# Photo style help - Got a Nikon D80



## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

Hi all,

First post in this forum.
Bit of an amateur potgrapher but bought myself a semi-decent camera - Nikon D80.

Am wondering how this photographer took the picture below :-










Hopefully I wont need a fisheye lens and have got enough to get this kind of affect (Very low on cash now!)

Thanks


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

Nope, no a fisheye. Did your camera come with something like a 17-55 lens? If so, set it to the widest angle (shortest focal length) and get as close to the corner of the car as you can and you should get something resembling that shot.

*Edit:* Just looked at the EXIF data and that pic was taken with a Canon 40D and the focal length was 10mm (so you won't get quite as exaggerated as that at 17mm )


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

> Exif IFD0
> 
> * Camera Make = Canon
> * Camera Model = Canon EOS 40D
> ...


Theres the info for it.^^^

As you can see 10mm focal length, which is pretty wide. As Parish mentioned it is not fish eye but very very wide.

You should be able to achieve something similar if you set your lens to its shortest focal length. Im guessing 18mm depending of course on the lens you got with the camera.

Oh and be careful of lens vignetting, if you look at the audi image and focus on the corners you can see they are slightly darker than the rest of the image. This is all to do with the quality of the lens. You shouldnt have this problem if you have a decent lens like the 18-55mm.


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## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

AWesome guys, thanks so much.
Just had a look at EXIF myself and didnt even know that existed for pics!
I have an 18 - 125 mm lens (just checked). so If I simply set my lens to 18mm and go to the corner to take a pic, it will grab similar kind of pic ? Simple as that ?? :shock:


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

nudda said:


> AWesome guys, thanks so much.
> Just had a look at EXIF myself and didnt even know that existed for pics!
> I have an 18 - 125 mm lens (just checked). so If I simply set my lens to 18mm and go to the corner to take a pic, it will grab similar kind of pic ? Simple as that ?? :shock:


Yep - but as I said, the effect will be less than that at 18mm. The effect is caused by perspective being stretched the wider the lens and the subject being close to the lens.


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## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

i found this pic at 18mm focal length










Not the best pic but its not curve like the Q7 above ... thats the kind of affect I want. Will my DSLR cope ?


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

nudda said:


> AWesome guys, thanks so much.
> Just had a look at EXIF myself and didnt even know that existed for pics!
> I have an 18 - 125 mm lens (just checked). so If I simply set my lens to 18mm and go to the corner to take a pic, it will grab similar kind of pic ? Simple as that ?? :shock:


Simple as that mate, yes! give it a try!:thumb:

Let us know how you get on!


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

Don't expect the same results as the above though, there is a great difference between 18mm and 10mm focal lengths.


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## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

Parish, Mike, Gary - many thanks
Will give this a shot (no pun intended ) and let you know what happens !


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

Have fun mate, the enjoyment is in the learning 

I'll look forward to seeing the results.

Gary


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## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

Will do Gary. Spent quite a lot on the Camera back in September and havent really used it much since ... so its time to get the car looking nice and taking some quality shots.


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

I found a couple of images shot at 18mm, maybe it will give you an idea.


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

Here's one of my own at 12mm to give you an idea:


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

Gary what lens is that, and what camera do you use?


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## JoeAVS1 (Jul 8, 2008)

All true about the lens setting but remember the picture of that Audi has had a lot of thought about exposure setting/focal lengths etc....
For a start he had metered it in a specific way so it has that 'moody' feel to it, I would suggest that either 1)he has dropped down a stop or two or 2) he has done some photoshop work with contrast/brightness & midtones
Also it is likely to have a large depth of field for the focal range (especially that close) which in turn means lower shutter speed which means tripod I reckon.
Great picture though as are the others!
enjoy playing around, oh and get the iso as low as poss for the quality 250 or less
Cheers
Joeavs


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## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

Mike: At 18mm, the Mazda pic is not bad at all! Makes me feel better now, if I can get that kind of result (as I cant afford a new lens at this time)

Gary: Evo looking superb at 12mm ... very nice


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## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

JoeAVS1 said:


> I would suggest that either 1)he has dropped down a stop or two or 2) he has done some photoshop work with contrast/brightness & midtones
> Also it is likely to have a large depth of field for the focal range (especially that close) which in turn means lower shutter speed which means tripod I reckon.


1/125s @ f/16, ISO200, -2/3ev according to the EXIF


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

Mike V said:


> Gary what lens is that, and what camera do you use?


Mike, camera is D300, lens is Tokina 12-24 f4 Pro DX. Absolutely love the lens, great for panoramics


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

JoeAVS1 said:


> All true about the lens setting but remember the picture of that Audi has had a lot of thought about exposure setting/focal lengths etc....
> For a start he had metered it in a specific way so it has that 'moody' feel to it, I would suggest that either 1)he has dropped down a stop or two or 2) he has done some photoshop work with contrast/brightness & midtones
> Also it is likely to have a large depth of field for the focal range (especially that close) which in turn means lower shutter speed which means tripod I reckon.
> Great picture though as are the others!
> ...


