^ it does actually. thanks.

^^ thanks. I don't have a separate flash yet. I have tried things to soften or bounce my built-in flash to add some extra light without some of the harshness of the direct flash but that's about all I have messed with in terms of the flash so far. I have thought about trying to use some large mirrors I have around the house to reflect light coming in from the windows when shooting toward that wall. For example, the living room picture I took above is shooting straight at a wall with 3 windows on it. The opposite wall doesn't have any windows directly in that same room. Consequently, the lighting shooting AWAY from the windows (and toward the wall those 3 windows face) gets much better photography lighting than shooting straight at the wall that has the windows. That is obvious to you, but it was interesting how the eye sees the whole room as fairly evenly lit while direction of the light source makes a huge difference in how the camera actually captures it.

10/23/2013 2:01:19 PM

The walls and furnishing in that room are very light, which bounces the light around. Good for the "bright room" feeling, not good for experimenting with light control. Window may also be north-facing, which won't give you very direct sunlight.

If you lack access to a dark room or an off-camera flash, on the small scale you can always use continuous lighting (table lamp) and cardboard/wax paper/foil for improvised modifiers. You can shield from any other light sources and bounced light by putting a drape around your "photo table." Make sure to adjust your white balance for tungsten light, most auto-white-balance mechanisms will still give a slightly yellowish tint. Better yet, shoot RAW and adjust WB in the post-processing.

Lighting "straight into the window" can also have a beautiful effect, as long as you bounce enough light back at the object to lower the contrast slightly, and expose for the object, not the window itself. The window will act as a backlight, and provide a perfectly white background behind your subject as well as a wrap-around highlights. But I agree, most of the time you do not want your strongest and largest light source directly opposite of the lens and low to the horizon.

10/23/2013 2:16:28 PM

Also just saw this on FSstoppers (make sure to subscribe on FB for daily useful tips'n'stuff)

http://fstoppers.com/best-online-tool-ive-seen-for-learning-manual-photography-canon

It's a tool that allows n00bs understand how aperture, shutter speed, and sensitivity (ISO) work together to provide the level of exposure, depth of field, and motion blur that you are trying to achieve in your image.

http://www.canonoutsideofauto.ca/

10/23/2013 2:28:27 PM

Thanks for all the input! Simply using the built-in exposure indicator ( ++ + | - -- ) this weekend was a great introduction to seeing how they all work together. It was only a start for sure but it all really started to click once I started messing with settings and paying attention to that.

I have not tried shooting RAW yet. I've mainly adjusted color and light curves in Photoshop to get a half-decent WB. It is definitely something I would like to mess with eventually, but maybe a little ways down the road. For now I will try messing with the in-camera settings for auto-WB adjusting based on the light source. I knew it had the capability but had not done it yet. Do you ever take a picture of a "white" card before a shoot to use as a reference when balancing later?

There are a couple small rooms or areas of my house that may work with what you described and I would have to use one of our various lamps. If I get to do something like that, I have the perfect two objects to use probably. The pug statuette in the one vignette shot is white and in the shot with the sofa, you'll see we have an identical one in black on the shelves.

And I agree I would not prefer my light source in the location of the photo posted above, but unfortunately for certain architectural shots the window is where it is (like that shot. It was framed how I wanted but the window/light source in that room just happens to be right there).

I definitely want to bea ble shoot a lot of interior stuff where everything looks bright, but I also want it crisp and not blown-out or too much contrast. I grabbed a few shots quickly from some shoots for interior designers I like (there are betters out there but I grabbed these quickly):

http://st.houzz.com/simgs/c321626d0d2b55a3_8-0042/contemporary-kitchen.jpg
http://www.jhinteriordesign.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/018.jpg
http://www.jhinteriordesign.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/0312.jpg
http://www.jhinteriordesign.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/0112.jpg

Obviously they are working with professional photographers who probably have better lenses and lighting setups and often the designer design (or at least feature) their work that has a lots of natural lighting so it really helps the spaces photograph well. But I know I can still get quality stuff even with the 5100 with the right settings. I would love to get to the point where I could stage and shoot homes for sale on the side. Some of the "professional" staged photos I see for real estate listings in our area look like they are using a coolpix, handheld, with no white balancing, yet the people are apparently getting paid. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic but I think I could do a lot better.


