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Forum: General Photography
09-25-2023, 12:29 AM
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I remember vividly when a number of years ago, a company which was trying to entice me to join their photo library as a contributor, commented to me that they were amazed that I had achieved Master Photographer using Pentax gear.
Needless to say, I didn't join that Library. If my work was good enough to achieve Master, and I was being approached to contribute to a photo library, the last thing that was going to sway me to contribute was to insult my choice of equipment.
The only thing that would induce me to jump ship would be for Pentax to desert the DSLR system & go mirrorless. But then I already have enough gear to see me out.
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Forum: Winners' Showcase
10-09-2022, 11:58 PM
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Shot at the Singapore Zoo, through 4" plate glass at 800 ISO. I always visit the Orangutans whenever I visit Singapore & spend many hours there.
I've developed something of an affinity with this wonderful creature and I'll sit & quietly speak to him, he's intelligent & seems to listen.
He is such a beautiful animal & this is one of my all-time favorite shots.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
12-09-2022, 07:53 AM
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Road to the Cascades.
Take in the Australian autumn (Fall) on the road to the Cascades near Permberton, Western Australia. It was a great morning driving through the Karri tree with some early morning fog and shafts of sunlight breaking through the trees.
One of those great to be alive mornings, when all is right with the world.
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Forum: Winners' Showcase
09-26-2022, 07:59 AM
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Forum: Winners' Showcase
10-05-2022, 12:17 AM
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I would like to nominate this photo
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
09-20-2022, 09:30 PM
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I'm old school to, taught photography for over 30 years & still only ever shoot manual, but I have to disagree. We should learn to use the tools at our disposal, that way we have a choice as to how far we want to use them or not. If you reject photo editing of a digital image you are never going to bring out a photo's full potential. Old school we did it in the dark room, with some very nasty chemicals, dodging & burning to bring up a focal point, combining images to create our vision. Now it's done on a PC.
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Forum: Winners' Showcase
08-09-2022, 07:38 AM
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A dramatic storm cell over interesting rocks.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
05-30-2022, 09:24 PM
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Close up of a part of a chrysanthamum flower, using selective DOF & selective focus.
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Forum: Winners' Showcase
05-06-2022, 09:36 PM
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I would like to nominate this photo
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
02-15-2022, 09:03 PM
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I guess it depends on how you shoot. If you are shooting on auto you will get what the camera thinks is the ideal, which may not be how it looked or how you saw the image. Similarly, if you shoot in Jpeg you are getting an image edited in camera of how the camera thinks it should look. If you are satisfied with the camera taking control of your shots that is fine, you are under no obligation to post process an image. However, digital images are meant to be edited, how much you edit is entirely up to you. Most experienced photographers shoot in RAW, whether that be the native PEF format, or DNG, it's still a RAW file with nothing done to it. RAW files contain a lot more information and are meant to be edited. It is also a "non destructive" format, in that any changes which you may make are not permanent & are stored in a separate file which is attached to the RAW file, which is called a "sidecar file", this file tells the computer how to handle the image when it is opened. The Sidecar file can be changed or reset back to the basic RAW file at any time without loss of quality to the original image, hence non destructive. I wish someone had explained all of this to me when I bought my IST*D back in 2003, as my early shots were all shot in jpeg. As for the benefit of editing an image, wow, where do I start. You can make a color shot B&W would be a simple edit, you can also adjust the contrast to make this B&W more stark or subtle, depending on what it is you see, or want to see. In a color shot, you can desaturate to make a subtle image, punch the color up to make something more vibrant, emphasis a particular color, or edit a color bias.. bring up details in shadows, or reduce highlights..... the world is your oyster. Show the viewer the world through your eyes. This doesn't mean that you have to butcher an image or over cook it. I grew up with film, mainly slide film, which is very demanding & unforgiving, I had to get my exposures spot on. I still shoot that way, still only ever shoot on manual & really get where you are coming from, but editing will open up another world & avenue of self expression. Embrace it, get some lessons maybe, accept what is on offer & reject the parts that you don't need... above all, have fun.
