The Official Photography Thread - Vol. 3

[jordan novice]

edit is actually pretty dope in my opinion. footage isn't the cleanest/best but good enough lol

Thanks. 98% of it was shot on a gopro and I've never used one before.

A lot of smudges on the lens casing and water droplets that I was an unaware to look out for.

Made a lot of shots 'dirty' and not as crisp.

jordan novice Im a little confused as to what you are asking to do. I have used After Effects & the iMovie software in the past to make movies with not much trouble. I'm confused with what problems you are having when you are saying stuff only goes in chronological order.

I guess it's more so the creative directing I'm having trouble with.

I'm not much of a video guy, this was my first video I've really made, learning FCPX as I go.

I suppose when I have my clips in the library, I see them as they were shot by date.

And thus, this makes me put clips on the timeline in chronological order.

I'm having trouble trying to 'think outside the box'.

I guess I need direction, and would like to know directing techniques?

 

[mylesp]

I don't shoot with canon, so forgive my ignorance, but is it possible to do a lens autofocus fine tuning on that particular lens? Nikon allows you to create custom focusing profiles for a specific lens.

On a side note, one thing you might try is that before you take a picture like that, you can completely unfocus the lens, and then focus on the subject. I find that SOMETIMES, if you are focusing on something and it moves slightly, or you are focusing on something in the vicinity, it wont adjust to what you want to be focused on.

One way also you can test your focusing is to shoot at a ruler taped to the ground (and use a tripod). Pick a spot on the ruler, maybe the number 6 or something like that, and shoot at f1.8, and at a 45 degree-ish angle to the ruler. When you review the photo, ideally the 6's tick mark on the ruler would be in focus. It should help identify what is going on with your lenses and setup.

Cool will try that. My lense cant be fine tuned. Some canon cameras offer focus adjustment but mine doesnt.i think its the camera because i didnt have this problem on my old one. Same lense too

 

[mjbetch]

The homie at a KBBQ joint

DSC04390.jpg by gabrieldiaz, on Flickr

 

[tokes99]

edit is actually pretty dope in my opinion. footage isn't the cleanest/best but good enough lol

Thanks. 98% of it was shot on a gopro and I've never used one before.

A lot of smudges on the lens casing and water droplets that I was an unaware to look out for.

Made a lot of shots 'dirty' and not as crisp.

jordan novice Im a little confused as to what you are asking to do. I have used After Effects & the iMovie software in the past to make movies with not much trouble. I'm confused with what problems you are having when you are saying stuff only goes in chronological order.

I guess it's more so the creative directing I'm having trouble with.

I'm not much of a video guy, this was my first video I've really made, learning FCPX as I go.

I suppose when I have my clips in the library, I see them as they were shot by date.

And thus, this makes me put clips on the timeline in chronological order.

I'm having trouble trying to 'think outside the box'.

I guess I need direction, and would like to know directing techniques?

editing video is, i think, orders of magnitude more difficult than editing photos, but youtube is your friend my g! with video you get much more room to tell a story, so it may help you to think what it is you want show?

randoms:

Untitled by a0, on Flickr

Untitled by a0, on Flickr

check it by a0, on Flickr

 

[doxen5703]

Editing video is all about finding your personal editing style IMO. Just watch some of your inspirations and take small cues from each and try to blend them. As you do more videos, you'll find out what you like more.

 

[djyoung08]

ok yall i know we talked about the off focus pictures i posted before. well i shot the same person again today and had the same problem. this time i made sure to stay away from 1.8. i believe i have a back focus issue. any suggestions or ideas on what i should do?

heres proof of back focus issues.

heres lightroom with a plugin that shows where the focus point was


now heres the actual picture. the gate was more in focus then the face..

keep in mind that focus system's aren't perfect.... for the most part you get what you pay for and its up to you as the photographer to make the gear you have work as best as it can.

If you're looking for perfect, you need to adjust your budget accordingly & cop a 1dx mark 2 + L lenses.

Secondly, auto focusing works best when you use a point of contrast. Look at that point, there isnt a lot of contrast there. If you would have focused right where the blue and white meets on his hat, the focus would have been a lot more accurate.

When there isnt a lot of contrast in the AF point selected, the camera starts guessing.

 

[Fong$tarr]

Two of my homie do wedding videos. Just like wedding photography, it's not really my cup of tea but it's a good business and clients are easy to find.

This is actually my sister's wedding that my friend shot. All by one person and with 2 other cameras on tripods. He's more of a rookie and had some focusing issue but I think considering, it was good.




And this is the better of the two from my other buddy. He's been doing video forever and anyone that is from the Bay Area, he's one of the guys that created 360VM, the import video mag. He uses drone shots and everything looked great! I think he costs upwards to $6K though where as my other friend was about $1-2K.