[Edited on October 23, 2013 at 2:39 PM. Reason : ]

10/23/2013 2:37:47 PM

Every single one of those shots you posted used off-camera supplemental lighting. Also, for proper interior shots you need a tilt-shift lens, although in the meantime you can use perspective correction in post.

Now, if you are just doing stuff for real estate ads (assuming it's not high-end properties), a wide angle lens, a tripod, and a bounce flash is all that is required gear-wise. Good real estate photographers will know how to move furniture around (even if the unit is already staged) and how to position camera to achieve the most spacious and inviting look. And yes, there is more to it than just zooming the lens out to the widest focal length possible. There are tons of tutorials on real estate photography on YouTube, so it'a s good place to start. Don't expect a lot of money unless you are in high-end market, profitability is all about efficiency for most real-estate photographers.

Firs thing to do in your particular case is to set the camera on the tripod, close the aperture to
[Edited on October 23, 2013 at 3:34 PM. Reason : tilt-shit, LOL]

10/23/2013 3:34:31 PM

Right, I figured they used some (or a lot) of supplemental lighting. Perspective correction in PS is fine for me because a good wide angle with TS is definitely way more money than I am planning to spend unfortunately. If I did any real estate shots, it wouldn't be high-end properties as I obviously couldn't compete. The pictures I provided to you are certainly high-end places and much nicer than I would be shooting but were just examples of interior shots that were very bright and crisp and framed in a way I liked.

I do plan to get a tripod and remote soon and have also considered this: http://www.amazon.com/Lightscoop-Deluxe-Bounce-Pop-up-Models/dp/B00BISLDAY

I have a pretty decent grasp on understanding how to frame shots and move furniture around as well as stage a place (though the best staging obviously happens when you are a pro and have a stable of nice or nice looking furniture to bring in vs having to work with what is there). I have provided a lot of input to friends in this regard - not so much for selling yet, but simply decorating their space they live in. I have also helped my architect friend decorate spaces or make design choices a few times for her side business where she buys foreclosures and rehabs them. I'm certainly not a professional, but I feel pretty confident in this area vs the photography which I am very new at. That being said, there is always a lot of room to grow so I will certainly look into YouTube videos for real estate photography. I have actually never done that. I've watched a lot of other how-to videos but never thought about specifically looking for real estate photography videos. In reality it's really just a hobby and was meant to document the changes to our house and maybe some work I do helping my architect friend, but doing anything small even for free for friends or neighbors would be fun to see how I do and see if I would benefit at all from trying to do it low-cost on the side at some point.

Also, did you get to finish your last thought? It looks like it got lost.


[Edited on October 23, 2013 at 4:30 PM. Reason : ]

10/23/2013 4:25:35 PM

oops, I must have accidentally deleted the end of that sentence during the edit. I meant to say close the aperture to smaller than f/11, set the ISO under 400, and use long shutter speed on the tripod with a remote release or a 2 sec timer to get the proper exposure without introducing blur. Don't set the camera too low, and if using a very wide angle lens (10-15 mm range on your 5100) try to keep straight horizontal and vertical lines away from the edges of the frame, or you may run into issues during perspective correction. There are obviously a lot more that goes into it, those YouTube tutorials are great.

Here is a pretty comprehensive tutorial on how to properly shoot an interior using supplemental lighting and sompositing in post. Narration is a little boring, but it covers all the bases.


Some people use HDR for interior photography, and that can go terribly wrong very quickly, so I don't recommend it. Exterior photos using HDR always look tacky, IMO. I know some real estate companies specifically ask for those, but to me they are similar to the car dealerships with those gimmicky inflatable stick figures in the front. They do grab your attention, but in a wrong way.

