Hi,

I see everyone shoot models...., so I also shoot model la... Hahaha... It is my newbie shots in Putrajaya. It is indeed a beautiful place. Hard to believe only now I went there and take picture of such beautiful place....

Well, I yet to have time to pick up Photoshop or any magical post processing techniques. Maybe sometime next year... So now simply downsampled my pictures... Some of the pictures suffer some white balance issue (I use AWB), over exposure, bad composition etc... Some member had told me must do cropping because of my bad compostion... I did shot both RAW + JPEG. But since I am still in learning stage, I think it is best to let it be as original so I can learn from my mistakes. And I guess it is also good for other members that yet to buy dSLR to have an idea on how Canon 40D perform; be it good or bad.

I found that with Canon 40D AWB, half of my shots are toward warm color. And spot metering also toward over-exposure. And the faithful mode (with neautral in everything like constrast, color, sharpening etc) sometime really lack of constrast and power to have any real impact... I was using both failthful mode as well as potrait mode in the color profile. The color sometime also not consistence as it can become very strong... or pale like what you had seen... It prove Canon 40D certainly has lots to improve and it is important to shoot in raw for now. Lucky I did, so I can do all the correction in the future.

Ok... As usual with my average pictures, any comments are welcome.

Picture 1


Picture 2

what lens you using?

Picture 3


Picture 4


Picture 5


Picture 6


Picture 7


Picture 8


Picture 9


Picture 10



Leses used are 85L, 135L and 70-200 f2.8 non-IS L

Nice looking models.

woohoo standard portrait shoot pics!
full body. 3/4 body, side profile.
haha used to do this alot

She is indeed pretty... Putrajaya also beautifull.


I am learning from you ma... Must start to learn taking potrait from the right sifu... Or else other members keep saying I have no skills and dunno how to use camera...

voip.. picture 7 use 85mm??

nice photo u hv there~~

did u use any flash light?

Can I see the Full Res of Pic #10? (or link to a higher res one)

I want to see the details being captured using my(type of) lens using your camera

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Added on June 30, 2008, 9:11 pmweikeat : Kidding ah.. but your statement/question brings to mind a small little flashlight :-)

Thanks.. That's photo was using 85mm. You got it right


Some got flash, some without... The reason are;

(1) Wind strong strong, blow away my umbrella. Equiptment limitation....

(2) Wireless receiption not reliable at outdoor after 20 meters. Again, equiptment limitation....

Picture 11:


Picture 12:


Picture 13:


Picture 14:


Picture 15:


Picture 16:


Picture 17:


Picture 18:


Picture 19:


Picture 20:

aayooo...nice model lol..
nice photo tooo

#18 and #19 are going into my iPhone for "pose" inspiration.

Thumbs Up Pics.

ps : luckily #19, the shoe don't have the price tag :-)

Let me go home see see first la...


Glad you like my amature shots... Not bad for beginner, right?

erm..no wonder..nid to use flash light to shoot outdoor potrait...
u use wireless flash?where u place to flash?

Wah... So give face ar... Hahaha...

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Added on June 30, 2008, 9:24 pm
Various pictures different la...

Some I use flash to 'darken' the background. Can understand ar? Which mean I underexpose it... But use flash to compensate the subject... Kind of photoshop effect without computer, right?

weikeat : not a necessity. It's used as fill in light in most cases and some, like our so-called-amateur, use it as strobist (off camera flash)

He has good technique and $$

for eveything that you can't shoot, you can always blame equipment. keke..

erm..i think i kinda understand..sorry i vy noob one....
erm..coz i do shoot some..but the subject is quite underexpose...
i use shutter speed till like 1/15 F5.6..no flash..iso 800..in indoor la..
so i wonder how u guys get the subject so clear..my one jz ...haiz.....

voip : not give face lah.. Is cun, then is cun lah.. plain and simple.

myjunk is learning... Sometime spending some money do help... At least for newbie like me...


Maybe your shutter speed too low... make sure at least 1/60 la... Most of my shots has shutter speed above 1/1000 to make sure no handshake ma... because shooting lenglui usually hand are shakier...


