quantum-x, how do you get such amazing photos?
 

How do you get the focus to be so perfectly crisp on objects far away and in the dark?
How do you get the perfect amount of light in?
How do you find such off the wall places to shoot?


Come on, share a few secrets with us. I'm dying to learn some of this stuff.

bump... I'm dying to know.

I wouldn't mind some lessons myself.

Plus, I'd hope he post some more of his pics.

heh, yeah.. I'd like to know too!
crisp dark images rock..
I know you need a tripod/mount, and to keep the shutter open... but mine never come that crisp :)

His website?
http://quantum-x.ice.org/

Yeah, exactly... I can't even get images to be that crisp in broad daylight. My shots certainly aren't blurry but never come out as clean as his.

Yeah, I believe that one is his... some amazing work on there eh??

those are some badass pics

Yea, he's got some pretty sweet pics.

These give me vertigo:

http://quantum-x.ice.org/gallery.php...nd&subcat=BigW

Edit - sorry quantum-x to be burning your bW posting urls and shit.

nice pictures

I too would like to know ;)

please share... i love the photos that are at nite but are super clear.

and now that i am looking thru the photos... christ...

How do you get to the location you get to ?
On top a bridge ?

- Thats just tite IMO

very nice !!!!

yeah post a howto :)

wow, hey ;)
Sorry, been on planes all day long.. I'm just diving out to dinner, gotta grab something to eat..
here's one of my fav. shoots-
http://quantum-x.ice.org/2005-08-03/

img for the lazy
http://quantum-x.ice.org/2005-08-03/...s/qx-wp-10.jpg

simon

Take your time.. but I will be wanting some education :winkwink:

i love that pic aswell!! my home town BRISVEGAS

sold his soul to satan, the poor bastard! ;)

wow.. you really got the skills.. i need some tips here as well!..personally...

he takes some really hot pics i've got a lot of mine up on www.digitalstockart.com

That one is freaking amazing!

AND Ninjito kicks ass, we are using it!
:thumbsup

You really know how to capture the right angle at the right time.

cool photo shots you did man. you really have great skills in photography.

Ok.. first and foremost, thank you for the comments and compliments.
Second, I have no idea how to give a tutorial, as I've never had formal training in photography etc.. It's just been something that I've practiced.

Firstly, it doesn't matter what type of camera you use.
That said, certain cameras make certain things easier.
I've shot on both film and digital. I started with the Sony F717 (great camera), and moved to the Canon 300V (basically a film version of the rebel, and used that for about one year)

You have to remember, cameras are simply recording devices - in theory, you can take perfectly exposed shots on a camera w. no exposure meter and no view finder - it all comes down to maths.

I shot on the 1V, and now shoot on the 1Ds, for the simple sake of convenience.

Night photography, like any type, is just all about practice. I honestly find it the easiest type of photography, simply because things are just easier to shoot. In the day, you have to worry about harsh light contrasts, other people, etc etc etc.

I'd say 50% of my photos is the location, 40% is the angle, 10% is the manual settings. My photos would be crap without the nice locations.

Get to know you camera really well. You should know the relationship between ISO, apature, and shutter speed, and what changing one value will do to the other values..

Ie, at ISO 100, shooting for 10s at f2.8, you know if you change lenses to an f4 lens, you'll have to shoot for twice the amount of time to get the same exposure.

The next step is to slooooow down. Digital cameras make it so tempting to shoot hundreds of images and pick the best. That type of photography, imho, doesn't develop you as a photographer. The art is to have a good ratio of nice shots : not nice shots, ie out of 36 shots, 20 are nice.

Slow down, try to frame a scene in your mind before you pull out a camera.. walk around your subject, pictue how it will look w/ a certain lens, certain zoom, etc etc - so when you put your camera on the tripod, all you have to do is line it up, punch in the settings and click the shutter.


Technically-
Use good lenses. They're expensive, but you'll never regret spending decent money on good lenses. If you want sharp images at 11MP, you need a good lens.
Use a good tripod. If it's lighter than your camera, or wiggly or twisty in the slightest, get a new one. You want something that's sturdy, and can take a lot of abuse. I recommend the Manfrotto 190b/pro series, or anything that's sturdy. Get a nice head for it, too.
Shoot on the lowest ISO your patience can handle. I shoot on ISO 200, which is a nice trade off between grain and time. I'll shoot 100 if I've got plenty of time, and 50 if I'm totally bored.
Remember, if you're shooting on film, it degrades over time - so if the correct amount of exposure time is say 1 minute, and you go down one fstop, you'll needto double the time, and add some more, to compensate for the film's growing lack of sensitivity.. Ie, shoot at 1 min, 2 mins, 5 mins, 10-15 mins, etc
I shoot in AV mode, usually - you dictate your fstop to basically the lowest you can go to (depending on your shot) and it'll tell you about what you need to shoot at. If you're shooting against the sky, you might have to overexpose it by a few stops to bring out your subject, or reposition.
Remember that some shots will be impossible. You can't hope to balance a dark room with light outside the windows, unless you start adding lighting yourself - you can't do the impossible.

I think that's about it. My main advice is take your time, slow down, and shoot as if you were on film, or make each shot as if it was the only one you could take. It's hard, but learning to pass shots by and frame good ones in your head is most of the battle.


..did i forget something?

that is one hell of a fucking picture nice work man

Yes. to take a Bow :thumbsup Great advice :thumbsup

How? You climb up it. You can either climb up metal rungs on the outside of one of the superstructures in the middle, or hopefully they'll have stairs inside. Worstcase scenerio is that you'll have to climb up the cables(have hiking equipment for this).

awsome pointers quantum-x :thumbsup

you forgot to add % of talent.. which i think goes in the angle :winkwink:

a pro in my book indeed :thumbsup

thanks for the advice dude. i've noted that.

quantum x your pics rock

Awesome stuff man... some great advice that I really need to work on.

However, I'm still confused about how well you can focus on things so perfectly. I mean, I look at shots like this:

http://quantum-x.ice.org/trip/qx-bd-15.jpg

While not as flashy as the city skylines, it's amazing just how crisp it is. I'm sure the lense quality helps, but to be honest, in the dead of night... I doubt I could even get a proper focus at all, much less one so perfect.

Well, the 1Ds and 1V focus in -1EV of light (ie, not much at all) which is helpful, but I usually end up focussing manually. You'll generally, for objects like the silos, want to focus just a fraction below infinity, and it'll be lovely :D

Manual focus is what I've been working at the hardest and finding it the hardest to do really well.

Perhaps it's just me, but I have no idea what "a fraction below infinity" means.

here are some shots i shot the other night down in ohio.
I spent an hour or just over in the place, and only took 3 photos - and here they are. I like the second one a lot :D

http://quantum-x.ice.org/trip/qx-ppf-1.jpg
http://quantum-x.ice.org/trip/qx-ppf-2.jpg
http://quantum-x.ice.org/trip/qx-ppf-3.jpg

Well, I'm not sure what you're shooting on, but on my lens, I can see a little guide, which shows my focal length, from a distance of a 1 foot up to 'infinity'. By 'a fraction under infinity', i mean you focus it on infinity, and then just a fraction before it..