Much better result, IMO. Is that just tank light diffused with parchment paper, or an external flash diffused?

just the tank light, i don't own an external flash yet

sweet vivarium and awesome pix!

Thanks!

i'm trying to shoot more people, i'm way too anti-social for this ####

memorial day weekend

too many gingers around guns, imo

Daywalkers, IMO.

i was surrounded by gingers with guns all weekend. the non-gingers were vastly outnumbered.

definitely not daywalkers

test shot with my new nifty fifty

1.8?

They're practicing for the rebellion.

yup! that shot isn't as crisp as I expected, but I think I'm spoiled by my macro lens.

Yeah, I think you might be a bit spoiled. The best lens I own is a Sigma 10-20 EX, and I can tell a difference in sharpness between the fifty and my siggy.

I still think the price makes it worth every penny. It's almost disposable, with that low of a pricetag.

Oh it's definitely worth the money, but I was expecting it to be a little sharper considering all the reviews I've read. It could be that mine is near the edge of tolerance, but I'll keep playing with it.

Maybe you got a bad copy.

maybe you suck as a photog?

That's why I'm going to keep playing with it first I'm not one of those people that gets a new lens, takes a picture that turns out blurry and blames the lens. For the longest time I thought my macro lens was soft. Turns out I just sucked.

turns out i just sucked as a photographer, and also that the nifty fifty sucks ass at focusing when wide open. Once I stop it down to f/2 it focuses great and clarity gets a lot better

Couple new shots
(nifty fifty)









Macro
found this dude at a golf course, he was at least 6 feet


and this one was about 3 inches


i really wish this forum's image re-sizer didn't make everything look soft unless you view it in full size

Great pics.

One thing that has really helped me as photographer is reviewing the efix data while doing my processing. I find that looking at things such as histogram, focal length, ISO, WB, shutter speed, metering mode, etc. help me understanding the technical aspects of why my pictures look the way they do.

yeah sorry, I've got mine set to automatically block it every time I upload. It wouldn't do you a ton of good aside from aperture settings since I screw with exposure so much in post.

Vic, go take pics of the hurricane.

psh it's not even going to hit us. if we don't go home this weekend I'll give it a shot


frog

Is that in a softbox?

natural light if you can believe it. he was in an umbrella that we brought inside the house, so i took him back out and set him on our bannister and took some pics

Wow. You couldn't have gotten more perfect lighting if you tried.

That would look cool as a poster-sized print framed.

Awesome stuff Vic.

-Dave

Omigosh, love the froggy.

Love the Gator, the frog, and the Mini!

I really like the shot of the mini interior, the red looks pimp.

More car shots. These were essentially snapshots because I had no way of knowing how long the fog would last. If I'd realized it was going to last for an hour I would have wiped the car down first


IMG_0834 by jasonwithers, on Flickr


IMG_0827 by jasonwithers, on Flickr


IMG_0879 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

uno from the wedding last weekend. wish i would've taken more pictures of the ceremony, the reception had such poor lighting that non of the shots I took were salvageable

we've got a blinker

yeah
bailey got a haircut

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

getting around to editing more shots from last year...

this is barely edited. i wish i could have light like this for every picture


cousin's wedding


my brother posing like an idiot


random family portrait from the wedding

Nice shots, man. People shots are the toughest for me.

It's rough, and the hardest party is making myself go out and practice. I'm too anti-social for this ####

Trying to improve my post processing skills. Still struggling, but here's some re-edits of older shots.

I still blew the highlights on this one. I need to go back and do some more work on it.

Satin white MINI on the move. by jasonwithers, on Flickr

I think I need to darken the road to make this one really pop.

Satin white MINI on the move. by jasonwithers, on Flickr

I really love the first one you posted there. I've never really done any panning work before. What is the shutter speed on those shots and was your camera mounted on a tripod?

They're not quite panning shots, they're rolling shots. I was in a lead car, hanging out the side and we were traveling at the same speed as the white MINI. Shutter speeds were probably either 1/20 or 1/25.


You can typically tell the difference based on the angle. If the subject is parallel to photographer and farther away, it's probably panning:


Rolling shots will be from pretty much any angle other than strictly parallel


And then there are rig shots, which will be similar to rolling shots but are usually longer exposures and/or better angles. That's where the camera is attached to a pole which is attached to the car. I don't have a rig built because rolling shots are a lot easier to set up and a lot less post work.

I'm glad to hear that these shots actually do take a bit of work. They do Pay off though. Guess I am gonna have to ride around with friends and hang out the window with my camera.

Thanks for sharing these. Shooting moving objects is something I still gotta get and and do.

They're fun but also incredibly frustrating. When I first started trying them (actually the set with the white MINI was my first attempt), I got maybe 1 in 30 that were usable. Now when I do them I'm at about 50% usable, but I still throw out 95% of everything I take.

I can really see the difficulty there. I have a hard enough time catching good shot's of my clownfish and they don't move near as fast. They do look like shots that are worth taking. I just don't have sets and nice cars to shoot. I would have interstate and rusted up honkey trucks.

Yeah I know that feeling. That's why the only cars that I ever end up doing those shots of are mine or my brother's, or when I'm at a big car show far away from here. The "car scene" here in Myrtle Beach consists of 80% donk mobiles and 20% ricers with body kits and no suspension work.

We're putting coilovers on Krista's MINI soon, so that should be the next set I do

I have always wanted to do a rolling shot. I have a couple friends with nice cars, and want to shoot them, but never knew how "easy" it really is. Looks like I need to practice...while I'm driving.

Yep, not too difficult, especially if you have steady hands.

1/25
f/8
Make sure it isn't set to center focus
Choose your ISO based on the amount of light you have to work with.

The hardest part is getting both cars to be going at the exact same speed, and I mean it has to be exact. The best shots are when you're going around turns, but of course that makes going the same speed nearly impossible. We typically go between 35 and 45 mph for those shots.

Sweet. Thanks for the pointers. At least now I have a point of reference to start with.

One of the Jetta before I break the wheels down for paint and polish.

IMG_2650 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

and before anyone says anything, that awful color was from the previous owner of the wheels. I'll be painting them silver again.

Nice car!

Good job trying to play off the wheel color. We all know you like it.

no really, they're atrocious. I guess that's why he was selling them so cheap

Played golf with the parents this past weekend and had some good luck finding wildlife (thank god since play was sooooo slow).

Wild turkeys

Wild Turkey by jasonwithers, on Flickr


Wild Turkey by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Fox Squirrel

Fox Squirrel by jasonwithers, on Flickr


Fox Squirrel by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Gator. This guy was medium sized, maybe 6 feet head to tail?

Alligator near the Marsh by jasonwithers, on Flickr

I was bored so I spent... well too much time editing these, but it was fun.

Me and my brother used to stalk turkeys in the woods in SC a long time ago. They were fun to follow. Too bad I didn't have a camera back then.

Nice shots.