a newbie camera question

Yes, I agree, Photoshop is a great tool and the learning curve is steep. In retrospect, I guess it wasn't too bad. What was stated about an image file management system is so true. Photoshop along with Bridge is one way to go with that. Instead of thousands of files, I think in terms of terabytes of files. Fortunately, backup drives are cheap these days.

–B.G.–

Bob, I have "shutter priority" mode on the NEX6.

I can adjust the shutter with the rest of the settings being adjusted to compensate i think. Am I on the right track?

Yes, shutter priority puts the shutter time first.

Several different camera exposure modes should all get approximately the same exposure results automatically, but shutter time here is the factor that you are trying to force and then let the other factors fall into place. Also, I would recommend that you bracket the exposure by 2/3 of a stop. Anytime that you are shooting anything manually that you've never shot before, bracketing the exposure gives you a little bit of wiggle room.

Although it is possible to shoot this without the ND filter, it just makes it easier to do.

This may be some screen calibration issue, but I felt like the original waterfall photo was over-exposed with burned highlights. Tweaking that down a bit looks better to my eye. I use an optical calibrator, so I doubt that the issue is on my end.

–B.G.–

Ah…..you want something like this:
http://photos.dwhite.org/Galleries/2013-11-02-Richland-Creek/i-H7CVQJq/A

That was shot at 1/6 second using a variable neutral density (VND) filter. As others have said you'll pretty much have to have a good tripod to get a steady shot at that low of a shutter speed.

Bob described the technique very well. But it takes practice.

So i've been shooting in RAW+jpeg lately.

I've noticed ,from what i've looked up on the internet as, barrel distortion in the RAW images.

My straight lines curve outward.

The Jpeg images do not have that probably because of the post edit processing that is done by the camera.

My question is:

Is that something common that happens?

Should i consider a better lens? is the 16-50mm lens that comes on the NEX-6 sub parr?

OR

Is this something, when i shoot in raw all the time, i'll have to correct post processing stage ei photoshop, lightroom, aperture.

EDIT:

I'm not opposed to getting a non zoom lens if thats whats causing it. the 50mm zoom is useless to me really, don't use it too often

When you shoot in jpeg, your photo is corrected in camera to account for barrel distortion as well as contrast, color saturation etc. You will therefore find that straight out of the camera your jpeg files will generally look much better than their RAW counterparts.

RAW files keep all of your camera's original data giving your more control while editing photos and the ability to pull information out of the photo that a jpeg file may no longer contain. If you just want to be able to throw some great pictures on facebook, jpeg may be all you need.

Programs like Lightroom (highly recommended) have lens correction profiles for many lenses (including your 16-50mm) which, when enabled, automatically correct for barrel distortion, chromatic aberration etc.

Barrel distortion is not limited to zoom lenses. The 16-50mm lens you have is a fine lens, and it's size and weight make it ideal for backpacking. There are much better lenses out there of course, but none (that I know of) have similar size and weight that cover such a useful range as the 16-50mm.

If you do decide to get another lens, my recommendation is to use the heck out of your 16-50mm and see what focal length you typically take pictures and what situations does the lens limit you. For me, I found that I shot at 16mm much of the time, but each photographer is different

Thanks for that information.

I've notice I like to take either landscape OR macro photos.

I'll keep the setting on the camera of RAW+jpeg so i'll have usable "Facebook" quality photos and keep the RAW ones for when I acquire post processing software.

I rarely use the zoom.

I can't speak to Sony's lens line-up, but in general kit zooms don't offer the very highest mage quality. If you don't need the versatility of a zoom you can usually get a sharper, faster, and lighter single-focal-length (often called "prime") lens. If you prefer a zoom you can usually get sharper and faster, but it will probably be heavier and have a smaller zoom range. You may be shocked at the price.

Most lens distortion is easily fixed in post-processing. There will be some cropping and there may be some subtle loss of detail detectable if you pixel peep, but a wide angle lens which leaves that to post will be much smaller and cheaper than one which corrects optically.

I wouldn't sweat barrel distortion in a backpacking lens.

Edit: Josiah beat me to it.
One thing I will add regarding waterfalls: I agree with the suggestions above that you use a filter to allow slow shutter speeds. You can do that with ND, but often a polarizing filter will cut the light sufficiently and it can also be set to kill distracting reflections from wet rocks and foliage.

I can slow down my shutter speed quite a lot.

The slowest setting opens the shutter for about 25-30 seconds.

My next question is with that slow shutter speed. is that how you get something like this?

Your camera has the ability to take that photo. 30sec / 3400ISO The kit lens however cannot. You need a wide angle fast lens to get the lighting right. I bought a sigma 19mm 2.8 and it it taking decent shots of the Milky Way. If I could afford it I would buy a 12mm 1.5 but that is for another day.

You also need to be in the middle of nowhere away from any towns on a moonless night with no clouds and low humidity. This has been the hard part for me, but I am hoping my upcoming trip in Yosemite provides the right conditions. You also need to post process in Photoshop or something similar from RAW to finish it up. There are all kinds of tutorials on utube and enthusiast websites that will give you detailed info on how to pull it off.

Good luck, and have fun with it

I think i did it right?
16mm
ISO 100
F/22
1/6

Well done Nathan. I tried this a couple trips ago but failed to consider how the bushes would look on a breezy day. I'm sure if done right, it might have a nice effect but just looked out of focus in my case.

Shutter speed is tricky.

You want to get the shutter speed slow enough to get the silky water effect, but you want it fast enough to freeze undesired bush motion in the frame and also freeze the undesired camera jiggle. Plus, it is often difficult to look at the rear display and see exactly what you got of each of these three.

–B.G.–

yea. I took a bunch of photos with a bunch of different shutter speeds. I do not yet have myself a tripod so it was my steady hand that was at work here.

You really can't tell a quality photo here in the BPL forums it looks pretty good though. for my eyes.

John is this the lens you are talking about?

sorry john is THIS the lens you use?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/801086289-USE/sony_e_mount_sel16f28_16mm_f_2_8.htmlBI=225&kw=USED&gclid=CPK7-4fEub8CFQmsaQod5gMAzA

Apple is ending out support and future development of Aperture.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/06/apple-to-cease-development-support-of-pro-photo-app-aperture/

Many cameras come with software that does basic processing. Olympus's software is certainly OK till I learn the controls of my new camera. Sony has a raw converter for download; check to see what features it has before you pay for software.

Adobe Lightroom gets a lot of praise. Free alternatives that some people like are darktable.org and rawtherapee.com

I've used http://www.mu-43.com/forumdisplay.php?f=74 as a starting point for reading opinions of available software.

Most software has a trial period. It's probably worth comparing the Raw conversion quality from the different programs. You can learn the basics post processing of adjusting contrast and brightness on a simpler, cheaper program than photoshop.

Just picked up a Sigma 19mm 2.8 lens from the local camera shop today.

Took it to the driveway just to try it out

This is a 30 second exposure sitting on the roof of my car.

I think I'm going to have some fun with this.

these buggers are hard to photograph.

heres my amateur ability w/ the sigma 19mm f2.8.

next on my list to get is a 30mm f2.8

and then saving for the 18-200mm SEL18200…. thats a chunk of change.