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David Pratt posted:The first one is super red, was this a conscious decision? The horizon isn't totally level, is slanting up to the left, and the stars look slightly elongated. The rule is something like 500/shutter speed for your maximum before getting trails. There's no EXIF on flickr - do you remember the settings? 1 - It looks like at first glance that it is a seat looking away from the viewer towards the back but then I realized that it is a busted seat laying on its back. It changes the mood of the scene as well as the context and I think that you effectively shot it to portray the leisure of the view with the seat looking away and the unease of looking at an old spent item littered on the ground. I like this a lot. 2 - The guy walking into the distance with his dog is pretty classic. The tones of the walkway are nice, fading in towards its center and the highlights of the rail leading me towards the guy. I find myself wondering about the item that is in front of him/he is walking towards and the shape of the landscape in the distance is very interesting - part of me wonders if I would rather see those things more clearly by having shot closer to the guy but it is not enough to take away from the overall experience here. I wish the sky had something to it but I know it goes with overcast featureless days. I also like this image a lot. 3 - Not bad. Competently shot and everything but it is not grabbing me. A nice shot for the family. ---- I have been trying to clean up my haphazard slew of images since getting my camera 13 months ago. It was interesting to see some pictures I have not seen for a year that I gave up on and to see that even though I am still incredibly mediocre I am at least learning and slowly improving, I think. I took a couple photos that I had originally given up on and tried to see if they might be worth revisiting.  DSC02593-Edit by Paul Hofreiter, on Flickr 1) I had taken a number of the shots of the corner of this building and man, I am kicking myself now for the poor job I did. This was maybe 10 months ago. I cropped it and started from scratch with the processing. I am still tempted to take this b&w but ultimately decided on color for now. I was trying to force symmetry so much and I think that is what kept me from getting anything successful when I first shot and processed them. That still sticks with me so I hope I can get some fresh input here.  DSC00830 by Paul Hofreiter, on Flickr 2) From over a year ago, I had had my camera for maybe a couple weeks and was pretty haphazardly shooting. This also looked nice in b&w but it was hard to give up the sunset colors. Sunset + power lines, I don't know if I could choose any more cheap subjects but I like it and don't know if it is nostalgia or not.  dryad by Paul Hofreiter, on Flickr 3) Now that the contest is over, I wanted to get some input on this. The main substance of the trunk was shot lower to give ample room to the ascending branches. These apple trees are loving great to look at (to me) in that you can see all sorts of things in them - I saw a short haired woman (perhaps with laurels on her head) with her arms out and head down. The light leak or whatever developing mistake at the bottom was not intentional. I really like it here though and I wish I knew how to replicate it in the future, although I doubt I could.
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Dec 30, 2012 07:35
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GratefulHume posted:I really love this. Have you considered cropping out the head in the lower left background? It would focus the attention on the man's face which I think are the better part of the photo versus the bubbles. Yeah, I actually played around with that crop for a while, but I liked the balance of the wider version a bit more. It seemed a little claustrophobic without the space. I'm gonna' go back and mess with it again later this week though, I'll certainly give that edit another shot. Here's another street shot, from downtown Luxor: 
Shiruan fucked around with this message at 09:10 on Dec 30, 2012 |
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Dec 30, 2012 08:46
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Magic Hate Ball posted:That's probably just motion blur from the trees swaying in the wind. Thanks for the feedback! Yep, the blur was from the trees swaying. It was drat windy that night.
