Weekend

[ewx]

I'd intended to go to hoiho's pub afternoon on Saturday. In the end I ended up spending the morning and early afternoon fixing naath's bike. Slippery roads out there. Despite a collection of injuries she spent most of the day preparing for the Foreyule Feast, with help from a variety of hands. (For those not in the know, that's Christmas dinner for a couple of dozen Tolkien enthusiasts.) The results were lovely; I'm impressed.

...and the rest. As has been hitherto typical for my indoor shots these were all taken with the 50mm f/1.8 lens; I seem to have persuaded edith_the_hutt to get one too.

The CTS did a most of the tidying up themselves but probably inevitably there was some left for Sunday (and indeed there's a few pots and pans awaiting a spare moment yet).

Sunday evening I went round to beckyc's for videos. Once upon a time in Mexico is still very silly; Spy Kids was a laugh. It occurs to me that Depp would have been a shoo-in for Alan Cummings' character - not that there was anything wrong with the actual casting - though after his performance as Sands in the former film it would be very, very strange (Danny Trejo's role-shift between the two was odd enough as it was).

Back to work today. I'm not safe to be let near a camera shop; I've bought one of these and, pretty much of necessity, a larger kit-bag. Though the old one will still be useful for those occasions when I don't fancy lugging my entire collection of glassware around simultaneously.

Comments

[robhu.livejournal.com]

You're very talented, I think the one of emperor is excellent.

[atreic.livejournal.com]

Isn't it good!

atreic collapses into a pile of goo at sight of dashingly sexy fiance with cruel and moody streak...

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Well of course with subject matter of that quality it would be hard to take a bad picture ;-)

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I've got some more with a drink in his hand lurking around somewhere...

[senji.livejournal.com]

You could be quite surprised…

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Show pictures! :-P

[senji.livejournal.com]

I don't think he'd appreciate that.

[robhu.livejournal.com]

hehe

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

It's just a great lens, isn't it? I like the fact that, being prime, it forces you to *move* to recompose so you're forced to compose the shot on the basis of using the best of a short telephoto, rather than being lazy and zooming in and out. You've got some nice shots, here. I've found that if I'm using Av mode, I set the aperture to about f2.8 rather than keeping it wide open. That way, if the subject is at a 3/4 angle (like Emp, here), you can be sure that both eyes remain in sharp focus.

f/2.8

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Good idea. There's a bit of room for manouevre left at ISO 1600, I should learn to make full use of it!

[lnr]

I *love* that one of crystal.

[pm215]

It certainly caught my attention :-)

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

AOL :) It's really cute.

[davefish.livejournal.com]

Very very nice shots.

I'm not safe to be let near a camera shop; I've bought one of these and, pretty much of necessity, a larger kit-bag.

This is a good thing though, as I point to you and say
"See, I could be buying lenses at that rate"
before trying to get another lens past keris

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of hoping to keep a lid on it for a bit now...

[davefish.livejournal.com]

I did manage that for a while, but I know where the big holes are, and I am thinking that I should fill those with some glass.... Maybe a XMas prezzie to myself.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions on that lens.

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was wondering just for breaking in and stealing it purposes what your current and imminent kit tally is, now?

[ewx.livejournal.com]

18-55 USM (came with the camera); 50mm f/1.8; 100mm f/2.8 macro; 70-300 IS USM; 17-85 IS USM; two tripods; cable release. What do you think I should get next? (Quite possibly the answer is a flash with a swivel head.)

[davefish.livejournal.com]

Two tripods, that is quite enthusiastic.

When did you get the camera again? You've been doing quite well with gathering equipment.

How does the 17-85 compare with the 18-55 (size, weight, handling at least)?

[ewx.livejournal.com]

One of the tripods is (relatively) small and light, the other is bulkier but more stable and has spirit levels and better joints. It was an impulse buy - I spotted it for £20 in the window of Mackays, slightly surprisingly. I got the camera in June.

The 17-85 makes the 18-55 look rather diminutive but it's not quite as bulky as my 100mm and 70-300. I experimented a bit with the IS last night; it completely rescued a shot at 1/15s, and noticably improved detail on 1/80s, the latter being about the slowest I've found it worth risking without IS. Presmuably people with shakier or steadier hands than mine would fine the boundaries shifted up or down accordingly.

I tried a 1/6s shot as well and while it was much better than without IS it was still quite blurry.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

The extra range at the tele end, incidentally, seems to really make a difference; it'd make it a real improvement on the 18-55 even without the IS.

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

Plus the quality of the 18-55 leaves a lot to be desired.

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

(only just got the comment notification mail)

Flash, perhaps, but the combination of the 50mm and the 17-85 IS should mean you can shoot ambient most of the time. If it was me, I'd definitely go with the 10-22 EF-S superwide, next, but that's because of the type of photography that I do.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I bought a flash in the meantime. The 10-22 stares out from the window of Campkins every time I pass, but I can't remember having lost a photo I wanted because I couldn't go wide enough, so I think I'll pass...

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

Ooh, it's not just a case of "being able to get everything in" - it's the wicked perspective you get with a superwide - the subjects of the image absolutely dwarf everything else. I'd say that probably >50% of my photographs are taken with the 18-55 jammed at the 18 end.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Stop trying to tempt me l-)

I'll try to play more with the wide end of what I've got, then, and see how I get on with it...

(I do really appreciate these hints from more experienced photographers like you, BTW.)

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

I think that's absolutely the way forward - to look at the photography that you do, and that you want to do, and see if the absence of any kit is holding you back. F'rinstance, of the kit you have, I can't ever see myself being able to justify having a macro lens - just not my thing, whereas you make a lot of use of yours, and get great results. My biggest constraint at the moment is the lack of quality in the 18-55 so I'm going to replace that next, and beyond that will come the 10-22.