Your close joe but not quite matey. Take a look at the exif data again:



> Exif IFD0
> 
> * Camera Make = Canon
> * Camera Model = Canon EOS 40D
> ...


He is using his camera in aperture priority mode, so all he has to do is select an f number and the camera will work out the rest. He has chosen f16 which is quite deep for the scene. I am guessing as joe said that he wants to get the whole car in focus and a bit of background.

The camera looked at the available light and has given him a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second which is pretty quick, and with a speed like this there is absolutely no need to use a tripod.

Looking at the metering mode he is using 'multi segment' I am guessing that he is metering using the whole scene as oppsed to one spot. Thus the camera is looking at the whole scene and trying to work out what exposure to give. As you can see there is a bright patch in the sky and the rest of the image is quite dull in comparison. I would say the camera has exposed so the sky isnt completely blown out and there is a good exposure on the car.

Oh and the exposure bias shows that either he or the camera forcefully under exposed the shot by 2/3 of a stop. i.e. made it slightly darker.


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## JoeAVS1 (Jul 8, 2008)

haha saw that just after posting, thanks.:thumb:


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

Gary-360 said:


> Mike, camera is D300, lens is Tokina 12-24 f4 Pro DX. Absolutely love the lens, great for panoramics


Nice bit o' kit Gary, guessing you must be quite into photography to splash out on a D300. The tokina is a decent lens I have heard great things about it. I have a d200 with a sigma 10-20. There is a bit of vignetting at 10mm but if you bring it in to 12mm+ it disappears.


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

How do you find the exif data?


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

spitfire said:


> How do you find the exif data?


Do you have firefox matey? you can download an add on and then all you have to do is right click and select 'view exif data'

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3905


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

> Nice bit o' kit Gary, guessing you must be quite into photography to splash out on a D300. The tokina is a decent lens I have heard great things about it. I have a d200 with a sigma 10-20. There is a bit of vignetting at 10mm but if you bring it in to 12mm+ it disappears.


I won't tell you how much I've spent on my gear as the wife may find out 

I get a little vignette at 12mm but at 14mm even with a C-PL on, it's non existent.

I believe the Sigma suffers from a little barrel distortion at 10mm, is this really noticeable? I was swayed to the Tokina for this reason.

I love my photography but just don't get enough time to enjoy it, I'm currently saving for a 300mm f2.8 prime for motor-sport/wildlife.


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

spitfire said:


> How do you find the exif data?


right click your image and go to properties^summary^advanced. Windows has its own built in EXIF viewer


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

Gary-360 said:


> I won't tell you how much I've spent on my gear as the wife may find out
> 
> I get a little vignette at 12mm but at 14mm even with a C-PL on, it's non existent.
> 
> ...


I dont shoot at 10mm enough to notice, but I believe there is a tiny bit of distortion.


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## Gary-360 (Apr 26, 2008)

The D300 is a DX, not FX so a 12mm DX lens is a....12mm lens. The sensor has a 1.5 crop factor for non DX lenses. Gets complicated eh??
If I get the 300mm prime, it will be a 450mm on my D300


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Gary-360 said:


> right click your image and go to properties^summary^advanced. Windows has its own built in EXIF viewer


Sorry, must be thick:wall:I can't see any summary in properties. Do I have to save an image first?


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## nudda (Oct 28, 2008)

spitfire said:


> Sorry, must be thick:wall:I can't see any summary in properties. Do I have to save an image first?


Yup, save image then go to properties.
Easier to just install the firefox addon TBH


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Ah, thanks. I'll try that.:thumb:


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

there's *always* distortion with very wide angle lenses. It's the only way they can get the information on to the sensor. 
You won't normally notice it (and I'd say it's really noticeable on 10-12mm, as of 14 it's just a little "strange") unless you know it's there or someone's used it.

I have great difficulty believing that the audi shot is not photoshopped.

Bret


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

Gary-360 said:


> The D300 is a DX, not FX so a 12mm DX lens is a....12mm lens. The sensor has a 1.5 crop factor for non DX lenses. Gets complicated eh??
> If I get the 300mm prime, it will be a 450mm on my D300


Your right Gary I made a post saying the d300 is a full frame sensor, I was getting confused with the d700. On the 700 a 12mm would be 7.5mm. But I realised that the d300 is not full frame so deleted the post.:thumb:


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## Mike V (Apr 7, 2007)

bretti_kivi said:


> there's *always* distortion with very wide angle lenses. It's the only way they can get the information on to the sensor.
> You won't normally notice it (and I'd say it's really noticeable on 10-12mm, as of 14 it's just a little "strange") unless you know it's there or someone's used it.
> 
> I have great difficulty believing that the audi shot is not photoshopped.
> ...


There is a feature on photoshop that allows you to try and undo the amount of vignetting. Looking again at the Audi pic its difficult to say. I guess we would have to know what the lens was to pass comment.


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