The gal is indeed cun...

but i cant use 1/1000 or 1/60 in indoor o..all my pic will be underexpose..and if u higher up the iso..thn become noisy le..so what can i do to?jz becoz of my lens?or?
ya lo..shoot leng lui..my hand always shake de...haiz...

VOIP : Woi, you quoted me out of context. I mean the pic is cun and the pose is good, that's the reason I'm saving it.I'm not commenting on the girl.

weikeat: Same problem as me lah. I heard (hear only lah) Sony High ISO not very good. Take a look at this link, it's very poison



After seeing that, sure you go HAIZ!!!

indoor at f5.6? YOu zoom is it? If you using kitlens , then max aperture should be around 3.5/4.0, try using that, will increase your shutter speed.

the shots i find alright, but need working on the pose. good example would be pic #1 and pic #2 - i think she'll look better it wasn't taken side profile.

pic #3 onwards the poses are nice already.

Enough poison with 85L and 135L already.

picture 15 very natural smile nice ! Good

Wow, really nice pictures. At least better than mine ler. Must work harder to get better composition.

Dun worry... There are many solution to your problems;

(1) The best being getting a Canon 1D mark III + 85L. It should eliminate your low light + bokeh issue.

(2) If budget is an issue, get a 5D + 135L. The combo still offer pretty good result

(3) If you insist on Sony and using back your camera, do get the Zeiss 85 f1.4. The lense is not bad... except bokeh a bit harsh... But still a fine lense.


Thanks for your kind words... I am still learning here and there... Hope can have proper camera this year or next...


Yeah... The fine Lenses does compensate for my lousy skill...

Picture 21 - Using flash to darken the background. My non-computer photoshop effect...


Picture 22


Picture 23


Picture 24


Picture 25

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Added on July 1, 2008, 12:16 am
Thanks..


Maybe you need some good Lenses...

Look at Lanun on how much he improved after selling off all lenses and get a single Lense

i wonder why you always praise the 1D-series than 1Ds-series...
best bokeh and low noise on canon SLR camera body should fall to Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III.... if the budget is unlimited..
since you say the best... it should be Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III...

I like the pic no 18. The skin tone is much more balance from face to hand. Other look ok too.

Actually it is due to effective focal length + avaiable lenses issue.

Personally I love the 1.3x 1D mark III with 35L + 85L + 135L + 70-200L combination. Everything are just perfect...

Anyway, everyone taste of effective focal length varies....


Thanks... It was due to 580EX II + ST-E2 + Umbrella

TheVoip- how much is the sony carl zeiss lens?

myjunk - ya lo..i do some zoom...if not i nid to go close to the subject o...erm...what if i add a speedlite on it?will it be better?or?

this one is nice. btw you shouldn't put your watermark all over the place la. no distraction also end up distraction.

and you already have a PROPER camera k. people like me using something that's not even worth half of your 30D.

I'm working on it now. Eating grass now It's either lens or flash.... which one first?

Last check is RM5999.


Ya I know... But due to some recent issue that people love to copy and put into thier own website... So at this moment, I have to watermark at critical area... When I have a proper website, I will re-do the watermark. Now I should focus on getting proper pictures.

My camera do have a lot of limitation + imperfection. There are even visible noise at 100% view around the blurred bokeh. I use it and I know it. I will show it maybe sometime next week. With proper camera like 1D mark III, most if not all limitation should be gone.

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Added on July 1, 2008, 12:29 am
As lots of sifu pointed out... Lenses are more important than camera... Some more Lenses dun simply drop price like camera... because replacement not so soon

very nice all your photos.

their photos are pp-ed like crazy. and i can still see some artifacts due tu either noise removal or blur layer. nothing special there. can get similar results with my d40 with the right lighting and post processing.

edit: checked the page again. yep, i can see a lot of rough processing done there. lol.

Great job TheVoIP. The photo is nice and the model is pretty.
My favorite is Photo.9

Keep up the good work

Thanks sifu weileong...


