New DSLR Camera--Tips for a Beginner!

[Jim Saueressig]

I shot my super moon early this morning. For close moon shots you need a faster shutter and less light.



Saturn which I also shot last night was added for fun.

Click for bigger.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Wow Jim that's AWESOME! What kind of glass did you use?

 

[Jennifer Palmer]

Jim... That is an amazing photo!! I would love to know the lens you used for that! Beautiful!

Okay... We had a few clouds for the Super Moon last night, but it gave a neat effect. I've learned so much trying to get decent shots of the moon.

This was my favorite from last night:

And here's another that turned out nicely and it isn't of the moon!

 

[Olivier Staiger]

... What kind of glass did you use?

according to EXIF info , Jim used a Pentax K-5 camera, with a lens at a focal length of 500mm, resulting in 750mm focalLength35mm equivalent. The Exif info I see does not specify the lens brand. It may be a 500mm mirror lens ? or a Sigma 150-500 or 200-500 zoom , or 500 prime ? or other ? Jim ?
just curious ;-) .... ( it's amazing how much info is stored in the EXIF data. ;-)
BTW, I think this image is cropped, not the entire image. For the moon or sun to fill up the frame from bottom to top, you would need more than 2000mm focal length ( on 35mm equiv.) , or at least 1500mm on a crop DSLR. )

 

[Darren Addy]

I believe Jim has the Bigma, so that would be my Prime Suspect.

 

[Jennifer Palmer]

I managed to capture my first lightning strike on April 4th as the crazy wind damage producing squall line from hell moved through my area. Next time, I will do better! But it's a start!

 

[Greg Campbell]

I managed to capture my first lightning strike on April 4th as the crazy wind damage producing squall line from hell moved through my area. Next time, I will do better! But it's a start!

It's LIGHTNINGS!!

It looks like you've got the focus right, and a reasonable tripod. All you need is some more cooperative lightning. (You may need to speak to it in a gentle, calming voice in order to lure it out of hiding.) This scene probably wanted a wider aperture setting. Even then, the lightning looks pretty wimpy and is buried in the rain.

Save this modest "first strike," Jennifer!
Every so often, a "Post your first lightning" thread surfaces around here. And, in a few months, you'll be able to look back and see how much you've improved.

Now, get back out there!

 

[Matt Tottle]

I just wanted to let you know about this cool site I found.. www.cameralensrentals.com. They have Canon, Nikon, and Pentax lenses that you can rent for a very modest fee (especially when you consider what the lenses actually cost!). They ship them out UPS very well packed, with a return label (you do pay shipping both ways, but it's actual cost not inflated). My sisters came for a visit and brought their pup, so I figured it would be nice to have a decent piece of glass around for the inevitable photo ops when the dogs get together. It also gives you a chance to 'try before you buy'. I paid $80 for a 50-500mm Sigma lens (I assume that's the 'Bigma' that Darren was talking about - it's a monster!) and a 2x teleconverter (I was disappointed that it didn't fit my kit lenses too, but w/e) for a week. The shipping is $32 round trip (for me, ymmv), which is incredibly reasonable.

It was nasty most of the week, so I didn't get to the wildlife preserve like I wanted to, and the sky has been obscured so I couldn't get any moon shots, but here's a couple pup pics.. I really love the DOF I was able to get with this lens...

And this is my absolute favorite shot so far. Got this in my backyard..