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Dec 31, 2012 00:56
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I think I've saturated the bird thread with my owl shots so they're starting to leak into this thread now. I'm hesitant to say anything about this shot because it is my most-edited photo I've ever created. If you're curious, here's a link to the original. It's one of those shots that you'll probably never have another shot at, but you screwed up when you took it so you'll try anything to salvage it. xenilk posted:That's a pretty subtle edit. As other pointed out once you know it you can spot a few differences but otherwise I couldn't have told. Could you walk us through the process and about how long it took you approx.? quote:As for me, I'm starting to pitch ideas of doing makeovers in my hometown. Here's one I've done recently (I tried to clean the background of the one with the scarf as per the review I got here) rio posted:
rio posted:
rio posted:
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Jan 1, 2013 17:13
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Thanks a lot for the input. Regarding the first shot, I had so many bad and forced shots of this corner of the building that it was hard for me to look at the image objectively (even with a fresh crop and processing) because I kept thinking of the bad ones and the inexperience that led to taking them. I think the further I get away from that association the easier it will be, so I appreciate your comment. I think you did a great job with that owl image - I was expecting something different when clicking the original image. I would not have guessed that you added the edges and there are no signs of it so great work. I might be tempted to dodge a few areas on the owl to bring out its features (subtle dodging in the face, perhaps around the legs to help bring them out) as the lighting is making the bird a bit flat overall. Also, "Knock, Knock" "Who's there?" "Who..." "Who who?" ... "Are you an owl?"
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Jan 1, 2013 19:33
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rio posted:
 La luna sobre el lago by Mijaeus, on Flickr I couldn't get the photo I wanted, because the lake looked awesome that night bathed in the moon light. I wasn't ready so this is as good as I could do :\
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Jan 2, 2013 01:54
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El Laucha posted:
I'm a sucker for these sort of minimalist shots, I like it. I wonder what effect bumping the exposure about a quarter to half a stop would have on the hills in the background, I would like a touch more distinction between the 2 layers of depth, and I can't help but wonder if just a touch less subtlety wouldn't somehow work better. I've been sidelined with a blown-up knee since before Thanksgiving. Today I managed to feel limber and mobile enough to get over to West Seattle and hobble down to Alki beach for a few minutes in late afternoon.  _1010333.jpg by Trip Sixes, on Flickr
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Jan 2, 2013 05:40
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El Laucha posted:
Not bad, is there a wider angle of this? I would personally like more space at the top but that's me. Your horizon is off slightly though! krackmonkey posted:
Nice, may benefit from a different crop, play with it. How'd you get that angle, ladder or did the sidewalk take a turn? 
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Jan 2, 2013 06:20
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Oprah Haza posted:Nice, may benefit from a different crop, play with it. How'd you get that angle, ladder or did the sidewalk take a turn? Thanks, I will tinker with cropping and see how I like it. There's a series of protruding platforms/steps that lead down to the water, you can see a set in the distance, I was on the top deck of another set. This is really nice, has a very dreamy, cinematic quality to it. I like the darker hues a lot. krackmonkey fucked around with this message at 06:55 on Jan 2, 2013 |
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Jan 2, 2013 06:53
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To me this looks out of focus, and not intentionally. Did you take it out of focus or what it done in post? I think an atmospheric quality would be better achieved by adding some film grain or texture, like in an old movie. As it stands it to me it just looks like an out of focus photograph. I just got my first infrared camera and wondering if anyone has any advice or experience to contribute. Most of the infrared portraiture I've looked at is very similar and I'd like to do a lot more with it. It's difficult to focus in certain situations, and colors vary greatly from situation to situation because I have to set a manual white balance each time. These two are the more successful shots from the experiment:   This was a hallway with very mixed lighting, but the color of the clothing was mostly consistent to other situations. Am I happy with it? I don't know, not quite. But I'm not sure what I would have done to improve this photograph. 
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Jan 2, 2013 16:57
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I think I may have overcropped this a bit on the left while centering the jump in the groove on the left-most slab. I just noticed it and might crop a tiny bit more on the right to make up for it. DSC_0267 by gRAPpler/shooter, on Flickr  DSC_0243-001 by gRAPpler/shooter, on Flickr This one had no flash and very little light so on my camera it's almost completely dark. (I had simply forgotten to pop the flash up) When I previewed it on my computer though, it looked like this. I liked it so I exported it that way.  DSC_0212 by gRAPpler/shooter, on Flickr Dr. Platypus posted:
I think the blur would have worked great if the guy in the sombrero wasn't so in focus. His focus kind of pulls me away from the dude front and center, who's intensity should be what's pulling my attention. I like the way you caught the people in a pyramid formation, and the energy is great. Maybe blur the people who are further back a bit and crop the sides?
