Community Photography - We Might Have a Thing for Light

Le Pertti

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MetaCouncil Photography

Welcome to the MetaCouncil Photography thread! Where everyone is welcome, if you are far along your journey, just starting out or if you just like the act of looking at pretty pictures.


FAQ
What Gear to Use?
As the old saying goes, "the best camera is the one that you have with you". So if you have something that can take pictures, then start with that! If you really need to start upgrading to a "proper" camera ask in the thread and we will happily help you find the camera just for you.

What programs to use on a computer?
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Photoshop
Phaseone CaptureOne

What apps to use to edit?
Lightroom Mobile Android iOS
VSCO Android iOS
Instagram Android iOS

Where do I share Photos?
Instragram
500px
Flickr
VSCO

Where do I learn about Photography?
This thread of course!;)



Alright, so it's super unfinished but thought it would be good idea to get suggestions and such of what to add to the OP and get the thread started even in this state.. So it's always under construction!
 
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bobnowhere

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I inherited my Dad's camera collection a few years back, no idea what to do with them all. There's a couple of 1930s Leicas, a whole load of Russia/Eastern European Leica copies, nice 1970s Pentax and Olympus cameras, some weird one from the Moscow Olympics, another box of cameras from foldouts to more russian weirdness and heaps of filters, lens and random stuff.

Myself I have a Nikon p610 and an old school EOS5 film camera with a mega telephoto.
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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I inherited my Dad's camera collection a few years back, no idea what to do with them all. There's a couple of 1930s Leicas, a whole load of Russia/Eastern European Leica copies, nice 1970s Pentax and Olympus cameras, some weird one from the Moscow Olympics, another box of cameras from foldouts to more russian weirdness and heaps of filters, lens and random stuff.

Myself I have a Nikon p610 and an old school EOS5 film camera with a mega telephoto.
I would say test them out!:D also that's an amazing collection!
 
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WahabiPapangu

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I got a 760d used super cheap, with some decent lenses. So using that at the moment, after being stuck with an old and broken DSLR for a while. Looking for a decent Macro lense at the moment, but not taking as many photos as I would want to. Here's a photo dump from the last few years that I like the most























 

Swenhir

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Ah, the photography thread :).

What Gear to Use?
As the old saying goes, "the best camera is the one that you have with you". So if you have something that can take pictures, then start with that! If you really need to start upgrading to a "proper" camera ask in the thread and we will happily help you find the camera just for you.
I couldn't agree more. I set out on a pretty long travel and all I took was a D300 and a 18-200mm. The camera was a tank that survived more than it had any right to and the lens got me through pretty much everything and stayed at f/9 99.9% of the time. The best photos are the ones you actually take and this lens allowed for such a wide focal range that I never once regretted having taken it along.

Then my camera got stolen day 1 in Buenos Aires. Gut punch, my companion of 11 years :(.

Anyway, a few shots from Poland. These mountains and forests had some amazing light at times. I just hope the colors are coming out alright, I'm not sure how well calibrated my laptop's screen is.










I find it absolutely incredible how close to that lighting The Witcher 2's second act (Roche) was.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing more in this thread :).
 

bobnowhere

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Got home a bit late so here are the ones I mentioned Monooboe




Back Row: 1 - 1950s Zorki, a russian copy of a 1930s Leica 2 - Zenit from the Moscow Olympics 3 - Ped 2, another Russian copy of a slighly later Leica
Front Row 1 - 1930s Leica III 2 - 1930s Leica II



1- Olympus OM-1 2 Pentax ME
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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WahabiPapangu Looks great! Maybe needs a little touch of editing still but as I friend I have to say, stay far far away from sepia toned black and white!:D

Swenhir Yeah wow that place looks amazing! Reminds me of a medieval forest that I visited in Finland, there just is something special with forests that are really old.

bobnowhere Thats amazing! Would love to try them out.:D I only have an old Voigtlander analogue, I had more before but got rid of them when I moved to Paris. Will probably start collecting once again when I have somewhere to put them.XD
 

Swenhir

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WahabiPapangu Looks great! Maybe needs a little touch of editing still but as I friend I have to say, stay far far away from sepia toned black and white!:D

Swenhir Yeah wow that place looks amazing! Reminds me of a medieval forest that I visited in Finland, there just is something special with forests that are really old.

bobnowhere Thats amazing! Would love to try them out.:D I only have an old Voigtlander analogue, I had more before but got rid of them when I moved to Paris. Will probably start collecting once again when I have somewhere to put them.XD
I'm not sure how old the forest was on average (around Szklarska Poręba) but the mix of the season, clear weather and light coming at just the right angle while I was there was really lucky!
 
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teezzy

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I largely prefer video, but wouldn't mind picking up photography as a hobby on the side. Currently using a Sony A58 w/ various 80's/90's Minolta lenses primarily.

