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Comments & Questions
37 Responses to “Comments & Questions”
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Hello John,
came across your site and the information given on infrared photography was really useful.
Thanks
Glad you liked it
hi just stumbled upon your website you have some nice stuff i like your lightning shots have been trying this out myself everytime theres a storm was going to say how some of yours might look even better if you stack a couple together to fill the frame a bit more and to add some more excitement they loook great though well done.
Seb
Thanks S Stevens
They might look better to some eyes with your method but I try to stick to getting the photo in the camera instead of editing/manipulating later in software
Hi John,
Just found your site, very informative and written in plain english which is refreshing to see. (excuse me if this has been asked before) I’ve just aquired a 2x extender and want to use it with my canon 100 – 400mm lens, any tips on this combination? also, what do you concider to be the best software for displaying photos on a computer screen
Thanks Chris, glad you liked my site
I personally found when using the 2x with my 100-400 a tripod really makes all the difference. The converter makes your largest aperture f/11 which ain’t that large.
As to your other question for software to display on computer screen. As long as the photo is jpeg and sRGB then there isn’t vast differences in views. I personally found IrfanView to be an excellent software for displays etc… It has a good slideshow view and a whole lot of other little tweaks.
Thanks for that john, im trying to take some photos of my son playing cricket but at f11 and some distance i dont think i’ll have much luck.
thanks again
chris
Chris you can always crop… It really depends on final print size.
There seems to be never enough telephoto length
hi John,
I’m planning to buy 28-105 usm2 lens and I see You use it on 5d.
Could You share with me Your coclusions from using it? or You could send me maybe any full size pictures to see how it copes with Full Frame 5d ?
Thanks!
charles
Hi Charles,
The 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 lens is good for its low cost on my 5D.
Not as sharp as a prime or L zoom and color accuracy seems
to lean a bit on the warmer side. What I really loved about it
besides its low cost is its small size, it also gave ok Infrared results.
It also doesn’t show any vignetting at any aperture on my old 5D.
Here is a link to many photos taken with that lens.
White Store Falls.
John:
Did you need permission to photograph these waterfalls?
Thanks.
I believe it is on private land and there were no trespassing signs at the time of the photo. If you plan to use the photo for commercial purposes then I believe you will need permission from the land owner which might be Bill Comings, as per this article which was published in the local paper The Evening Sun
Hi John,
I have been looking at your image “Wharton Creek 1″, I think it is a great image, I would be interested to know how you handled the metering as there are three different layers of light, forground water, waterfall in the middle and the trees at the top, easy enough if taken in RAW, and corrected on photoshop, but I know you shoot 99% jpeg and get it right in the camera ( which is what I am trying to get my head round), I would love to be able to get the same effect digitally as I used to get when using EBX100 film, your advice would be greatly appreciateed,……Mick.
First thanks Mick, glad you enjoyed the photo Wharton Creek 1.
For me I usually try to find the mid toned section of the photo (the spot closest to 18% gray) like the darker closer to gray areas of the falls, another way is I meter off the white area of the falls and then set the camera 2 stops lower then what it suggested. Luckily with spot metering you can get a lot more specific on the camera meters from. Of course unlike film thankfully if your settings are too high or two low you can just adjust and retake without wasting film
Thanks for the info John,
If metering off the brightest area of the image, then setting the exposure 2 stops lower, would you bring back the detail of the darker area`s with imaging software,and is it as easy to do this with a jpeg as it is with RAW?
p.s. Hope I`m not boring you
Mick, going back to the Wharton Creek photo, there was no need to use software other then to re-size, frame and sharpen for web display. Nothing was needed for the 11 x 14″ print either. However if you have a photo that needs dark areas lightened up a jpeg or raw file (more with a raw file) can have darker areas get more lighter via software with either levels or curve color adjustments. Hope that helps
g’day mate cool site your the only one i’ve seen that gives the setting for each shot, cheers for that it helps with my learning.
question i’m running a cannon 5d mk2 with an r72 filter and am not achieving what you’ve got. i’ve set the custom white balance and exposure for up to 240 seconds. the effect is red with dark leaves. if i shoot in b/w the shots are poor to under average, yes i’m shooting raw. HELP i want to master this effect.
rob,
Correctly setting custom white balance sounds like it could be part of the problem. A common technique is to look for green ex. grass to set the custom white balance on (in camera).
I suggest you keep trying to get the effects you want to achieve, don’t give up!
what sort of attachments would you recommend to use to support the flash units – it would have to move with the lens when it extends while focussing
greg,
For what type of photography?
I tried the Grip-It flash bracket for macro photography,
but I wasn’t happy with it. It had trouble holding the
weight of the flash. So I now hand hold, tripod mount
or if 1:1 or less hot shoe mount.
