Finally got a DSLR!
06-19-2013 | 01:18 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 8,570
Likes: 9
From: Professor Touge Emeritus
Finally got a DSLR!
Thank you to Spencer for giving me a great deal on this camera. It's an entry level Nikon D3000, which was exactly what I've been looking for.
The old, and the new:
Initially, in my apartment, I couldn't help but fiddle around a bit with the camera, and came up with these shots:
Then, I made a trip to my mom's garden to practice some macros:
Then, I took a trip down light-painting road. I got a little pep talk from Alexey to understand his camera technique, which involves two shots per single finished product. External light source is a $5 costco LED flashlight. The shots below occurred over a five minute period, 30" exposures. Alexey told me about his minimalist photoshop technique, but I completely forgot it, so I had to teach myself with a few youtube tutorials. My workflow is essentially a work-around, but I'm happy with my first attempt. It will only get better from here.
1st pic is light focused on cars, but the stars are mostly lost:
2nd pic is focused on the sky, but the cars are mostly lost:
3rd pic is the final shot, with the best elements from the above two photos merged in photoshop:
The old, and the new:
Initially, in my apartment, I couldn't help but fiddle around a bit with the camera, and came up with these shots:
Then, I made a trip to my mom's garden to practice some macros:
Then, I took a trip down light-painting road. I got a little pep talk from Alexey to understand his camera technique, which involves two shots per single finished product. External light source is a $5 costco LED flashlight. The shots below occurred over a five minute period, 30" exposures. Alexey told me about his minimalist photoshop technique, but I completely forgot it, so I had to teach myself with a few youtube tutorials. My workflow is essentially a work-around, but I'm happy with my first attempt. It will only get better from here.
1st pic is light focused on cars, but the stars are mostly lost:
2nd pic is focused on the sky, but the cars are mostly lost:
3rd pic is the final shot, with the best elements from the above two photos merged in photoshop:
Looks great! Alexey will show you more advanced techniques 
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06-19-2013 | 06:51 PM
#9
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 8,570
Likes: 9
From: Professor Touge Emeritus
Thank you for these suggestions. Alexey had mentioned shooting in raw after the test-shoot. I will be sure to use that from now on. Also, I will look into Lightroom. I just went through the process of getting Photoshop CS6, but I will definitely take a look at Lightroom.
