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Leviathor posted:I agree, and I'm sure you've done the same thing: getting across southern UT is best done through northern AZ. Technically it's the only way to do it.  I searched for hours to find a route from Zion to Natural Bridges without entering Arizona, and such a road simply doesn't exist (at least that can be done with a city car). I could have gone north along route 12 and then back south, but I didn't have the time. Next time, for sure.
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May 22, 2013 19:03
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xzzy posted:Even the grand canyon kind of sucked.. I mean, it's an amazing feature and everyone should see it once, but you spend a couple hours there and you're pretty much done. Access is so restricted there's no real exploration you can do. Not exactly - I'd agree The Grand Canyon was the least interesting feature of my trip to photograph, but exploration is possible and I think given more time, a trip there could be fantastic. I hiked down just three miles into the canyon and the view changes dramatically. It gets much more interesting to see the walls towering above you as well as more canyon below. I really regret not planning this trip further in advance so I could hike to the bottom, camp (or stay at the ranch) and then hike back the next day. The six mile loop juuuust brings you to the point where you can see the river, but the photos I've seen from further down are really great. There are a few lesser-used trails, too - if you are really adventurous.
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May 22, 2013 22:00
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One of these days I really want to go back and hike Grand Gulch again. There's an insane amount of immaculate Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs on top of all the standard gorgeous slickrock canyon fare, and having to hike two or three days in to get there means exploring and photographing with much fewer people to worry about. Just gotta watch out for flash floods, which can be awesome in their own right.
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May 22, 2013 22:29
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When I went to the southwest I only got to see the Grand Canyon from an overlook and during midday at that. Such a photography tease so close yet so far. I would love to take a month off and go photograph/explore the southwest. Heck, might as well make it 3 months and head up the whole west coast.
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May 22, 2013 22:43
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Gambl0r posted:Not exactly - I'd agree The Grand Canyon was the least interesting feature of my trip to photograph, but exploration is possible and I think given more time, a trip there could be fantastic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/forgetmeknottphotography/386851056/lightbox/
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May 23, 2013 02:20
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My only concern with hiking down into the canyon is all the warnings they post about how YOU GONNA DIE if you attempt it. I know if you prepare properly it's just fine, but I have a low tolerance for desert heat and it kind of made me not want to try it.
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May 23, 2013 03:17
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xzzy posted:My only concern with hiking down into the canyon is all the warnings they post about how YOU GONNA DIE if you attempt it. I know if you prepare properly it's just fine, but I have a low tolerance for desert heat and it kind of made me not want to try it. Ya you should be at least an intermediate hiker. The climate and altitude changes are the cause for concern. It can be 70 degrees at the top and by the time you get to the bottom the climate can be over 100, then when you get to the north rim it can be 55 degrees. It's very unique. It's a couple day trip and you need permits, at least you are supposed to have them. relish_fetish fucked around with this message at 03:54 on May 23, 2013 |
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May 23, 2013 03:50
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xzzy posted:My only concern with hiking down into the canyon is all the warnings they post about how YOU GONNA DIE if you attempt it. I know if you prepare properly it's just fine, but I have a low tolerance for desert heat and it kind of made me not want to try it. Hah, those warnings are EVERYWHERE and discouraged me and my hiking partner from going further into the canyon. The signs all say 'expect to take 2-3 times longer to hike out of the canyon than what it takes you to hike down!!!' So, we went three miles into the canyon (to Skeleton Point), taking two hours. I didn't really consider that a large portion of this time was taking photos. When we got to the three mile point, we thought... oh if it's really as difficult as they say, we shouldn't go further or it may take us too long! It took less time to hike back out than it did to hike down, since we were done taking photos at that point. When we got back to the top we regretted not going at least on the 9 mile loop. We ran into a bunch of people who went to the bottom and back by mid-day. (Although it wasn't a particularly hot day) Edit: Because I didn't mean to derail this thread with hiking stuff, here's a photo from the canyon:  Not on Flickr yet because I don't want to post my trip out of order! Gambl0r fucked around with this message at 05:33 on May 23, 2013 |
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May 23, 2013 05:06
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Here I am trying to recreate a picture from earlier in the thread. I did not do as well. It's too bad, because the clouds were really nice: 
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May 23, 2013 06:23
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Does anyone have some suggestions for forest photography? I'm just starting up the hobby and I live in New England (more specifically between CT and Boston) and the large majority of nature areas around here are forests. I'm having a ton of difficulty composition wise, since almost everything is extremely cluttered and super busy. The areas are gorgeous, but almost every photo I take feels too busy. The only photos I've taken that I've liked have usually been more macro/close up shots where I can use depth of field to help blur out the backgrounds and make everything a little less intense. However, if I'm trying to capture a larger view of say, a trail or something, there's always so many different trees and things going on in the sides that it just ends up being too much, no matter how much I work the shot and try different angles, points of views, changing DoF, etc. Any advice on how to make those kinds of shots work? Also if anyone has any suggestions on nearby shooting hotspots that'd be cool too!
