Photography Nuts & Bolts

[Stanley]

Here's a telling pic. A Nikkormat with a long lens and the new Canon. I kept two bodies, a Nikkor and Nikkormat, possibly the best high end amateur cameras ever made. I preferred the Nikon F when I was snapping seriously but these are the two bodies I kept.....

[Big Kev]

I've noticed a few articles recently covering something called "back button focusing". A lot of wild claims around sharper images...

Bottom line is you assign a different button, other than the shutter, to control the auto focus. I've had a play and will let you know how I get on.

[Stanley]

[Big Kev]

I've noticed a few articles recently covering something called "back button focusing". A lot of wild claims around sharper images...

Bottom line is you assign a different button, other than the shutter, to control the auto focus. I've had a play and will let you know how I get on.

Didn't do it for me, I can see it would benefit sports or wildlife photography but the majority of what I do is studio based. I've reassigned focussing to the shutter button, nothing moves around much or very quickly for it to be of benefit

[Stanley]

I'm a point and shoot man these days Kev..... I can remember the days when the keen amateurs were arguing about film grain size.....

[Big Kev]

I'm a point and shoot man these days Kev..... I can remember the days when the keen amateurs were arguing about film grain size.....

That was a common discussion for me too over a pint of beer. I remember experimenting with Kodak Ektar, a 1000ASA film, back in the 1980s. Got some cracking 'arty' portraits when printed onto Ilford Gallerie.

[Tizer]

My subjects don't move about much either - with geology as a hobby things move a few centimetres a year! Unless they are volcanic or earthquakes and we don't get much of those here.

[Big Kev]

Got some new toys at the weekend, I don't know how I've managed without these Posing Tubs

[Tizer]

Graduated from beer crates then, eh?

[Big Kev]

Graduated from beer crates then, eh?

Beer crates and a blanket box

[Stanley]

Using a dog worked and didn't cost anything...... Warley Wise a long long time ago! (1957)

[Marilyn]

Are they your "babies"?
I remember those stout slippers with the zip. Very warm and practical. (Proper slippers they were)

[Big Kev]

Using a dog worked and didn't cost anything...... Warley Wise a long long time ago! (1957)

Zero cost is always a bonus but a dog would probably get a bit upset in the cupboard when I wasn't using it

[Big Kev]

Take no notice of the price of the posing tubs in my link, I didn't pay anywhere near that for them...

[Stanley]

Maz, no, they were two daughters of a farmer I used to deliver groceries to each week......

[Big Kev]

As well as sitting on them, the posing tubs come in handy for containing small boys who insist on trying to climb up your cloth background...

[Stanley]

I would say he's working out his escape strategy......

[Tizer]

Kids are great for photographs, aren't they! This is Mrs Tiz's nephew's daughter at Halloween. The photo won her mum a prize from a retailer for a best entry in their competition.

[Big Kev]

Notoriously difficult subjects but usually good fun. As long as you end up with the 'money shot' it's worth it.

[Stanley]

I'm a sucker for kids...... I still remember that laughing baby advert for baby food......

[Big Kev]

The lighting boom arms have been reinstated in the studio which has freed up a fair bit of floor space, need to make a custom background support pole now to fit up into the ridge space. Current set up with the straight pole limits me to sitting poses only.

[Tizer]

I've a question for you, Kev. Whatever camera I use I often find that photos of `vegetation' such as a garden or landscape end up with that vegetation looking less crisp than I expect. It's as if the camera gets confused by all the leaves! Is this a known issue? I can get absolutely crisp pics of individual plants but if I photograph a tree and then zoom in on the pic the leaves are not well-defined. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from the camera and the auto focusing can't handle leafy trees?

[Big Kev]

I've a question for you, Kev. Whatever camera I use I often find that photos of `vegetation' such as a garden or landscape end up with that vegetation looking less crisp than I expect. It's as if the camera gets confused by all the leaves! Is this a known issue? I can get absolutely crisp pics of individual plants but if I photograph a tree and then zoom in on the pic the leaves are not well-defined. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from the camera and the auto focusing can't handle leafy trees?

It'll just be image resolution, your individual plant pic for example on an aps-c sensor would be 6000 x 4000 pixels (24mp), lots of detail hence the sharp image. With the wider shot you would need to zoom into the image to see the details, let's say 10% of the wider image and you'd only be looking at 600 x 400 pixels. Viewing this on the same screen as your 6000 x 4000 pixel image will give a softer image. I trust I've understood your queztion correctly?

[Tizer]

Yes, Kev, thanks. I'm probably expecting too much from cameras! In these days of high megapixel sensors it's too easy to forget some of the fundamental factors controlling resolution.

[Big Kev]

If you have the option to shoot RAW images you'll keep a lot more information. If you shoot jpeg in the camera it'll make a good job of processing the image as is but will discard a lot of data which will limit the ability to enlarge without a lot of degradation.