Joe, did you discover, like I did when I lived in Japan, that photography in Japan almost demands fast lenses?
Actually, it wasn't my experience at all. Tokyo is only 3 degrees further North than San Diego, so there's little difference there. And, while I did travel a lot further North than that, it still wasn't anything I noticed one way or another.
Try picking up an 85 / 1.8 -- it's releatively inexpensive and was my most used on the 20D. It will give a very shallow DOF on 1.6x wide open.
Corrected. Thanks for pointing out the error!
They are incorrect per the definition of "equivalence" that I give. Of course, feel free to write your own essay and give a different definition -- it would be par for the course with all the conflicting definitions of exposure that I read! : )
Yeah, I've been discussing this with a few people. I'm pretty sure I'm right, though. Victor (vor) was assuming that I meant for the same scene, but I must have worded that part poorly. I just mean that there are circumstances where one image at higher ISOs will be less noisy than an image at lower ISOs.... in the "Total Light" part, where you argue that a correctly
exposed ISO 1600 image in good light, will have less noise than a
correctly exposed ISO 100 image in low light... maybe you should
think a little more about that
Well, except that it still says 15-66/1,8 instead of 15-66/2,5 .. I'm not being pedantic here, just trying to be helpful!
Good idea. I might do just that!
) I travel a lot, but Japan is like my second home so I keep going back there.Corrected again! And, by the way, thank you! Please don't hesitate to point out mistakes I make, although, with the number of them I do make, that can get tiresome, for sure! : )
Well, it's not like there's only one take on religion, economics, politics, etc., either! : )Good idea. I might do just that!
I've never been able to visit Japan in the fall, and that's probably the best time!Really nice shallow dof photos! Japan is a wonderful place for
taking photos, isn't it? I lived in Tokyo for 5 years and also have
traveled all over Japan on many trips over the years. Also,
wonderful people. I'll probably be back in Tokyo for a few months
this fall and I'm looking forward to taking more photos, checking out
the gear at Yodobashi and Bic Camera, and meeting friends at the
izakaya.
keep going back there.
I think you're just a little bit more travelled than I. : ) I checked out a few of the galleries (no time right now for all), but I already have a complaint: post bigger pics! I even think my size pics are too small, but I had a thread a little while back asking what people would think about larger, and the vast majority were against it, so I'm keeping them as is.
Actually, it's true that many like to differentiate themselves from others (probably more a cultural thing than a human thing, however), and I'm no different, that's not why I like shallow DOF. If everyone were shooting shallow DOF, I wouldn't then shoot deep DOF to be different, just as if everyone had a skinny busty girlfriend, I wouldn't go for a flat and chunky honey for myself.Quoting Joe:
"So, I am not a versatile photographer, but a niche photographer"
This is exactly what it's all about. We want to differentiate our
images from the others, so if everybody uses zooms with relatively
large(r) DOF, the niche photographer should move to the fastest
primes available. The pictures created (assuming a skilled
photographer) would be different than the average Joe (not in this
case -
JET, I think, limits participants joining to 40 years of age, and its now up to 5 years (extended from 3), and this would be the way to go if you just want to live easily here for a period.
In Joe's case it would all be up to his language ability. There are enough companies that have photogs working events for them (local events, hired out to shoot for the schools on their field days, and even tag along for this school overnight trips!) that he could easily get a job... if he were flexible with his standards (meaning, zoom + flash, though your boss might be sympathetic). This is something I am considering in the next year, but only if I can't find a city which doesn't already have a private teacher.
Which is limited, and that's being kind. : )
I don't think I can work as a photographer. It's a fun hobby, but not a profitable job. As for teaching English, well, neither my cup o' tea nor my strength. My best chance is to teach at an international school or on a military base, or so we feel.
Thanks!
Just that I think, for some of the pics, at least, it's an unusual take.
Funny! I like the trike shot a lot, but the woman and child walking pic ranks towards the bottom for me! : )
I agree it's the least appealing, but not due to the angle -- I don't like the distractions in the image. However, cropping them out only makes it worse. I still like it, though, but, as you, it is the least appealing for me.
No question about that!
I actually have another shot of different umbrellas with shallow DOF and an oblique angle, but I don't like it nearly as much. Probably largely due to the lack of colors in that pic as compared to the posted pic, and also it seemed, ironically, that the shallow DOF didn't work as well in that one.
Interesting you should ask about the bicycle pic in particular, as it had the least amount of PP of the lot! : ) I just did my standard procedure, but to varying degrees, which I've outlined here:
Ah, but thats the thing, this isn't "wedding photographer" ala the western independent (or even the Japanese independent who shoot MF for seijin shiki / 3-5-7 or the infant as samurai/sumo shots) who needs to run the business themselves with all the overhead, but working for one of the many local "shops" that sells their services by shooting local events and selling the prints (in the case of larger towns, all of the school have deals with different stores, and when the prints are done, they are numbered and left on the walls of the schools for the kids to order prints). They come in teams of two for the larger events, and send out a single photographer for the formal class shots and the school trips. Its also a matter of taking as many shots with as many people (identifiable) as possible since the prints are the bread and butter. This is a "salaryman" type job though, profitable as any 9-5 at least.