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May 23, 2013 09:12
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The Dark Wind posted:Does anyone have some suggestions for forest photography? I'm just starting up the hobby and I live in New England (more specifically between CT and Boston) and the large majority of nature areas around here are forests. I'm having a ton of difficulty composition wise, since almost everything is extremely cluttered and super busy. The areas are gorgeous, but almost every photo I take feels too busy. The only photos I've taken that I've liked have usually been more macro/close up shots where I can use depth of field to help blur out the backgrounds and make everything a little less intense. However, if I'm trying to capture a larger view of say, a trail or something, there's always so many different trees and things going on in the sides that it just ends up being too much, no matter how much I work the shot and try different angles, points of views, changing DoF, etc. Any advice on how to make those kinds of shots work? Also if anyone has any suggestions on nearby shooting hotspots that'd be cool too! It's a bit hard to tell you what to do when we don't have any idea what you like or what you are trying to say with your photos. I recommend looking at a ton of landscape photography until you figure out what you want to do.
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May 23, 2013 10:28
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Check out a book on basic composition like The Photographer's Eye and try to use some of those patterns, and then take a billion photos this summer while trying to hold back the 100-identical-frames-of-the-same-thing syndrome. Look at work that you like and think about why you like it. Work on visualizing exactly what you want the picture to look like (that one picture I saw last week and can't stop thinking about that was kinda like this) and what you want it to convey before you shoot. Take pictures of things that really move you and that you deeply care about, instead of just stuff that looks cool. Clearly identify the subject and frame it prominently using rule of thirds or somesuch. Crop aggressively. Include people, or get rid of them. Reduce distracting elements, especially when a simple step to the left or a minor crop or spot heal will get rid of something ugly and incongruous that you don't really want in the shot. Come back when the light is better. Or ignore all that, keep shooting as much as possible, try to be deliberate and work towards making pictures you want to make instead of taking pictures just because it might look cool, and continue to evaluate yourself. Go back to shoots you did a couple weeks ago and see if you agree with what you thought then. Post your best work here and ask for critique. Alternatively, shoot color film for a while so you've got money on the line every time you press the shutter. Please post some! That way we can give real feedback, and don't worry, I've been actively doing this for a year now and still don't have any idea what I'm doing most of the time.
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May 23, 2013 10:45
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Spime Wrangler posted:Alternatively, shoot color film for a while so you've got money on the line every time you press the shutter. My gigantic stack of negatives says this is does not always help you to be more selective. The nice thing about shooting film is that waiting to see the photos tends to distance you from them and makes self editing much easier.
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May 23, 2013 11:08
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Nice photo! I've always wanted to visit Titan, but gas is so expensive these days...
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May 23, 2013 11:34
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Spime Wrangler posted:Check out a book on basic composition like The Photographer's Eye and try to use some of those patterns, and then take a billion photos this summer while trying to hold back the 100-identical-frames-of-the-same-thing syndrome. Look at work that you like and think about why you like it. Work on visualizing exactly what you want the picture to look like (that one picture I saw last week and can't stop thinking about that was kinda like this) and what you want it to convey before you shoot. Take pictures of things that really move you and that you deeply care about, instead of just stuff that looks cool. Clearly identify the subject and frame it prominently using rule of thirds or somesuch. Crop aggressively. Include people, or get rid of them. Reduce distracting elements, especially when a simple step to the left or a minor crop or spot heal will get rid of something ugly and incongruous that you don't really want in the shot. Come back when the light is better. Thanks, I'll check out that book! I've been working my way through some of the Foundations of Photography courses on Lynda and reading The Art of Photography (possibly might be a little bit over my head at this point). When I start coming up with some thing that really please me I'll throw them on here and see what you guys think, as of now I only have about a handful of photos I like, but as I mentioned, they're all more macro/still-life oriented (which I have been enjoying too) rather than actual landscape shots.
