some from the the finch feeder

[terryger]

in was sitting on the porch taking test shots in an effort to learn how to trust my instant histogram report.

a friend has told me it will cut down on the number of crappy shots i have taken along with the good. that would sure save some time

it is certainly something i am going to try.

these are some of the captures during the test sequence.

they have not been shopped and are just out of the camera with some minimal cropping.

[Sushigaijin]

Those are great, they look almost like paintings. There does seem to be a little noise, and they need sharpening; just the usual photoshop stuff that most images get. Nice catches, they definately motivate me to start looking at the warm-blooded reptiles.

Erik.

[Loupey]

The second one is GREAT! Spend some time on post processing and that one will be awesome. Timing is excellent as it is juuust before they make contact. Just wish that 3rd finch wasn't there

Histograms? Yeah, great tool but don't expend too much effort viewing them IMO. In scenes with lots of mid-tones, I set my exposure, make one test shot of anything like toned (grass, bushes, etc), make sure that histogram doesn't reveal too much on either end, then leave the settings and go.

Better to concentrate looking thru the viewfinder!


"set it and go" - perhaps I'll make that my new signature tag

[terryger]

thanx for the compliments folks.

the reason i don't shop them is i don't have a lot of time to spend on learning a mindbogglling software like ps.

i have elements and i will occasionally spend a few minutes "quickfixing a few" but that is all the time i have.

on my webpage i have hired a friend that has done photoshop professionally for over 10 years to do my best pics. he can do more work and better work in a few hours of his spare time than i could do in a month!

i do not have ten years to learn what he knows and see no reason to spend a lot of time trying. maybe when i'm too old to go out and take pictures

photoshop is a critical program that takes a long time to master and was designed for professional graphic artists. it must be used extensively on a daily basis to stay sharp with it. i spend more time on the actual taking of pictures and then i have a life too!

i would rather spend my off time with my horses, my dogs, my hunting, working on my ranch, my antique tractors, my hot rods, my shooting, ....well you get the idea.

not only that but even though i know these could be better with work, i have others that will produce a much better product when ps.

time is a precious commodity at my house. i also learned through the years to not spend time trying to be good at everything. concentrate on that which you like and hire others to do the same.

i can shoe my horse but why do i want to bother:idea: let the farrier do what he does best and i will too!:thumbsup:

and as for the histogram, i have found that what it looks like in the lcd viewer has little to do with what it looks like on the monitor.

check the histogram on many of your better shots and you can see how they could have been even better.

that is why i was checking it out . the friend that told be does this for a living and his stuff is outstanding. he said it is a the fastest way to see that you are on the mark and i can see how it owuld be.

now, ya have to remember loupey, we shoot different subjects most of the time. yours are usually very slow moving and mine are buzzing around like bees, be it hummers or ducks.

when ya spend half a day getting 2-300 "great shots" only to find ya rsally have 2-3 its time to try something different

[Bevb]

Nice shots Terryger! were these with your 100-400L, as i am finding also quite a bit of noise with a lot of my shots. What were your settings?
Boy! you have a busy life, sounds wonderful though, I used to compete heavily with my horses, so i know what bond you can have with them, and also the time they take from your day. I lost my mare at the age of 31, 18 months ago now, so i only have the dogs now to compete with.

[Loupey]

I can only comment on things that I see and hear here.

Obviously can't see/understand the goings on in the background. Thanks for filling in the cracks with your info

now, ya have to remember loupey, we shoot different subjects most of the time. yours are usually very slow moving and mine are buzzing around like bees, be it hummers or ducks.

LOL - I've shot some of those too Still, unless they're running in and out (and then in again) of shadows, your histogram ain't going to change that much :thumbsup:

[terryger]

i'm with ya loupey.

i don't have all that much experience with the histogram yet but what i did find out really quickly was a alot of shots i thought were right on the histogram told me weren't. and the best part was i didn't have to try and zoom or get home and load them on the computer to make sure what i was doing was in the ball park.

it is still out to the jury to know if the method will work but i have the next 5 days off and will get a chance to see along with how the 1.4 works on both lenses.

that's not much to record is it?

then next week i'll get into the macros so i can try to catch you :yikes: :23:

bev, thanx for the comps. i just wish they would have been as good as they could have been. a year ago i would have thought they were great, but you know that competitive drive and how it keeps you hungry.:wink5:

i no longer show my dogs but i do work them all the time and i have tennessee walking horses that require a lot of ground and arena work to keep on their gaits.

whenever i get enough time i will have pics of them too but here a a few introduce them.

the boys: Beamer on the left and Smoke on the right



Sadie--my german shorthair pointer


Eider--my labrador retriever

[Copy_Kot]

Love the birds in flight :thumbsup:

[Bevb]

Oh Wow! yes i can see where your coming from re the hard work involved, what a fantastic breed of horse your involved with, the Tennessee walking horse started becoming popular here amongst the ride/drive people, as its a huge sport amongst the horse world now, thanks for sharing pics of the horses, they look great, i had 2 Apoloosa stallions 5 years back, broke them myself and competed with one, had a nasty fall, damaged my spine, and had to give up riding, which was my life at the time, which i think pushed me more over to the dogs.

Oh well enough rambling on, im sure you have heard enough!! thanks for sharing.