Hey John,
The bird here is a female Black-throated Blue Warbler:
http://johnbdigital.com/wildlife/bird_in_tree.htm
Bob,
I had a feeling it was a Warbler,
Thank you.
but the field guide I have (an old beginner’s guide) only
had Yellow Warblers. Time to upgrade
Searching for a way to take multiple exposure in one frame, I found your site – what a visual treat! Thanks for the detailed explination of your photo “Hot Apple”; Looking forward to trying it with my Canon XSi.
Jo Ann,
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it
Double exposures take time and effort but can give unique results
Excellent photos, I would like to know what lighting setup is used in your extreme macro photos. ie do you use a ring flash 14ex or a 24 twin flash or just the 580ex, Im tossing up whether to buy a dedicated flash setup or use my 580ex
thanks from greg
Greg,
Thanks and I am glad you enjoyed my photos
As to your question I mostly use my 580ex, when I am doing magnification of higher then 1:1 then an off shoe cable for the flash is needed. I personally haven’t found a need for a 14 ring or 24 twin especially when you figure the flash can cost more then the macro lens
Your site is such a great help to me. Thanks
I would like to ask about IR photography. I am new to it, and am so impressed by the images it captures. I want to make sure I will do the correct things at the start.
I have a Canon 5D Mark II, and a couple of lenses.
Is it correct that
1. …all I need is an IR filter for the lens?
2. …the length of time for the image capture is extended to the number of stops the filter poses on the lens? (This of course will require a tripod mount for the photograph).
3. Is there a preferred IR filter to use? I believe you use a R72 IR filter
I hope you do not mind all these, and I may have more. Your site is really great for me. Thanks for setting it up and making it available
.
Doug
Doug,
Glad you enjoyed it
As to your IR questions:
1… Yes you can get by with just an IR filter
2… IR photos with an IR filter on an unmodified camera can be exposures of a couple to 60+ seconds, so a tripod is required. This is partially because the CMOS sensors have a built in filter to try to not let IR light affect exposures and metering. As for metering the exposure, I found I can’t rely on the meter as guessing works better.
3… I recommend the R72 as I have gotten great results with it. The R72 blocks visible light from entering the sensor except from 720nm (the beginning of IR light) and higher. There are other brands of filters that block the light at different levels for different prices, but I have stuck the R72 as it works good enough for me
Keep in mind because of the long exposure many lenses do not work well for IR photos. Ex. a Canon 100mm f/2.8 or Canon 50mm f/1.4 lenses when used for IR photos on an unconverted sensor will give a purplish circle blowout in the center of the IR photo. However a Canon 28-105 f/3.5-4.5, 17-40 f/4L and 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L work great for IR photos.
John
Thanks again.
I will look into getting the R72 filter. I would use it with the Canon 28-105 f/3.5-4.5, so I should have luck.
So if I have it right, guessing an exposure time of >60 sec should be good (+ tripod).
Thanks for all the help and the pictures on your site are really nice.
Doug
John
I have been looking at filters. I saw the Hoya and B+W. THe B+W is a lower price than the Hoya, and both are above $150. Do you have an opinion on which of these would be best for the Canon 5D mark II with the Canon 28-105 f/3.5-4.5 lens? I generally have only used B+W filters, but the Hoya has my attention since it seems that the street price is even higher than the B+W.
Any help would be seriously appreciated.
Thanks
Doug
John
Here are 2 links re: the IR filters.
Thanks
Doug
B+W: http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecommerce/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?CID=677&IID=3280
Hoya: http://www.hoyafilter.com/products/hoya/oef-15.html
Doug,
Well just like photography with the light we can see, there is no correct answer for all IR photos…. Many things affect exposure time ex. aperture, ISO etc…..
Here are some examples:
IR Rose & Weeds a 0.8 sec exposure
IR Tree & Sky a 1 sec exposure
IR Rose a 4 sec exposure
Pixley Falls in IR a 25 sec exposure
I use B+W filters for my lenses, however I have always used the Hoya R72 for IR photography and have been happy enough to not upgrade. So my suggestion can only go with what I have been happy with, the Hoya R72 IR filter
I suggest you shop around, if you intend on using in the future with a lens with 77mm filter size then get a 77mm IR filter with a 58mm to 77mm adapter ring. This way you can use a 77mm IR filter on any lens 58mm or 77mm
John
Thanks. Very sound advice, and I am happy to take it.
Cheers
Doug
Thanks for the reply!, anyway, im trying to shoot a photo in a daytime but the shot was overexposed
Danilo,
Still need more info, or a link to the photo with the Exif data (camera settings).
Otherwise I just have to guess….
what is the best combination of shutter speed & aperture during daytime & night time?
Danilo,
There are many things to affect the exposure, ex. amount of light, type of subject, is subject in motion, direction of motion, how much you want in focus (depth of field), focal length of lens, ISO of sensor and is flash used. So there really isn’t a best combination.
Give more info on the situation and it may be a little easier
to give a more helpful answer.