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May 23, 2013 18:19
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My Ektar experiment went so well that I'm gonna go ahead and graduate to Provia. 119 N by voodoorootbeer, on Flickr
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May 23, 2013 22:36
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 IMG_5752 by spf3million, on Flickr Flying over central Java.
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May 25, 2013 04:20
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 _5250231.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _5250198.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr  _5250224.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr
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May 26, 2013 01:27
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^^ Those clouds look awesome. Was there a GND filter used in those? Found these old photos taken on a P&S from when I was about 15, I've been meaning to go back to this place (Devils Gate Dam), I actually did a few months ago but they've really beefed up the security and made it harder again to get into, put up a boomgate meaning you have to walk an extra mile or so, and toughened up the fence a bit ma king the trek down a bit hard. We went down there one day when the dam was overflowing and that was a rush! Pretty dumb though. sorry for the lovely scan quality (we should make an urbex thread?)  img016 by Alex Gard, on Flickr  img015 by Alex Gard, on Flickr  img014 by Alex Gard, on Flickr  img013 by Alex Gard, on Flickr Sludge Tank fucked around with this message at 01:56 on May 26, 2013 |
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May 26, 2013 01:48
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Sludge Tank posted:^^ Those clouds look awesome. Was there a GND filter used in those? No GND involved, although I did desaturate the bottom half of the first one to help make the blue sky pop. Looks like a fun dam too, there was an Urbex thread in the past but it died a sad, quiet death shortly after an admin/mod moved it from it's old home into the dorkroom.
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May 26, 2013 03:05
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Mr. Despair posted:Looks like a fun dam too, there was an Urbex thread in the past but it died a sad, quiet death shortly after an admin/mod moved it from it's old home into the dorkroom. Sorry about all of the HDR 
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May 26, 2013 03:26
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copen fucked around with this message at 21:49 on May 26, 2013 |
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May 26, 2013 09:09
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copen posted:
I don't know what you did to these, but you should really turn down the processing. These are not appealing to me in any way, the dodging and burning is really splotchy and looks like the clarity slider is sitting at 100. Looking past the processing, I'm not really sure what the subject is or what you're trying to convey with these.
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May 26, 2013 19:08
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CarrotFlowers posted:I don't know what you did to these, but you should really turn down the processing. These are not appealing to me in any way, the dodging and burning is really splotchy and looks like the clarity slider is sitting at 100. Thanks for the feedback :x I had the same feeling about them when I woke up, Did the processing late last night after too many beers and thought they looked awesome! anyways im starting on them again. I think the subjects are cool? A shower in the middle of nowhere and a wall? I don't know im just a scrub. I deleted one of the photos before i saw your reply ill see if i can host it somewhere else so everyone else can witness the horror 
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May 26, 2013 19:28
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copen posted:Thanks for the feedback :x I had the same feeling about them when I woke up, Did the processing late last night after too many beers and thought they looked awesome! anyways im starting on them again. I think the subjects are cool? A shower in the middle of nowhere and a wall? I don't know im just a scrub. I deleted one of the photos before i saw your reply ill see if i can host it somewhere else so everyone else can witness the horror I'd say the first one has more potential than the second because it is different, but yeah take another go at the processing - I'd like to see what they look like with less overpowering edits.
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May 26, 2013 20:03
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copen posted:Thanks for the feedback :x I had the same feeling about them when I woke up, Did the processing late last night after too many beers and thought they looked awesome! anyways im starting on them again. I think the subjects are cool? A shower in the middle of nowhere and a wall? I don't know im just a scrub. I deleted one of the photos before i saw your reply ill see if i can host it somewhere else so everyone else can witness the horror I can't tell that it's a shower, and I can't tell that it's in the middle of nowhere. You need to find a way of creating context when you shoot. I think you're better off re-shooting this one than just reprocessing it; there really isn't anything there that conveys what you were trying to. burzum karaoke fucked around with this message at 00:20 on May 27, 2013 |
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May 27, 2013 00:18
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Mr. Despair posted:
I love these. Something about storm clouds over green pastures gets me every time. 
whaam fucked around with this message at 15:54 on May 27, 2013 |
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May 27, 2013 01:24
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I took a ton of pictures over the weekend, but I had to get to the Massie Gap one first.