I also notice that. IMO, photoshop is like eating egg. You can eat it raw (no PP), partially cook (slight PP to cover imperfection), well done (use PP to bring out or create the effect), but should never over-cook (overly PP done) I think the website is more toward overly done... and some of the effects I am not sure if nessasry in the first place...


Thanks... The model is indeed pretty... And you just need good Lenses to unleash the her beautyl... At least it is what I did...

Wah liu.... so geng...
How long more i need to go up to your level...

P/S : Can I touch ur L??

You can touch my Lenses, but not my Lan

Can lar, can lar...

Did you use umbrella to act as a diffuser/layer for flash?
Ah btw, Putrajaya and Cyberjaya, everyday sure got big wind blow kuat kuat one... Even raining also become storm already..

I definitely need to work more on my composition first also. Given the chance to test the Lenses, I still feel my pictures are still lagging far behind compared to the ones you posted here.
Your alien technology got 'auto-compose' mode?

Again... private part cannot touch... Only Lenses can touch...


It is why sometime have to remove umbrella lo... No problem for raining or whatever... The 580EX II is very strong. I had been using it a number of times in rain, even drop it... Nothing go wrong...


Hmm... You got your points... How come Lenses can help me compose in the first place?

On second thought, actually my compostion no good la... I think it is more to the Lenses bluring the OOF area for creamy effect and confuss our judgement?

Picture 26


Picture 27


Picture 28


Picture 29


Picture 30


Picture 31

love all ur shots
model is photogenic thus making the shot look very attractive
congrats!!

Hahha finally i got time to view ur pics! Overall good effort, my pick will be no 5 & 6 (due to reflections). While for no 10 watch out for that tiang, its distracting the compo.

Good bokeh for pic 18 but pic 20, eh, the compo makes her face looked fat

Overall, good effort!

i think anyone that shooting portrait here eyeing on full frame camera..
not sure why you eyeing on 1D-series... as you don`t need the crop factor to extend the focal length as like shooting at sepang....
my friend holding d3 swear kao kao as 200mm can`t frame tightly as d2xs at sepang track...
and please... don`t always put a phrase like you need 1D-series or Lense to shoot....
this makes many people feel you are so so so newbie....

for me most of your photo are soft and out of focus...
some photo you really make her looks huge..
so in the end... Lense doesn`t improve your skill/photo anywhere...
just improve the bokehness of the photo...

this is just a feeling of mine after reading your post in this forum saying only 1-series and Lense to shoot a good photo...

The girl is cun.. and good effort for VOIP!! Great!

next time can come out some series with some AV poses... *shy*

Thanks... As some sifu pointed out in photography, the most important is the subject itself, follow by equiptment and then creativity... I guess he is right...


Glad you like it... Maybe due to my own size, I actually prefer gals that has baby fat... Hahaha...


Thanks for your comments. I guess most likely my soft and OOF pictures are all due to my cheap 40D... Must be it


Hehehe... I wish I could... But I just do not have shinchan's skill.....

That's his unique skill....

are you sure??
i checked every photo`s exif you post up...
is more like user problem than the gear problem...
even you get 1-series.. you will still encounter the same problem.. just not as severe....
you put too much attention on getting smooth bokeh than sharper and more in focus photo....
you are challenging the limitation of your lens for some of the photo...

the lens rated widest aperture is f/2.8... no one call you to use f/2.8 to shoot.. you can always shoot with f/3.2 and smaller...
learn how to balance between each element of the photo...

for your information...
every canon SLR regarding what series... AWB are tend to go warm side.....

Yes mei-jie Sifu... THanks for teaching me all these... You are truly a great Sifu...

No wonder all my photos are too soft and all OOF... Thank you again...

huh ? you should teach him instead of comment him since you so confidence about your photo.
I think you are a super pro , until you can SEE the OOF from his picture.
Well , i really need to learn from you , please , teach me TEACH ME !!
MEI JIE , I AM SO ADMIRE YOU !!! PLEASE TEACH ME !!