There is a good tutorial on how to use a wide angle lens and single on-camera flash to photograph interiors in an efficient way (obviously with different results, but acceptable for a sales ad and brochure). I'll try to find it.

Here is an interesting read on architecture photography: this article talks about how compositing, off-camera lighting, and of course, clever staging was used even in the good ole'days of film cameras (I will take my Photoshop and wireless eTTL triggers any day though)

http://fstoppers.com/the-incredible-history-and-craftsmanship-behind-architectures-most-famous-photographs

[Edited on October 23, 2013 at 7:03 PM. Reason : haha i see what happend. Didn't know you can't use "<" signs]

10/23/2013 7:02:07 PM

Here's the image I was gonna post earlier, til I realized 500px links too-big-for-tdub photos.

10/23/2013 10:31:18 PM

Playing around with a trial installation of photoshop

Castaway Cay (Disney Island in the Bahamas)

Bigger: http://www.flickr.com/photos/103789266@N06/10469194674/sizes/o/

Original: http://www.flickr.com/photos/103789266@N06/10469237916/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Used spot healing brush to get rid of the spots (they were dust on my lens filter), then the "Shadows/Highlights" tool since I don't know what I'm doing trying to adjust curves, denoise, unsharp mask (probably overdid it), lens correction, then cropped to 16:9.

[Edited on October 25, 2013 at 12:18 AM. Reason : bigger thumbnail]

10/25/2013 12:16:59 AM

Anyone have any experience shooting medium format? I really like the idea of playing with a Mamiya 645. I can develop my own black & white and possibly E-6 film, and I'd really like something with a bit more control than the holga that's collecting dust on my bookshelf.

Also, finally got around to editing some stuff from the last few months and getting some shots of my son with his Halloween outfit.

10/28/2013 6:31:11 PM

I start teaching next week. After talking with the college today, I think they hinted at me teaching every Wednesday in Durham.

Anyhow, I got back from Florida after three shoots down in Jupiter area with my old Photo Boss and had tons of fun; mostly shot video. My boss said that if we do really good with the video and promote it right, he might partner with me and do tons of video projects every month or two. So that's always cool to have fun and make money too.

Currently, in Virginia and DC this week for Halloween. This is what I designed yesterday and today. Building the minigun prop right now.

10/29/2013 8:14:13 PM

^^ those turned out really well man.

10/29/2013 8:16:40 PM

^^^ FTFY. Just kidding. Nice pics.

10/30/2013 11:15:37 PM

ordered a tripod, a remote release, and a lightscoop this week.

10/30/2013 11:31:35 PM

Thanks for the compliments. and LimpyNuts I like this shop better



[Edited on October 31, 2013 at 3:14 PM. Reason : ]

10/31/2013 3:13:26 PM

fantastic photoshop

what did you use to get those shots, just a polarizing filter?

10/31/2013 3:19:03 PM

No polarizer. I have one for that lens but it can be a hassle trying to figure out which way to turn it and track the kids.

Here are the lightroom adjustments i made to the original:


I also tweaked the green and orange saturation up a tad to get the grass and his clothes to pop a little against that bright blue

10/31/2013 3:43:42 PM

Im going to attempt this question again. Ive got an old nikon dslr and several lenses and filters and my father in law just gave me a tripod. Is there anything else that I need that would be beneficial for shooting newborn portraits? I have until march to acquire everything I need but id like to get some practice in.

10/31/2013 3:55:40 PM

^Practice, practice, practice. With newborns and babies timing is important since you won't get any help from them. Open eyes and non-fussy faces appear in brief windows, so be prepared to catch them as they come.

Fill your frame, expose for the baby's face and keep your backgrounds clean.
Avoid trying to duplicate anything you see on Pinterest or similar sites. A lot of the stuff I see on there is heavily Photoshopped.

I took these of my son when he was just a few weeks old. The only piece of equipment I used other than a camera and lens was a diffuser to soften some sunlight coming through our window. You could easily cheat this with a large sheet of paper or white sheet.

