einsatz

Hmm... neat... I have a 484, and I really wish it had a precision adjustment. But I can't complain - it did fine holding my xsi in portrait for 3 hours while shooting Santa pics.

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

I got the 486 when i just had the d300 and the 18-200 so it was light. Then got the battery grip and 17-55mm 2.8 so it has trouble a bit and when the 70-200 tries to hold it just goes down heh.

Mizouse

man i went to a ton of camera shops in hong kong to find a 24-70 there, none of them had it in stock

Billiam

Couple of NASA pics to demonstrate the sorts of illustrative types of effects you can get with the Topaz Simplify plugin I mentioned a few posts back.









I have a couple of examples of Topaz Adjust using my own photos. The thing is I don't really want to put them on Flickr or Photobucket and using Mobile Me as a regular file-based web hosting service is proving to be an absurdly difficult chore. Or maybe I just need sleep.

Mizouse

interesting.

Mizouse

i think my 40D is acting up.

it was happening a few months back, but it very very randomly did it, but now its doing it more frequently.

sometimes when i take a picture the lag between a full shutter press and the camera actually taking the shot can be very long.

sometimes its brief like half a second and sometimes it can be very long like 5+ seconds long, one time it got so bad i just gave up and said "forget it"

dunno whats causing it. i tried turning off IS and it didnt help, i then tried manual focus and it is still there but the lag seems to be a bit shorter. I thought it might be because I was shooting in low light, but no it seems to do it in daylight as well.
ohh and focus is confirmed because i turned back on the beep and the camera would beep and the focus confirmation light would be constantly on.

ohh and i changed lenses, did it both on my 17-55 and 70-200

I guess I should send it to canon.

Mizouse

everything is just breaking on me

srika

nice effect, makes it look like a painting...

why no post on flickr or photobucket?

srika

whoa... brave lady... you sure you want to step in there?

Mizouse

srika

wndrlst commented on something on my facebook...

Mizouse

Ahh I see.

Billiam

Alright, now that I'm not half asleep, MobileMe works just fine as an image host.

Here are a couple of mine run through Topaz Adjust.










And one more of mine run through Topaz Simplify because I'm a sucker for the painterly look.






So if you have the bug for acquiring any software toys, or putting any on your Christmas list, you could do much worse than these two. Like I said before, they're hugely fun to play with. And if you're looking to do that "edgy" super contrasty, super texturized, desaturated portrait look, Topaz Adjust will definitely do it for you. I just don't have any people pics to demo that with. Well...people pics I can post here.

Mizouse

pm please

Billiam

Check your archives. I'm almost certain I sent you some a while back the last time I mentioned them. Besides, the subject matters at hand, while being sans clothes, generally rank about a 6-7.

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

new toy =)
strobist info

sb800 snooted camera left
into laundry hamper

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcrazyaznl/4188836987/" title="SB-900 more light? by lcrazyaznl, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4188836987_f752f0bdcf.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="SB-900 more light?" /></a>

any you guys use viveza with lighroom its a nik software i fell in love with the layers

Mizouse

hm... time to do some digging around.

stogie1020

Hey AWESOME! That's your shot!

Did you think about standing there and offering to sign them for people?

einsatz

Great shot at B&N. I'd be giddy

jupitersolo

I've been using it within Photoshop for about six months. The newest version is due out this month, I will be getting it.


BTW, that's a SB900...

Billiam

I've been using it for quite a while. I really like Nik's "U Point" selection technology. That said, I really wish there was a "selection sensitivity" adjustment or slider so that you have some control over what the adjustment points are selecting. As it is now, you just place the selection points and they select whatever they select. It almost never does a bad job, but when I look at the selection masks the adjustment points are using I often wish I could contract or pull in the selection a bit from the surrounding areas.

jupitersolo

U Point does have a slider for selection area

Billiam

Yeah, I know about the selection area circle. It's the "bleed-over" of the selection that I wish you could control. I'll see if I can grab a screenshot or two of what I'm talking about.

wndrlst

No collateral damage, so far...

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

i know it is i used an sb800 to light it up with a snoot =P

darn viveza 2 is coming out already haha.. maybe i sholdnt have got the first one

jupitersolo

I know...


Check niks website, depending as to when you bought the first one, you'll get 2 free or at a good discount.

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

Sweet, thanks jup for the info.

kcroberge

Billiam - Do you have a link to the Topaz Labs software? How much does it cost?

jupitersolo

http://www.topazlabs.com/

use the name tonysweet and get 10% off

Billiam

Topaz also offers a 25% discount for NAPP members if you happen to belong. Of course, I totally forgot to check before I purchased mine.

badboy

Guys, what type of CF cards to you use for your canons?

The sandisk extreme pro is way too expensive.

jupitersolo

You can look at Sandisk Extremes or Transcend

LKLD

Billiam, maybe you can answer this question. Why is it that you can't see any stars in photos/videos in spacewalks etc.. It would seem that you would see billions of them, but the backgrounds are always pitch black.

Mizouse

IIRC, it has to do with the aperture used during the photo. i remember vaguely reading about it in a thread about the moon landings and how some people think they are fake.

JLatimer

^^^ I dunno, but my guess would be DOF. They are there they are just out of focus...

Mizouse

plus the brightness of the stars,
usually they are metering the planet or a person which is much brighter than the stars.

i think

dan is here so he would explain better.

JLatimer

I added a lens to my arsenal... Just an EF 28-105 3.5-5.6 IS. I picked it up used for $200 off kijiji. I know it isn't a great lens, but an L lens is so far away from affordable for me right now. I wanted the range, and the IS so it will have to do. It will at least cure the itch for new gear for a little while.

Billiam

Simple exposure really. Stars aren't very bright. Think about it this way. If you're trying to shoot under streetlights you're going to need significantly longer exposures or higher ISOs than if you're shooting under daylight right? Now think about how the stars are washed out from your view even under streetlights. When you see pictures of astronauts on spacewalks or of the Shuttle or Station, those objects are in direct Sunlight and hence the equivalent of daylight exposures.

srika

heh just saw this - it was the day of the release and so they had a release party at that store - I signed (what seemed like) over 100 books, felt weird at first but then I just kept doing it and it got kind of monotonous lol.

here's a picture someone took -
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs116...._3571197_n.jpg

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2774/4191578671_d3c9a48b0f.jpg" alt="Single drop of destruction" width="332" height="500"></a><br><br>single drop of destruction<br>

red matter anyone?

playing with some drops =)

strobist info
Sb900 open reflective snoot camera right
sb800 bare against bowl camera left

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