a few pics

[Mike Ward]

Hi Jane, lovely shots, especially liked the third.

[Mike Ward]

Originally Posted by GLOC

Jane, really nice pictures. I do find it amusing that one of the first questions people ask is "What camera did you use?"

Personally, I think that da Vinci bloke would have done a lot better if he'd got himself a better looking model and posed her against the pyramids, then used some decent Canik III DS hogs-bristle brushes with flat-crimp ferrules and ergonomic SureGrip (TM) handles, not to mention better paints, all that home-made egg-tempura stuff is so last-century....

[uwila]

Originally Posted by Whale Shark

Great pics. What camera did you use?

Originally Posted by buchhawk

Just goes to show, that you don't need a fancy camera to get great pics.

Strange how people think a 'better' camera is all you need to get good shots. It certainly helps to give you more opportunity, but it's the skill of the operator which makes good underwater photos:

• she/he must understand how cameras and lenses work
• she/he must understand how the particular camera and lens work
• she/he must understand composition ie what will look good
• she/he must have a lot of patience
• she/he must have excellent diving skills as well

It's obvious Jane has these skills and would still get great shots from anyone's camera.


Anyhow, the Oly 5050 is a great camera. It has a fantastic lens and a decent quality of digital sensor. Just because it was made a long time ago and you can buy them cheaply second hand, doesn't make it 'not fancy'.

(my 2p anyhow)

Cheers, Chris

[Cussy]

Jane,
Lovely shots. I agree with Mike that the third one is a cracking shot, I think it's probably because of the black background.

With all this talk of cameras, just remember that photography is 95% lighting, so I think Jane's images are so good because of the DS-125 and konwing how to use it.
Rob

PS Jane, I don't know what software you are using to watermark, but if you want a proper copyright symbol press Alt and then type 0169. That should come up with a proper © symbol.

[Whale Shark]

So, just because I ask an innocent question regarding what camera did Jane used, I have loads of smug answers that it is "not the camera, but the skills of the photographer" that counts. Yes, I know that. It has been mentioned often enough in the forum. However, that answer is like Shumacher telling me that he can drive a Lada faster than I can drive a Ferrari! Or that a six-inch di*k can perform just as well as a nine-inch one! So, what has this answer taught me about photography? Zilch!

However, if someone is considering what features should one be looking for in buying a new camera, then this question may have more significance. I have seen a good photo shot, and I like to know what feature in that camera can achieve that. Let me illustrate. I have read in Martin Edge's book that he usually shoots with the white balance in the "cloudy" setting. So, there I was flicking thru the white balance settings in my camera over and over again in the hope that I spot a speck of cloud,......but nada! The closest that I can get is "shade". So, does this mean that they are equal? Plus, I have read books on digital cameras that says quite clearly that dslrs are way better than compacts. Perhaps, it may only be true when you take land photos as opposed to u/w.

I attended the photo workshop at LIDS that was conducted by Alex Mustard and Rashid. I found one of their comments very helpful. They mentioned that if you are not planning to print any of your shots, then it doesn't matter how many pixels you have in your camera. Also, if you are only planning to print them to A3 size, then you only need a 6 megapixels camera and to spend more money just for the pixels would be a waste. However, if you are planning to blow it up bigger than A3 then a bigger pixel size is needed.

So, of course, the skills of the photographers are important, but one still need to know which camera to buy. So, I'll just politely just ask one more time to all you "I have arrived" u/w photographers....eerrr which cameras have you got? Why did you choose that model?

One suggestion, perhaps for those who post photos, it would be helpful if you state what lenses, settings, apertures and shutter speeds, lighting, angle....etc that you used. Did you enhance it with photoshop and what features did you tweak? What were you trying to achieve with your shots and did you achieve it? It would be most helpful. Thanks in advance.

[Cussy]

Whale Shark,
No one was trying to get at you! We've all experienced gear lust where we've thought if I had X or Y I could do Z. It doesn't always work like that. Often being in the right place at the right time is what it is all about. So no one wants to see someone waste money needlessly. Over the years I've wasted hundreds. My photography greatly improved as I used it more, not because I added to it or replaced it; although that did help

So start a new thread and we'll answer the question, no need to hijack Jane's thread. Or you could look at Digigreen.net where we tend to state the technical details more and most of us list what kit we have in our signatures.
Rob

[Hazel W]

Very nice pics Jane

just goes to show what is out there if we look.

Hazel

[Whale Shark]

Originally Posted by Cussy

Whale Shark,
No one was trying to get at you! We've all experienced gear lust where we've thought if I had X or Y I could do Z. It doesn't always work like that. Often being in the right place at the right time is what it is all about. So no one wants to see someone waste money needlessly. Over the years I've wasted hundreds. My photography greatly improved as I used it more, not because I added to it or replaced it; although that did help

So start a new thread and we'll answer the question, no need to hijack Jane's thread. Or you could look at Digigreen.net where we tend to state the technical details more and most of us list what kit we have in our signatures.
Rob

Thanks for address. Will have a look.

[Mike Ward]

Hi Whale Shark,

Sorry to wind you up - my views on all of this are on my website, along with much more background info than I put in here...

[copperband]

Superb shots Jane