10/31/2013 4:08:44 PM

awesome stuff

My Lightscoop Deluxe came in the mail today; worth every penny (It was only like $35 though) if you're shooting indoors a lot, especially wanting to just take quick pictures in low-light/ambient light inside a house at night or something. I'll have to mess with it during the day to see how it supplements my lighting on day shots. I was taking a lot of pictures of our dog tonight in our house and the lighting was 100x better than anything I've done indoors at night when I just wanted to take random pictures of our dog. Even in pitch-black rooms with no lights on and ISO 600, the bounced flash created lighting that was evenly diffused and pleasing for portrait type shots of our dog. I was pretty impressed.

Obviously there are better setups out there, but not for $35 I don't think. Also, looking forward to my Slik Pro 700DX coming in. I've stayed really cheap on everything so far, but I spent a little extra on the tripod.

[Edited on October 31, 2013 at 8:45 PM. Reason : ]

10/31/2013 8:37:20 PM

Thanks!

10/31/2013 8:38:57 PM

Submitted the limit (5) photos to the Our State contest. I've never seen winners in past years, so I really don't know what to expect. We'll see how it works out.

10/31/2013 9:47:55 PM

Nevermind, browsing through them, I saw some a couple pages back

[Edited on November 4, 2013 at 2:52 PM. Reason : g]

11/4/2013 2:48:19 PM

Dude, you can check them out here:

http://ourstate.upickem.net/engine/ApprovedSubmissions.aspx?PageType=APPROVED&contestid=106317

That shows all the approved submissions. I waited till the last second myself and submitted at like 11:30 Halloween night.

Nevermind, I found your shots on page 7.

[Edited on November 4, 2013 at 2:58 PM. Reason : ]

11/4/2013 2:49:52 PM

So is Flickr promoting certain photos by certain users in your contacts list? I've started to notice just recently, I've added a few contacts with some great photos that seem to draw in quite a few people. But, annoyingly, there are now certain photos that are staying at or near the top of my 'feed' (or whatever it's called) for sometimes days at a time. It really sucks, because I don't just want to see the same photos over and over. Just curious if anyone else is noticing it.

11/10/2013 8:36:33 PM

I'm making an Amazon wish list to keep track of things I want. Maybe it will help my wife Christmas shop

Anyone have recommendations for a flash, lenses, tripod, or battery grip for my Rebel t3i?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3QAHG5S3C7C3C/

That 50mm f/1.4 was $289 when I added it, now it is $314.

[Edited on November 17, 2013 at 10:56 PM. Reason : ]

11/17/2013 10:52:24 PM

I've been very happy with the tripod and remote release we got. Definitely glad I spent a little extra on a nice tripod. Very sturdy and very easy to use. I've been able to get much better interior pictures

11/18/2013 10:16:53 AM

what's a good slr package for a beginner? I know nothing of this subject.

11/18/2013 11:39:30 AM

what's your budget? I'm a beginner too and like my Nikon D5100 (found the package on slickdeals for pretty cheap) but if I was purchasing now I might consider the D5300 depending on deal prices so that I could get built-in wifi and gps. The D5300 is brand new, the D5100 is two models ago. I chose Nikon over Cannon because I owned a Nikon film SLR and the D5100 felt more familiar

11/18/2013 11:59:47 AM

I'm really not sure...the wife wants to dabble, so i'd like to find something that will be good for a beginner (simple), yet allow for some room to grow as she gets better at it. I don't want to buy total crap, but of course cheaper is better.

11/18/2013 12:23:17 PM

The 5100-5300 line is the middle of the road on the consumer side. The 3200 is the entry level Nikon SLR. The top of line prosumer model is the D7100 before you make the jump to full-frame.

I would second his recommendation for the D5k line. They are a good middle of the road on the cheaper side of SLRs.

11/18/2013 12:55:24 PM

Everything depends on your budget. What do you think qualifies as too expensive? There's so many entry, mid level, semi-pro and pro bodies to choose from that trying to give someone an accurate recommendation as a good "all around camera kit" for a good price is heavily subjective on one's budget. Plus, whatever features you look for in a camera system including video recording capabilities, swivel lcd screens and so on.

