Seaworld family pics... through a 11-16mm lens... :)

[emPhoto]

(Carrying on from this thread (http://www.ausph.com/showthread.php/8402-What-will-it-be-)))

Well, we made it back... the kids had a blast!... Mum and Dad are pooped...

As some of you know from the above thread, I set myself the challenge of only taking a single lens (and older camera body) on my Easter family holidays...

The 11-16mm f/2.8 was well worth it, in my opinion. It obviously excelled at the super wide angled stuff, but was also a joy for the snaps most people would use a 'normal' lens for... as long as you understood its distortive characteristics and worked with it, not against it.

Anyway, too tired to doing anything but to post up two lovely captures of my daughters enjoying the view...

http://www.emphotography.com.au/forums/Family-Seaworld-Easter2011-emPhotography.jpg
Canon 40D
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
ISO1000, 11mm, f/6.3, 1/400s
Processed in Lightroom 3

http://www.emphotography.com.au/forums/Family-Seaworld-Easter2011-02-emPhotography.jpg
Canon 40D
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
ISO1000, 11mm, f/6.3, 1/320s
Processed in Lightroom 3

:)

[tanz]

Great photo's, can't wait to see the rest :)

[MRA]

That first shot is a ripper! Needs to be printed and framed.

[Tatts]

Great use of silhouettes :)
Good to hear you all had a great time. Look forward to seeing the rest.

[flap]

That first shot is a ripper! Needs to be printed and framed.

very much agree!! kids are in a more relaxed stance, there is a wider range of fish and colours -- i like that one alot
the coral is also a winner
top shot

[Cookster670]

Beautiful. Can't wait to see more !

[Brown Dog]

Having just picked up a 11-16mm myself Im very interested to see more...love what Im seeing so far

[emPhoto]

Thank you, everybody. :)

Brown Dog, you will like this focal length. Not sure what camera you have (cropped or full), but even on my cropped sensor, 11mm takes in a whole lot of scene goodness.

After the shark tank, the girls and I waited down below in the Polar Bear enclosure for the bear to take a plunge into its pool... but, it never did.... now, that would make for a spectacular capture! Bear swimming around underwater with the girls watching it... I would have wet my photographic pants if that had happened...

I'll try and find the time soonish to post up some captures that are 'normal' family snaps to give folks an idea of what can be done with this focal length (11-16mm)...

em :)

[ScottH]

Great place to take the kids.
Last time we were there, my wife stayed hear for almost an hour, while I did some rides with the kids.
Very relaxing to watch them all float by.

Nicely captured.
Before you print the first one, which I agree is a ripper, you might want to think about getting rid of the lights in the bottom bit near their feet.

[k8*]

Gorgeous colour em! Love the first as well and happy to read that you all had a great time. I love Sea World!

[KhAoTiC]

Very cool pics em. Great choice with the 11-16. Look forward to seeing more :)

[timmo]

the 11-16 is one sharp lens.:)
love these Em...
cheers
tim

[flap]

I would have wet my photographic pants if that had happened...



^^ quote of the year

[Seesee]

Lovely shots, more than just snapshots ....the 11-16 is my next lens when money permits, a beautiful piece of glass indeed from all reviews I've read and images seen, and looking at this at 11mm there is pretty much no distotion at all.

[emPhoto]

Thank you, everybody. :)

Scott, I hear ya regarding the light...

Seesee, it is a good lens. Great bang for buck. However, there is barrel distortion and 'stretching' at the borders (though not really that bad, actually) - it is inevitable with this wide a lens. That said, the distortion is VERY easy to fix in Lightroom 3 (or PhotoShop) using the Lens Correction tool. You can even set a preset distortion correction for the exact lens you have and fix distortions with a single click across all your images taken with the same lens. Very cool.

:)

[MickT]

Nice mate

[Saintsgirl]

^^ quote of the year

Totally! Thats what i love about Em - he is sooo passionate.

[emPhoto]

Thanks. Mick. :)

And Renae, can't help but be passionate... photography is soooooo cool!!

Seriously... my family will forever have these photos of a single point in our lives... it is literally a 'slice of life' that can never be repeated... there is power in photography...

... plus, I love the sound of the shutter... really, I do... :help:

;)

[Corbin]

Love LOVE that first shot mate... Looking at the EXIF you don't really realise how bright it must have been.

[emPhoto]

Thanks, Corbin. It was fun shooting in there. :)

Here are a few more...

Early morning Dolphin Show:
http://www.emphotography.com.au/forums/Family-Seaworld-Easter2011-03-emPhotography.jpg
ISO400, 11mm, f/8, 1/1000s
Processed in Lightroom 3

In the next two, the motion blur is entirely achieved in the camera (look at the shutter speeds). I wanted to give the photos a feeling of movement, because that was what precisely was happening in real life.

So, how do you get an acceptably sharp image of your main moving subject and have the rest of the frame blur? The answer is a very simple technique called 'panning'... you first ensure you have a slow shutter speed to blur movement and then you move the camera at roughly the same speed as the subject so that the subject relative to the camera is 'stationary'. Everything else that is not moving at the same speed of your camera becomes blurred.

So, in the two shots below, I panned the camera to track the kids as they swung round in front of me. As I panned, I fired off a burst of frames... one (or more) of them will be acceptably sharp on your subject:

http://www.emphotography.com.au/forums/Family-Seaworld-Easter2011-04-emPhotography.jpg
ISO100, 11mm, f/13, 1/15s
Processed in Lightroom 3


http://www.emphotography.com.au/forums/Family-Seaworld-Easter2011-05-emPhotography.jpg
ISO100, 11mm, f/14, 1/15s
Processed in Lightroom 3

And this is just a good 'ol fashioned shot for the family album...

http://www.emphotography.com.au/forums/Family-Seaworld-Easter2011-06-emPhotography.jpg
ISO100, 16mm, f/8, 1/500s
Processed in Lightroom 3

:)

[ScottH]

The last one is so cute!!!

[KhAoTiC]

Awesome panning work. At those shutters n the speed of the rides u done good.

Love the album shot ):

[twistednoodle]

OMG I loved ALL of these!!! REally loved the 1st Aquarium - the dimesions of the crop were perfect, sillhoette divine, colours gorgeous!!! LOVED the dolphin pool!!!! and lastley LOVED the Merry Go Round - nice movement and colour!!!

[PBO]

They are all good. The first and last are my pics - the first because of the shark and the girls positioning and the last as the qualities of the lens have really worked for the composition of the shot. Well done.

[emPhoto]

Thank you, everybody... it's fun to experiment with lenses and camera techniques without any pressures to deliver whatsoever... I'm really happy with how they turned out...

:)

[angel]

its great to set yourself a challenge once in a while, i think i need to do it myself, get those creative juices flowing. I love the 1st shot as well, im an animal person so i could just imagine how awesome it would have been with the bear. the wide shot of the dolphins are spectacular who needs a close up with that shot... and a super cute set of family ones as well :)

[emPhoto]

Yeah... if only I could have gotten the bear as well.... seriously, would have wet myself. ;)

Setting challenges for yourself is a great thing to do. It really does force you to think outside your normal comfort zone and come up with ways to produce t he desired result... think about this for your client work... isn't 90% of client work actually working outside your normal comfort zone? Crappy location, shi*ty lighting, etc etc... the more we are 'comfortable' with working outside our comfort zones, the better and more consistent photographers we will be...

M :)