June Picture Thread

[auburntigegal]

That sunset pic is awesome Timmy!!!
We had a great day out yesterday. Lake has warmed up lol!

[Bruizza]

Damn that is some warm water!

[auburntigegal]

She's getting better! Loves the new board. Calls it her trick board

[WakerideN]

That sunset pic is awesome Timmy!!!
We had a great day out yesterday. Lake has warmed up lol!

lake temp 90!! oh that would be nice..

[Bakes5]

Green Laser + Long exposure

[mls6722]

Had a great day on Lake Sammamish with Majestic and Lancehon - I didn't take any photos. Here are some video clips.

First, this is my son's first surf this year. He tries to hook the other camera with the rope. He made a few less successful attempts until Majestic gave him a few pointers and started driving. He's on a Ronix Koal 5.0



Here is My first ride on the new F18.



It was a lot of fun. I really like the new board.

[Timmy!]

Hey Bakes, what camera/lens are you using? Any post processing? Your pics are always so clear and amazing! My brother just picked up a Nikon D7000 and he is wanting to get pics like yours.

[duffymahoney]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ7RvQBIFk0

[konajay]

Hey Bakes, what camera/lens are you using? Any post processing? Your pics are always so clear and amazing! My brother just picked up a Nikon D7000 and he is wanting to get pics like yours.

I was going to ask the same question. Amazing pics, keep them coming!

[Bakes5]

I shoot with a Nikon D700. Love that camera. For lenses I generally shoot with a 70-200VR 2.8 for the action behind the boat. Up close I use the 16mm fisheye or the 24-70 2.8.

Post processing is done in Lightroom. Generally just some cropping and levels, tones, etc. Nothing really involved.

The D7000 is a great camera. Get some quality glass in front of it and it will take great shots. Also, you should avoid ever using the program or auto mode.....you will never learn to make exposure decisions if you let the camera guess what you are trying to do. If I have plenty of light I shoot shutter priority, if light is dwindling then I shoot aperture priority wide open with as high of ISO as I need. If I am pushing the shutter then I almost always shoot wide open at f2.8 for background isolation. If I am handing the camera to one of the kids or someone who probably won't track the rider well then I stop it down a bit to help with the focus. If you have the sun to your back (which should be your goal with most shots) then use center weighted exposure metering. If you are shooting into the sun then spot metering works better. Best shots are going to be near sunrise or sunset. Noontime shots have lots of harsh shadows and generally don't pop as much.

[Bakes5]

Duraflame logs are the bomb for beach camping

[obajoba]

I shoot with a Nikon D700. Love that camera. For lenses I generally shoot with a 70-200VR 2.8 for the action behind the boat. Up close I use the 16mm fisheye or the 24-70 2.8.

Post processing is done in Lightroom. Generally just some cropping and levels, tones, etc. Nothing really involved.

Thanks Bakes! I'm the brother Timmy was referencing. I'm also using LR (v4.1) and doing the same edits, recovering shadows and highlights, nothing major.

I tried a 35mm f/1.4 but the crop factor kills it for me on the D7000 making it not worth the $$$$ and I ended up going back to my stupid 18-105 kit lens. I typically end up shooting around 20mm to 40mm (aberration is horrible at 18mm and wide open @f/3.5 on that lens.) The best shots I got were at ISO800, f/4 and anywhere from 1/2000-1/4000 shutter during the day.

For the sunset shots Timmy posted I was running ISO200, 1/250th and f/4-4.5 with the built in flash cranked down to -3.0 and an EV of +2.0. I think a 17-35mm f/2.8 would allow me to safely drop to ISO400 and get those shutter speeds back up to at least 1/1000. I may just have to pop for the D600 when it launches so I can get into an FX body...

My real question for you is this, what are you using to protect your camera when you're shooting on the boat? And are you just using a lens pen to clear the water spots off?

[Bakes5]

Sweet spot for wakeboarding/slalom is 150-200mm wide open. A great lens for the price is the nikon 70-300 VR2. For wakesurfing I like to go as wide as possible.


I think you can go at least ISO1600 on your D7000 and still be OK in regards to noise but have not used it so don't really know the acceptable limit. I know on the older sensors (D200) that ISO400 was fine and ISO800 was sketchy. The D700 is OK to 3200 and usable, depending on the light, to 6400.