 

[tokes99]

more gear lust:

another new sony body...specs are beastly though, finally added a touch screen too, crazy buffer:



the next a7 series cameras are setting up to be ridiculous...

https://www.dpreview.com/news/2453723213/sony-takes-the-wraps-off-of-its-alpha-a6500

 

[Fong$tarr]

Jesus.......it's like the took the a6300 and just made it that much better. Sony really just went in and priced pointed this camera again's all the crop cameras in the market. Why pay for an 80D when you can get something so much smaller and equally as good. I think aside from a lens library, this camera can compete with what is on the market.

It's scary what Sony is doing. The new A7 series camera will be insane whenever that drops. If they fix the menus and put that AF of the A-series camera in the A7 series, I'd even consider getting that and just keep my Canon lenses.

 

[mylesp]

keep in mind that focus system's aren't perfect.... for the most part you get what you pay for and its up to you as the photographer to make the gear you have work as best as it can.

If you're looking for perfect, you need to adjust your budget accordingly & cop a 1dx mark 2 + L lenses.

Secondly, auto focusing works best when you use a point of contrast. Look at that point, there isnt a lot of contrast there. If you would have focused right where the blue and white meets on his hat, the focus would have been a lot more accurate.

When there isnt a lot of contrast in the AF point selected, the camera starts guessing.

hmm. so should i manual focus?

 

[djyoung08]

keep in mind that focus system's aren't perfect.... for the most part you get what you pay for and its up to you as the photographer to make the gear you have work as best as it can.

If you're looking for perfect, you need to adjust your budget accordingly & cop a 1dx mark 2 + L lenses.

Secondly, auto focusing works best when you use a point of contrast. Look at that point, there isnt a lot of contrast there. If you would have focused right where the blue and white meets on his hat, the focus would have been a lot more accurate.

When there isnt a lot of contrast in the AF point selected, the camera starts guessing.

hmm. so should i manual focus?

If you would have focused right where the blue and white meets on his hat, the focus would have been a lot more accurate.

Thats what i would have done.

I ONLY manually focus on macro shots like this one

I shoot mainly portraits at a very high f stop. I need razor sharp eyes and the auto focus systems allow me to do that. I couldnt nail focus accurately at 1.8 or 2.8 for portraits.

 

[mylesp]

If you would have focused right where the blue and white meets on his hat, the focus would have been a lot more accurate.

Thats what i would have done.

I ONLY manually focus on macro shots like this one

I shoot mainly portraits at a very high f stop. I need razor sharp eyes and the auto focus systems allow me to do that. I couldnt nail focus accurately at 1.8 or 2.8 for portraits.

ok i was going off of what others said before and thought 2.8 would be alright lol. maybe i will just shoot at f/4 and only go lower if need be?

 

[djyoung08]

If you would have focused right where the blue and white meets on his hat, the focus would have been a lot more accurate.

Thats what i would have done.

I ONLY manually focus on macro shots like this one

I shoot mainly portraits at a very high f stop. I need razor sharp eyes and the auto focus systems allow me to do that. I couldnt nail focus accurately at 1.8 or 2.8 for portraits.

ok i was going off of what others said before and thought 2.8 would be alright lol. maybe i will just shoot at f/4 and only go lower if need be?

I could have got that razor sharp at 1.8 by focusing on the guy's hat.

You just have to understand how AF works.

You selected a point that doesnt have much contrast so your camera and lens combo struggled.

Also, if you wanted more to be in focus you should shoot like f/5.6.

 

[mylesp]

I could have got that razor sharp at 1.8 by focusing on the guy's hat.

You just have to understand how AF works.

You selected a point that doesnt have much contrast so your camera and lens combo struggled.

Also, if you wanted more to be in focus you should shoot like f/5.6.

alright thanks. i expected the focus to be on the hat only and not really the face if i focused on the hat. so when someone is looking down and its hard to see the eyes , where do you suggest i focus? for the picture above i understand the hat, but if they are not wearing one, then what?

 

[Fong$tarr]

It also depends on your focusing and what you are trying to portray to the person reading the photo. If it was a product shot, than the hat can be in focus and the face can be blurred. I shot the photo below knowing the hat would be fine but even got her lips in focus as well.

In your case, you should just shoot less open to get everything in focus. You are splitting hairs with that shot in trying to get either the hat or eyes in focus. Just go get both in focus and at that point, you can AF on any part of the face. It will just make life that much easier.

 

[mylesp]

It also depends on your focusing and what you are trying to portray to the person reading the photo. If it was a product shot, than the hat can be in focus and the face can be blurred. I shot the photo below knowing the hat would be fine but even got her lips in focus as well.

