Behold! My first camera!

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Well, my sweetie arrived today! A brand new Canon Rebel XT with 18-55mm lens!

And here are some of my first pics, just playin' around with the new lens.

Man, this camera is so sweet! I can't even believe I have it... and it's my own camera! It's so fun to take pictures of anything and not have to pay for film/processing! Wohoo!

These are my very first pics with it! The only cool thing to take a picture of were X-mods (the Ford is mine, and the Hummer is my dads) and my R/C Helicopter! One thing I leanred is that with 8mp I really have to make sure whatever small things I'm taking pictures of are actually CLEAN! Look at the dust! This camera is way better than a microscope!! And these are about 20% of the original size.

My first real test will be tomorrow! I'm going to shoot some pics during my lunch break and see if I can't get some cool shots of the airplanes! I really want to see what my Sigma 100-300mm will do!

Anyway, ohh... I'm so happy!!

 

[prodigy4god]

WOW I envy you having one of those top cameras on the market, I myself have the Fuji Finepix E550, which is not bad but everyones craves for those top classes, only problem I cannot finance it at the moment
To the pictures, they are certainly great, macro setting is awesome. Its super crisp and sharp, go post more pics when your on your lunch break. Have fun and enjoy that fantastic camera !
And could you make some outdoor pictures of trees and at sunset? Especially sunste pictures for me please ^^

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Oh man, I would have KILLED to have had this camera for todays sunset! One of the most spectacular I've ever seen! Right as I was walking away from the hangar where I work you could see this beautiful golden pillar of light refracting straight up from the sun that had descended behind some distant cumulous clouds... just as our schools helicopter lifted off and flew right towards it... and just as a perfect "V" of geese flew above the sunset! Absolutly perfect, but that was BC. (Before Camera) haha

Unfortunately we're expecting rain for the next week... but I promise I'll get some nature photo's of some sort for ya.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked the pics. I've been waiting and saving for a camera like this for the last 8 years... I still don't believe I own it. lol

 

[prodigy4god]

Arg you definitely should have made that pic of that sunset. do it next time ^^ I should post some nature pics too and maybe we can compare and share our knowledge of photography ^^. But your camera shout beat my camera by miles ;D hehe

 

[GK]

I would be having so much fun right now setting those trucks up in the dirt and making it look like I was photographing the real thing.

 

[wildthing]

i don't know whats better the RC copter or the camera

 

[MysteriousNecklace]

i don't know whats better the RC copter or the camera

Lol. Both.

Sounds like you'll have a lot of fun with your new camera. I envy you. I've wanted a new camera for awhile. I love taking pics of architecture and nature.

Have fun with your camera.

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Lol. Both.

Sounds like you'll have a lot of fun with your new camera. I envy you. I've wanted a new camera for awhile. I love taking pics of architecture and nature.

Have fun with your camera.

Yeah, that little helo is pretty fun too! It's great to be able to fly it inside the house. lol

Anyway, here are some pics I took yesterday at the airport I work at.

This is the Schweizer helicopter they do all their training in. Fun little guy to fly! Notice the nice blur effect on the tail rotor? First time I've been able to do that! That was shot with the shutter at 1/100

Here is the rotor mast using the Sigma 100-300mm... also at 1/100. The motor was shut down and the rotors were spinning really slowly... so the blur didn't work too well! haha

OK, now compare these two images... the one above is obviously reduced in size and has been edited a bit... and BELOW is the ACTUAL SIZE of this part of the pic, without any editing. Man, I love the size of these pictures!

And just a fun one to throw out there of a resident Beaver undergoing some maintenance. How do ya like those huge Tundra tires? lol

 

[prodigy4god]

Nice pics ~~~ Really good pics, especially the tail, the motion was caught perfect ~ keep it up ^^

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

OK, so I had a bit more fun today! The weather was still quite dark out today but managed to pull these off OK.


This series of pics is of my current flight instructor with another student. Here they perform a perfect crosswind landing. The next picture shows the downwind wheel touching first, then the right main, then the nose finally.

I love this camera! I didn't realize until after I got home and was editing the pics that these two pictures are actually of my first flight instructor who got me through my private pilot training! So hello Eric! lol

 

[_becca]

AW I KNOW!!! This camera is so incredable!!!! I feel the same way you do right now hahaha

I like the shots

What kind of card did you get?

 

[superduperblake]

Hey, I really like your airplane pictures. =D

 

[LunaLee_16]

Well, my sweetie arrived today! A brand new Canon Rebel XT with 18-55mm lens!

And here are some of my first pics, just playin' around with the new lens.

