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dallasuo

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 21, 2005
57
0
Canton, GA
My wife and I just got back from San Francisco/Yosemite. It was our first chance to really play with her christmas present that I got for her. Both of us are complete noobs to photography, but here are some of our pictures. Any advice would be appreciated.

DSC_0206es.jpg


DSC_0261es.jpg


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DSC_0173es.jpg


DSC_0040es.jpg


DSC_0143e.jpg
 

bitfactory

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2002
346
390
dallasuo said:
My wife and I just got back from San Francisco/Yosemite. It was our first chance to really play with her christmas present that I got for her. Both of us are complete noobs to photography, but here are some of our pictures. Any advice would be appreciated.

Nice photos - what type of camera?
 

rundevilrun

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2002
97
0
Nice pics, but I think for pic #5, using the fill flash setting to brighten up the foreground would balance it out better.
 

miloblithe

macrumors 68020
Nov 14, 2003
2,072
28
Washington, DC
Man I wish I could responsibly afford a D70. Stupid saving up for a house.

Beautiful pics, although you seem to suffer from the same non-smiling-for-pictures disease that afflicts me. :)
 

chibianh

macrumors 6502a
Nov 6, 2001
783
1
Colorado
congrats on the new camera. Good pictures, also.

I, too, like taking pictures but don't really know anything about photography. I just snap lots of it and delete the ones i don't like. :D
 

ksz

macrumors 68000
Oct 28, 2003
1,677
111
USA
dallasuo said:
...Any advice would be appreciated.
Yeah, I'd say go there in the May to June timeframe (preferably late May to early June) and you'll have greener grasses, bluer skies, blossoming flowers, rushing waterfalls, more sunlight, and a generally greater abundance of natural beauty! Also be sure to go to Glacier Point for some of the most breathtaking vistas...and I do mean breathtaking!
 

JDar

macrumors 6502a
Dec 7, 2003
529
2
<<<I, too, like taking pictures but don't really know anything about photography. I just snap lots of it and delete the ones i don't like.>>>

Hey, you've already learned the most important thing! The other imo is to ignore the advice seen in so many film photography books to "avoid taking pictures just after sunrise or just prior to sunset." I think that advice is in so many books in order to make room for the professional photographers to be out taking pictures just after sunrise and just before sunset.

Nice photos, dallasuo.
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,537
1,646
Redondo Beach, California
dallasuo said:
....here are some of our pictures. Any advice would be appreciated.

Below is intended to be constructive. It's easy to just say "nice pics" but I assume you are looking to improve.......

It looks like in many cased either the shadows or the hightlights are "blocked out". This is the main problem with digital photography. It lacks the tonal range of film

So you have to be careful about taking shots that include both deep shados and bright white. Several things you can do:

1) Use the flash to fil in the dark areas. THis only works for dark areas that are close to the camera but this can be extened by using an external strobe, Nikon makes some nice ones for the D70.

2) Shoot RAW format this gives you more "depth"

3) wait for an oercast day, the light is softwer

Also the images are not as sharp as I'd expect. Perhaps this is because you posted reduced sized and highly compressed JPG images. Nikon glass can make imagesthat show more detail when viewd through a loupe. Detail should be limited by the pixel size with no detectable bluring.

ALL andscape potos wil be improved by use of a tripod.

Read up on "composition". There are some simple rules.
shot of wife in front on upper and lower Yosimite falls could be better if (1) she had move to the left a bit so the lower falls does not flow into her head and (2) you can 'brighted her up a bit with flash used a slightly lower exposure to avoid "blocking out" the white water in the falls.

The one of you in front of the bridge is good, would be much better id a fill flash were sed.
 

ChicoWeb

macrumors 65816
Aug 16, 2004
1,120
0
California
Very nice. I'm a noob to when it comes to photography. I just picked up a d70 this past weekend, but its been to overcast to take pics :(
 

dallasuo

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 21, 2005
57
0
Canton, GA
ChrisA said:
1) Use the flash to fil in the dark areas. THis only works for dark areas that are close to the camera but this can be extened by using an external strobe, Nikon makes some nice ones for the D70.

2) Shoot RAW format this gives you more "depth"

3) wait for an oercast day, the light is softwer

Also the images are not as sharp as I'd expect. Perhaps this is because you posted reduced sized and highly compressed JPG images. Nikon glass can make imagesthat show more detail when viewd through a loupe. Detail should be limited by the pixel size with no detectable bluring.

ALL andscape potos wil be improved by use of a tripod.

Thanks for the advice. I have been thinking about playing in RAW, but just haven't gotten around to turning that knob. :) I hear ya on the tripod issue, but I didn't really want to try to lug one out to san fran just for a vacation trip. And yes i resized and compressed the images greatly.

AP_piano295 said:
DUUUDE you soo look like a mac person.

Thanks.

Glenn Wolsey said:
Excellent shots! Any chance of some large versions for desktop wallpapers?

Certainly, if you want any originals, please pm me your email and which ones you would like.
 

scu

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2005
182
0
Great pics. We will go with the family to Yosemite next weekend. I plan on taking a bunch of pictures. I will post a few here to advise from you guys.
 

amateurmacfreak

macrumors 6502a
Sep 8, 2005
992
0
Those are absolutely beautiful.
Nice pics!!
And you do look sooo like a Mac person. :) and a liberal??
Haha, I just add that b/c those are the 2 things people catch on to after they hang out w/ me for 10min...:)
But, anyways, very beautiful shots!!
 

Shadow

macrumors 68000
Feb 17, 2006
1,577
1
Supoib.

Yosemite? Have you been watching the Apple Theater too much?:D
 

penguinman

macrumors member
Jan 23, 2006
61
0
man.. gorgeous. cities pale in comparison to what the natural world has accomplished
 

dallasuo

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 21, 2005
57
0
Canton, GA
amateurmacfreak said:
Those are absolutely beautiful.
Nice pics!!
And you do look sooo like a Mac person. :) and a liberal??
Haha, I just add that b/c those are the 2 things people catch on to after they hang out w/ me for 10min...:)
But, anyways, very beautiful shots!!

Thanks. And no I am not a liberal.
 

yazbelle

macrumors newbie
Sep 1, 2008
7
0
Canton, GA
Hey, are you still living in Canton? I just sold my D70 for the D300. My husband and I just switched to a Mac and googled Mac users from Canton, GA and found this post. Too weird. We don't know any other local Mac users or serious photographers. Maybe the 4 of us could meet somewhere and barter knowledge.
 

Dan Lorth

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2008
52
0
2) Shoot RAW format this gives you more "depth"


by depth I'm assuming you mean exposure/WB/Noise/Sharpness latitude. Seriously for amatuer-ish vacation snapshots I would never say shoot in RAW, it eats up way too much time and memory for something that the individual would probably get too frusterated with anyways.

My advice for vacations:

Shoot jpeg large fine in either manual or aperture priority. If using the latter understand what exposure compensation is and how it can affect your photographs.


haha oh god this was from 2006 Im sorry for bumping this.
 
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