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Jan 2, 2013 20:33
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Tamgerine posted:To me this looks out of focus, and not intentionally. Did you take it out of focus or what it done in post? I think an atmospheric quality would be better achieved by adding some film grain or texture, like in an old movie. As it stands it to me it just looks like an out of focus photograph. If you didn't mention infrared, I would have thought it was selective coloring. The first 2 are definitely the best of the 3. On that third one, seems like the focus is off. Maybe if you found a hallway without those picture frames, and the bin in the back, the photo would look cleaner. I kind of picture it in a clean hallway or dirty back alley. What camera is it?
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Jan 3, 2013 05:47
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krackmonkey posted:This is really nice, has a very dreamy, cinematic quality to it. I like the darker hues a lot. Thank you, was definitely going for a surreal dream-like quality. Tamgerine posted:To me this looks out of focus, and not intentionally. Did you take it out of focus or what it done in post? I think an atmospheric quality would be better achieved by adding some film grain or texture, like in an old movie. As it stands it to me it just looks like an out of focus photograph. The super soft focus was definitely intentional. It was done in camera, I only fiddled with color temperature and a bit of curves. I didn't want to use a film grain or texture because that's not what I was going for, I didn't want "old photo" vibe. 1. The uneven light from left to right is really distracting. Maybe do a graduated exposure filter to even it out? Maybe clone out the reflections in the glasses. 2. Best of the three. 3. Guy is horribly blown out, next time I would recommend having them back up a few feet for a more even spread of light. Who Gotch Ya posted:I think I may have overcropped this a bit on the left while centering the jump in the groove on the left-most slab. I just noticed it and might crop a tiny bit more on the right to make up for it. The first one kind of has no context, it's so tight. Maybe a wider shot? The second also has kind of no context. I would maybe either get a bit closer? The third is coolish, fiddle with the post processing and see what ya can get. Maybe try a dark silhouette or something. A friend popped over last minute and we messed around a bit with some lighting but I couldn't find my lightmeter so some spots are really uneven but it was fun and my first time using off camera with my MF camera. I asked her to come without showering/makeup so I could work on my post processing, I think I did okay!   
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Jan 3, 2013 06:17
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Oprah Haza posted:A friend popped over last minute and we messed around a bit with some lighting but I couldn't find my lightmeter so some spots are really uneven but it was fun and my first time using off camera with my MF camera. I asked her to come without showering/makeup so I could work on my post processing, I think I did okay! They're okay, but the colour temp difference between the first two is throwing me off - are you trying to say something with that or is it just so? The third I'm not a fan of. It could be a cool effect if she was doing something interesting.
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Jan 3, 2013 22:39
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Santa is strapped posted:They're okay, but the colour temp difference between the first two is throwing me off - are you trying to say something with that or is it just so? Not trying to say anything really with the color temperatures just colors that I think fit the image. I don't think that color temp has to stay the same in all images of every set. One is colder, one is warmer.
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Jan 3, 2013 23:23
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Oprah Haza posted:
Thanks for the input. Yeah I agree about the context and that was on my mind when I took them, especially with the first one, that it didn't really mean anything. I just saw the graffiti on another wall behind that bell on a roof and I wanted to see how it lined up. I cropped it so tight because the right slab actually ends at the top and I was mostly trying to play with the alignment of the shapes. These were from my first day of shooting anything ever so I've mostly just been familiarizing myself with basics of shutter speed, aperture, etc and figuring out what produces what results and why I would set things certain ways. I'm shooting everything on manual because I want to actually learn. The second one I kind of had an idea in mind as it was in Chinatown in the park areas where old guys do Tai Chi. I pictured it as one of the old Chinese guys in the park who had been watering the same tree with that bucket for so long that eventually his silhouette became part of the wall, but not being in that atmosphere and with it being a wider shot I can easily see how nobody would take that from the picture.
