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D3/D300 illustrated

woodyspedden

New member
Shot with the D3 and 70-200 zoom. Handheld at 1/20th f/8, ISO 100. Did some PP on these... curves, saturation, sharpening but it was getting dark and the AF works like a champ. Just realized the crop is from a different shot... but you get the idea :)
Hey David

Great stuff. Was this a shoot at Dale Labs with David and Andre? I am so envious that you can hold the camera still with the very large 70-200 2.8, even with VR. I love that lens but it is almost always used on my tripod

woody
 

David K

Workshop Member
Hi there Woody,
The shoot was in a model home up here in Jupiter together with Andre and his lovely model Stephanie. Really no big deal to have a slow shutter speed when you're using strobes because they freeze the action... or at least that's how I think it works. I'm really starting to trust the D3 to get the job done. It may not offer some of the advantages of the Leicas or a MFDB, but for these kind of shots with low ambient light the only way I can focus with those other systems is to have someone shine a flashlight in the model's eyes so I can see whether I'm in focus. I've done just that on a number of occasions but it really kills any kind of rhythm you might hope to get from the model. Using the right tool for the right job is really what it's all about.
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
and sneaked to snap this one
even a bulky DSLR can be used for a candid street shot if you rely on the autofocus and don't put the camera in front of your face, only maybe it needs some serious rotation and cropping ... or maybe not :)
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
Thanks David, I actually thought about that myself, especially after having seen your excellent conversions.
Only I am such an ignorant jerk with postprocessing, so how about it if I send you the last couple of NEF files with yousendit dot com and you play with it and post your preferred method result, and afterwards you tell me what you consider the best black and white conversion strategy for these NEF files ?
There are so many ways it can be done, and stages when it can be done. Right at the moment I don't have the time for countless blind trial and error attempts. I need someone to teach me a good strategy.

(And btw I am waiting for 'Joey' to rescue me - do you feel the pressure, Lars ? :D)
 

David K

Workshop Member
Here's my conversion on two of the images but they come with a disclaimer. I am far from an expert at B&W conversion. Honestly I just fiddle to taste with levels, curves and a bit of dodge and burn. I let Alien Skin Exposure do the initial conversion (here T-Max 100) and then play around with it. Jack, on the other hand, is very good with B&W conversions, and if you can get his input it is well worth having.
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
Thanks a lot David, very nice. And inspiring.
Here's my attempt.
As usual I do everything in the RAW converter if possible, and I think that is usually possible with the excellent but very memory consuming Nikon software. Here Nikon NX.
(1) Remove the checkmark from Base Adjustments >> RAW Adjustments >> Auto Color Aberration
(2) Remove the checkmark from Base Adjustments >> Detail Adjustments >> Noise Reduction
(3) Crop
(4) Filter >> Black and White Conversion >>
Filter Hue = 30 degrees | Color Filter Strength = 40 % | Brightness = 10 | Contrast = 5 | >> OK
(5) Adjust >> Levels & Curves >> hit the Auto Contrast button >> OK
(6) Adjust >> Focus >> Unsharp Mask >>
Intensity = 20 % | Radius = 3 % | Threshold = 1 | >> OK
(7) Save as jpeg
It could be done in so many different ways, and I wouldn't know which are the better ones :eek:
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
Thanks Woody, yeah one has to love that brave little lady :)
While I was at it I sneaked to take a couple more candids in the street.
Autofocus, shot from the chest or from the hip, long distance and heavily cropped afterwards.
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
This old female dog with the white beard is a wild dog, she doesn't really belong anywhere. She just visits some nice homes to get something to eat, and maybe take a nap in front of the fireplace before she walks on.
She is the most stoic dog I have ever met, she rarely barks, rarely does anything else than just lie or sit, starring like a sphinx. In other words she was the perfect victim for my portrait exercises with my ZF 1.4/85mm manual focus lens .-)
And believe me, Ray is right. It ain't easy to reliably manual focus this focal length on a short distance with the built in D300 matte screen. After all the D300 viewfinder isn't optimized for manual focus. Nine out of ten could be trashed immediately.
Then again I'm an old dog too, and my eyes certainly aren't what they used to be. Here is a f/4 keeper at 1/200 sec.
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
And a 75 % crop (in order to see a little of the dog and not just some fur)
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
and while we are at it, a kennel and its owner
seen from a roof
D300 & ZF 1.4/50mm
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
The headquarter asked me to send their greetings to you.
For some reason they seemed to know you all ... ?
 
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