photography examples and learning

Originally Posted by cmsd2

The best cure for batteries that always run flat is to go back in time to a point when things were simpler, and get hold of one of these or similar:

http://www.lomography.com/magazine/c...eries-required

Just remember to carry spare rolls of film

And batteries for the hand-held light meter

[mr.anderson]

Thanks for the pointers gents!

[embee]

On the battery business.

Alkaline (regular Duracell etc) are not suited to camera use, and as you've found will only give you a limited life. Digicams need either rechargeable NiMH (nickel metal hydride) or lithium ion (Li-ion) for successful life.
AA size are available cheaply in NiMH, most proprietary camera/phone type batteries are Li-ion which offer better charge/size performance, so I think all ultra-compacts use them.

I've used cheap (£3 ebay) generic Li-ion batteries in my Canon at a fraction of "genuine" price, and they have proved to be every bit as good. Before getting a camera, just check that cheap generic batteries are available for that camera, I believe some new digicams use batteries which are only (as yet) available from the manufacturer and are expensive.

Modern compact digicams will give you upwards of 200-250 shots on a battery charge, carrying one spare battery for a days shooting of maybe 500 shots is no big deal. You do of course need access to charging facilities, either car or mains, at some time. Useful tips are things like turning down the screen brightness to reduce power consumption, it doesn't affect the shot.

For travelling/touring, I find camera size is critical, so use a compact (Canon Ixus range). While control is limited, unless you want to do "real" photography, they are perfectly adequate and if you read the reviews then some are actually very good at producing decent shots.

Great camera review sites are Steve's digicams and dpreview

Originally Posted by embee

On the battery business.

Alkaline (regular Duracell etc) are not suited to camera use, and as you've found will only give you a limited life. Digicams need either rechargeable NiMH (nickel metal hydride) or lithium ion (Li-ion) for successful life.
AA size are available cheaply in NiMH, most proprietary camera/phone type batteries are Li-ion which offer better charge/size performance, so I think all ultra-compacts use them.

As you're on the subject, and risking a minor derail, do you recommend any specific brand for NiMH AA batteries and chargers? I think my UniRoss stuff is giving up the ghost, my 2500 mAh batteries are not charging properly anymore, and they haven't been run through more than 50 charge cycles. I suspect one (or two) of them might be dead, but right now I don't know what (not) to trust, batteries or charger.

Great camera review sites are Steve's digicams and dpreview

Be careful about corporation-owned review sites, though. Reading about real user experiences can be very enlightening sometimes. It's harder to sort out through all the posted garbage, but nevertheless essential if you're committing to an expensive purchase.

I took this yesterday morning before work.

Im still playing with the settings, taking the same picture over and over with a slight change to settings each time to see what happens etc.

Any pointers?

[embee]

Originally Posted by Filipe M.

... do you recommend any specific brand for NiMH AA batteries and chargers?

I only have Li-ions so can't really offer any personal experience. I do recall reading some reviews and I'm pretty sure Panasonics came out well, I think they're reasonably readily found. I'm sure there'll be a review site for batteries somewhere (there's a specialist forum for everything, I reckon)

Speedplay are you specifically looking for the moon in shot? Personally, and dont take offence on this but it doesnt really do anything for me. If I could offer advice, I would say that I'm thinking about what is beneath that statue but to be honest the picture is taken from the wrong place. What ISO are you using as it looks a bit noisy on my screen? You could always cheat if you wanted the moon, take the shot when there's a bit more going on with the sky and photoshop a separate moon in later, maybe something zoomed right in taken at F/11 with a longer exposure.

I'll just add that this is a great thread. Please keep posting your examples as long as you dont mind critique as it helps me see where people are going right or wrong in their shots (and ultimately mine). I will also post a few up for critique in the coming days.

Originally Posted by robchester

maybe something zoomed right in taken at F/11 with a longer exposure.

But, beware, moon exposures do not need an excessively long exposure - when zoomed right in to take a photo of the moon, the moon is the light source, and you need to bear in mind, that although it does not appear to move to the naked eye on the ground, it will quickly move across your composition with a long lens.

Speedplay, I agree with what robchester says about the composition of the statue shot... the moon doesn't help. As an alternative, here's a statue shot from a slightly different angle but with a cleaner background (other than some wispy cloud...

Taken with a Fuji S6500fd a couple of years ago. No editing, cropping or anything and deliberately composed to use a s a Windows wallpaper