Good photography forums

[Pre-dawn raid]

I'm thinking about getting serious with photography and am about to purchase a D-SLR and what not. My question is: Can anyone recommend a good forum to check out regarding digital photography? It doesn't need to be brand specific (Nikon, Canon, etc.) just a good place to learn some tips and techniques from others that are more experienced. Thanks for any suggestions.

Andy

 

[jdbower]

I learned most of what I know on Nikonians. Obviously mainly Nikon-focused but a wealth of generic photographic information as well.

Since you don't seem to have a brand yet, if you think you'll ultimately want some really high end stuff I'd probably stick with Canon or Nikon. Both are excellent brands and they tend to leapfrog each other, if someone from Canon says they love feature A, rest assured Nikon will have it soon and do it better than Canon. Until, of course, Canon turns around and creates their own improvement... I chose Nikon because Nikon had been the camera of choice for nature photographers, Canon had been marketing more towards sports photographers. The Nikon image fit me better, but I have no illusions that the Canon brand is inferior - it's just different.

 

[Pre-dawn raid]

Thanks, I'll check that site out. I was indeed leaning toward a Nikon, specifically the D3100. Read quite a few reviews saying that it was a great entry-level DSLR. I stumbled upon dpreview.com and it seems like a good place to start my research. Living in Alaska, I tend to shoot landscapes and wildlife too so it sounds like a Nikon might be my best bet. What model do you have jd?

 

[jdbower]

I've got an old Nikon D200 - fantastic camera and don't see any reason to replace it but I'd love to add a D3 variant to the list if I won the lottery. The biggest issue you'll find with DSLRs is that they tend to lock you into a brand as you buy more and more accessories. I've got a ton of great lenses I'd need to give up if I switched to Canon, but I've been tempted to augment if I found the time to shoot a little more.

I also like Nikon's Creative Lighting System, on camera flash never turns out well but I love the macro lighting kit for shooting staged stuff. Obviously for most wildlife you'll be better off with a long lens and natural light, the old 80-400mm is a great price/performance for that (I believe it's been upgraded and is now a little more expensive but with better electronics).

 

[Pre-dawn raid]

they tend to lock you into a brand as you buy more and more accessories.

Ha, I know what you mean. Sounds like a certain fruit company we here so much about on these smartphone forums and elsewhere. I've already started a list of future accessories to buy and added your suggested lens to it.

 

[jdbower]

If you're looking for other suggestions (and assuming you're looking for long distance wildlife), here are a few more toys for your list:

A good tripod or three. I've got a nice Gitzo carbon fiber 3-series for my general use, a Gitzo monopod and a Kirk Mighty Lowboy for macro and low-to-the-ground stuff. A solid tripod is important for long exposure shots (I love night shots), for fast-moving subjects this is less important since your shutter speeds are much faster. One of the most important things to learn about support is that no one bit of kit will solve all your problems. The longer you shoot the more stuff you'll collect and you'll figure out which ones are best for which occasions. On the plus side, support is mostly transportable between brands. You'll need plates that are custom to the camera and/or lens, but they're comparatively cheap.

A good ballhead is indispensable, I really like my Markins heads. I've got a Q3 on my monopod, an M10 on my Lowboy and a Titanium M20 on my 3-series. I've also got a Wemberley Sidekick Gimbal mount which is paired with a ballhead and a long lens (like the 80-400mm I mentioned) to provide a nice, smooth tracking for birds on the wing.

A decent teleconverter is also nice, it can cheaply turn your 400mm lens into 600mm, 800mm, or even 1200mm with only minor quality degradation. IIRC, Kenko TCs are not only cheaper than the Nikon ones but also behave better by passing through more contacts to the lens electronics.

Depending on what you want to do you can also get pretty clever. Set up some lights mounted to a tree and a motion detector to trigger the camera and you can grab some interesting shots. There's a ton of gadgets of various shapes and sizes, I've always been tempted to work with triggers for shooting things like water droplets or lightning.

 

[Ricky Babalu]

Love DPreview! I can't wait to try out my new waterproof casing for my "Coolpix L6", I plan on taking a lot of pictures in the waves.

 

[Pre-dawn raid]

Wow jd, good stuff in that post. I'm not sure why I didn't get into photography sooner. I love electronics/gadgets as well as being out in nature whehter it be backpacking, skiing, or whatever. The "ahh ha" moment came last week in Denali Nat. park when we came upon two Grizzly bears a way up on the hillside. I was trying to capture the action with my silly Evo and this woman had a really nice DSLR with a 250mm lens and took some amazing close-ups. I said, "I really need to step up my game and get a decent camera".

I think a monopod would work well for an overnighter in the backcountry because it's lighter and will easily strap to the side of my pack. I'm gonna have to head over to Nikonians and look up the term "ballhead"

Dealnews.com is a good "deals aggregator" site and has a section on cameras and camera accessories. Just today they were offering one of those DSLR-like mirrorless cameras for $150 off with a free flash. It was the Samsung NX100 I believe. Check out the site if you don't already know about it.

Andy

 

[jdbower]

A monopod is a good choice for on-the-spot photography, plus it's a nice walking stick Tripods are better when you're hunting your prey, wildlife photography and hunting can very similar complete with creating blinds and the idea of rolling your finger over the shutter/trigger instead of jerking. From the shot you described a monopod is probably a better (and cheaper) choice.

There are many schools of thought on mounting a camera to a tripod, directly mounting it to the tripod is acceptable, but difficult to aim. I use a Markins Q3 (but I don't like lever release mounts) which is nice in that you never need to touch the head to tighten or loosen it, Markins heads have a huge "sweet spot" where they're sturdy and stable but can still move with a little extra applied force. I also have a Manfrotto monopod head which is acceptable and cheaper, but not as hands free.

A Bushhawk is also an interesting choice, but I'm not positive about its utility over just good handholding technique.

 

[SenenCito]

There are a few blogs I visit, they offer an alternative of organized information, great for learning

For illuminationg I highly suggest strobist Strobist, joe mcnally's blog, Joe McNally’s Blog and Dave Black's workshop Dave Black Photography - Sports Photography Worldwide

if you are more into gear oriented talk, then Digital Cameras: Digital Photography Review, News, Reviews, Forums, FAQ

and if you want brutal comments on your photos, the type that will make you want to leave or truly make you want to get better, i highly recommend offtopic's OTAP section, I warn you though, be prepared to get flamed over every little detail of your photo if you post one up for critique.