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As I understand its cold in the north these days, I thought I would warm you up with some summer shots from down under.
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...3_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...6_edited-2.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...7_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...9_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...8_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...3_edited-1.jpg
I have never seen so many kites. It seems like you guys down there know how enjoy the water.
Conropl. Well this is something Australians are famous for but in this case its a bit complicated. When the wind is coming from the right direction. In this part of the bay the waters are sheltered, even in high winds, so it tends to be a popular place for Kitesurfing. Some of the more experienced Kitesurfer's take on the big waves but its very difficult to shoot unless you are on a boat.
Equipment Canon 7D, EF 70-300L (EXIF data included in each image)
Something I should say is that only the first 2 images are cropped, the others are as shot.
In the first image, unfortunately the clouds (grey sky) make the image look flat. If I were better at PP I could change it but I want to improve my shooting.
The second image (three in a row) is my favourite even though it looks a bit soft. Still don't understand why my images loose their crispness when converted to JPEG.
Tara - Cool shots. Definitely different from my part of the world right now. All those kites in the air make me wonder --- is there some kind of protocol that surfers follow, to avoid getting too close and having their kites get tangled up? Who has the right of way?
I like your second shot, but I agree that there is a bit of softness to it that doesn't seem to make sense. You obviously had a fast shutter speed, and the focal plane appears to straddle the first surfer evenly. If the raw file is sharper then at least you know the camera or lens aren't to blame.
@jonathan. Sorry, I don't know the rule of Kitesurfing, as I have never done it. My RAW to JPEG problem is definitely nothing to do with the equipment, it is either what I use or how I PP my images.
PS: This is the first time I have ever been mistaken for a Super Model;). Do any Super Models have beards?
http://www.bestcelebwallpapers.com/w...1910-tara-moss
That made me smile Tara:o I guess you can use google to find the answer on your question...Quote:
Originally Posted by Raid
Great set by the way. I love to watch it, that's quite different than the ice-skating that's going on at the waters here...well was, because everything is melting again after 3 weeks of heavy frost:(
Well our third heat wave for the summer has just ended, hopefully that will be all for this year. I was starting to melt with night time minimum temperatures 31oC (88oF). As you guys have been having cool times I thought I would warm you up.
So with a clear blue sky I took a trip down to the beach to see what was happening, the strong cool southerly had the Kites out in force and close to the shore.
I do find it interesting that the ladies are always smiling and as soon as they see the camera (or could be my face) they move away. The blokes on the other hand, always have their race face on and as soon as they see the camera, it's move in close and put on show (even if they come unstuck).
This is the first time I have been able to shoot sports since I installed Firmware V2.0.3 in my 7D. I'm very surprised by how much its improved the cameras speed and accuracy in AF Servo.
EXIF & Geo included
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...8_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...9_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...3_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...5_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...5_edited-2.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...6_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...0_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...6_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...8_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...5_edited-1.jpg
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...0_edited-1.jpg
But of course they do!Quote:
Originally Posted by Raid
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3817/1...83bdec21_c.jpg
Self-Portrait Using DSLR Controller by budrowilson, on Flickr
;-)
Have been very disappointed with what I post, of the pictures above the only one I like is the babe (no not you Sean) on the beach. The images above don't look much like what I see in PSE when viewing or printing from RAW. When I convert them to JPG they loose their sharpness even when I export to 1280 x 960 and they also loose their colour.
While I have Lightroom (3.5), I don't like it much because it doesn't allow you to do a lot of editing. The catalogue facility in LR is poor, as I'm a nerd I like to have things organised so that I can find them again.
I decided to take the worst looking image import it into LR and see what you get
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...edited-1LR.jpg
While I have lost some detail its still looks a lot better. Can anybody recommend JPG export setting for PSE or LR to get the best look?
Raid...I feel your pain; this happens to some of my shots (Flickr) also. Sorry, I don't have an answer for you. But I would recommend upgrading to LR5....I currently use LR4 and just recently had a chance to use LR5 (in conjunction w/CS3), IMO, a big improvement and I like LR4.
