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The Ancient Mariner

Started Oct 24, 2019 | Discussions
Lisa Horton
Lisa Horton Contributing Member • Posts: 694
The Ancient Mariner
1

I am an avid kayaker, combining kayaking and photography is something I love.  Kayaks, of course, are not completely stable and so getting wet is always a possibility.  So a friend gave me her ancient Digital Rebel XT to use while kayaking. It's so old they had to label it as digital to differentiate from the film Rebels!  The other day I took it out for the first time, paired with an equally vintage lens, my old favorite 28-135IS, the original version.  Wow, this takes me right back to the "bad old days" when I didn't really like digital photography.  When in camera JPEGS were essentially worthless.  When card readers were the only practical way to transfer files.  When we had to convert all the raw files on the computer before we could do even first culls.  When every single image needed adjustments.  Except that instead of having to buy a third party raw converter, the current Canon DPP is IMO quite good.  And although it can be picky about supporting old cameras (ixnay to the 10D) it will process these files.

One thing it does remind me of is that DSLRs really have gotten a lot better and it's not just convenience features.

I'm pretty please with the results although it's clear that it will take some tweaking and relearning to optimize my results.

 Lisa Horton's gear list:Lisa Horton's gear list
Canon EOS RP Canon EOS R10 Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Canon PowerShot SX10 IS Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM +6 more
Digirame Forum Pro • Posts: 41,858
Re: The Ancient Mariner

That's great you are using that old Canon DSLR.  It's nice to see your pictures too.  I recognize the cormorants.  When I used my Olympus E-500 DSLR camera many years ago I had to be careful to have good composition.  It only had 8 mp and I didn't want to crop it much.  It was a challenge, but I sure liked that old camera.  The colors and JPEGS were excellent.  It was limited to about ISO500.

Lisa Horton
OP Lisa Horton Contributing Member • Posts: 694
Re: The Ancient Mariner

This is new, obvs, but it's already one of my most popular kayaking photos.  I love the dreamlike quality of the light after sunset and I'm starting to get my parameters and adjustments dialed in for this sensor.

 Lisa Horton's gear list:Lisa Horton's gear list
Canon EOS RP Canon EOS R10 Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Canon PowerShot SX10 IS Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM +6 more
Digirame Forum Pro • Posts: 41,858
Re: The Ancient Mariner

Wow...cool...that is really nice.  Sometimes it's hard to get near deer.  I've only done it about three times...maybe more but I can't remember.

Lisa Horton
OP Lisa Horton Contributing Member • Posts: 694
Re: The Ancient Mariner

Digirame wrote:

Wow...cool...that is really nice. Sometimes it's hard to get near deer. I've only done it about three times...maybe more but I can't remember.

At this urban lake (Folsom CA) it's not unusual for kayakers to get nearly this close.  I got a little momentum and was shooting while slowly and silently drifting towards them.  Right after this shot they decided that I was too close and moved away.

 Lisa Horton's gear list:Lisa Horton's gear list
Canon EOS RP Canon EOS R10 Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Canon PowerShot SX10 IS Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM +6 more
RRAz Regular Member • Posts: 270
Re: The Ancient Mariner

Lisa Horton wrote:

This is new, obvs, but it's already one of my most popular kayaking photos. I love the dreamlike quality of the light after sunset and I'm starting to get my parameters and adjustments dialed in for this sensor.

Its a great image. It has that "fairy glade" quality. You really nailed the exposure.

 RRAz's gear list:RRAz's gear list
Canon EOS 80D Canon Extender EF 1.4x III Canon EF-S 10-18mm F4.5–5.6 IS STM Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS II Canon EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM
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