My first advice before all else would take your wife to a camera store and get accustomed to different body ergonomics. What may feel fine to you make seem alien and unnatural to your wife. It's important to see if button layouts are intuitive. Features between Canon, Nikon and other DSLR's are pretty minute these days from a technical stand point towards common shooters.

My second advice is buy the cheapest camera body, hell buy used as a starter body to play with for 3-6+ months so you can access how serious your wife is at learning the hobby. Being practical and spending money is the best way to gain entry into an expensive hobby. Plus whatever you save now, you can easily reinvest back into the 3rd most important advice.

Invest in glass or known as lenses. Good lenses make up the images, not the actual camera body and they will easily cost more than an entry level DSLR kit, sometimes, double, triple or way way more.


I personally would recommend staying with Canon or Nikon camera systems just cause they are the two biggest leaders in industry, plus they have more 3rd party accessories support than everyone else. Additionally, it's easier to find used stuff for them since Canon EOS has been around for 30 some years and Nikon's mount longer than that.

Don't forget, Black Friday is coming up soon. Keep an eye on slickdeals.net but not all companies have shown their cards yet. The only thing I've seen that's remotely a deal is Costco D3200 18-55, 55-250 camera kit for $599.99. HHGreggs is suppose to have the same kit for $499.99, but it's not confirmed.

11/18/2013 2:40:05 PM

Just got an email to tell me that my chameleon photo won the animals category in the OurState contest. They're announcing the winners on the website later today, so I'd like to see what the other winners are.

11/19/2013 10:16:56 AM

Wow, Congratulations.

11/19/2013 10:23:33 AM

Quote :

"The only thing I've seen that's remotely a deal is Costco D3200 18-55, 55-250 camera kit for $599.99. HHGreggs is suppose to have the same kit for $499.99, but it's not confirmed."

i'm pretty sure my D5100 kit (w/ 18-55 kit lens and a couple random goodies) was $420 from adorama through a regular slickdeals find.

11/19/2013 10:26:22 AM

Quote :

"Just got an email to tell me that my chameleon photo won the animals category in the OurState contest. They're announcing the winners on the website later today, so I'd like to see what the other winners are."

That's awesome! I love that photo.

11/19/2013 10:30:30 AM

its an awesome shot, but we don't have chameleons in NC

11/19/2013 11:03:21 AM

The coastal areas in South Carolina definitely have some so I wouldn't be surprised if NC does too.

11/19/2013 11:17:46 AM

I just got the email and came in here to post that your chameleon shot won! Nice shot and congrats!

[Edited on November 19, 2013 at 11:24 AM. Reason : ]

11/19/2013 11:24:17 AM

The winners are up: http://www.ourstate.com/reader-photo-contest-2013/

And note that I was reluctant to submit that photo, for the very reason that they are not native to North Carolina. However, I carefully looked over the rules, and the category was "animals", not "wildlife". Furthermore, considering that the vast majority of the photos submitted were of dogs, cats, and other domesticated animals, I didn't feel it was ok to be excluded on the grounds that the animal is not native. That said, I realize that a heavy bias would probably favor wildlife, specifically native wildlife. I submitted several other animal shots to the contest, but many of them were in the "landscapes and nature" category. I realized that the category would favor landscapes, but I figured I would give it a shot anyway.

And FYI, chameleons aren't native to anywhere in the US. They're all old world species, primarily Africa. What you're thinking about is green anoles, which are falsely referred to as chameleons. They just have similar abilities to change colors and independently moving eyes.

11/19/2013 11:30:38 AM

^Yea with all of the other shit that was being submitted under animals of just peoples pets, animals at the Zoo, etc. I don't have a problem at all with this being taken. For all the people at Our State know this was taken at the NC Zoo. As long as it happened in NC then it was allowed.

