Field Trip - Interesting, Dissapointing & Enjoyable all at once.

[Snooks]

Well yesterday Taylor and I went up to Knapsack gully just to shoot some photos and have a bit of fun. My eldest son Tim decided he had to come because he was concerned about me having any health issues (he is a worry wart), I guess we were there and back in around 45mins, because it is literally 6 minutes from my house.

Taylor did most of the photos and I think that we shot about 50 or so. Some turned out ok, some are quite good potential and some are not so good. She enjoyed doing the shoot so that was good, I had fun and Tim shot some with his iphone.

That is what is annoying

1. If the intention was to have fun, that's great and it was 10/10
2. If you wanted to look immediately at photos, being able to say they are awesome, then it was 3/10
3. Looking for potential good photos after doing post-op editing via software I think would be 7/10
4. The time out with the eldest son and daughter - that was priceless

Now Tim came home with some bloody great photos, some awesome panoramic shots, everything in perfect focus, colours and contrasts are all good and he achieved every goal on the trip. All on a damn push and point device called an iphone.

I really found this very annoying.

I shot in RAW, my computer is certainly very slow in manipulating images of this size and the time involved because of the learning curve in the software, is enormous.

So it is great fun, the end results of doing DSLR images are awesome because you can be so proud in what you have done, I guess I am just a bit annoyed and disappointed that Tim just walks over, pushes the button on his phone and gets an instant image which is 30 times better than mine.

Is this a normal feeling? I guess i am jealous (lol).


Cheers Guys

[Tannin]

Phone pictures (and point and shoot camera pictures generally) are highly processed by the camera itself. They make everything look picture postcard pretty. But, of course, that is quite limiting.

But they don't do anything you can't do just as easily with a DSLR, if you let it do the processing. In other words, let the in-camera JPG engine work its magic. Your camera settings allow you to select just how much picturepostcardness you want. Factory setting is typically less than that of a phone or a point & shoot, but a little more than optimal.

("Optimal": adjective. Means "the amount that I like best". Your "optimal" may be my "way too much", or vice-versa.)

Better still, with a DSLR you can shoot in raw and JPG at the same time. This lets you use the in-camera JPG for most shots (because if you get your white balance and exposure right in-camera, it does a very good job - often a better job that you or I could do with a raw converter) but you still have the raw files there for the odd time when you want to do more with a picture than the JPG allows.

Also, familiarity breeds competence. You lad has lots of experience with his phone. Many, many times I have bought some lovely nice bit of new kit and come home with worse pictures than I used to get with the old gear. It takes a few weeks before you really start getting good at using new gear.

Finally, you are using a single focal length. This is brilliant training for you and I recommend it both as a learning tool and as a creative stimulant. Nevertheless, it does restrict you.

(Sometimes, I deliberately take a single prime lens for a walk, typically 35mm or 85mm - roughly equivalent to 24mm and 50mm on your camera - and nothing else. It makes me think harder, have more fun, and (I believe) become more creative.)

[nardes]

Nice story, glad everyone had a good time.

I have often gone out with friends to a shoot, they with iPhone and moi with DSLR.

On the iPhone display, the iPhone photos look excellent and often look punchier than what I see on the rear LCD of my DSLR in the field.

However, as soon as I get home and upload the Raw DSLR images to my PC, they absolutely blow away the iPhone photos in these areas:

• When viewed full size or even just full screen (2560x1440) on a monitor.
• Their resilience to even mild, let alone aggressive processing.
• The ability to crop the scene and retain stunning image quality and detail.
• You inspect the photo critically for image quality.

Most of the above are more or less nullified when just viewed on an iPad size screen. So, it really depends on what the end point or purpose is; just to spark up the memory and re-live happy times or produce a large print, etc.

Cheers

Dennis

[ameerat42]

Well yesterday ...
...
Is this a normal feeling?...

A: Snooks does photography

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PS: Not bad for 1 out of many times.

[Snooks]

I will post a couple for CC very soon lol

[Mary Anne]

Snooks glad to read you all had fun and that's what it's all about.

I do hope Taylor joins AP so we can see her images, I am sure you know you cannot post hers.
Seeing you did a lot of reading you would know that That way she will get lots of Help just like You are.
And Please Tell Taylor it is not scary on the Forums It's lots of fun actually

[Snooks]

Snooks glad to read you all had fun and that's what it's all about.

I do hope Taylor joins AP so we can see her images, I am sure you know you cannot post hers.
Seeing you did a lot of reading you would know that That way she will get lots of Help just like You are.
And Please Tell Taylor it is not scary on the Forums It's lots of fun actually

LOL, we took turns and probably do not know exactly who took what image, but I am guessing mine will be the best ones so i will post those ones. But that's an interesting point we need to look at, exactly who took what image so that we can each address the various issues or problems that we have in framing, taking and composing the photos.