Man, this camera is so sweet! I can't even believe I have it... and it's my own camera! It's so fun to take pictures of anything and not have to pay for film/processing! Wohoo!

These are my very first pics with it! The only cool thing to take a picture of were X-mods (the Ford is mine, and the Hummer is my dads) and my R/C Helicopter! One thing I leanred is that with 8mp I really have to make sure whatever small things I'm taking pictures of are actually CLEAN! Look at the dust! This camera is way better than a microscope!! And these are about 20% of the original size.

My first real test will be tomorrow! I'm going to shoot some pics during my lunch break and see if I can't get some cool shots of the airplanes! I really want to see what my Sigma 100-300mm will do!

Anyway, ohh... I'm so happy!!

Yay For Cannon Rebels! lol
I have an EOS Cannon Rebel K2, so it's not digital *green with envy* but I still love it like a best friend LOL jk

I really like the pics of the planes and helicopters, nice crisp images Really cool shots!

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Well today I just got my two spare batteries AND the battery grip! I decided to go with the Opteka grip and not the Canon as they're completely identical and the Opteka grip costs $100 LESS. lol Only difference is the canon lable on it!

And yes, I adore my camera. Here are a couple more pics taken last friday from work.

This is the gorgeous plane I get to fly 3 days a week. This picture was taken right after I finished washing her all down... not a spec of grease or oil anywhere! And another thing is, I helped with the 100 hour inspection! I got to take off/replace ALL interior, panels and serviced the landing gear! Wohoo!

The 1973 Cessna 177RG Cardinal

And here is the instrument panel from the pilots seat:

Enjoy!


oh yes and I have a SanDisk Ultra II 2.0 GB. It's pretty sweet. I'll probably buy a couple more before airshow season just for extra comfort. lol

 

[cameocat]

Very nice, and congratulations on the camera! I enjoyed your shots.

 

[Justin Horne]

On the pictures of the plane in the first page, some of the highlights appear to be blown out a bit.. I'm not sure on the XT, but on the 20D, if you take a picture, go to the advanced info view, if you see the "blinkies" then that section of the image is blown. Basically, it blinks black and normal, so you see.
To try, take a picture of a light-bulb dead on, hit the info button until you can see the histogram also. If you look at the smaller thumbnail of the image you just took, in that view, and you see black spots blinking, you know it's overexposed

Just a quick way to tell while shooting if it is over exposing, so you can dial it down a 1/2 stop or so...

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Hey Justin thanks for that info! I'll check it out next time I go shooting.

Also... which picture in particular are you talking about so I know where the problem is.

All the pictures of "N491SF" were taken with same settings as they were one right after the other. The differences are due to my first edits. haha

 

[Justin Horne]

Hey Justin thanks for that info! I'll check it out next time I go shooting.

Also... which picture in particular are you talking about so I know where the problem is.

All the pictures of "N491SF" were taken with same settings as they were one right after the other. The differences are due to my first edits. haha

Yeah, N491SF is the one, primarily the first three pictures in post 10. You see how, especially in the first photo, there's almost no detail on the top of the plane, it's just all white? That's the over exposed bit.

Mind you, it may have been very hard to get right. With the subdued background, the camera may have chosen to slow the shutter or widen the aperture just a tad to get the background at least semi exposed, therefore blowing out the super white object. To compensate, I think you would want to use Partial Metering. Likely, it was in Evaluative Mode.
Your manual should tell you which is which, and how to change them, but I think it's quite similar to the 20D.
Centerweighted average may also have worked. Likely, it was just the wrong metering mode..

It's the little things...

They still get me too. Here's something that sounds dumb, but trust me, do it. On the 20D, and I assume the XT, if the camera is on and ready to shoot, and the LCD isn't on.. So, basically, like when you are shooting. Press the Info button. It will display almost all of your camera parameters. Just take a glance through them before you start.
I've learned this after shooting something for my school quite important, only to see later it was all done in ISO 3200... :S

 

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Humm... I'll try and be more aware of that.

The only problem, though, is that in order to get proper propeller blur like that I have to shoot at a lower shutter speed... 90-125. The cheap-O lens I have only allows a single aperture setting for the given focal length and with the lighting such as it was that day, kind of backs you into a corner. And the speed of the thing is an issue too as the exposure requirements are completely different whith the white airplane vs. dark background. Granted, that Cessna 172 ain't no F-16 like I'll be shooting later... but still kinda tricky.

I'll be back out at the field this weekend and will try the different metering modes. It's supposed to be rainy, so we'll see how things turn out.