Photography help?

[HDNitehawk]

Thanks heaps for the help everyone, and sorry for such a delayed response, I've been out enjoying taking photos

Another quick question, I've had people say to me my camera is "crop sensor" so it's junk by default and they're telling me to get a full camera... The hell does that mean? I want to do flowers, wildlife and landscape and they've said it's junk for landscape and wildlife... It looks OK so far?

You only have to look at the picture on the right side of the page on this link, a crop sensor only uses the center part of the lens where a full frame uses the whole lens. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_factor

Landscape, yes a full frame camera would do a better job. But a crop sensor is a long way from being junk.

Wildlife, it depends on what full frame body you are comparing. A 7D which is a crop body will rule over a 5D II a FF camera. If you spend $3,000 + US you could get a 5D III and it would rule over the 7D only because of its AF system. Crop bodies are excellent for wildlife, not by any stretch junk.

"The hell does that mean?", it sounds like this kind of statement "my equipment is better than your equipment", or "my house is bigger than your house" or "my car is bigger than your car" and the obvious one "I spent almost $7000 on just my camera and it is better than yours".

[Squidy]

Hi all,

I'm stuck at work so can't reply directly to everyone, but thanks heaps for the extra information. And yeah, it's exactly as I though, the standard "my xylophone is bigger than yours!" thing.

I was just confused because I know what shots I need/want to take, but I'm now being told that I got the wrong camera etc. Mind you, one of these guys spent over $20k on lenses etc and his shots look even worse than mine.

You know what annoys me though? I take photos right, then I edit them a tad (exposure and the like) so I'm not a pro at exposure yet... But the guys and girls giving me sh*t? They'll take a photo "oh, the sky doesn't look good" so they'll remove the sky and photoshop in a sky from another photo... Don't like that telegraph pole? remove it. To me that's not photography. To me photography is capturing a moment in time and getting a result you're happy with, whether it be your child or animals, or a great sunset or a landscape etc. I know some editing has to be done but... removing skies and objects etc? Is that even normal? I read something in a magazine and they were going on about the same concept and... I dunno, I just want to take accurate shots. The closest I ever want to come to "cheating" is maybe trying out an ND filter on a waterfall/fountain or something with a longer exposure.

As far as I see it, if I can do it with my camera, it's photography... The very second I ned to remove skies etc etc... I dunno, it just doesn't feel real?

[HDNitehawk]

I think the moderators may reword your "mine is bigger" statement since it is a family oriented website. But it seems to be the case.

But, your next comments about photo shopping vs do it with the camera fall in the same category as the "mine is bigger" statement. It can be construed as "my way is better than your way". But this is a two edged sword that cuts both ways. There are those that will photoshop any thing that they feel takes away from the photo, there are others that try and get it exactly right at the camera. I see nothing wrong with either method, if it is the style that a person chooses then so be it.

[Squidy]

Beat them to the editing bit

Yeah you're right I guess, I just thought it was odd that people would swap out skies etc. I mean, editing is one thing, but taking a photo and removing half of the photo... I'd call it editing not photography, but I'm a noob in this stuff so *shrug*, whatever gets a good result I guess

[HDNitehawk]

A little perspective on the sky thing. You may have a vision of a certain mountain or place that you want to photograph. But to get that perfect beautifull shot it takes time and dedication to get the right sky for the right picture. There is more to it than just light and hitting it at the right time of day, a landscape filled with basic blue sky above your favorite mountain range can be a beautiful shot but a storm with multiple layers of clouds can make it exceptional. Unfortunately if you are an amateur like many of us, you're favorite subjects are limited to your vacation or time off. You will not have the time to invest to get the perfect sky. You have to be lucky with your limited time to get the sky and light you want. I am sure that many people resort to the option of pasting in a few clouds. Personally I would rather invest the time and do it the old fashion way, but I really do understand the swapping out skies although I never have.

[Squidy]

Yeah, that's a very good point