Also, I, at the moment (soon to upgrade to 5DMK3), shoot w/the 7D, 500 f4, 70-200 IS f2.8 v2, 17-55 IS f2.8.
Concerning the weather....it's currently 0* F w/a high expected in the low 20's w/another snow storm due Thursday...8 to 12" in my area.
Some good action pix here, but my favorite is the sunbather....very nice IQ. Were all your shots taken from the beach?
Bottle some of your heat and send it our way...PLEASE.
Regards,
Bill
Hi Raid....first of all, I enjoyed the set.
Regarding your concerns, others here have a better eye than I do for processing. The things I typically look for are pretty good in your shots. I can see a bit of noise in a few, but you seemed to have been able to correct that in the shot where it was most significant. While I agree with Bill, you may want to consider upgrading to LR5, overall your RAW-JPG converter seems to be ok to me.
But two comments that may or may not be related to your concerns
- From the lighting I am guessing these were taken ~1-2 hrs before or after noon. Working in that lighting can be tough. While the "magic hour" gets a lot of attention, some of my favorite lighting are actually from 2-3 hrs before sunset or after sunrise or on cloudy days. I am often disappointed when I think I have an amazing shot taken from around noon on a bright sunny day. So much contrast, so much DR, they often don't work out well.
- As you mentioned sharpness, you may want to check the AFMA on your lens combo. I could be wrong, but I assume you were focusing on the faces. If so, there could be a slight back focusing issue as it looks to me that 3-4 of the shots the bodies are sharper than the subject's face.
As I said, I enjoyed the set and if nothing else, enjoy the heat. Bill and I live about 30 minutes apart, so we are both in for the same 8-12 inches of snow and -4 F (-20 C) temps tonight.
Thanks,
Brant
The problem with shooting Kites is that they only appear in a location when the wind is in the right direction. They were taken from about 3:30PM (daylight saving time) so the afternoon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill W
The first 6 shots were taken from an old ramp just off the beach. (Yellow Dot) so I'm north west of the kites. All the remaining action shots are taken from the pier.
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/.../Shottrack.jpg
The Babe shot I one that I'm very happy with. With a very crowded beach (hence the strange crop) I could just see her skin glow a lovely golden colour in the afternoon sun. This would have been better done as part of a staged shoot, but I'm not that good.
Well Adobe is not the most popular company in Aus. at present. They have been riping us off for many years charging us 2-3 times the US price, for a download copy! The current normal price in Aus. is around $200, and this is after Adobe have been publicly shamed for the rip-off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kayaker72
I will look at LR5 can give me.
I have checked the body lens combo and it looks fine on LensAlign. At the speeds the kites travel, the high winds buffeting me and the distance to the kite, I was lucky that the AF tracked so well. I was just hoping that the AF points would stay on the target, was not trying for the face.Quote:
As you mentioned sharpness, you may want to check the AFMA on your lens combo. I could be wrong, but I assume you were focusing on the faces. If so, there could be a slight back focusing issue as it looks to me that 3-4 of the shots the bodies are sharper than the subject's face.
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...5_edited-2.jpg
To give you an idea on just how windy is was the Kite surfer behind is not underwater!
Yikes....adobe does sound expensive. Is the "Creative Cloud" option available in Australia? I just checked and they have an option to pay for it in Australian dollars, so I assume it may be available. I'll likely be making the jump to this soon. Right now I have LR 4. There are a feature or two in LR 5 that I would like, but primarily, I don't want to be left behind in improvements in the RAW to jpg converters. Plus I should learn to post-process better and move up from elements.
God bless Australia. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Raid
Overall though, fantastic shots, I would love to give something like that a try.
Creative Cloud is available for $50 per month but its currently on sale for $15. I have been waiting for the experts here to say if its worth the money before I even consider this as an option. From what I've been reading nobody is very enthusiastic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kayaker72
At a time when everybody is out shopping for last minute gifts, there are many who have their priorities correct.
EF 70-300L, ISO 125, 70mm, 1/2000 & f4.5
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...edited-1-1.jpg
EF 70-300L, ISO 125, 70mm, 1/2000 & f4.0
http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...edited-1-1.jpg
I really like both shots.