AusBonsai

Hey all,

So I've recently upgraded to a DSLR camera, and am planning on giving a good workout this weekend at our clubs exhibition.

However, I'm not sure which is the best lens to take with me for the show, and am curious if anyone has any reccomendations for a good lens for exhibition photography? I was thinking of just using a prime lense, as that'll capture what light there is avaialbe best, as well as my kit lense (18-55mm) as a backup.

Do you guys have a preferred lens to use when you photo shows? I only want to take a couple of lens's as I'll be there for a full day and don't really want to lug all my gear around if I can help it... that stuff is much heavier then I imagined! lol

Cheers!

I use a Sigma 17-70 f2.8

most shots are taken @ 70 to ensure the camera is as far away as possible for the subject to minimise distortion and fisheye.
F2.8 is really good in lower light so you can use natural light @ lower ISO, rather than having to resort to flash and thus the shadows.

Ken

Thanks Ken! I was actually looking at that lense, a Macro lens is next on my list

That was why I was thinking of using the prime, to hopefully avoid having to use a flash I only bought the lens yesterday though, so have not had a chance to play with it and see how it works, but its aperature is f/1.8, otherwise my next 'best' one is f/3.5, which I'm not sure would be all that good (i'm still wrapping my head around aperture and all that, so forgive me if I'm not makign sense )

I jumped into the rabit hole with the DSLR's, had no idea what I was getting myself into

Jason wrote:
I jumped into the rabit hole with the DSLR's, had no idea what I was getting myself into

they are certainly fun
My advice, pick either Aperture priority ( what I use) or Shutter priority and set the other option manually so you know what affect it has at differet settings.
on Auto, you never quite know what it is going to do, and on full manual there are are far too many variable to consider

I pick my aperture to suit the shot ( depending on how much depth of field i want. then set the lowest ISO I can to get a shutter speed suitable for the shot. I bracket around the shutter speed and pick the best.

For static subjects like Bonsai, Tripod and remote shutter with a longish shutter ( 1/15th of sec).

Ken

Warning: No expert here.

I bought a Nikon package a couple of years ago and one of the lenses was an 18-55mm which I have settled on for pretty much all plant/garden shots. I've messed around the manual settings on the camera (aperture / shutter) but prefer the Macro setting inbuilt in the camera. I occasionally revert to manual when I really do want fill in flash, but for 95% of my images the Macro setting works just fine.

kcpoole wrote:

Jason wrote:
I jumped into the rabit hole with the DSLR's, had no idea what I was getting myself into

they are certainly fun
My advice, pick either Aperture priority ( what I use) or Shutter priority and set the other option manually so you know what affect it has at differet settings.
on Auto, you never quite know what it is going to do, and on full manual there are are far too many variable to consider

I pick my aperture to suit the shot ( depending on how much depth of field i want. then set the lowest ISO I can to get a shutter speed suitable for the shot. I bracket around the shutter speed and pick the best.

For static subjects like Bonsai, Tripod and remote shutter with a longish shutter ( 1/15th of sec).

Ken

Thats good photography advise.
Is there anything this man cant do

im not an expert by any means but from my experience f3.5 is perfectly fine, assuming indoor shooting with plenty of lights around, and as suggested it will probably easiest and faster to shoot in aperture priority. Manual is much more fun when you get the hang of it, but it is a lot more "time consuming".

And here I was thinking Bonsai was an expensive hobby!!!

Thanks for the advice Ken (and everyone!), that is exactly what i will do I think. I've got a decent tripod too, so will see if I can use that prior to doors opening or something At the moment I've only been using the different scene modes, but have been reading into the priority modes, so might have a play around with them tonight to get a feel for them before the show

I shoot with Nikon and for most indoor uses, I shoot with my 50mm prime lens only because Bonsai are not too large and I can fit the whole plant in the shot without standing too far away.
My 50mm is a 1.4. For macro details though, nothing beats the 60mm micro or the 100mm micro which I own both. They are particularly useful if you want to blur out the back ground to enhance the subject.
If you want to know what these lens are capable of, you can have a look at my flickr images though most photos in there are of macro wildlife. I have a few flowers taken a few years ago that were shot with the 60mm under studio condition.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookietoo/
The higher F stops makes it hard to blur the back ground.
If you're using a tripod and not fussy about back ground details, almost any lens will do.

longd_au wrote:I shoot with Nikon and for most indoor uses, I shoot with my 50mm prime lens only because Bonsai are not too large and I can fit the whole plant in the shot without standing too far away.
My 50mm is a 1.4. For macro details though, nothing beats the 60mm micro or the 100mm micro which I own both. They are particularly useful if you want to blur out the back ground to enhance the subject.
If you want to know what these lens are capable of, you can have a look at my flickr images though most photos in there are of macro wildlife. I have a few flowers taken a few years ago that were shot with the 60mm under studio condition.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookietoo/
The higher F stops makes it hard to blur the back ground.
If you're using a tripod and not fussy about back ground details, almost any lens will do.

Awesome, thanks for that!
I don't have a full frame camera, so my 35mm would probably be the equivalent of a 50mm (if I understand the crop factor properly lol)... so that might work well

I'm dying to get those Micro lens's, the 100mm is top of my wish list, but am having to save a bit before I'll be able to get one They come out with some great photos though, your insect pictures are awesome!!

longd_au wrote: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookietoo/

I really get sidetracked once on this site! Excellent insect photography to be seen here. If you have the bonsai time for distraction!

Now back to work.

Regards, AnneK.

AnneK wrote:

longd_au wrote: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cookietoo/

I really get sidetracked once on this site! Excellent insect photography to be seen here. If you have the bonsai time for distraction!

Now back to work.

Regards, AnneK.

IS that all your photography Dennis? If so it is absolutely amazing!
The underwater stuff is epic.

DeadStar wrote:
Is there anything this man cant do

Lots, but that is a secret
thanks for the compliment

Ken

Jason,

I use a Panasonic FZ200, so I have no lens choice. Nice! Problem is it's not an SLR, so I don't get the quality you get either!

My best advice to anyone learning about photography is use a tripod, and understand depth of field. With a tripod you can choose any shutter speed you want for indoors bonsai photography and then you can get your depth of field, focal length and distance from the tree nailed down accurately. Do yourself a favour an find online the DOF guide to your lens. If you can get a graphical one it's really useful to help you understand things. Check this page. . . http://more4u2c.wordpress.com/2011/01/0 ... -of-field/ you may find it useful.

Cheers,

Andrew

Ps, don't forget to look Tate trees, and not just photograph them! Lol.

Andrew Legg wrote: Ps, don't forget to look Tate trees, and not just photograph them! Lol.

this is gold.
I been to a few shows and taken photos and on realised after I got home reviewed the pics, that a few trees i did not remember "seeing"

Ken