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Jan 4, 2013 01:13
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Have you already found a copy of Understanding Exposure to read through? It'll explain everything it sounds like you're trying to figure out by trial and error. Your local library should have a copy if you don't want to buy one.
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Jan 4, 2013 02:00
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Here's my first post. What I've been looking for is a way to understand how my photos communicate with others. By that I mean when I look at my pictures I see certain relationships or "stories", but I don't really know if it's all in my head or if other people would see it too. I'm hoping you guys can help me clarify this and become a better photographer. Of course, general critique is welcome as well. Here's an example: Travel by AllLightIsGood, on Flickr In this shot I like the opposition of the car going to the left and the plane going to the right. I also feel that the verticals in the tree contrast with the implied horizontal motion of the car and plane as well as the horizontals in the clouds and the roadway. Is this just in my head?! Let me know what you think. To contribute: A great shot. You must dedicate a lot of effort to these. My only thought is that I would probably brighten the owl's face just a bit to draw the viewers eyes into it.
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Jan 4, 2013 03:22
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Druckman posted:
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Jan 4, 2013 03:31
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I agree with Krakken. I also think the photo would have worked better horizontally, since most elements in the photo are aligned that way. This whole talk is pretty good, but I've linked the part where he starts to talk about lines within an image and how to exploit the natural alignment that happens in a scene, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwk3YFknyNA&t=1886s
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Jan 4, 2013 04:35
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Mr. Despair posted:Have you already found a copy of Understanding Exposure to read through? It'll explain everything it sounds like you're trying to figure out by trial and error. Your local library should have a copy if you don't want to buy one. Not yet but I've seen it recommended a lot and it's on my list. I read up quite a bit on here and gained a small understanding of the basic functions, so I had a base point to start learning from at least, but yeah I'm sure picking the book up will move the learning along a lot faster than just picking up bits and pieces and dicking around on my own.
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Jan 4, 2013 06:41
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Krakkles posted:I see what you were going for, but it would be a much stronger image if you'd either frozen the car, or captured more motion. It looks like it's just blurry enough to be annoying, whereas more motion would've (potentially) made it interesting. Santa is strapped posted:I agree with Krakken. I also think the photo would have worked better horizontally, since most elements in the photo are aligned that way.
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Jan 4, 2013 13:33
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El Laucha posted:
LOVE this photo, I am sucker for super minimalistic stuff. Love the way light on water is curvy. Also like the fact that mountains at the distance are present, but in a subtle way. Wish moon wasn't as close to the top edge though and I agree with someone saying it would look even cooler with wider picture. As for me: I have started out doing 365 project (photo a day for a year) to get better at it, so been challenging myself daily (hard to find time after work sometimes, but still that restriction makes me think more creatively I think).  Nightwatch by deadreak, on Flickr  Life and Death by deadreak, on Flickr I got tumblr going for it too, if anyone interested: http://shamilrasizade.tumblr.com/
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Jan 4, 2013 23:44
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Deadreak posted:
The contrast on this is fantastic. What was the lighting situation and metering mode on camera? Drawing on some inspiration from TheJeffers. I keep looking for nice converging angles in the concrete jungle:  This is a total snapshot, but I am really enjoying the harsh blue LED lighting contrasting against the warm yellow/red upper shelf. The fellow with his back to you was framed for extra contrast and interest. 