If you are shooting flash you limited by your max synch speed which is 1/250 for the D700 (unless you do a reduced power thingy). I really don't use +/- EV values as it lets the camera make too many decisions and makes it harder for me to just turn a dial and get what I want. Better to use manual mode, take a couple of test shots and adjust fire as needed with shutter, aperture and ISO. Remember, you are shooting yourself in foot using Program, Automatic, Sports, Landscape or any of those built in automatic point and shoot type modes. Better to do a little reading and experimenting and figure out shutter priority, aperture priority and manual modes. They are really pretty simple and really improve your keeper ratio.

Assuming an exposure of ISO200, 1/250 @ F4 you can get an equivalent exposure at ISO800, 1/1000 @ F4 without going to a new lens. If you went to a 2.8 lens then you would be ISO400, 1/1000 @ F4.....still well short of the usable ISO limit on a D7000. Anyways, what I am trying to say is that you are hanging out in the Landscape portraiture side of things at ISO 200. Don't be afraid to bump it up to 1600 when shooting sports in low light.

I don't really get water spots on my camera. If something does get on it I just wipe it off with whatever is dry, reasonably soft and handy.

Also, as a rule of thumb, if you are in fear for your life or your camera equipment you are likely in the right place to get the shot.

[obajoba]

Sweet spot for wakeboarding/slalom is 150-200mm wide open. A great lens for the price is the nikon 70-300 VR2. For wakesurfing I like to go as wide as possible.

Yep, I've got the 55-200 but it's not all that fast either. The 18-105 gets me pretty close for wakesurfing but that 1.5x crop factor is still killing me. I was looking at the Tokina 11-16 for surfing shots which would put me in the 16-24 range at f/2.8 which might be fast enough for twilight without a fill light (hence my reduced power flash and +2.0EV to get my FLR correct.) The programmable U1 and U2 buttons are lifesavers on the D7000, I set it up before hand, save it, and then I can click to U1, pop open the flash, adjust my shutter and aperture and roll. I also keep it set to 1/250th Auto FP which gives me some room to override that shutter speed if need be. Here's one I shot at 18mm, 1/250, F5. and ISO400.

I think you can go at least ISO1600 on your D7000 and still be OK in regards to noise but have not used it so don't really know the acceptable limit. I know on the older sensors (D200) that ISO400 was fine and ISO800 was sketchy. The D700 is OK to 3200 and usable, depending on the light, to 6400.

I guess "usable" is subjective, but I am editing on a 30" monitor (and I am really damn picky) so to me, I start seeing noise from any camera above ISO1600, but nothing a little small diameter sharpening + luminance noise reduction won't clear up. The D7000 will produce decent 30" prints up to 800, and clean 8x10's at 6400 - or so I have read. My shots in the >=800 range are certainly sharper, maybe slightly noisy.

If you are shooting flash you limited by your max synch speed which is 1/250 for the D700 (unless you do a reduced power thingy). I really don't use +/- EV values as it lets the camera make too many decisions and makes it harder for me to just turn a dial and get what I want. Better to use manual mode, take a couple of test shots and adjust fire as needed with shutter, aperture and ISO. Remember, you are shooting yourself in foot using Program, Automatic, Sports, Landscape or any of those built in automatic point and shoot type modes. Better to do a little reading and experimenting and figure out shutter priority, aperture priority and manual modes. They are really pretty simple and really improve your keeper ratio.

I'm not a big fan of chimping while shooting, though I do check on occasion when I first get going, the preview button will fire the flash and let you see the aperture effect through the viewfinder, I use that more frequently as well as try to remember my good old rules for fill light ratios. I think I used the "program modes" for less than 10 exposures when I bought the body a few weeks ago. I'm old school film, this is my first DSLR, but I've shot and developed a few hundred rolls - it's just been about 15 years since I did so. So I am really trying to learn the ropes of shooting in RAW and actually being able to develop the photos. Virtual Copy is a godsend when you're dealing with 40MB RAW files.

Also, as a rule of thumb, if you are in fear for your life or your camera equipment you are likely in the right place to get the shot.

I once flew over the Denver metro area in a cessna with no doors, leaning on the wing support with the seatbelt attached through my belt I'm no stranger to danger, but my N90 was a lot cheaper to replace than the D7000

At any rate, sounds like I am on the right track, just need to shell out some serious beans for some good glass to put in front of the body

[obajoba]

Here's a couple more I took on Friday night (sorry, I was on my buddy's Moomba and the winds were 40mph, hence the non-Tige like wake)