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Mikko's photoblog

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Poseidon

Posted by Mikko Saari
10 Feb 2011
Mikko Saari
Finland

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End of game photo from our first go at Poseidon.

These are the typical circumstances where I'm shooting game photos: dark environment, weak light... I tried a bird's eye view first, but that turned out bad. This angled view shows the board situation with enough detail - Poseidon is very forgiving in that respect, compared to 18xx where seeing the track in enough detail is harder - while managing to look halfway decent.

I used the EF-S 18-55 mm kit lens at 25 mm to shoot the photo. Aperture f/4 (maximum at that focal length, I think, for maximum light), 1/8 shutter speed. Not bad for a handheld photo, with my shaky hands. Some mild adjustments in Aperture, mostly to hold back the highlights a bit (the charts on the board were a bit too bright).

See the session report in Gameblog.
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Subscribe sub options Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:16 am
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Antti Koskinen
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Upgrade in the lens department might help with the dark environment we have here. It's definitely no easy fir for the problem but gives you more options when shooting indoors.
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 10, 2011 10:50 am
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Mikko Saari
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Yeah, I've been thinking about my next lens purchase a lot. In the other hand, I'd like to get the wide zoom; EF-S 10-22mm seems to be the best option there, but at 750 euros, it's darn expensive and it's still f/3.5-4.5.

Then there's something like EF 28mm f/1.8, which would be much faster and considering this photo is 25mm, the focal length should work fine in my crop camera. I like my EF 50mm f/1.8, but on a crop sensor it's too long, so this would fit the bill (and should work well with kids as well, where the 50mm lens also can feel a bit long).
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:18 am
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Justin Rebelo
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The trick is even if you get a wider 2.8 lens, you don't really want to be limited to having to shoot with it wide open any time you actually get into low light. I'd spend the dough on a 2.8 with VR or whatever the Canon term is for image stabilisation. Those lenses are ballin' for lower light situations.
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 10, 2011 4:01 pm
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peter mumford
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msaari wrote:
EF-S 10-22mm seems to be the best option there, but at 750 euros, it's darn expensive and it's still f/3.5-4.5.

my all time favorite lens, but not that good in available light.

the fast + wide lenses are good (how about the 24mm/1.4!) but maybe what a photoblogger really needs is a decent flash. the new computerized and articulated flashes are very good. they don't over expose, and you can bounce them off the walls or ceiling. If you set a high ISO and a reasonably wide aperture you just need the tiniest sprinkling of flash to sharpen and brighten the whole thing up.
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 10, 2011 4:23 pm
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Mikko Saari
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I've got my eyes on EF 28/1.8 or Sigma 30/1.4. Of course, the Sigma is probably useless at 1.4 (the dof is very thin), but still, there's lots of room to 3.5.

Flash, yes, I've got a 430EX, but it's cumbersome, possibly disruptive to other players (I don't want to annoy people with my photography hobby) and I'm not sure there's a good bounce surface nearby where we play. Maybe I should give it a go. I've been using flash when I'm photographing the kids at home, and I've had very good results. That would probably be the best way to get good photos.

I'm somewhat skeptical about image stabilization - the kit lens I have has IS, and it seems to have very little effect. I get shaky photos in low light, whether IS is on or off.

There's always the Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II VC LD, which is cheap, has f/2.8 and IS... Feels a bit pointless though to replace the generally good enough kit lens with something that has the same focal length.

This is one thing I don't like about cameras: shopping stops being fun when there's too many options. The lenses are expensive enough to make the decisions significant (I can afford perhaps two new lenses this year, if I stick to the stuff that's under 1000 euros and preferably under 500 euros). It would be fun to just buy everything and then figure out what works best... Maybe I should check if there's a way to rent a lens, though some of the renting options I've seen are prohibitively expensive.
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:15 pm
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peter mumford
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msaari wrote:
Flash, yes, I've got a 430EX, but it's cumbersome, possibly disruptive to other players (I don't want to annoy people with my photography hobby) and I'm not sure there's a good bounce surface nearby where we play. Maybe I should give it a go. I've been using flash when I'm photographing the kids at home, and I've had very good results. That would probably be the best way to get good photos.

It is cumbersome – that's your only valid objection!

There is usually a surface to bounce off. Only in convention halls or where people paint their ceilings mustard yellow is it a problem. And one friend of mine is prone to seizures when flash goes off, but no one else objects. Bounced flash is not harsh to they eyes like direct flash.
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:50 pm
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Mikko Saari
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Ok - next time I'll grab the flash with me and see how that works out.
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 10, 2011 6:52 pm
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Travis Cooper
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I noticed you mentioned you shot this hand-held. Do you use a tripod often? Especially when you don't want to use a flash (due to harsh light) and you need to control the dof a tripod is really important.
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  • Posted Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:12 pm
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I have a Monkeypod Flex tripod (a Gorillapod ripoff), but even that is a bit too big for the tables we have. Also, with the focal lengths I have, putting the camera on the table takes it a bit too close to action to get a nice overview photo. For closeups it'd work, yes.

I've been thinking about using a beanbag or something similar.
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:17 am
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msaari wrote:
I have a Monkeypod Flex tripod (a Gorillapod ripoff), but even that is a bit too big for the tables we have. Also, with the focal lengths I have, putting the camera on the table takes it a bit too close to action to get a nice overview photo. For closeups it'd work, yes.

I've been thinking about using a beanbag or something similar.


What about monopod? I've been thinking of one for some time now and at least in Essen it would have been a valuable addition to the gear.
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:20 am
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Travis Cooper
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msaari wrote:
I have a Monkeypod Flex tripod (a Gorillapod ripoff), but even that is a bit too big for the tables we have. Also, with the focal lengths I have, putting the camera on the table takes it a bit too close to action to get a nice overview photo. For closeups it'd work, yes.

I've been thinking about using a beanbag or something similar.


I'd highly recommend getting a good tripod. It will be good in a lot of situations.
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  • Posted Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:01 pm
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Mikko Saari
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Yeah, getting a tripod is definitely on my list of things to buy, no matter what Ken Rockwell says. I'm just saving money to get a good tripod.
 
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  • Posted Thu Feb 17, 2011 4:06 pm
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