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Jan 5, 2013 02:15
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krooj posted:The contrast on this is fantastic. What was the lighting situation and metering mode on camera? Thanks, this booth is right in front of the Santa Monica pier, which has theme park on it, with giant ferris wheel, that has tons of flickering lights. Took a pic during one of those flashes of light. Camera was in manual mode, on tripod, can't remember exact specs on it but it was correct exposure (not under/over exposed). krooj posted:
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Jan 5, 2013 02:35
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I suppose this is my first attempt at real photography. Captured this as the train was traveling next to a truck going nearly the same speed. There was a fence in between us, which I think helped show the motion of the truck a lot. InternetJunky posted:I think I've saturated the bird thread with my owl shots so they're starting to leak into this thread now. I wouldn't worry too much about this photo being highly edited, you did it in a way that wasn't obvious and, frankly, it is a marked improvement over the original. The Owl's expression is perfect, very intense. As Druckman said, brightening the face a little would do a lot to draw the viewers eye in even more.
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Jan 5, 2013 03:37
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krooj posted:The contrast on this is fantastic. What was the lighting situation and metering mode on camera? When this is thumbnailed, I really, really like all the different angles and lines throughout the photo. But when I view this as a larger photo, I feel like there's too much going on at once. I think I personally would like it cropped a bit more to the lower right, removing some of the vertical lines in the upper half.
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Jan 5, 2013 09:07
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Casu Marzu posted:When this is thumbnailed, I really, really like all the different angles and lines throughout the photo. But when I view this as a larger photo, I feel like there's too much going on at once. I think I personally would like it cropped a bit more to the lower right, removing some of the vertical lines in the upper half. A tighter, different crop of the same source:  My reasoning for leaving a bunch of vertical in the original was to keep the building's characteristic somewhat identifiable (Jorgenson Hall, Ryerson University), although that collides with the abstract intent of the photo.
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Jan 5, 2013 16:07
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krooj posted:A tighter, different crop of the same source: I personally like the uncropped one better. The cropped feels completely different, since it emphatizes the horizontal lines way more. It looks good too, but feels like a completely different shot. I'm not posting one of my photos because every time I have something that feels "oh, maybe I could get this in PAD" I look at the other posts and feel that my pictures are so bad that there's still a long way until they're decent enough to be here. Keep up the good work guys!
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Jan 5, 2013 19:23
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It's better to put up something and get critique than put up nothing and get no critique - post your photos!
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Jan 5, 2013 19:51
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rio posted:It's better to put up something and get critique than put up nothing and get no critique - post your photos! Yep. There's no such thing as too bad for critique.
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Jan 5, 2013 20:46
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krooj posted:A tighter, different crop of the same source: Yeah, I love this now.  This crop brings out the icicles hanging from the railings, and I think that really boosts the photo in my mind.
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Jan 5, 2013 21:18
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Okay, i'll bite the bullet. (this is almost straight from the scanner, just pushed exposure a little bit up in Photoshop) Took this last weekend when walking around. I wanted to keep the background/people/floor on focus, but lightning was low, it was 400 iso film and I didn't have a tripod, so it was hard to find a compromise between shutter/aperture. It ended up a little bit dark and with a lot of midtones. I wish it had more contrast and maybe a more interesting subject where the family is, but I like the composition, the lines from the pillars and the balance between the light windows in the top right and the dark area in the lower left. I don't think it's a great picture, but for some reason I believe that i could re-shoot it changing something (what?) and have a nice picture. (it's also a really scratched negative, just started developing myself and loading a reel while hiding under a blanket can be tough.)
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Jan 5, 2013 21:56
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Are you ok with doing some processing? If you aren't against it, you could mess with levels and curves to bring out some highlights , which could work well to really accent the interplay of lines that you have going on here. First of all, you have no reason not to post in this thread - be hard on yourself for the sake of improvement but not to the exclusion of presenting your work. I like how the lines play with and against each other here, and I think you've done we'll framing the shot. A bit of levels/curves might bring out the grid pattern on the floor, could help the lack of separation tonally between the bottom right of the frame and the floor itself, and generally make the image less flat if you we're to work it a bit. I wouldn't go too overboard with it, but subtely done it could help. I like the prescience of the family but if I were to pick exactly where I might want them, it would be below where they are in the frame, in the triangular section. Another option which might work or might not is a tripod and a longer exposure to create trails of people walking through, which could create some fluidity to play against all of the hard lines. e: one last thing - changing bags are pretty cheap and (for me) a lot easier than going under the sheets. Might want to pick one up if the sheets are an issue.
