My mystery lens has arived......

[Nickcanada]

It was all wrapped up and boxed carefully by our very own Mr. Schap. You might remember this thread.


Well he came through with flying colours that's for sure. I received a Sigma 18-50mm 3.5-5.6 yesterday for the small price of shipping. Don, you are the man!

I must say it is the ideal range. I finally understand all the hoopla about the 17-55 range. This makes my 12-24mm sigma decision more difficult.

Well on with the show....

ISO 400 F4 SS 1/160 @20mm



ISO 400 F4 SS 1/320 @18mm



ISO 400 F5.6 SS 1/125 @ 50mm




The World's largest outdoor skating rink, The Riedau Canal. This was one of the most fun days I've had in a while. It was great to have a small lens I could take with me while I was skating. I felt much better knowing if I busted the lens while skating It would only be a few hundred bucks to replace and not like 1000, like the 12-24mm.
ISO 400 (don't ask ) F16 SS 1/200 @18mm



The crew/family, it was great to get outside and spend some quality time. Sorry if the pics are too snap shotty I was focusing more on having fun.

ISO 400 F14 SS 1/500 @18mm



ISO 400 F14 SS 1/400 @18mm It's amazing to see everyone outside enjoying the winter weather, even if you can't skate you can still enjoy the atmosphere. It really is amazing, everyone is smiling and laughing around you.



ISO 400 F14 SS 1/400 @18mm The lineup for Beaver Tails (deep fried dough in the shape of a beaver's tail, covered in various toppings. I like Cinnamon & Sugar on mine with a hot chocolate.


ISO 400 F16 SS 1/250 @20mm My Fiance having a good time.



Winter skills on the canal ISO 400 F16 SS1/125 @50mm





Well that's it for now. I like the lens. I think it feels better then the kit lens does to me, the focus is loud but does the trick fast enough and accurately enough. It comes with a hood and is a nice package, especially considering I didn't pay for it.

Don, thank you so much for this. It really is amazing!

Note: I had a bunch of smiley faces all over the place but had to remove them because of the 10 image limit.

And I over did the PP on a lot of them, I know.... (blush)

[Nickcanada]

I love it when my photographic skills leave everyone speechless. JK. But seriously I thought the topic would peak someone's interest? Oh well maybe if Don would send over his 70-200mm 2.8 IS that would get people talkin'

[RichNY]

On my monitor some of these shots look overexposed with blown highlights and the white balance seems a bit on the cool side (esp. #5).

What metering mode where you using? What type of PP did you do?

The shot of your child in the blue outfit looks incredible! After looking at the photos of you and your beautiful fiance I'm now a believer in arranged marriages

[Nickcanada]

On my monitor some of these shots look overexposed with blown highlights and the white balance seems a bit on the cool side (esp. #5).

What metering mode where you using? What type of PP did you do?

The shot of your child in the blue outfit looks incredible! After looking at the photos of you and your beautiful fiance I'm now a believer in arranged marriages

He's my sister in-law's little rug-rat. That's his pops in the the picture with him.


I agree with ya about the white balance.

The first one I purposely blew out Owen's face to add emphasis on Aline's reaction. I think I made that one a little too warm. I added contrast on that one too.

The second one I kept a little cool but left enough warmth so that Owen's cheeks were still rosy. I increased the contrast and decreased saturation. I like this one.

# 3 I think is a little too warm and could use some noise reduction to smooth out his skin a tad. I like this one too though. I love how interested he gets with things like his hands, feet, etc.

#4 I like the colour but I think is over sharpened...

#5 I was thinking about making B&W but decided to just reduce saturation. I like the look of this one....

#6 I was going for some golden light to imitate sunrise lighting but I think it's a bit too pink....

#7 Is fluff

# 8 Has WB issues but I don't mind the blown highlights too much.

#9 is fluff

What do you guys think of my self critique? And any suggestions to deal with the crazy bright sun reflecting off of snow and ice? Would a polarizer help in conditions like this? It seemed like no matter where I turned the backround or ground was blown out. I would like to avoid fill flash but I guess that's my only alternative.