I have tried getting her to register and hopefully she will in the future. She has read and is still reading many of the threads and information, so hopefully she comes along and then posts some of the questions and / or photos that she has done. I am coaxing her to do so, she is just a bit shy and a lot stubborn, if i push her too much (lol).

[jim]

Is this a normal feeling? I guess i am jealous (lol).

Hi Snooks. Yes it certainly is normal. Modern phones are crammed with brilliant software that is capable of taking wonderful photos at the press of a button in a variety of situations (provided the light is ok. They're rubbish at night). Meanwhile your complex SLR allows you full control of your photography, and provides you with millions of ways to produce terrible pictures. Never mind! After a bit of practice with your SLR you'll find yourself taking pictures that would be impossible with a phone. And that's quite satisfying.

[Snooks]

Hi Snooks. Yes it certainly is normal. Modern phones are crammed with brilliant software that is capable of taking wonderful photos at the press of a button in a variety of situations (provided the light is ok. They're rubbish at night). Meanwhile your complex SLR allows you full control of your photography, and provides you with millions of ways to produce terrible pictures. Never mind! After a bit of practice with your SLR you'll find yourself taking pictures that would be impossible with a phone. And that's quite satisfying.

I think the first thing is go back through the settings one by one and make sure they are all correct because the images all seem over exposed and they seem very dull. All things that can be rectified post capture, but if i can correct them all the better. I have Ken Rockwells User Guide so i will go back through that once again and check the setups.

And yes.....there is a lot of pride in achieving a goal "manually" rather than doing the procedure on full auto. Wether it's taking a photo or cooking a loaf of bread compared to buying one.... self achievement is extremely important.

[Tannin]

the images all seem over exposed and they seem very dull

Check that it is not set to Adobe RGB. You want Standard RBG (SRGB). Could be some other setting, but that would be the first one to check.

[fillum]

the images all seem over exposed and they seem very dull.

If you are shooting towards the light you might be getting some flare, particularly if sunlight is hitting your front element. The images will have reduced contrast (look 'washed out') and maybe look a bit bright. A lens hood can help in eliminating this, as will keeping your lens elements clean. Older lenses tend to be more prone to flare as they didn't have the coatings that more recent models use.

I have Ken Rockwells User Guide

While some of Ken's info is good I'd recommend some caution as Ken can be a bit 'different' at times. For example, (from memory) I think he likes to ramp up his colour and contrast settings. Do you have the 'official' Nikon user guide? If not you can download it from here. Manuals tend to be pretty heavy going - it will tell you how to set anything but often don't really explain why / when you should be using a particular setting. I sometimes load a manual onto my phone so I have it with me for reference if I need it.

It might be worth keeping an eye out for a bargain priced copy of the "Magic Lantern Guide" or "Digital Field Guide" for the D200 (ebay, used book stores, etc). These go into more detail about when and why you might want to use different settings with examples etc. If you hunt around you might even find a version online.



Cheers.

[Snooks]

If you are shooting towards the light you might be getting some flare, particularly if sunlight is hitting your front element. The images will have reduced contrast (look 'washed out') and maybe look a bit bright. A lens hood can help in eliminating this, as will keeping your lens elements clean. Older lenses tend to be more prone to flare as they didn't have the coatings that more recent models use.

While some of Ken's info is good I'd recommend some caution as Ken can be a bit 'different' at times. For example, (from memory) I think he likes to ramp up his colour and contrast settings. Do you have the 'official' Nikon user guide? If not you can download it from here. Manuals tend to be pretty heavy going - it will tell you how to set anything but often don't really explain why / when you should be using a particular setting. I sometimes load a manual onto my phone so I have it with me for reference if I need it.

It might be worth keeping an eye out for a bargain priced copy of the "Magic Lantern Guide" or "Digital Field Guide" for the D200 (ebay, used book stores, etc). These go into more detail about when and why you might want to use different settings with examples etc. If you hunt around you might even find a version online.



Cheers.

Thank you Fillum.

I must admit, I took ken's comments to be like the Bible and your opinion makes me realize that perhaps that is not 100% the right thing to do.

I will certainly check out the manual and the books you mentioned.

Appreciate the info mate

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Check that it is not set to Adobe RGB. You want Standard RBG (SRGB). Could be some other setting, but that would be the first one to check.

Nice pickup mate.

It was set to adobe RGB and I have now changed to SRBG.

Will advise how we get on when we take some more photos. (Hopefully soon )

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I just bought a Magic Lantern Guide D200 for $8 plus postage from the UK. Used and in fair condition.....I don't care if its torn and crumpled as long as it helps.

Should be 14 days or so but cheap at twice the price