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Jan 5, 2013 22:39
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Love the composition, especially the way top left/bottom right and top right/bottom left mirror each other, working together to frame the shot.
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Jan 6, 2013 00:20
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krooj posted:The contrast on this is fantastic. What was the lighting situation and metering mode on camera? I find my eye drifting around this looking for a place to settle; the guy is a little too far off to feel like a focal point, but a little too present to feel like something I should ignore. I'd love to see him brought more into the frame and made a bit more a "part" of the picture, because I think his presence there is really interesting; even just putting him more squarely on the third line would have done it I think.  A bit of retouching done here as well.
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Jan 6, 2013 02:33
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rio posted:First of all, you have no reason not to post in this thread - be hard on yourself for the sake of improvement but not to the exclusion of presenting your work. I'll keep that in mind Been reading the processing thread and messing around with the photo. I'm new to the whole photography thing, but yeah there's some interesting effects when messing with the curves and the brightness/constrast sliders. Quite like the idea of a long exposure. The place isn't really crowded, but there's a roll of Ilford Pan 100 here that I can pull to 50 and hopefully get a long enough exposure. That's going to be the first thing to do after finishing the current Arista. Thanks! (and also thanks to the person who criticized my other pic some 3 or 4 pages ago). (Don't want to hog the thread, but some messing with curves gave me this and I like it)  ^^^^^ I like the combination of what seens to be an "older" (in her 30's maybe?) woman with the childish head wrap. ie her sharper features against the soft, rounded appearance of kids you'd normally see wearing that. Primo Itch fucked around with this message at 06:16 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 03:49
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Chitin posted:I find my eye drifting around this looking for a place to settle; the guy is a little too far off to feel like a focal point, but a little too present to feel like something I should ignore. I'd love to see him brought more into the frame and made a bit more a "part" of the picture, because I think his presence there is really interesting; even just putting him more squarely on the third line would have done it I think. Did you retouch her eyes? Can't stop looking at them, rather mesmerizing. Really like the composition, cutting off the hat was a good call imho, the childish hat is a nice suggestion without taking away focus from her face. How did you light it? As for me: Been getting into contrasts a bit lately (ne of the cleanest buildings in LA downtown haha)  Smoking Kills by deadreak, on Flickr I suck at portraits of any kind, but happy with how this turned out. This guy is one of the happiest people I gave met and I think picture captures his personality rather well.  Happiness by deadreak, on Flickr
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Jan 6, 2013 07:04
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It's been a couple years before I took any serious pictures. Got busy and never wanted to take my heavy-rear end 5D + 17-40L out for casual shooting. Sold it and bought myself an RX1 for Christmas. I just got a chance to shoot with it on my morning walk with my dog. Here's two of the first shots using in-camera JPEG and the B+W setting.  Paint me by the nerdicle, on Flickr  141 by the nerdicle, on Flickr (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jan 6, 2013 08:54
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Tamgerine posted:To me this looks out of focus, and not intentionally. Did you take it out of focus or what it done in post? I think an atmospheric quality would be better achieved by adding some film grain or texture, like in an old movie. As it stands it to me it just looks like an out of focus photograph. I'll echo the 'I thought this was selective coloring' sentiment someone mentioned earlier. But I actually kind of like the first two here, the third is just too blown out/distracting. I won't pretend to know how to take infrared photos, but when I look at this I can't stop looking at the bright white light and the blown out face on the guy. It kind of leaves me confused because there are also very yellow lights in the photo. I wonder if positioning yourself in a different part of the hallway away from this light would have been better? Also, the gap in between the subjects draws my eye….to the white trash bin in the background.
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Jan 6, 2013 09:17
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