Steve, GFM contest is now digital. Submit your best 3 shots onto a numbered CD. Judging still seems to be Sunday morning during the 2 hours of presentations.
The best flash photos I've taken have been with the DS and AF500 flash - the old flash for the PZ-1p or MZ-S. The DS seems to work well with TTL flash. The K10D doesn't have TTL flash with the older units, AF500 or AF280. The best I've done with flash on the DS is using a big bounce card we discussed here awhile ago. A 6x8 inch sheet of soft foam wrapped around the back of the flash. I used this set-up at a recent wedding (rehersal dinner thru reception). See here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rf.sullivan/ScottMeganMoorehead Regards, Bob S. On 6/16/07, Steve Desjardins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Yeah, I've had conflicts with final exams the last few years and this > year I was in India. How are they running the contest now? Last time I > entered a slide! > > A few words about India. We were in Mysore for six weeks for (A > religion prof, 25 students and me) for two courses on 1) Religion and > Culture (the religion guy) and 2) Health and Well Being (me). In > addition to a number of day trips, we took a week long trip to Northern > Karnataka to look at archeological sites, especially Hampi. I had my > DS, the DA 40 and the FA 20-35. In truth, 90% of my shots were with the > 20-35. It always seemed to be the right lens and I like the way it > renders "life". At the sites, I was just trying to keep track of 25 > students (Not too hard. They're good kids) and not to screw up too > badly taking pictures of these magnificent subjects. Hampi is the > modern village built on the ruins of the ancient city of Vijayanagara. > It's a whole city of stone ruins that goes on for miles. I've never > seen anything that extensive (like Pompeii, I'm told) so it was > "postcard" time with the DS. Of course, the Indian women wear those > brightly colored saris and that just adds these random splashes of > color. The biggest problem was the carved interiors. Sometimes I just > had to use the flash, and it just washed out a lot of the contrast for > the carvings. I suddenly had a real desire for more flash control. > > The real subjects are, of course, the people. It's a very different > culture so I just wanted to shoot everything. OTOH, I'm one of those > people who is a bit reluctant to just take pictures of people like they > were animals in a zoo. The good part is that I quickly discovered that > this was not a problem. There were very, very few other white people > around (and yes, I mean white, not western) so we always stuck out. As > a matter of fact, virtually all of the other tourists were Indians and > they wanted pictures of US in front of things, and most were happy to be > in my pictures. Especially children. As I'm sure many of you know, one > of the great advantages of digital cameras is that you can show the > picture to the kids, and they just love that. I just wore that camera > proud and indicated I wanted a shot. They (children and adults) took a > minute to compose themselves and smile and that was that. Please > remember that we were in southern India and not really in any of the big > urban centers, despite the fact the Mysore is 1.1 million. Maybe you'd > get smacked in Delhi taking this approach. > > We traveled a great deal by bus and through the rural areas, farms, and > small villages. I didn't even consider reading. DS on full manual, the > lens set to infinity, and manual exposure with a 1000+ shutter speed > gives a near instant shutter release and (mostly) blur free pictures. > Never seemed off more than half a stop at iso 400. Again, the best lens > was the 20-35, especially given the DOF at high Tv. Lots of thatched > houses, oxen pulling plows, people working the fields, etc. One in > particular, though, I still think about. A little girl was sitting on > the front step of her home and the bus was slowing down for something. > She was so cute I took a shot before she noticed us. When she saw the > bus she smiled and ran toward us (as did most of the kids since we were > a rare site). She spread her arms, and I suddenly noticed her right arm > was withered. I smiled back and waved. I saw many sights like that, > but for some reason that one sticks. It's amazing what you miss when > you're worried about composition. So, I'll eventually post some others > that may be better pictures, but to me none more memorable: > > http://home.wlu.edu/~desjardins/ > > Anyway, the DS performed like a champ, and I'm pretty happy with the > results. I am somewhat amused that my first reaction when I got back was > to look at the K10D, but someone here said they were going to keep their > DS with the DA 40 as a snapshot camera. That was my thought exactly. > > Sorry for going on like this, but no one here was really interested in > hearing about my adventure from the photographic perspective. They just > want to look at pictures. > > Steven Desjardins > Department of Chemistry > Washington and Lee University > Lexington, VA 24450 > (540) 458-8873 > FAX: (540) 458-8878 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >>> "Bob Sullivan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 6/15/2007 8:26 PM >>> > Steve, > Missed you at GFM this year. > 1... > Anti shake makes my pictures lots better. > More pixels is a difference as well. > 2... > Haven't got a grip and I don't miss it. Camera is plenty big without > it. > 3... > Have 2 different 3rd party batteries. Work fine! > 4... > 18-55mm zoom is fine for walking around. Quality is ok. > 5... > Buy one, you'll like it! > 6... > Without a new flash, I use the DS for flash pictures. > Regards, Bob S. > > On 6/15/07, Steve Desjardins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hey folks, > > > > I*m thinking of buying a K10D. (I have a DS now.) I have eagerly > > read many PDML threads on this transition, including the now famous > *I > > regret upgrading* or whatever it was called and the new *Canon is > > better than Pentax" . I still have a few questions: > > > > 1. What was (were) the one (or two) feature(s) of the K10D that made > > the whole upgrade worthwhile? > > > > 2. I*m not planning on buying the grip since the camera is already > > pretty big. I do like the small size of the DS, but have used > bigger > > cameras (like the 645 and the MZ-S with a grip) so the size thing is > not > > a deal breaker. Any comments on not using the grip? > > > > 3. I notice there*s a third party battery offered by B&H. Is it > any > > good? It*s certainly a lot cheaper. > > > > 4. Is the 18-55 f3.5-whatever lens any good? In some kits it*s > > almost free. > > > > 5. Any other "you gotta buy this too" advice? > > > > Thanks. Think of this as another excuse to open old wounds <vbg> > > > > > > Steven Desjardins > > Department of Chemistry > > Washington and Lee University > > Lexington, VA 24450 > > (540) 458-8873 > > FAX: (540) 458-8878 > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > -- > > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > [email protected] > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > !SIG:46732ea037171260112493! > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
