Junko's and my main reason for going to the Botanical Gardens was to practice using our newly arrived ND Filters (Singh-Ray in case anyone was wondering - a 2 stop, 3 stop, and a reverse -- none of which I can actually explain except that it's about how much light gets filtered). It was a VERY bright day and we were shooting here into the sun.
For those interested, here's what I did...I stopped Aperture down to f32, the lowest my lens would go, and then put the darkest filter on it. ISO was down to 50 (the lowest I could go). This allowed me to have 1 second shutter speed. Not a lot, but impossible without the filters. And I had a circular polarizer on the lens as well. So, not the most exciting photo, but quite satisfying in that we figured out how to put the holder on the lens, insert the ND filter we wanted, and we played around with hand holding the filters as well. Camera was on a tripod and I used an external shutter release.
Off to Hawaii tomorrow morning...but had to post this before leaving. Hoping to learn how to actually control use of filters while in the photo course.
Fav. for the gorgeous shot but I didn't understand the complicated procedure - not your fault. I'm a self-made amateur and have never had any lessons in photography.
I am fearful of the day when I discover that I need to move on to all this technical malarkey to improve my photography. Not though, of the unlikely event that I ever go to Hawaii for a photography course.
@helenhall Haha! It is pretty addictive and it took me 4 years to get to this point...but I have to admit to wanting to see what gadgets can open up new doors. It was so fun shooting in such a bright sunny day which usually I'd sort of ignore as not being good lighting.
Oh, very cool... I bought some sort of cheapie ND filters recently, to see if I liked them. Used them on the long exposure bike shots, recently, with some good effect. I am eagerly awaiting some Hawaii shots. :)
@frankhymus Very helpful! Many thanks! Interesting to see the equipment photographers in this workshop are using. Still mostly Canon/Nikon DSLR, but a few are mirrorless users now.
@taffy Well, I think you don't have too much interest in "video" and modern stuff like that. If you did, I think you would find DSLR use goes to zero. :)
I am going to rent the Fujifilm X-T2 this weekend, just to see. I like to have shot with the cameras i talk about, recommend/pan. I still think I am waiting for the last iteration of FF DSLRs, the next generation D810 or D750. I am not terribly interested in video, and I want to see if the D500/D5 significant improvements make it to the "enthusiast" DSLR. I am hoping they do, not this year at Photokina, but perhaps later this year at Photo Expo.
Here are two more entries in the mirror-less camera market. Not shot with either one, but here's what DPR have to say.
Canon M-5 https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-m5-first-impressions-review https://www.dpreview.com/opinion/4495586328/the-canon-eos-m5-is-a-great-mirrorless-camera-and-a-big-disappointment
The new top of the line Olympus https://www.dpreview.com/news/9740173952/olympus-announces-e-m1-mark-ii-development
The new Lumix G85 https://www.dpreview.com/news/0242348371/panasonic-lumix-dmc-g85-offers-weather-sealing-updated-is-system-larger-viewfinder
I am going to rent the Fujifilm X-T2 this weekend, just to see. I like to have shot with the cameras i talk about, recommend/pan. I still think I am waiting for the last iteration of FF DSLRs, the next generation D810 or D750. I am not terribly interested in video, and I want to see if the D500/D5 significant improvements make it to the "enthusiast" DSLR. I am hoping they do, not this year at Photokina, but perhaps later this year at Photo Expo.