# A Photography forum in another thread made me bring these out...



## DarkKnight369 (Jan 30, 2009)

Just some stuff I shot with my Canon XSi over the past year. The urban stuff was from my trip to San Francisco when I went to Adobe Max...


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## -K4G- (Jan 30, 2009)

Awesome photos man. Can i copy the 4th? I would like to use that as my wallpaper.


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## CrashRG (Jan 30, 2009)

dude those are nice as hell. that first one would make a good album cover. photography is something that interests me, now i just need to get to takin some and learnin a bit. 

as an aside, are there any good guitar shops in peoria? 
I thought about snaggin the wife and comin up there this weekend. I used to live there back in '91 but I was only 11 when I moved, so I don't remember much of the town..


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## DarkKnight369 (Jan 30, 2009)

CrashRG said:


> dude those are nice as hell. that first one would make a good album cover. photography is something that interests me, now i just need to get to takin some and learnin a bit.
> 
> as an aside, are there any good guitar shops in peoria?
> I thought about snaggin the wife and comin up there this weekend. I used to live there back in '91 but I was only 11 when I moved, so I don't remember much of the town..



Thanks!
Depends what you are looking for. There is a guitar center now, there is also music makers which is a good ESP/Schecter/Fender dealer. There is Flores, they have nice stuff, but they over charge for everything. Like, they seriously try charging list price. There probably are a few others, but those are really he only ones I have ever been too. Music Makers would be my top choice.

The problem is, there are no 7 string here. Music Makers and Flores don't carry them. Guitar Center has 1 Schecter hellraiser as of the other day when I stopped in to get strings. That is it.



> Awesome photos man. Can i copy the 4th? I would like to use that as my wallpaper.



Thanks! You can use it if you want, its only 1024 pixels wide though, so it probably will distort some. I put my Zumbek Media stamp on there so I at least get credit when people copy them off the net.


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## matty2fatty (Jan 30, 2009)

How do you like the Xsi? My ex had a Xti that took amazing pictures without really trying that hard, it almost made me want to buy one myself. Your's has the big viewfinder on the back I think, right?


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## DarkKnight369 (Jan 30, 2009)

I like the XSi a lot. By viewfinder, do you mean the LCD screen. It does have a 3" screen which is nice for viewing pics. It doesn't do much for shooting though. There is the added live view function where you can use the LCD to shoot for hard to reach angles, but you have to lock in the focus before, so its not much help. 

Its a great camera though. I went back and forth between it and the 40D, and I chose it over the 40D because I liked it a little better ultimately. I handled the 50D though and it puts my camera to shame. The new Digic IV image processor is something. That thing took utterly amazing photos.

The XSi is nothing to sneez at though, and I got a good deal. The stock lens sucks, but the package I got at the time came with a 55-250mm zoom lens. I used the lens a lot and it works out. Honestly the XSi's biggest short coming is that its not ideal to use in low light. I had some difficulty with some of those night shots because the ISO only goes up to 1600 and it can get noisy at those levels.

Its a very good intro to SLR camera though, and it was my first. I am no stranger to photography, but its the first time I owned a camera this nice. Like you said, it will take excellent pictures on its own in the Auto modes. They are essentially like any other Canon camera, but better. I only use the Creative modes though, mostly the Av, and sometimes Tv modes. The Av essentially allows you to set the aperture and the camera does the rest. The Tv allows you to set the shutter speed, and then the camera does the rest. I don't like messing around in manual too much, just because I never remember how to compensate all the settings for each other. The ones that compensate for you work for me. I always have a focal length or shutter speed in mind, I just need the camera to do the rest. IF its not good enough, I can manually change the iso speed as well. So it works.

The main benefit to using those creative modes is shooting in RAW. RAW is essentially a lossless photo file type. Of course the files come out 16MB per image, but its worth it in the end. You have all the data there and editing the RAWs allows you to greatly fine tune your photos.

Bottomline, I recommend both the camera and shooting in RAW. Down the line, I hope to also purchase a 50D or 60D (when its released) and use the XSi as a second body or backup or to have an additional lens at my disposal.


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## Uber Mega (Apr 21, 2009)

DarkKnight, just as an FYI of sorts, in regards to what you said about having to "lock in the focus" before going into Live View Mode, you can actually focus whilst in it if you pres and hold the "zoom out" button


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## DarkKnight369 (Apr 25, 2009)

Nice! Thanks for the tip!


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## Azyiu (May 22, 2009)

DarkKnight369 said:


> Bottomline, I recommend both the camera and shooting in RAW.



Definitely.




DarkKnight369 said:


> Down the line, I hope to also purchase a 50D or 60D (when its released) and use the XSi as a second body or backup or to have an additional lens at my disposal.



Not me, I started off with films and FF bodies. So I hope to get the 5D MkII down the road, but that thing is just too out of my price range right now.


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## DarkKnight369 (May 22, 2009)

I used a film SLR in college, but then I used higher end digital point and shoots after that. I imagine the 5D is sweet, but the 50D will be a huge step for me, and I rather focus on getting some better glass too.


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## synrgy (May 22, 2009)

I like the 4th one a lot too. Always have enjoyed city street shots. 

Love the color in the flower shot too. Looks like it was under UV or something.

Got a link to more stuff, or what?


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