Hoping to upgrade to a Sony a77ii by the end of the year. It's the best camera I know of which utilizes A-Mount lenses.
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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So recently I bought a new phone, the Oneplus 6t and I'm actually loving the camera on it! So much so that for my street photography I've gone over to only using it. I have my DSLR in storage.:D

deftones r cool Of course video is welcome! It's moving images after all.:D The same principles for framing the shot and such.
 

RionaaM

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I have no idea about photography, but would like to learn a little. All I know is there are things like ISO, aperture and exposition, and I have a remote idea of what they do, but that's it. Guess I should start by looking at some tutorials online or something.

Swenhir so sorry to hear about your camera, this city (nah, this entire country) is a shithole. Also, those are beautiful pics!
 
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Swenhir

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I have no idea about photography, but would like to learn a little. All I know is there are things like ISO, aperture and exposition, and I have a remote idea of what they do, but that's it. Guess I should start by looking at some tutorials online or something.

Swenhir so sorry to hear about your camera, this city (nah, this entire country) is a shithole. Also, those are beautiful pics!
Thank you, that means a lot. I've had a lot of difficulties dealing with this so I really appreciate the compassion. Thank you for the compliment also!

If I can help, the trio you mentioned is basically all you need to know to hit the ground running. It's all about exposure and how they contribute to it
  • Iso is the least important, you only need to know the nominal value for your camera (200 99% of the time) and how high you can go before the image turns into white noise. You'll set that one once when entering a place and leave it there.
  • Aperture is how much your lens's diaphragm opens and is going to let light in when the shutter opens and closes. It's a bit unintuitive in that it's a fraction, meaning the closer to 1 the number, the more light you get, the higher your exposure. F/1.8 is very open, f/11 is pretty closed. Where it gets tricky is that the more you open, the more bokeh you get. That pretty, blurry area that we call depth of field vanishes when you close the lens, and increases when you open it.
  • Speed is how long the shutter will remain open when you take the photo. The longer, the more light you let in, the more exposure you get. The shorter, the less light. The point is to never go so slow that the minute motion of your hands make the photo blurry. It's also a fraction in seconds, such as 1/250s or 1/10s To give a ballpark, I can't steady a camera for anything slower that 1/10s and that's with VR and many tries.
The last weird thing to get used to is that exposure is counted in stops, with each stop being a 1/3rd increment in exposure. ISO increases and decreases with 1/3 of an exposure, so do aperture and speed. It means that whenever you change a value, say taking exposure down 1/3 (one stop), then you can just take speed up one stop and return to the same exposure as before. You'll get used to it, don't think too much about it.

Finally, if I had a piece of advice it'd be to shoot in Aperture mode. That is to say, the camera automatically measures how much light (exposure) the scene needs and the only thing you change is much you open the lens, to decide how much depth of field you want. That's how I'd recommend to learn first. Don't care too much about the technicalities, just get used to framing, feeling out the photo and capturing your view of the world. That's what you are here for :).

Don't be afraid if you have any questions, we've all been there before :).
 
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RionaaM

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Thank you, that means a lot. I've had a lot of difficulties dealing with this so I really appreciate the compassion. Thank you for the compliment also!

If I can help, the trio you mentioned is basically all you need to know to hit the ground running. It's all about exposure and how they contribute to it
  • Iso is the least important, you only need to know the nominal value for your camera (200 99% of the time) and how high you can go before the image turns into white noise. You'll set that one once when entering a place and leave it there.
  • Aperture is how much your lens's diaphragm opens and is going to let light in when the shutter opens and closes. It's a bit unintuitive in that it's a fraction, meaning the closer to 1 the number, the more light you get, the higher your exposure. F/1.8 is very open, f/11 is pretty closed. Where it gets tricky is that the more you open, the more bokeh you get. That pretty, blurry area that we call depth of field vanishes when you close the lens, and increases when you open it.
  • Speed is how long the shutter will remain open when you take the photo. The longer, the more light you let in, the more exposure you get. The shorter, the less light. The point is to never go so slow that the minute motion of your hands make the photo blurry. It's also a fraction in seconds, such as 1/250s or 1/10s To give a ballpark, I can't steady a camera for anything slower that 1/10s and that's with VR and many tries.
The last weird thing to get used to is that exposure is counted in stops, with each stop being a 1/3rd increment in exposure. ISO increases and decreases with 1/3 of an exposure, so do aperture and speed. It means that whenever you change a value, say taking exposure down 1/3 (one stop), then you can just take speed up one stop and return to the same exposure as before. You'll get used to it, don't think too much about it.

Finally, if I had a piece of advice it'd be to shoot in Aperture mode. That is to say, the camera automatically measures how much light (exposure) the scene needs and the only thing you change is much you open the lens, to decide how much depth of field you want. That's how I'd recommend to learn first. Don't care too much about the technicalities, just get used to framing, feeling out the photo and capturing your view of the world. That's what you are here for :).

