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Primo Itch posted:Since there's been a couple posts without pics and everything in the page seens to have already been criticized, i'll try some self-criticism for my post. minus the people in the first shot, good otherwise second photo doesn't do much for me, too vertical
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Jun 29, 2013 20:09
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Wes Mantooth posted:Toronto, what I see daily I like your style of running up to a homeless man and scaring him.
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Jun 30, 2013 07:26
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First time editing a raw, I got rid of a lot of noise. Not really comfortable giving opinions so I'll critique my things. I wanted to do something with this little lonely ladder on top of an office building. Since there's really few things to see here, I'd say geometry (as in better composition) is one of the few ways of improvement I could explore. The colors are also pretty dull, I wanted to get the ladder to pop more (it should be orange-red-ish) but I probably need to learn how to use my editing tools first. Looking at it now, want to shoot this again at a different time of the day and try to get some contrast between a dull and depressing building and a colored sky, with the ladder in between. I tried to add more lines but I've probably lost any sense of proportions. 
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Jun 30, 2013 11:06
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Musket posted:I like your style of running up to a homeless man and scaring him. You see a scared human being, I see martial arts demonstration where a kung fu master illustrates decapitating a photographer with a guitar pick.
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Jun 30, 2013 13:17
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unpacked robinhood posted:First time editing a raw, I got rid of a lot of noise. It could be an interesting shot at another time of the day, preferably with some direct light on the building. As it is it's just to dark and featureless for me. The ladder will probably still pop out with the building fully iluminated, even if with a little editing... Maybe a tighter crop also to get more emphasis on it? Right now the ladder is maybe too small to actually be part of the composition rather than something that simply was in the way.
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Jun 30, 2013 13:30
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It's been years since my digital photography class in college, so I took advantage of a recent vacation to a farm in KY to get familiar with my new camera and see if I could get a handle on taking decent photos again. So I took a whole lot of chicken pictures. I didn't mess with these too much, but even so I'm still nervous I over-saturated the colors. I like it for the barn in the back. I wish I'd maybe zoomed out and centered it less, but the bird was fidgeting and I was just trying to get it all in before she hopped back down. I also wish I'd focused better on the bird's face.  Chicken on the Fence by Hunter SA, on Flickr  Chicken by Hunter SA, on Flickr I'm happier with the framing on this second one, but I don't know what to do about how bright the dang grass is. The whole farm was just glowing green the whole trip, which was beautiful in person, but I'm afraid it makes the pictures too much because I'm not frankly sure how to compensate for it. Last one:  Chickens on Fence by Hunter SA, on Flickr Again, I think the framing is okay. It's the color that still gets me, I'm not great with it yet.. I thought using one of the camera's preset modes would maybe do a better job but it's just so heavy with yellow and green and the more I fuss with it the weirder it gets. I wanted to show how kind of thick the atmosphere was, everything was misty and humid the whole time. I think I should have tried for a wider area of focus.
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Jul 1, 2013 03:33
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Huntersoninski posted:
I actually like this one the most, because it's a very chicken-like action pose. If you're looking to fix the brightness of the grass, and you have Lightroom, you might try knocking down the luminance of the yellow and green wavelengths.  I'm not sure if this one is better as-is, or if I smashed the foreground into just a black silhouette. The latter would probably make it a little more dramatic, although there's no other defining features that really "anchor" it to the location where I actually took the picture.
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Jul 1, 2013 04:24
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I like the green very much, but I've never personally been much one for silhouettes. I think being able to see and trace the hills adds interest. VV Thank you very much! It's clear I've a lot to learn/experiment with. Rat Patrol fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Jul 1, 2013 |
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Jul 1, 2013 04:35
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I find that along with working the curves and the basic exposure, a split tone with a bit of orange in the highlights and a bit of blue or purple in the shadows can add some depth to a midday shot's harsh shadows and over saturated colors.
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Jul 1, 2013 04:47
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Huntersoninski posted:Last one: This would have been better if the birds were more isolated. As it is, the one on the left sort of blobs onto the hay bale in the background. I'd have been tempted to keep the composition very similar - the fence aligned to the bottom works really well - but crouch down so the background is the sky.
