JRM's quick Playa/Tulum trip report... with lots o' pics!

[vike57]

Great report...and awesome pics..........

[Marj]

[quote=jrm;1241236]Jessa:
Sunshine: No, I am not a pro... I wish! Just a fella with a new camera he is trying to learn! Thanks for the encourging words!

Well I don't know about the above quote. With the explanation you just gave on your settings etc. Me thinks you are a bit more than "Just a fella with a new camera etc" You sound very knowledgeable to me. No wonder you take such good shots.......you know what you are doing

[jrm]

Hi Marj!

Though I appreciate you vote of confidence, this is actually my first digital camera. In fact this is the first camera that I have owned since high school (about 10 years now), when I had an old dusty camera I got at a pawn shop. Truthfully, the users manual for this camera is pretty accessible and helps you get going well from the get-go. There are plenty of websites out there that can teach you the basics pretty easily too.... that's mostly what I turned to in the days after this new toy arrived in the mail.

Also, the beauty of digital is that I took enough pics to fill up an 8gb memory card, but really only had to find about 45 that were share-able! My philosophy is quickly becoming "just take lots of pictures... there's bound to be a good one in there somewhere!"

Thanks again everyone. Mucho appreciated.

-jon

[JMHARN]

Originally Posted by jrm

Hey there JMHARN:

I shot everything on that trip (except for the last pic) in the Manual mode.... so all the settings vary from picture to picture. I didn't have a tripod, so generally (for the night shots) I kept the aperture open as large as possible and adjusted both shutter speed and ISO to get the effect I was looking for.

Most all the night shots are between 400 and 800 ISO. The higher you can go with the ISO, the faster you can make the shutter (thus minimizing shake). For anything I thought would give me camera shake, i took a deep breath, leaned against a wall (or put a knee on the ground) and took the picture.

As far as compression and resolution, I shot everything in RAW format. I don't like generally letting the camera compress my iamges for me. So none of the pictures are compressed when they are stored on the memory card... that means each file is friggin' huge. Once at home I took the RAW files and processed them with the software that comes with the camera. It allows you to open the RAW files and compress them for whatever use you need. Since I was using them for web I brought the resolution down to 72dpi and resized the pic, calling it a day. That's the beauty of RAW, max versatility. I probably could have compressed the final file at 1000dpi and printed a small billboard!

I also made some tweaks here and there to the color saturation and the contrast for the night shots as they all tended to be a little underexposed.

Phew.. long explanation. Sorry about that! I hope that makes sense. It's actually a lot easier and quicker than it sounds.

-jon

Thank you so much for the 'recipe'. I knew it has to be more than just point and shoot. You teach me a lot jrm, thanks!

In the manual mode, did you also use that auto lighting optimization too?

I must say that your pictures are in different league than the rest of our pictures. The best that I have ever seen anywhere. I'm sure by this time this comment sounds just like a broken record to ya.

Keep them coming!

[Susie Q Roo]

Gotta chime in here with the "great trip report" comments! Very nice job with all of it - thank you!

[jrm]

JMHARN: Actually, I have no idea what the auto light optimization is, so, no I didn't. But that sound spretty cool. What is it?

Susie Q Roo: Thank you so much! I'm jealous of your permanent local status....

[JMHARN]

Originally Posted by jrm

JMHARN: Actually, I have no idea what the auto light optimization is, so, no I didn't. But that sound spretty cool. What is it?

Susie Q Roo: Thank you so much! I'm jealous of your permanent local status....

Jon,
After looking at your picture I am tempted to buy that camera.
I was looking at the Canon XSi website, and under the features they mentioned this:
"Auto Optimization
The EOS Rebel XSi’s Auto Optimization is yet another image-quality tool that comes to the rescue in tricky lighting conditions. It can actually lighten dark areas of a scene while ensuring that bright areas maintain tonal detail. It’s now available in all shooting modes, including P, Tv, Av, and Manual."

Perhaps you did use it without knowing, hence the name "auto"...

Now here is some philosophical question...:
Though I envy everyone who lives in PDC, my question is always: "where do they go for vacation? Everywhere they go will be 'meh...' to them...."

For example: I live in Niagara Falls area (which by the way the current temp is hovering about 30F), and going to PDC for a vacation would be extremely exciting time. But, Niagara Falls to me is just 'meh...it's 20 minutes drive for me'.

[jrm]

Thanks for the info! I'll seriously have to look into that. Could be another great tool.

Re: your philosophical question... I live in a great vacation destination too with some of the best skiing in the US only a 4 minute drive from my front door. There are always other place to go! We go to Playa, maybe people from Playa come to Vail!

[JMHARN]

Originally Posted by jrm

Thanks for the info! I'll seriously have to look into that. Could be another great tool.

Re: your philosophical question... I live in a great vacation destination too with some of the best skiing in the US only a 4 minute drive from my front door. There are always other place to go! We go to Playa, maybe people from Playa come to Vail!

Hey, I just got an idea...hopefully the moderator will see this.

How about if this forum and its member states what "tourist attraction" that they live close by, so that when the other members want to go to that vacation spot, they can check with the resident of expert. I think that would be useful....
Don't mean to hijack your thread Jon...I apologize in advance. Just an idea.

[rob mackay]

Originally Posted by bluberry

Super report and pictures. I never tire seeing pics of Playa. I can't wait -44 more sleeps!!

me got a lot less than that

[rob mackay]

Originally Posted by jrm

thanks for the info! I'll seriously have to look into that. Could be another great tool.

Re: Your philosophical question... I live in a great vacation destination too with some of the best skiing in the us only a 4 minute drive from my front door. There are always other place to go! We go to playa, maybe people from playa come to vail!

wonderful pictures....thanks :d

[jrm]

Thanks Rob! Send us some of that snow in your avatar.. we could use it!

[cpfstich]

Excellent report & pictures. We will be staying in a first floor condo at Arena Blanca in March.

[avagirl]

WoW! Really awesome pictures! So clear and vivid! Great TR too! Thanks!

[isomami]

Thanks for sharing jrm! Last winter we spent half a day in El Paraiso after visiting Tulum ruins. After seeing your pics and reading your story I want to have a full day there. And I will... in February (I just love saying that )