Nice shots Tommy.  I especially like the pics (posted on reply#12) of GC, Cru and Dizzle tackling the curves, all had great form and stance.   It would be ideal if those pics get framed and hung on the wall

Quote from: goldenchild on September 22, 2008, 08:02:48 PM
Ask Cru how close we were to getting busted, thankfully Brembo radial mc's are plenty strong... 

that rocks!  everytime i've almost gotten pinched was pretty much the same.

bbrrrrrraaaapppppppp....squeeealll  ....


....

...



tommy - looks like you've captured some really great moments.

andro - nikon vs canon?  either company produces some great pro-sumer cameras.  you really can't lose with either.  i chose nikon because i felt it fit my hands better.  not only that, i already had some nikon glass.

Quote from: androgynous on September 23, 2008, 04:42:30 PM
great pic's there tommy 

I'm thinking of upgrading from a sony cybershot to ether a cannon or Nikon  DSLR
so i have a few questions for you
which brand of DSLR camera do you have?
and what made you decide to go with that brand that brand ex(cost,size,weight)?
what program do you use to convert from raw to jpeg ?
and how much do you think one should spend on a lens kit ?

thanks in advance 

I have a Canon 30D and the main lens I use is a 24-70 wide angle zoom with autofocus.  It's also an "L" series of Canon lens so it's super sharp, and goes down to f2.8.

I've always had good luck with Canons, and I really just liked the look and feel of the camera body.  I'm a big guy and pretty strong, so weight of equipment isn't really and issue.  The good lenses are HEAVY though, so it's not so much comfort as it is convenience.  By convenience I mean being able to take it on rides and around town.  Goldenchild has a tiny little camera that took some phenomenal shots, and it's a TON more practical to carry around.

I went to SLR world because I wanted absolute control over the pictures I take.  Plain and simple.  I am now hooked on L series lenses, though, and there are only 1 or 2 lenses under $1,000.

With lens kits, generally the one that comes with the kit is decent.  You will take decent exposures and it will be light.  Once you start learning what kind of pictures you will take, you can decide what kind of lens you want to upgrade to.

For example, the 50mm Canon prime lens comes in 2 flavors - the basic one that goes down to f1.4 and costs about $350, and you have the L lens that steps down to f1.2 and i about $1600 .   To the uninitiated, look at the long exposure shot on the previous page - the lower the f-stop, the more light that hits the sensors.  f1.2 is the SHIT!  You can almost take pictures at night without a flash .  With a super-low f-stop, you find yourself looking for bokeh.  What's bokeh?

You know when you've seen a picture where the subject is perfectly sharp, but the background is out of focus, and it looks really cool?  That's bokeh.  I've got a few examples ready to be posted later tonight.  FWIW... My next lens will likely be either a telephoto 200mm IS (2.8 or 2) or a L series prime - 50 or 85mm.

The telephoto will be for more moto and auto related photos.  The prime would be for taking studio quality exposures.

You do NOT need to spend beaucoup bucks on a lens - just do the research to figure out which one is best for your style and your intentions.

I'm sure Nikon has a similar site, but the main Canon digital forum is awesome - better than the DMF for Canon stuff (www.photography-on-the.net) - and there are TONS of primers and HUNDREDS of exposure samples of EVERY lens so you get an EXCELLENT idea of what works and what doesn't.

The camera body itself has all the software built in to take either JPEG or RAW exposures.  I used RAW when I took some shots of my ex-girlfriend so I could get absolutely perfect quality, but 99% of the time I shoot in large format jpeg.  It takes me a while to edit pictures because each exposure is between 2 and 3MB in size, (or 3,500x2,400 or so pixels) and iPhoto does everything I need.

The biggest thing that helped me get good at this is the book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson.  It literally taught me everything I know.

For example:
This shot isn't quite right, but it's close, and I learned how to take it in that book!!

Check it!!!

That's awesome Tommy!  [moto]

Quote from: tommys67 on September 23, 2008, 07:33:39 PM
Check it!!!

Why are we going so slow?

Quote from: goldenchild on September 24, 2008, 06:14:29 AM
Why are we going so slow?

huh?

I set the animation for each of the 27 frames to fly by at .07 seconds each.

Maybe the browser isn't letting it fly?

Quote from: tommys67 on September 24, 2008, 06:46:36 AM
huh?

I set the animation for each of the 27 frames to fly by at .07 seconds each.

Maybe the browser isn't letting it fly?

I kid. I kid...

You have some awesome photography skills tommy!

Quote from: goldenchild on September 24, 2008, 06:14:29 AM
Why are we going so slow?

Oh.

Me dumb tuh-day.

Ben - Thanks.  I gave up my secret in my above post, though .  Nothing special about it, anyone can do it, too!

Quote from: tommys67 on September 22, 2008, 10:01:38 PM
OK - last pics tonight...

Probably the best pictures I took this trip are included in this sampling from a setup on our new favorite secret road.  The guys never saw me - I was hiding behind a guardrail!!!!

So many of the roads in the southern Appalachians, Blue Ridge etc. look alike and I gather your new secret road was somewhere in Up North on your way home, but that curve in the background sure looks like one we call "Jaws" down on SC Hwy 28 on the way up to Highlands, NC just a few miles form the Chattooga River.

LA

Quote from: goldenchild on September 24, 2008, 06:14:29 AM
Why are we going so slow?

Because that's as quick as you guys can go 

just kiddin speedy

Very nice job Tommy!

thank you for all the help with the info Tommy 

i'm on my way to hone my amateur photography skillz 




taken with iphone   

Tommy:

Sweet pictures.

I will have to make a ride sooner or later. I would love ot get a shot of me going around a turn. And we all know that you shoot some sweet pictures!

Plus then I can wear my shirt.

Jim