In some ways, I wish I hadn't joined...

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fatboy1000

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Mark
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Hi all,

I've been lurking for just over a week, and finally decided that I should join up and say hello - mostly so I can thank (if that is the right word) the very many TPers who have helped me physically spend just under a grand (so far, definitely another £800 or so to go too), and mentally spend another many thousand...

Bought: Canon 550d (with 18-55mm IS Kit lens, as it was only £30 more than body only), "nifty fifty" (which is awesome), filters (I know, but I'm going to Borneo jungles shortly).

To buy: Tamron 18-270mm (I know, but for a travel lens, it's pretty useful), Sigma 10-20mm (can't afford the extra for the canon), crumpler bag of some sort.

One day: 5DII (or III, IV, or whatever it might be by the time I can afford it), outrageously good lenses.

A good few years ago I had the Eos 300 film version, which I loved but got too expensive with developing the films. So from that I also have a Canon 70-300mm USM. Expensively, my fiancee is also in to photography and has a 1000d, and neither of us are great at sharing so we need a large variety of lenses.

Anyway, I'm based in Essex so any good local photography place recommendations (both for taking photos and buying equipment) are welcome.

Cheers,
Mark.
 
Welcome to the forum fatboy... can't really comment on about essex as I've never been.

From what I hear, the 550D is quite a camera, and the 1000D was a brilliant camera as a starter.

See you around !
 
Hi mark welcome to tp :)

Where about in Essex are you roughly as there are lots of areas all around the county.
 
I live in Upminster, but love the Essex countryside so happily drive around - venturing into Kent ocassionally too.

I'm loving the 550d - been reading the manual on my way into work in the mornings just to try to get up to date on all the amazing tricks it can do! Struggling to get my head totally around white balance though. I think some more reading up is required...
 
fatboy1000 said:
I live in Upminster, but love the Essex countryside so happily drive around - venturing into Kent ocassionally too.

I'm loving the 550d - been reading the manual on my way into work in the mornings just to try to get up to date on all the amazing tricks it can do! Struggling to get my head totally around white balance though. I think some more reading up is required...
Click to expand...

If you shoot in raw you can always adjust later without loosing any detail. plus its better if you shoot raw anyway, a lot more adjusting you can afterwards.
 
fatboy1000 said:
I live in Upminster, but love the Essex countryside so happily drive around - venturing into Kent ocassionally too.

I'm loving the 550d - been reading the manual on my way into work in the mornings just to try to get up to date on all the amazing tricks it can do! Struggling to get my head totally around white balance though. I think some more reading up is required...
Click to expand...

Hi, Mark, for WB I always shoot in RAW and auto white balance, then I adjust after.

One thig you can do (at least with my Nikon), is use the Live View and change the WB which shows how the image changes as the WB is changed.

Cheers and don't get too stressed...;)
 
I'm shooting both RAW and JPEG at the moment, and then deleting the RAW images which are rubbish (currently, a lot!) to free up card space. I'm going to have to play quite a lot, but that's only a good thing, right?!

What program(s) would you recommend for processing RAWs? It comes with some Canon branded software, but I don't know if this is any good yet, as I'm too busy planning a wedding (or rather, being told what to do for it) to have installed and played with that too.
 
fatboy1000 said:
I'm shooting both RAW and JPEG at the moment, and then deleting the RAW images which are rubbish (currently, a lot!) to free up card space. I'm going to have to play quite a lot, but that's only a good thing, right?!

What program(s) would you recommend for processing RAWs? It comes with some Canon branded software, but I don't know if this is any good yet, as I'm too busy planning a wedding (or rather, being told what to do for it) to have installed and played with that too.
Click to expand...

I have been told that the canon software is good but i use adobe camera raw as it is the only one i feel comfortable with.

Raw photos always look poop before processing. As in not sharp uncontrasty etc etc. Have a play with the raw software and post it on the forum and tell us what you have done and we may be able to tell you how to improve or where you went wrong.

Its all a learning process, dont give up! :D

[Sent from my iPhone using TP Forums]
 
Welcome to TP Mark...

:wave:

Try DPP software that came with your camera, its a good "free" start to learning about processing Raw files...

:thumbs:
 
fatboy1000 said:
It comes with some Canon branded software, but I don't know if this is any good yet, as I'm too busy planning a wedding (or rather, being told what to do for it) to have installed and played with that too.
Click to expand...

DPP (Digital Photo Professional) software that came with your camera is damn fine for processing your RAW files, general consensus (on the web) is that it is better than ACR especially for sharpening. Cannot remember where I read this but Dpreview.com thinks it's better.

There is also a nifty little trick where it will show you your focus points, just like in the camera's viewfinder, this is ideal for sussing out where you "might" have gone wrong with your focusing.
 
Hi :) I'm in Essex too. There are quite a few of us now! It's not hard to start spending in this hobby, I've found that too! ;-)
 
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