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May 27, 2013 04:08
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And people wonder why folks from Middlesbrough get called 'Smoggies'   Sunset over Wilton by NoneMoreNegative, on Flickr also; windmills!  Teesside Offshore Wind Farm by NoneMoreNegative, on Flickr
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May 27, 2013 05:58
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NoneMoreNegative posted:And people wonder why folks from Middlesbrough get called 'Smoggies' The smog really adds texture to this. Very nice.  Sexy rock.   
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May 27, 2013 06:48
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May 27, 2013 07:44
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whaam posted:Something about storm clouds over green pastures gets me every time.   Both of these I actually didn't abuse clarity or anything - they're JPEGs straight OOC because I'm bad at doing post. luchadornado fucked around with this message at 01:18 on May 28, 2013 |
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May 28, 2013 00:59
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OK, no loving way.
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May 28, 2013 01:12
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vote_no posted:OK, no loving way. You clearly have never lived in a place with actual thunderstorms.
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May 28, 2013 02:45
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8th-samurai posted:You clearly have never lived in a place with actual thunderstorms. I think he means that he can't believe that that is a jpeg out of the camera without any post processing.
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May 28, 2013 03:08
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ZippySLC posted:I think he means that he can't believe that that is a jpeg out of the camera without any post processing. Well I guess he's never used a camera with a good jpeg engine then.
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May 28, 2013 03:08
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Went out to running springs this weekend. Running Springs by francography, on Flickr  Running Springs by francography, on Flickr
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May 28, 2013 03:14
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Mr. Despair posted:Well I guess he's never used a camera with a good jpeg engine then. Jeez, I just meant it was awesome. I live in Minnesota; we have plenty of thunderstorms. I've never been able to capture anything like that. edit: here's some content   vote_no fucked around with this message at 03:26 on May 28, 2013 |
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May 28, 2013 03:17
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aliencowboy posted:I can't tell that it's a shower, and I can't tell that it's in the middle of nowhere. You need to find a way of creating context when you shoot. I think you're better off re-shooting this one than just reprocessing it; there really isn't anything there that conveys what you were trying to. Yeah you are probably right. I'm pretty bummed because I took a lot of pictures of this thing and non of them really where the image I wanted. Fortunately it is only a mile from my house, unfortunately I have to trespass to get to it. This is another attempt of that shower but the sky is too blown out for my liking. It will do till I make it back.  Shower by pboutell, on Flickr oh and a few more from back there.  Stairway by pboutell, on Flickr  Flowers by pboutell, on Flickr  Tower by pboutell, on Flickr
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May 28, 2013 07:39
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The Dark Wind posted:Does anyone have some suggestions for forest photography? I'm just starting up the hobby and I live in New England (more specifically between CT and Boston) and the large majority of nature areas around here are forests. I'm having a ton of difficulty composition wise, since almost everything is extremely cluttered and super busy. The areas are gorgeous, but almost every photo I take feels too busy. The only photos I've taken that I've liked have usually been more macro/close up shots where I can use depth of field to help blur out the backgrounds and make everything a little less intense. However, if I'm trying to capture a larger view of say, a trail or something, there's always so many different trees and things going on in the sides that it just ends up being too much, no matter how much I work the shot and try different angles, points of views, changing DoF, etc. Any advice on how to make those kinds of shots work? Also if anyone has any suggestions on nearby shooting hotspots that'd be cool too! My tip for forest photography is to do it in rain and/or mist. It helps to make the scene less cluttered, and adds a bit of mystery to it. You also need to try and pick some interesting tree formations etc. By no means do I consider myself a master of forest photography, but here's a recent one taken in the rain:  Unrelated, haven't posted for a while here. Here's a shot I've been working on for a while, finally got a result I was happy with. 
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May 28, 2013 10:05
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