The official "Put up or shut up" thread

inTempus · Oct 19, 2009

Hehe, thanks for stopping by.

So...

How many threads have we had to endure where we hear two or three different parties go back and forth about how great one body/lens/combo is so much better than the other? How many times have we been told the one brand can't compete with another brand?

How many times have you wanted to see the work of someone who is adamant that their manufacturer of choice produces far better hardware than yours?

We all know it's not the .7th of a point better DXO rating that makes a good image, right? It's the photographer!

How many of us believe, as I do, that Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus, Pextax, etc. all make modern and highly capable bodies and all these minute details and bickering about DXO this and DPReview that means so little in the grand scheme of things?

Here's your chance people. Don't tell us how good your hardware is, let's see some recent shots of your work. Tell us about the body, the lens, the settings, conditions, etc. Pic something that showcases great color, sharp focus, great contrast.

This is a photography forum, right? Let's see'em!

Here are a couple of shots I've taken over the course of the last two weekends.

This one I took on Sunday of this week.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: 17-40 f/4L
ISO: 100
Av: f/4
Tv: 1/1000
Flash: Canon 580EXII
Conditions: Sunny Sunday afternoon with partial cloud cover. Great day over all. The flash was handheld and camera left, pointing down toward the leaf.

This one I took two weekends ago at a festival:

Camera: Canon 1D Mark III
Lens: 70-200 f/2.8L IS
ISO: 400
Av: f/5
Tv: 1/160
Flash: None
Conditions: Overcast day, the subject was under a structure out of direct sunlight. The subject was also surrounded by lots of people. I shot through two people standing on either side of me.

Those are the two most recent I have in my online port. So lets see your most recent shots. Let's hear what lens, body, setttings, etc. were used.

Disclaimer:
This thread isn't intended for anyone in particular and isn't intended to call anyone out. It's meant to be a good spirited thread to showcase your handiwork using your tools of choice. Let's keep it good natured!

:thumbup:

Rekd · Oct 19, 2009

:clapping:

Both great shots, (love the border too). Great point as well!

ErectedGryphon · Oct 19, 2009

I'll play,

Many years ago when i was trekking through the Serengeti, I came upon this tiger and tigress, they were starring me down like I was their afternoon snack...

Oh, wait, sorry, this was in my kitchen ten minutes ago, and they wanted their cookies!

Camera: Canon 5D
Lens: 70-200 f/2.8L USM
ISO: 50
Av: f/2.8 @ 200mm
Tv: 1/125
Flash: Canon 580EX
Conditions: In doors, kitchen light on, bounce flash, kitty wanted cookie.

Camera: Canon 5D
Lens: 70-200 f/2.8L USM
ISO: 50
Av: f/2.8 @ 200mm
Tv: 1/125
Flash: Canon 580EX
Conditions: In doors, kitchen light on, bounce flash, kitty wanted cookie.

Post Processing on these with Adobe Lightroom 2.5; Cropped, Slightly Sharpend, and Slightly Detailed.

My second post this thread.

Derrel · Oct 20, 2009

Here you go Tim, this one's for you and MusicAle.
I have 3,108 images on pBase. I spent about 20 minutes cruising through my pages to pick some representative samples, shot with several different cameras, and with lenses made between 1967 and 2008. Some of these were made with manual focus lenses, some with AF. Most have had almost no Photoshop adjustments. Since Tim mentioned "recent" photos, I figured that since I began photography in 1973, and he began shooting about a year ago, that I would consider "recent" to be only the last five or six years, out of my 36 years behind the camera.

I don't claim to be a great photographer, but I am a decent technician, and I have a very firm understanding of fill-flash, depth of field, focusing, studio flash, and the ability to get images that look right pretty much right off the CF card. I worked as a full-time professional portrait photographer about 20 years ago now, making my entire living from that for almost two years, as well as having shot a number of small-product photos for advertisements in national fishing magazines. I don't do "watermarks" on my images, and I have just under a million pBase page views from a site that I do not advertise or hype in any way. In 2005- 2007, I did a stint as a sports photographer for two area newspapers, shooting two to four assignments per week on prep and small-college sports.

Here's a sample of the types of photographic situations that I know how to handle,without effing up anything, or asking for advice from anybody else,or needing serious post work to rescue from the rubbish bin. I also have another 3,092 pictures on-line for people to make a judgement about my technical abilities and my photographic knowledge. Unlike some people, I have not been doing this "for a year", or "for six months", as two VERY prominent posters (both Canon users BTW) here have told me they've been involved in photography. I was 10 years old when I taught myself 35mm asjustable camra photogaphy

DSCF0306_1_CrocusBibble.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Macro shot of blooming crocus, using a single flash and mini-softbox, Tamron 90mm macro lens set to f/4.8 at ISO 100, using a Photoflex 6x6 inch mini-softbox held in my hand and hooked to camera with SC-17 remote cord. Automatically generated proof-no Photoshop needed. Feb 15,2005. Simulated sunlight on a cloudy,stormy day.