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Forum: Pentax K-1 & K-1 II
09-21-2021, 08:56 PM
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Hahaha..... I doubt it would get any traction, but a manual camera with the only automatic function being AF might. I find there are far too many functions and auto functions available on the newer cameras. I grew up using slide film, a very unforgiving media and had to get exposures right or throw away the results. I still only ever shoot on manual exposure & it's hardly rocket science when you know how to read the light meter. The only auto functions I use are WB & AF. Whilst I'm appreciative of todays digital cameras and certainly wouldn't want to go back to film, I can't help wonder how many of the modern photographers actually know how to take a photograph themselves, rather than letting the camera do the work for them.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
10-09-2021, 02:59 AM
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Crowned crane, taken at the Jurong bird park, Singapore.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
09-07-2021, 04:57 PM
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Firstly, if you want the best results, start shooting in RAW. It gives you more latitude to play with the images after the event so that you can retrieve more information in the darks & lights. With Jpeg, what you see is pretty well what the camera gives you and obviously you want more. If you are unsure using RAW, shoot both jpeg & RAW and you will have a safety net.
Secondly, I know that someone said earlier that shooting at 1/1000-sec is over kill, but if your images are un-sharp then you obviously need to shoot faster. You say that you are shooting at 1250, is that 1/250th second, or 1/1250 second? if it's 1/250th, then go up to 1/500th at least. 1/1000 isn't going to hurt. Are you shooting hand held or tripod? maybe a monopod might help, just to add a little more stability.
Does the KP have IS? it's not a model I've ever used, I'm a K-1 & K-3 III shooter. If it does, use it, but not whilst on a tri or monopod, it's for hand held use & it will help with camera shake, meaning that you can shoot a little slower hand held. If it doesn't have IS, maybe it's time to upgrade to a second hand K3 or K3 II, there should be a few on the market with the new model now out. Image stabilization would be pretty essential for shooting sport & with 2 daughters playing soccer it sounds like you are going to be doing it for a while. Have you tried shooting on a high burst rate? and panning with the action?
An extra stop of ISO will help in giving you an extra stop in either shutter speed or aperture, it's up to you to decide where you want to use it, speed or DOF, but if you are shooting wide open at f2.8, f3.5 is really not going to add a lot. Maybe look at f5.6 and push the ISO up further.
Lighting seems ok, no issue with white balance. Remember grass is around middle grey as far as light values are concerned, so shooting in the middle of the light meter should give you what you need. BUT again, shooting in RAW is going to give you a whole lot more latitude to pull an image back. Hope this is of help.... good luck.
PS, just because I'm classified as a junior member by the forum, doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing. I taught photography for over 30 years & am a master photographer.. ;)
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
06-08-2021, 12:09 AM
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Shot a number of years ago with my K20D & Sigma 10 - 20 mm @20mm. f8 gave me the DOF that I needed.
Originally shot in color, but architecture of this type, in my opinion, works better in Black & White.
It's still one of my favorite architectural shots, it just works, and every time I visit the area I try to better it, but always come back to the original.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
04-14-2021, 09:18 PM
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Sunset at the Albany Windfarm, Albany Western Australia.
A stitch of 10 frames.
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
11-09-2020, 03:08 AM
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I would like to nominate this photo
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Forum: Monthly Photo Contests
01-22-2019, 02:37 AM
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No 4, it's the perfect winter wonderland
---------- Post added 01-22-2019 at 05:49 PM ----------
Sorry, but I have to disagree. If you shoot in Jpeg the camera is already doing the processing for you, the way that it thinks the image should look. Shooting in RAW you get a pure rendition of the basic photo which you can then interpret as per your vision. Do you really think that a painting is a true rendition of what was there, or an interpretation of how the artist saw it. Photographers are no less the artist, post processing is an integral part of photography, it's not cheating it's a matter of using the skills that have been learned to create the image of your vision. No disrespect intended, but an artist exercising their skills is in my experience more often criticised by those who don't have the skills or are too afraid to step out of their comfort zone to learn something new. As for watching a play & enjoying the lighting, it's mostly the lighting that creates the mood & reinforces the actors skills, without the dramatic or subtle lighting being applied half of the atmosphere would be lost.
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Forum: Pentax K-3 Photo Contest
04-26-2014, 07:45 PM
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Male Orangutan - Singapore
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