Don't be afraid if you have any questions, we've all been there before :).
That's an absolutely wonderful post and I'm really thankful that you wrote it. A couple of friends tried to teach me these concepts while on vacation a few months ago, but it was all practical, using their cameras. Your numerical examples are great for understanding the theory behind it. Can all of this be done with a cell phone? I don't own a dedicated camera, and I'd rather not buy one until I'm sure I really enjoy photography and am at least competent, haha.
 
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Swenhir

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That's an absolutely wonderful post and I'm really thankful that you wrote it. A couple of friends tried to teach me these concepts while on vacation a few months ago, but it was all practical, using their cameras. Your numerical examples are great for understanding the theory behind it. Can all of this be done with a cell phone? I don't own a dedicated camera, and I'd rather not buy one until I'm sure I really enjoy photography and am at least competent, haha.
Thank you, I remember being in the same place as you and if I can save you a bit of the pains and meanderings looking for information, good :).

Using a phone is perfectly fine, especially now. I have met a few friends who made obscenely good photos using one and there's nothing wrong with spending a lot of time using one. The only thing is that you won't have a lot of control. I don't know how yours work but mine only allows me to change the overall exposure, not individual settings. But that's okay! Especially when starting out, it allows you to not think about things other than the frame.
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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RionaaM As Swenhir quite nicely put it, about ISO, Apature and Exposure. One way to think about it practically is, with ISO if that's too high you get grainy pics but can take pictures at much darker conditions. With Exposure, think of it as how long the camera takes the photo, the speed, the longer it takes a photo the more chance of blurriness, but in dark conditions the camera needs more time to gather light. Apature is essentially how big the hole is in which the light can come in, if you have it wide open all the light can come in and makes you able to take photos in darker conditions but also it's imprecise and introduces a lot of blur so you need to make sure to focus on the right spot.

So to summerise.
For example during the day:
Low ISO (ex. 50-200)
Small Apature (ex f4-f11)
Fast Shutter (ex 1/500-1/1000)

They all interact with each other, like if you increase the ISO then you can go faster with the shutter and close the apature etc.
 
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Swenhir

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Welcome to Nepal.



This is where I started my travels and what an insane, magical, incredible country of mountains it was. I spent overall a month in the mountains and I didn't regret a single day of it. Well, except the pneumonia toward the end. This wasn't everything I hoped but looking back on it without idealizing the country, I find myself aching to go back, and I know I will.







I will post more as I can and have to hold back from sharing all these amazing places all at once. I can only say that the world holds some amazingly beautiful places. It sounds cheesy but it is still worth getting out your front door and letting your feet carry you to wherever the call leads. I am glad I did.
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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So the OP needs some updating and I thought we should add a section where one can easily find the links to our online presence, so who want's to have their main place added there?

Also what else should we add to the OP? Made a FAQ so what questions should be answered?
 
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LEANIJA

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I've been a hobbyist photographer for quite some years now, and I've uploaded a great number of photos on DeviantArt (used to be my go-to), Instagram (now my default place to upload photos) and duplicates I dumped on Tumblr. I like taking photos of nature mostly, but whatever strikes my fancy goes. I personally like my stuff, and maybe you too, so I invite you to take a look yourselves. I'd embed some samples but I'm not great at making selections :)

Oh and I mostly use my phone these days to take them, but I also have a Nokia D3000 (entry level DSLR from 2008 or so) that I used to drag with me.
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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It's interesting, I don't get as good photos now that I got last year and the reason is because my life is better!XD Last year I didn't have any money so couldn't take the metro, so I had to walk everywhere, so I walked a lot! So that's where I got all my photos. Now I just take the metro everywhere and then I sit in cafes most of the time.

Heh not sure what to do with the realisation.
 
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Swenhir

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It's interesting, I don't get as good photos now that I got last year and the reason is because my life is better!XD Last year I didn't have any money so couldn't take the metro, so I had to walk everywhere, so I walked a lot! So that's where I got all my photos. Now I just take the metro everywhere and then I sit in cafes most of the time.

Heh not sure what to do with the realisation.
I feel afraid the same thing is going to happen to me. I haven't taken photos in almost 6 months and I dread to see what it's going to be like when I get a camera back in my hands.

On the other hand, it's just practice :). You don't really unlearn what you learnt.
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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I feel afraid the same thing is going to happen to me. I haven't taken photos in almost 6 months and I dread to see what it's going to be like when I get a camera back in my hands.