DSC_8386_web.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Football, running back, manual focus lens,1982-made 400mm f/3.5 ED lens on 2.7 MP Nikon D1. October, 2004. First football game I had shot in over 15 years. Check the gallery to see my manual focusing ability at 400mm.

early 1990's Chic Hairstyle.JPG photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Glamour headshot for on-site hair salon, shot in a 10x12 foot cubicle on FF 35mm. Speedotron studio light in cramped area. Shot in 1991. My on-location electronic flash lighting skills back when I was in my 20's. This photo still gets a lot of hits every day...odd.

IMG_1543_100 watt-second main.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Garage studio portrait, done with one softbox, two lights and a single reflector using two 20-year old Speedotron lights and a power pack I bought in 1987,when I was in college. EOS 5D at ISO 100. October 2007.

_DSC4648_Justin_sRGB.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Straight out of camera,demonstrating how to turn a gray background paper pure white, while also using a grid-equipped 11.5 inch reflector + diffuser+barndoors to produce a very subtle highlight on hair,eyebrow, and hands of subject who was a 13 year old boy allowed to just goof off in front of the camera. This is a four-light setup with MOST of the watt-seconds directed at the gray seamless paper to bring it up to white, and significantly less light on the subject in a technique known as key-shifting. This was shot with the Nikon D2x and 70-200 VR at 82mm, using the D2x with a very steep, custom tone curve loaded into the camera, which requires me to under-expose the image by 1.7 stops, but which will give the absolute maximum tonal range from highlights to shadow without the need for any post-procesing at all. The custom tone curves ar eloaded into the camera using Nikon Capture software with the camera connected directly to the computer, and the curves must be loaded before the shoot. Summer 2006, temporary studio set-up.
IMG_4012_Jenni_CROP_1600_BW_V1.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com

One-umbrella portrait done on my very first test session with a Speedotron D402 power pack and a D90 light head, both models of which I had received from eBay the day before,and had never used before used in my life. EOS 5D with 70-200 f/2.8 L-IS at f/7.1. Note the detail in the shot; look at the pores on her face--there has been no skin softening and no retouching on this, just a simple B&W conversion.

_DSC7059_Caitlin_1000.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Senior portrait shot using a a 20-year old Vivitar 285 flash unit held in my left hand and connected to the camera with an old Nikon SC-17 remote cord. Camera set to its lowest ISO setting of 200, and shutter at maximum synch speed of 1/250 second with Nikon D2x, using a 200mm f/2 VR lens set to f/4.5 to create a light,ethereal, late afternoon sunlight effect. If I would have owned a D40 body, I would have used it, and would have set the flash synch speed to around 1/800 using a "dumb" cord. Manual flash determination.

DSCF2316_morning dew.JPG photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Ultra-closeup of rose leaves and morning dew. Fuji S2 Pro camera, Nikkor 45mm-P Nikkor lens and Kenko 20mm extension tube. Shot at f/6.7 at 1/90 second to minimize chance of mirror vibration, which begins in the S2 Pro at around 1/60 second.

_MG_5372_5D_135Tak at f5.6.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Asahi Optical Company Super-Takumar (aka Pentax, vintage 1965) 135mm f/3.5 lens shot on EOS 5D at f/5.6 at 1/320 second, to check lens bokeh and center to edge performance. Looks awesome seen full-sized. A great old lens on Canon's fabulous 5D sensor.

_DSC3718_BEST_704.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Girl's soccer, published newspaper shot. Late afternoon. First soccer game I ever photographed.

DSC_4897_D70web.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Girl's soccer, header, October 2005. 300mm f/2.8 AF-S Mark II on slow-focusing Nikon D70, which shoots pictures 1/3 second apart; either you get "it" or you miss "it" with the D70. A professional AF-S supertele on the D70 gives fast focus on the center AF bracket, but with the D70's slow frame rate, you get no second chances, which is not true with a fast camera like the D2x in High Speed Crop at 8.2 fps.

_DSC0173_sRGBb.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Pole vault shot done with D2x at 200mm but in High Speed Crop or 2.0x crop mode, the very first afternoon I bought the camera. 70-200VR lens, 1/5000 second at f/6.3 at ISO 640.

DSC_1265_725x.JPG photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Butterfly shot showing value of the Nikon D70's 1/500 top flash synch speed for shoe-mounted flash. Test session from first week I owned the D70. Has extensive caption explaining synchro-sunlight with a camera that can shoot flash at 1/500 in daylight during the summer.