In your case, you should just shoot less open to get everything in focus. You are splitting hairs with that shot in trying to get either the hat or eyes in focus. Just go get both in focus and at that point, you can AF on any part of the face. It will just make life that much easier.

i see. i will keep that in mind. So there being little to no contrast is the reason the focus went somewhere different even though it locked?

 

[kdawg]

Last night.

 

[djyoung08]

I could have got that razor sharp at 1.8 by focusing on the guy's hat.

You just have to understand how AF works.

You selected a point that doesnt have much contrast so your camera and lens combo struggled.

Also, if you wanted more to be in focus you should shoot like f/5.6.

alright thanks. i expected the focus to be on the hat only and not really the face if i focused on the hat. so when someone is looking down and its hard to see the eyes , where do you suggest i focus? for the picture above i understand the hat, but if they are not wearing one, then what?

If you look at the hat, it is pretty close to the same plane as the rest of his face, unless you were to focus on the tip of the bill. Thats just how focus planes work.

For this shot, i wouldnt have tried focusing on his eye because I dont see it as a picture of his face. I see it as a picture of the hat.

I think this all kinda comes back to not having a very clear understanding of whats happening when you shoot a photo with shallow depth of field. it will click over time. just keep shooting man.

 

[tokes99]

ok yall i know we talked about the off focus pictures i posted before. well i shot the same person again today and had the same problem. this time i made sure to stay away from 1.8. i believe i have a back focus issue. any suggestions or ideas on what i should do?

heres proof of back focus issues.

heres lightroom with a plugin that shows where the focus point was

now heres the actual picture. the gate was more in focus then the face..

if that focus point tool is correct, maybe you do have a back focusing issue? is the tool accurate with the focus point with your other images?

 

[mylesp]

If you look at the hat, it is pretty close to the same plane as the rest of his face, unless you were to focus on the tip of the bill. Thats just how focus planes work.

For this shot, i wouldnt have tried focusing on his eye because I dont see it as a picture of his face. I see it as a picture of the hat.

I think this all kinda comes back to not having a very clear understanding of whats happening when you shoot a photo with shallow depth of field. it will click over time. just keep shooting man.

No doubt. Just trying to understand it all lol. Will be shooting more this weekend

 

[mylesp]

if that focus point tool is correct, maybe you do have a back focusing issue? is the tool accurate with the focus point with your other images?

 

[mylesp]

if that focus point tool is correct, maybe you do have a back focusing issue? is the tool accurate with the focus point with your other images?

Its correct from what i remember. Im not at my computr to be sure but i didnt see a problem with it

 

[jordan novice]

editing video is, i think, orders of magnitude more difficult than editing photos, but youtube is your friend my g! with video you get much more room to tell a story, so it may help you to think what it is you want show?

I guess I want to dive in the creative process. How do you decide on the song? What cuts, and when to cut, and back and forth, etc.

The art of it all I guess. Do you have any youtube videos that'll help showcase that?

Editing video is all about finding your personal editing style IMO. Just watch some of your inspirations and take small cues from each and try to blend them. As you do more videos, you'll find out what you like more.

Will do, videography is so much more time confusing than photography

Two of my homie do wedding videos. Just like wedding photography, it's not really my cup of tea but it's a good business and clients are easy to find.

This is actually my sister's wedding that my friend shot. All by one person and with 2 other cameras on tripods. He's more of a rookie and had some focusing issue but I think considering, it was good.


And this is the better of the two from my other buddy. He's been doing video forever and anyone that is from the Bay Area, he's one of the guys that created 360VM, the import video mag. He uses drone shots and everything looked great! I think he costs upwards to $6K though where as my other friend was about $1-2K.

Awesome to see the difference in production quality.

What I'm most fascinated with is the audio chosen.

Of course the speaking, but the songs they choose to intertwine.

I feel once you choose a song, and begin to edit, you're almost bound to it because you play the emotions of the music.

Almost like you're already invested so you can't change it (of course you can, just that there'll be a lot of time spent to switch it up).

When I watch a lot of videos, I'm always wondering where or how they find these songs or how they decide, 'that's the one'.

I've never even heard 95% of the music I see in videos, not often they use something mainstream.

 

[ronsweedroom]

Any L.A. NTers who do maternity photo shoots in here?

 

[keko jones]

I just read about a dude that I personally never had a chance to meet but wanted to ...

His ig @heavy_minds ... Always thought dude was a little out there like every risk taker that does it for the gram but he paid with his life ... According to report he was trying to surf the F train when he was struck and felt to the tracks. They found him dead at 5:12 am. I don't know if he was trying to take pictures but damn that sucks.

Although his death can't be traced to him taking pictures im sure someone out there will take notice because of his IG and tried to start banning and imposing steep fines and possibly jail .. Could be wrong.