CliffPetersonPhotography
Jersey Shore - Sandy Hook, Highlands NJ
My last post for 2010!!!
hmmmm…. Where do I start???
Well, I have been in and out of photography since 2006. I love all types of photography, from Macro to Portraits. In July me and my buddy Danny decided to get into landscape photography. We had no clue what we were doing, we had crapy tripods, took pics at the wrong aperture, showed up at locations at the wrong time of day, didn't use any filters and processed our pics with picasa and iPhoto. LMAO… The past 6 months we have come a very LONG way!!!!!
Honestly, the reason why we have come this far with our NEW love for landscape photograph is because of the Flickr community!
Without flickr we would probably still be clueless!! I have learned something from everyone of my Flickr contacts, whether good or bad.
A couple of things I've learned or changed in these past 6 months.
1. Camera! I was using a Canon Rebel XTi. Great camera but crappy for landscape. In order for me to take it to another level I had to upgrade. I wanted to get the 5D mkII because EVERYONE of my contacts that posted amazing pics used it but after doing research for a month I said meh, It looks like Canon is going to upgrade it soon so I will wait.
In comes the Canon 7D… WooooooW! Huge difference from my canon Rebel XTi. Now we are talking, I love this camera, I couldn't put it down!!! Love it but it has it's limitations.
It's not full frame, resolution is not as high as the 5D and the images are a bit soft. WIll do for now but waiting for the new 5D.
2. Tripod! At the time I was using a crapy 20 dollar tripod I bought from Best Buy with a piece of shit head!!! One day a fellow photographer played with my settings on my tripod and said "follow me young man, you see the tripod and gear head I have, this is what you are to use. Not that garbage you're using. Ok! A couple months later I bought the Mannfrotto tripod and Manfrotto head! LOVE IT, what a world of a difference.
3. Lens! I needed a better lens so I can take better pictures of course. 24-70L 2.8 to the rescue. I'm going to get the 17-40L tho! :-)
4. Filters! I had no clue about filters. A lot of washed out skies and scratching of the head "Why is this not coming out right"? Why does Patrick Smith pictures looks so darn good without blown out skies???? WTF are these Lee Filters he is always referencing??
Ok, me and my buddy do some research on these Lee Filters!!! Oh, ok, so that's what he uses to not get the skies blown out. Long story short, go to the B&H for 3 months straight, NO LEE filters! Call every photography store, NO LEE FILTERS!!!! Lee is staring to piss me off! Finally I get a .3 Lee ND Grad I go out and do some shooting looking at my pics, still I have blown out skies!!! WTF, I thought Patrick was using Lee filters to NOT get blown out skies! I go back to his flickr page and see that he uses two .9! oh Duhhhh!!! I'm using one .3. I call every photography store and NO one has Lee .9 ND grads for the past 5 or so months!!! Now I'm pissed off so I say F&CK it. Lets get Singh Ray filters!!! :-)…
5. Post Processing! I'm a computer geek, I love computers! But I don't want to sit behind a computer fixing photos! So, what I try to do is get everything in camera that I can.
Prior to December, the only program I used for post after my Picasa experience was Lightroom 3. I love Lightroom 3, It easily manages all my photos and It's very easy to do quick edits but it was lacking something that I just couldn't put my finger on. In the beginning of December I decided to get Photoshop CS5. I have no clue how to use it like others. I just learned how to sharpen photos about a week ago. I'm still clueless on how to use layers. Learning these techniques should not be a problem for me because I've been in the computer field for 12 years. But, like I said, I don't like to do post with my pics. I'm so anal about it, it annoys me when my photo isn't straight and I have to straighten it!!!!
6. Of Course I use an iMac!!! ;-)
I want to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year! Let's see what 2011brings!!!
© Cliff Peterson 2010 all rights reserved.
Unauthorized use or reproduction for any reason is prohibited.
Jersey Shore - Sandy Hook, Highlands NJ
My last post for 2010!!!
hmmmm…. Where do I start???
Well, I have been in and out of photography since 2006. I love all types of photography, from Macro to Portraits. In July me and my buddy Danny decided to get into landscape photography. We had no clue what we were doing, we had crapy tripods, took pics at the wrong aperture, showed up at locations at the wrong time of day, didn't use any filters and processed our pics with picasa and iPhoto. LMAO… The past 6 months we have come a very LONG way!!!!!
Honestly, the reason why we have come this far with our NEW love for landscape photograph is because of the Flickr community!
Without flickr we would probably still be clueless!! I have learned something from everyone of my Flickr contacts, whether good or bad.
A couple of things I've learned or changed in these past 6 months.
1. Camera! I was using a Canon Rebel XTi. Great camera but crappy for landscape. In order for me to take it to another level I had to upgrade. I wanted to get the 5D mkII because EVERYONE of my contacts that posted amazing pics used it but after doing research for a month I said meh, It looks like Canon is going to upgrade it soon so I will wait.
In comes the Canon 7D… WooooooW! Huge difference from my canon Rebel XTi. Now we are talking, I love this camera, I couldn't put it down!!! Love it but it has it's limitations.
It's not full frame, resolution is not as high as the 5D and the images are a bit soft. WIll do for now but waiting for the new 5D.
2. Tripod! At the time I was using a crapy 20 dollar tripod I bought from Best Buy with a piece of shit head!!! One day a fellow photographer played with my settings on my tripod and said "follow me young man, you see the tripod and gear head I have, this is what you are to use. Not that garbage you're using. Ok! A couple months later I bought the Mannfrotto tripod and Manfrotto head! LOVE IT, what a world of a difference.
3. Lens! I needed a better lens so I can take better pictures of course. 24-70L 2.8 to the rescue. I'm going to get the 17-40L tho! :-)
4. Filters! I had no clue about filters. A lot of washed out skies and scratching of the head "Why is this not coming out right"? Why does Patrick Smith pictures looks so darn good without blown out skies???? WTF are these Lee Filters he is always referencing??
Ok, me and my buddy do some research on these Lee Filters!!! Oh, ok, so that's what he uses to not get the skies blown out. Long story short, go to the B&H for 3 months straight, NO LEE filters! Call every photography store, NO LEE FILTERS!!!! Lee is staring to piss me off! Finally I get a .3 Lee ND Grad I go out and do some shooting looking at my pics, still I have blown out skies!!! WTF, I thought Patrick was using Lee filters to NOT get blown out skies! I go back to his flickr page and see that he uses two .9! oh Duhhhh!!! I'm using one .3. I call every photography store and NO one has Lee .9 ND grads for the past 5 or so months!!! Now I'm pissed off so I say F&CK it. Lets get Singh Ray filters!!! :-)…
5. Post Processing! I'm a computer geek, I love computers! But I don't want to sit behind a computer fixing photos! So, what I try to do is get everything in camera that I can.
Prior to December, the only program I used for post after my Picasa experience was Lightroom 3. I love Lightroom 3, It easily manages all my photos and It's very easy to do quick edits but it was lacking something that I just couldn't put my finger on. In the beginning of December I decided to get Photoshop CS5. I have no clue how to use it like others. I just learned how to sharpen photos about a week ago. I'm still clueless on how to use layers. Learning these techniques should not be a problem for me because I've been in the computer field for 12 years. But, like I said, I don't like to do post with my pics. I'm so anal about it, it annoys me when my photo isn't straight and I have to straighten it!!!!
6. Of Course I use an iMac!!! ;-)
I want to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year! Let's see what 2011brings!!!
© Cliff Peterson 2010 all rights reserved.
Unauthorized use or reproduction for any reason is prohibited.