Indoors there are two general scenarios in which I take boa pics.

The first being flash shots. I use an sb-800 external flash. It's fairly high end, priced at around $300 bucks if I remember correctly. I typically use a technique called "bounce flash" in which I aim the flash at the ceiling, which bounces the light back down onto the subject. This helps to diffuse and soften the light.

Here are some recent examples of my indoor flash shots:









The other way I do pics inside is without flash. This requires raising something called "ISO" up very high, which adds noise (or grainyness) to the picture. It also requires opening up the lens much more to let in more light (this is done by using a lower F number in aperature priority). The trade-off of opening up the lens more is less depth of feild... meaning less depth is in focus, ie smaller focus range.

Here are some recent examples of indoor shots without flash. These tend to be softer and less contrasty:







Outside there are also two scenarios. The first being direct sunlight shots. I close the lens down to its prime sharpness area (around F12) which gives a very deep depth of feild (ie lots in focus).

Examples:











The second outside scenario being shade shots. I usually raise the ISO level a bit and open up the lens more. There is still more light than in most indoor available light scenarios so there is less of a trade off here.

Examples:







I also should note that I shoot everything in RAW format. RAW allows me to make small exposure adjustments in post processing (ie on the computer) without degrading the picture. It also allows me to adjust white balace without changing/degrading the picture. All of my newer shots (most in this thread) were white balance calibrated using whats known as a grey card. This ensures that the color temperature is exactly where it is supposed to be, regardless of any mis-calibration of my monitor or other factors related to balancing by eye. To use the grey card I snap a shot of it in the frame to calibrate the other shots to. example:



I load the above picture into Nikon Capture and point to the grey card.. it calibrates it.. bam.. perfect white balance. The whibal card is one of the most useful photography tools I have, yet it is the cheapest.

So yeah, I would highly reccomend the Nikon D50. I purhcased an upgraded general purpose lens, the Sigma 18-50 2.8. This lens allows me to open up well for the low light shots, keeping them sharp. It runs $500. But it is not a necessity, the nikon 18-55 kit lens takes excellent shots. The price on the D50 kit these days is extremely affordable. I would say Nikon Capture ($100) and a white balance card are additional necessities however.













>>Hello everyone just wanted to know what type of cameras are you guys and gals using to take such fantastic pictures. I`m looking to get a new digital camera and need some help deciding which one to purchase.
>>Thanks for any input,
>> Ray
>>
-----
Take Care,

-Ryan Homsey

www.topnotchboas.com

[ Show Entire Thread ]