R59-15A-Dana_Tri X1986.JPG photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Black and white, implied nudity. Nikon F Photomic FTn prism, Tri-X film, 1965 vintage 35mm f/2 O.C. Nikkor. Grainy, full-frame negative developed in Rodinol. Exposure around 1/15second at f/4. I was around 22 years old when I took this shot, and the camera was made in 1968.

DSCF5436_whimsical glassLg.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Whimsical glass. Straight out of camera image shot with a35mm f/2 AiS lens, bought in 1986, photo shot in March,2003 with Fuji S2 Pro d-slr. This was shot as a computer desktop photo.

_DSC0051_ccPROOF.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Use of tungsten white balance to render Christmas lights the right color. Use of 200mm f/2 VR lens to render ROUND out of focus highlights" test shots done on Canon 5D with Canon 70-200 f/2.8L-IS lens had horrible, football-shaped ellipsoidal highlights; the 200VR Nikkor renders out of focus highlights almost perfectly. One small umbrella with Nikon speedlight gelled with TN-A1 tungsten-balanceing gel, with flash tripped with pocket wizard. Ambient light exposure on background lights was stabilized by Vibration Reduction lens, and 1/30 second hand-held exposure was rock-steady on background lights.

_DSC3334_135DC-f3.2-7-46PM.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
My son on our back patio. Nikon D2x, Nikon 135mm f/2 AF Defocus Lens, 1993 lens, camera bought in 2005. Shows f/3.2 DOF of 135mm prime lens used at close range on DX sensor.

DSCF0268_Feb15_shower.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
Fuji S2 Pro camera, 1993 Nikkor 35-70 3.3~4.5 $40 AF Nikkor, using flash to fill in shadows,almost seamlessly I might add, from brilliant sunlight streaming in through windows. Flash used, but it doesn't look like a flash shot. Manual flash determination.

DSC_1870_5July_2004.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com
This photo was shot with a Nikon D70--one of a few cameras that will allow hot-shoe or pop-up flash to be synchronized at 1/500 second. This photo has a lengthy caption,detailing how to balance Tungsten light bulbs with large window-light, by elevating the ISO to 640,and using a 1/500 second shutter speed and a medium aperture of f/5.6 to make the tungsten bulbs appear "correct". This is a three-light source photograph that many people would manage to eff-up. Manual flash determination.

hchristensen · Oct 20, 2009

Okay,

Here is a recent one I took of a new prairie dog pup at the San Francisco Zoo. He was pestering some of the other prairie dogs until one of them pestered back!

Canon 40D
EF 100-400 F4.5-5.6L @ 400mm
no flash
1/1600 s @ f/5.6, ISO 640

Garbz · Oct 20, 2009

I love the idea of this thread. So I'll add some photos with nasty combinations that I am very happy with:

Nikon D200
Nikkor Ai-S 50mm f/1.2 (this is quite possibly the least sharp lens ever made seriously it has more CA than a lensbaby)
no flash, dark room
1/60th @ f/2.8, ISO200

Ready for it?
Canon Powershot SD850 IS
Can't remember the lens on this P&S but it's 17.3mm
1/1000th @ f/5.8, ISO 80

musicaleCA · Oct 20, 2009

Derrel said:
Here you go Tim, this one's for you and MusicAle.

It's very much "musicale". It's an Italian word.

And, what heck is that supposed to mean?

decado · Oct 20, 2009

Canon Digital Rebel T1i (EOS 500D)
Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM @ 70mm
ISO400 f4 1/60

Canon Digital Rebel T1i (EOS 500D)
Canon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS @ 55mm
ISO100 f5.6 1/30

This one was my favorite shot when I was using a Sony Cybershot DSC-W150
Shot at 5mm f8 1/160 ISO100

joemc · Oct 20, 2009

Nikon D300 and the 70-200 vr f/2.8

Nikon D700 and the 70-200 vr f/2.8

Nikon D700 and the Nikkor 70-200 vr f/2.8 lens... No masking..effect made in camera taken about noon.

DennyCrane · Oct 20, 2009

Canon T1i, EFS 55-250mm

ISO 500
f/5.6
1/6 second

ISO 100
f/5.6
1/320 second

LuckySo-n-So · Oct 20, 2009

I'll stick with the animal theme:
Nikon D90
Sigma 70-200 2.8
F/4
1/800
170mm
Cropped in PSE7 and run through the "auto fix" in PSE7.

Taken in bright sunlight @ approx. 1030 hrs. Awesome Bokeh for a "crap" lens.

inTempus · Oct 20, 2009

Good grief Derrel, you get an A+ for effort once again. You turned a simple "post a couple of pics" thread into an essay.

This picture blew me away: DSCF0306_1_CrocusBibble.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com

No photoshop? That's even more amazing. I really need to get a macro lens, I keep seeing shots done with them that I would like to try.