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Digital Camera???

A

AngusinTexas

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
80
Location
Central Texas
I currently have a Sony Cybershot DSC-W55 which is a 7.2 megapixel point and shoot style camera. This camera works great for all of my general needs but I am looking at buying a professional type digital camera and thought maybe someone on here might have some advice. I have been looking at the Nikon cameras but I'm just not very experienced with these types of cameras as well as what lenses would be best suited for my needs. I really want to get into Cattle Photography for catalogs and magazine ads as well as some nature shots. Thus I need a camera that lets in a lot of light seeing as most of the cattle I currently own are Black :wink: as well as a great deal of detail. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ryan
 
What you've got I'd think would be sufficient to take pictures of cattle for catalogs. Sometimes if you look at the catalogs you can tell the photos, alot of them have been touched up with a photo program. If a photo you take is dark you can lighten it up with the program. Your mega pixels should be plenty. I'm using one that's only 4.0. I think sometimes with our Texas sun things are too bright, and then with all this rain and cloudy weather, it's not bright enuff. LOL Can't win fer loosin.
 
Thanks Lilly, but I've found that my pics just don't have the great color quality that I am looking for. When I try to lighten them to make the black cows show more dimension it tends to make the greens and blues lighter shades. Maybe I need to work on getting more proficient with photoshop???
 
In photo elements it has a feature you can lighten or darken shadows. That is more help than just lightening a whole picture. Ya might look at your program and see if you have that. Mine is PhotoElements 5.0. I tried the Photoshop program once, and didn't like it as well as PhotoElements.
 
>>Maybe I need to work on getting more proficient with photoshop???<<

Just what we need!!! LOL!!! More touching up by the seedstock folks!
 
These are a couple of pics I took to show you an example of the dimness I am referring to. Keep in mind I took these pics out in the middle of a pasture by myself. I had no help in acheiving the poses which if you have ever tried to photograph cattle you know can be quite frustrating at times.

DSC00729.JPG


DSC00732.JPG
 
I'd talk to a few professional photographers, preferably in the same field you want to get into, and get their opinions. A photography course would be helpful as well before you invest big bucks in camera equipment.
 
The more megapixels you have the more "warmth" the photo will have. My brother has a Nikon SLR digital.. It is super nice but I just don't have the coin the deal with it... My 8, I think it is 8, mp camera is far superior in warmth and depth/texture of photos than its 3.3 counterpart that I used to use.. That being said, I very rarely take pictures much beyond the 4 range as I have no desire to upload a 5 megabit picture.
 
Megapixel myth......here's an article about megapixels.....more is not always better. Alot of it has to do with the settings on your camera and how you use them, and the actual lighting as you take a picture.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/08/technology/08pogue.html?ei=5090&en=ae10a0cfdacc3c4d&ex=1328590800&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
 
Not all digitals will do this, but with a regular SLR camera, if you want to get a good shot when the light is coming from behind the animal, you can use the flash. It'll light up the animal without really affecting anything else.

It's a technique that gets some beautiful shots with sunsets in the background.
 
Of course I don't have cattle to photograph but it is clear that the colors and shadows depend on the time of day. Bright mid-day always washes them out and the subject melts and disappears into the background.

If you get the dark subject totally against a light background (so that the bull's dark head isn't superimposed against the dark trees for example) that might help. But I guess that means you'd have to be down low under his generous feet :lol: maybe you wouldn't like that!

I've just become frustrated with my camera's inability to take long-distance nature shots and videos of hawks in flight, grandkids in performances etc. so hubby researehed many cameras, read blogs written by photographer-types and has settled on a Canon HV-20.

I hope you find what you need. There sure is much to learn in photography- it is an art form.
 
I'm on my second Sony camera, and for me it's been a great journey. I tried to wear one out and then had to upgrade so the pictures were high enough quality for magazines --newspapers are less picky.

I take thousands of photos both for personal and for my work --
THERE IS a lot learn and I never take the time to do that --I learn what I need to know for a situation and when there have been enough situations, I'm a little smarter than I was :)

But forcing the flash is a good technique even on a sunny day when shadows are a problem. Shooting pics of cowboys in hats it is a must if you want to see their faces in the shadow of the hat. It works the same in defining what you are looking in black cattle or standing under a shade tree.

Early morning or late evening light is the optimal --you can see the changes in an object as the sun sets --I've experimented shooting at something in 10-15 minute intervals the last couple hours of daylight and it's amazing the changes. But in practical life, you take a picture when it's there to take.

So for me, a camera that gives me the best most professional photo in a point and shoot mode is my friend :) ONe that will stop action, give me enough zoom to work with and then of course, there is the wonders of Photo Shop :) to make up for my inadequacies.

If the picture is high enough quality and enough pixels to work with, you can take a picture across the arena and still be able to bring it up close with Photo Shop --ad some light and contrast and miraculously you become a GREAT photographer by accident :)
 
Julie said:
I'm on my second Sony camera, and for me it's been a great journey. I tried to wear one out and then had to upgrade so the pictures were high enough quality for magazines --newspapers are less picky.

I take thousands of photos both for personal and for my work --
THERE IS a lot learn and I never take the time to do that --I learn what I need to know for a situation and when there have been enough situations, I'm a little smarter than I was :)

But forcing the flash is a good technique even on a sunny day when shadows are a problem. Shooting pics of cowboys in hats it is a must if you want to see their faces in the shadow of the hat. It works the same in defining what you are looking in black cattle or standing under a shade tree.

Early morning or late evening light is the optimal --you can see the changes in an object as the sun sets --I've experimented shooting at something in 10-15 minute intervals the last couple hours of daylight and it's amazing the changes. But in practical life, you take a picture when it's there to take.

So for me, a camera that gives me the best most professional photo in a point and shoot mode is my friend :) ONe that will stop action, give me enough zoom to work with and then of course, there is the wonders of Photo Shop :) to make up for my inadequacies.

If the picture is high enough quality and enough pixels to work with, you can take a picture across the arena and still be able to bring it up close with Photo Shop --ad some light and contrast and miraculously you become a GREAT photographer by accident :)
Click to expand...

So which Sony do you use now, please?
 
I use a Sony DSC -R1

It is a 10 MP...I shoot at 7--it's plenty !

It's a bigger camera than I'd like to have for convenience but it does take awesome photos --so I sacrificed for that --that was 18 months ago...
I think you can by a much smaller camera that is quite comparable --

I also wanted the capacity to shoot 300-400 pictures in a day and not run down a battery or run out of space --I can do that with this.

This camera is WAY smarter than I am --
 

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