On the other hand, it's just practice :). You don't really unlearn what you learnt.
I agree and disagree, while sure you don't unlearn, but it's like any skill, it gets dull if not in constant practise.:D
 

Guilty of Being

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I would really like a digital SLR. However, I’m lazy and I don’t want to read the instinctual manual. I tried playing with my wife’s and I’m so lost. The photography in this thread is so nice.
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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I like those a lot, in particular the exposure control. You have great colors and moods and I can tell those were choices you made. Well done!
Yeah been experimenting wildly on the editing on my street photography and found one that works great for the city and especially summer.:D

My goal was to find a feel I get from black and white photography but getting that from color. Not sure I succeeded but ended up in a place I like. Did two things I generally don't do, I started out with a preset and then I pulled back exposure and then alot of fiddling. For some reason I always wanted light photos but now I didn't mind crushing blacks.:D
 

Swenhir

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Yeah been experimenting wildly on the editing on my street photography and found one that works great for the city and especially summer.:D

My goal was to find a feel I get from black and white photography but getting that from color. Not sure I succeeded but ended up in a place I like. Did two things I generally don't do, I started out with a preset and then I pulled back exposure and then alot of fiddling. For some reason I always wanted light photos but now I didn't mind crushing blacks.:D
That's interesting, now that you mention it that might be the reasoning behind the framing you did with shadowed areas. I found myself in the same place a while ago after watching many movies photographed by Roger Deakins. I realized that before I would try to get the image to have as much "oomph" as possible. Then I realized that I didn't need to do that for the pictures to be beautiful or evocative. That what mattered was the emotion of the lighting, of the materials and the overall way it felt, the story of it.

That's how I ended up with shots like these :










 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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Swenhir Yeah that's the thing with doing good black and white photography, it's all in the good blacks and the whites. So much of b&w today is really bad since many just convert it to it so it's all a gray mess.
 
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teezzy

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Not sure what everyone here thinks of his work, but my favorite photographer, and a HUGE creative influence on me for the longest time has been Richard Kern. I actually went ahead this paycheck and ordered a few of his photography books online; Looker, Shot by Kern, and New York Girls. His work is so intimate, erotic, dangerous, and subversive after all these years. I can't get enough. People always want to write him off as some sleaze, but I think they're missing the nuance of what he does. His short films, music videos, and photo work have entranced me for years now. Jean-luc Godard used to say that nobody could capture a woman's essence quite like Bergman; I feel the same way about Kern. Either that, or I'm just a deviant.







 
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Le Pertti

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deftones r cool Im all about the sleaze!:D looking back at the history of photography and you can see that even the early great ones mostly just wanted to photograph naked young women.

Thanks for mentioning the photographer, I'm not overly familiar with but will check him out more. I've such hard time finding inspiration. I'll post some photographers who's work I like also!
 
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teezzy

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deftones r cool Im all about the sleaze!:D looking back at the history of photography and you can see that even the early great ones mostly just wanted to photograph naked young women.

Thanks for mentioning the photographer, I'm not overly familiar with but will check him out more. I've such hard time finding inspiration. I'll post some photographers who's work I like also!
puts gun to your head

NAMES. I WANT NAMES, Monooboe
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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I don't have specific names since I'm super bad at remembering haha, but just look at THIS and you can see that pretty much directly when photography was invented people started doing pervy stuff, sure of course, but it was done by even the innovators and great artists.:D
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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I've been thinking, I have the full adobe creative cloud but pretty much only use Lightroom, what fun project could I be doing with all the other apps?
 
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Le Pertti

Le Pertti

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I haven't edited or uploaded any photos in a long while. I do photograph every day but I'm in the process of experimenting with a new look so I'm waiting to be done with that first. Just been taking a lot longer than I initially thought.XD
 

ShadowAUS

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Haha, I'm up to 2010 now in my backing up photos to google photos, ten more years of photos to upload.XD
Backing up the raws? Yeah takes fucking forever lol, especially on Australian internet.

I've fallen out of photography the last few years but since I'm going on holidays on the 21st I got my DSLR out of storage for the first time in... an embarrassingly long while. Hope to get some nice shots of Perth, Freemantle and Rottnest Island.
 
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Le Pertti

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Backing up the raws? Yeah takes fucking forever lol, especially on Australian internet.

I've fallen out of photography the last few years but since I'm going on holidays on the 21st I got my DSLR out of storage for the first time in... an embarrassingly long while. Hope to get some nice shots of Perth, Freemantle and Rottnest Island.
Yeah they are all raw files.XD I just don't feel safe having all my photos only on one external hard drive.

Make sure to post some photos here once you return from your holiday!:D
 

ShadowAUS

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Yeah they are all raw files.XD I just don't feel safe having all my photos only on one external hard drive.

Make sure to post some photos here once you return from your holiday!:D
I used to store them on my server with an extra copy on an external hard drive for redundancy. I've only went out of my way to shoot photos once in the past 5 years which was of a local airshow for my Uncle. Let me tell you, using an 18-55 kit lens to shoot photography of small flying aircraft is fun times. And for sure, I'll post a few shots when I get back.