woodsy wrote:went out to bnt v8s got a few good shots still working threw them but heres a couple so far

2nd one is my fav

Tugboat wrote:

RJD wrote:Hahaha I almost bid against you, realy after a 400/5.6 so I didnt...

Gratz, ace lens!

RJD... seen this yet? http://www.trademe.co.nz/Electronics-ph ... 505452.htm

Ahh was offered and went for $1300, shame, I was on the QS ride so couldnt take the offer...

Tui anyone?

Their hard buggers to get a photo of or a good photo atleast. Have acouple floating about here that I've tried to get a photo of but they bugger off just as I get the camera out.

Cyclists can be hard to catch too.....they bugger off quicker than Tui's, and they wont stay still long enough.

You reckon cyclists are hard to capture because of their speed. How about Korimako (Bellbirds) fighting for in low-light!!

My 10D sprang back to life today so I spent most of the afternoon cruising around taking some photos, as soon as I drove up the road I came across these guys playing some heavy metal out on the footpath! I carried on out to Lake Rotoiti and got a few snaps there too

Awesome footpath metal guys.

Haha! Vegas

The Mount Skateboarding Association put on a Vert Jam expo at the local ramp yesterday to raise funds for a new ramp. I went along to get some shooting practice. It was pretty contrasty because of the mid-afternoon sun, I tried using flash to fill the shadows but it was my first attempt and my flash is manual only so it was very trial-and-error. Got some that I'm pleased with though.



Need to photoshop out the distant seagull - looks like a huge bit of dust on the sensor!






This one was a 9-year-old grom doing his first ever drop-in. Took him about 10 minutes to build up the nerve, but he got the biggest cheer of the day and won himself a new deck for his troubles

All going well I will get a bit more practice on cyclists today. The Kapiti Cycle Club has their hill climbing champs (which I am not riding in), so last night I scoped out a suitable corner, although it is looking a little grey out there. I am still very much learning, but my goal today is to get the whole really sharp foreground (cyclist) and blurry background (Kapiti Island) thing sorted. I know it is an aperture thing, but I can never remember which end of the scale I go to. Still, I will get their early and practice on my car or a fence post or something.
Will post a couple of results tonight.

nzmatto wrote:All going well I will get a bit more practice on cyclists today. The Kapiti Cycle Club has their hill climbing champs (which I am not riding in), so last night I scoped out a suitable corner, although it is looking a little grey out there. I am still very much learning, but my goal today is to get the whole really sharp foreground (cyclist) and blurry background (Kapiti Island) thing sorted. I know it is an aperture thing, but I can never remember which end of the scale I go to. Still, I will get their early and practice on my car or a fence post or something.
Will post a couple of results tonight.

If it is as grey out there as it is here I hope you have a very fast zoom lens or you'll be pushing it uphill with a pointy stick.

nzmatto wrote:All going well I will get a bit more practice on cyclists today. The Kapiti Cycle Club has their hill climbing champs (which I am not riding in), so last night I scoped out a suitable corner, although it is looking a little grey out there. I am still very much learning, but my goal today is to get the whole really sharp foreground (cyclist) and blurry background (Kapiti Island) thing sorted. I know it is an aperture thing, but I can never remember which end of the scale I go to. Still, I will get their early and practice on my car or a fence post or something.
Will post a couple of results tonight.

Possibly a bit late, but you want a wide aperture (low F-stop like 2.8 or 4) and I like use a longish lens (135-300mm) as they have a much shallower depth of field and at the same time "compress" the image by appearing to bring whatever is in the background closer.

Yup, you were right, it got dark, and quick. I could only get down to 4.4fs and I ended up on the wrong side of the road for any light, so most of the photo's were well below par (even for me). I am sure the club guys & gals will be happy though. There not terrible, but I just could not get the effect I was looking for. Oddly enough the best of the pics was of this guy who was not part of the event, just riding up the hill prior to it.

nzmatto wrote:Oddly enough the best of the pics was of this guy who was not part of the event, just riding up the hill prior to it.

kcc hillclimb 093.JPG

Yeah thats one of the laws of photgraphy.
Best shooting position and time is always just before or after the event. (I think it is covered in Murphy's laws too)