That said, looking at the past winners, a lot of them were shots like Elk in the mountains and birds and other wildlife in nature. I almost thought one of your snake photos in the wild would have a better chance.

11/19/2013 11:36:26 AM

Actually, I played by the rules, so many of my wild snake shots were invalid. I mostly go to SC or further south for stuff like that, and since the photos had to be taken in NC, I was very limited.

I submitted this one (from a few pages ago) to the landscapes & nature category, but obviously didn't place:



But the lighting is all fucked up on it and I don't have a wide enough lens to capture what I was going for.

11/19/2013 11:44:47 AM

Oh yea I knew a lot of them were out of NC, but I assumed you had a few from here as well.

11/19/2013 11:50:15 AM

Quote :

"i'm pretty sure my D5100 kit (w/ 18-55 kit lens and a couple random goodies) was $420 from adorama through a regular slickdeals find."

Yeah, reason why I said the D3200 kit was remotely a deal since I haven't seen anything good listed for black friday thus far. There's been some T3, T3i, and T4i kits, but its not the normal black friday sale that would get me out of bed.

Also, congrats umop! It was no contest knowing your shot would win! Now press onwards and put that photo on other contests and get it published in nature magazines and so on.

11/20/2013 1:30:22 AM

For what it's worth, I have been extremely happy with my D5100 for a newbie. Shooting mostly manual now (of course sometimes it takes a few shots to get what I want like that - but I figure that is normal) and really enjoying it. I just have basic accessories so far: something to bounce my flash for better lighting when I want quick hand-held shots in low-light applications, a quality tripod, and shutter remote.

My next toy will probably be a decent prime lens to go along with the 18-55 stock. (haven't decided between 35 or 55 yet).

I would say that, for the money, it is a very quality "entry-level" DSLR camera, but as others say, it really depends on your budget. For example, I just recommended a Panasonic LX7 to my friends' wife and she loves it. She kept saying she wanted a DSLR but wanted "the one that shoots the best in Auto". I finally convinced her to get the Panasonic and she is really happy with it and it is plenty for her. If you are planning to add extra lenses and have full control over your settings down the road though, I think a 5100 is a great "budget" choice even though it isn't cheap.

11/20/2013 9:03:10 AM

I wanted to echo part of JBaz's advice

Quote :

" buy used as a starter body to play with for 3-6+ months"

There is a lot of great used gear in the market, usually at a pretty big discount to the cost of the camera new. A lot of times used equipment is sold only because the original owner wants to upgrade to a newer model, or a higher end model, or switch brands. For the price of a new consumer level DSLR you could buy a used semi-professional body.

Just be a little leery of sellers on craigslist or ebay. Buying from a used camera dealer usually comes with some assurances as well as a reasonable return policy. Also, if you go to a good brick and mortar store for used gear, you can customize your rig and spend time playing with different models, new or used.

11/20/2013 9:45:56 AM

^Yep. The last few lenses and my D7000 camera body I bought were used. In the case of the body, the previous owner swapped from an entry model Canon to a prosumer Nikon. He brought it back less than a month later because he could not get used to the different controls and went back to a Canon product. I picked it up for a couple hundred bucks off retail and only about a thousand shutter actuations.

But definitely consider going to places like Peace or Southeast Camera. Southeast here in Carrboro is a lot smaller, but it didn't take them long to learn my name, or me to learn theirs. They throw me discounts and hook me up and even price match other shops and online prices. And they are ready to answer any newbie questions you might have.

11/20/2013 2:34:15 PM

mine is factory refurbished

11/20/2013 4:56:58 PM

I still shoot with my 1D mkiin that I bought new back in the day for 3200, now you can pick those up for under 800. Hell, you can get the older mkii's for under 500. 8MP is still more than most people need in a weather proof body...

11/20/2013 7:09:41 PM

Here is a D5200 refurbished deal with a kit lens. Not the best, but it will get you started:

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/106620/ebay---nikon-d5200-dslr-camera-with-18-55mm-f3.5-5.6g-vr-lens-refurbished

11/21/2013 1:28:02 PM