her daughter's wedding commented that this was proof it isn't worth it to hire a professional photographer. He caused serious problems for all wedding photographers for years. He eventually fled the country since he apparently didn't pay his taxes, or something to that effect. Even though I am a commercial photographer, he even had a negative effect on my business.

Another, much closer competitor had fixed rates for his architectural work, which is one of my major areas. He charged $75 per shot if he didn't use additional lighting and $125 if he did. He then left it up to the client as to what type of lighting they wanted. This is not only incompetent, but relies on the client making decisions the photographer is hired to make himself. Once again, bad results, like potential clients calling up and asking how much I charge per shot. My temptation was to ask them how much they charge to build a house, but of course I can't say that. No matter how absurd (not to mention too cheap) his pricing scheme was, it was easy and basically a lazy way of bidding and irresponsible way to run a business. He fostered in the minds of builders that photography is some sort of mindless, cookie cutter process that is churned out like piece work. He was constantly contacting (one of my clients called it harrassing) every business he could find. After several years he dried up and went away, but during all that tme and several years after, he made making an honest living almost impossible.



I think that may be because it seems people don't buy Fuji DSLRs to impress themselves. For me, it's just been a good, solid worker, which is what I need. I don't know what the online bashing has been, but I find these forums and childish little contests to be nothing related to photography. That's why I gave up even looking at that stuff long ago. the only online forum which has ever been worth its salt was the Pro forum on Compuserve, and it was even pushing it most of the time.


Since I use it to make my living, that stuff is not important. FWIW, I don't usually do action, so the focus speed is rather unimportant. I'm used to carrying around much heavier equipment, so weight is not a problem. Of course, flash sync speed can have genuine benefits when filling in daylight, so that could be a factor. I don't know what the sync speed of the different models is. I am usually using non dedicated strobes, so it has to be fast with any type of strobe, not just the dedicated ones.

BTW, Steve,

The claim to fame for the S3 is supposed to be its ability to maintain detail in the extremes of the range, particularly whites. That's not a sexy aspect of image quality which can be touted very well is stats, so it is likely only going to be important to those who work for a living.



BTW, if you guys get the feeling I think virtually any photographer who spends his time competing over equipment in online forums is just a poser, you are right. I've just been an HTF member for several years and I occasionally drop by this section.

John, I'm aware of the dynamic range claims by Fuji for the S3. Thats why I'm so put off by people on the various forums. They seem to take one look at the N80 based body and feature list and dismiss it as being $1000 over priced when its main claim to fame is the dynamic range which can't be judged becuase no one has a production camera yet.

That's the funny thing, Steve. The S1 I use is based on an N50, if I remember right. It has program, auto, aperture priority, shutter priority and manual. It doesn't have a depth preview, but so what, it's freaking digital. Look at an actual shot rather than trying to see the depth. When my other systems are Bronica and Cambo with no meters, no nothing, it is hard for me to understand why anyone who has any idea what they are doing thinks they need an F5 to feel good about themselves. If the S3 actually does end up creating some sort of toe and shoulder in the image, that will be a major breakthrough.

Creativity doesn't come on a freaking microchip. Anything to avoid the actual result, I guess.

LOL! But faster focus is good and all -- that is, if it's not a tradeoff for reliable focus.

I'm not sure if it's really true as I haven't been looking too closely, but it sounds like the 20D might have similar focus reliability problems as the 10D did. OTOH, maybe this doesn't matter for your kind of work since the problems w/ the 10D revolved around focusing in low light w/ large apertures.


You're probably right about Fuji DSLR users. The pricing and the little quirks probably does help weed out the faint of heart.

And yeah, the forums can get tiring, especially the equipment-specific ones. I usually hang out in the Samples & Galleries forum in dpreview.com because there's generally zero gear talk there -- and that's really how I got more interested in photography (and decided to take the DSLR plunge).

RE: the starting out stuff and pricing practices, the info and insights are very much appreciated. And as a software engineer w/ a traditional Comp Sci background, I definitely understand what you mean. And right now, we're starting to see some real threats of that kind of stuff in my field from 1/2-way around the world through all the American corporate restructuring and outsourcing of work to other countries like India. If the threat becomes a reality, I just might have to change careers and become a pro photog -- that is, if I actually have what it takes of course.

Going back to the earlier analogy just a little bit:

You know. If you think about it, this already is happening, and WebMD.com is pushing us one big step further down that direction. And of course, the web does also make promoting holistic medicine and all that other non-standard stuff all that much easier -- not to mention all the TV infomercials.

And RE: the S3 complaints, I haven't followed closely, but I imagine it's at least partly from all the folks who buy DSLRs to shoot sports, whether professionally or just as a hobby. OTOH, I can also see (but not agree w/) the hobbyist father complaining too even though all he shoots are his kids and/or pets and maybe dabble a little bit w/ paid portrait work. Hmmm... That's beginning to sound like me, except there's no way I'm doling out $3-5K for a flagship pro body and then constantly trade for a different one every few months, including the glass collection too(!).

_Man_