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Jul 1, 2013 11:22
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Huntersoninski posted:
I agree with David Pratt concerning the last one. Also the sky looks blown out to me (maybe it's my monitor). I think even crouching and getting them as part of the horizon among the trees would have worked. Of the three the second is my favorite, mostly because it has a sense of motion. I like the off-kilter angle and how the chicken is being a chicken. Again, the sky looks blown out. Here's a couple I took recently.  carny ride by philip painter, on Flickr  heaven and hell by philip painter, on Flickr
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Jul 1, 2013 11:52
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single-mode fiber posted:I actually like this one the most, because it's a very chicken-like action pose. If you're looking to fix the brightness of the grass, and you have Lightroom, you might try knocking down the luminance of the yellow and green wavelengths. I really like the changing tones throughout the sky, but the foreground does seem kind of like a void. If you could brighten it up just a bit, maybe that would help? I think some rich greens would really balance it nicely. It just seems like so much contrast. smallmouth posted:Here's a couple I took recently. Like the colors and the concept, and maybe it's just me, but the phone lines seem to distract me when I'm looking at the picture. A little urbex from lovely Cleveland. Got some shots off and then vacated the premises once I spotted the junkies in the back and realized they were using a portion of the building as a shooting gallery:  think by crashcart, on Flickr  factory doorway by crashcart, on Flickr  factory2 - cleveland by crashcart, on Flickr Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Jul 1, 2013 |
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Jul 1, 2013 19:37
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Count Freebasie posted:
I like this one most, simply because of the path to the doorway cutting through the debris. Question: I've done the Urbex thing a couple times, always made sure to go in the middle of the day when the residents are most likely out doing stuff. Do you go alone? I always went with a couple of photo buddies and even then I felt kinda apprehensive when rounding some corners and seeing sleeping bags. Also: got to shoot a concert. It was fun but I feel I didn't do very well again.  Games by Middleshoes, on Flickr  Games 2 by Middleshoes, on Flickr The lighting situations during shows like these are really fun to play with, don't get me wrong, but there were moments where I just get lost and wonder what I should focus in on: the conductor, the players, the screen? I stepped back after awhile and just took photos of the whole stage, but I was still nervous.  Cat! by Middleshoes, on Flickr I'm happy with how this turned out though, at least in a framing sense. I'm still learning my lighting settings as I go but I do feel I've improved a bit the last couple months. I'd love to hear what I could have done better on all this stuff though!
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Jul 1, 2013 21:22
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I think the cat picture would be better if you avoided centering the cat. You might be able to get away with cropping off the bit of blue on the left, it's kind of distracting. Compositionally, you might have done better if you got lower to the ground. But if it was a skittish cat I suppose moving like would run the risk of ruining the shot. It's an interesting moment though, the tongue and posture is a pretty neat moment.
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Jul 1, 2013 21:27
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xzzy posted:I think the cat picture would be better if you avoided centering the cat. You might be able to get away with cropping off the bit of blue on the left, it's kind of distracting. That's as close as I could get. I took another step and he ran. It's a stray cat colony someone made shelters for in the woods behind a fast food joint. I did get some other photos of the colony, I'll post more if people want to see them tomorrow so I don't break the limit. Shooting on a cloudy day in the shade was a bit of a challenge too, I'm surprised they turned out legible at all.
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Jul 1, 2013 21:48
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crime fighting hog posted:I'm surprised they turned out legible at all. The exposure itself is quite nice, pointing a camera at black cats is frequently an exercise in frustration.
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Jul 1, 2013 21:49
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crime fighting hog posted:I like this one most, simply because of the path to the doorway cutting through the debris. Question: I've done the Urbex thing a couple times, always made sure to go in the middle of the day when the residents are most likely out doing stuff. Do you go alone? I always went with a couple of photo buddies and even then I felt kinda apprehensive when rounding some corners and seeing sleeping bags. Yeah, I shoot alone. I travel a lot for work, so pretty much all of my shooting is done in whatever city I happen to be in. I know the cities enough before-hand to not venture into areas that would be overly dangerous (those were in Cleveland, and although there are some awesome abandoned places in East Cleveland, you don't go there during the day or anytime, especially being a white guy carrying around a nice camera that you can get robbed for and that will later end up in a pawn shop), so I don't usually put myself into situations that are sketchy. General rule for me, though, is that if I'm in an "abandoned" building and I hear ANY human noises, I leave. I'm built fairly well and people tell me I often come across as intimidating, so when I saw the first junkie notice me, I looked him square in the eye and acknowledged him. I didn't try to look aggressive, but I also made it clear that I saw him and I was not threatened by him (even though if he came at me, I would have hauled rear end, fighting only as a last resort). I then snapped a few shots to show I wasn't afraid of him and then left while keeping eye contact with him. I've met lots of users and homeless people in my time and some are great people who happen to be in a bad place, but I always suggesting erring on the side of caution and getting out ASAP if you think someone may be around. With them, things can turn sour really quick. If you can travel in a group, I would certainly suggest that, and I wish that I had that option. By the way, the lighting on your first picture is nice. The guitarist really stands out from the rest of the band (except for that cellist; maybe you can darken her a bit?). Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Jul 1, 2013 |
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Jul 1, 2013 21:55
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I really like the sense of space that this captures - I feel like I could run through that grass forever. There's just enough green and black separation to show the different horizon lines. crime fighting hog posted:
I love the contrast of the rockstar-esque guitar player with the silhouette of the traditional orchestra director. I agree with Count Freebasie that darkening the cellist would help focus attention even more clearly on the guitarist. In the ideal world a little more space to the left of the conductor would be nice, but from your other photos it looks like that would have added even more distracting elements. We moved from North Carolina to Central California about a month ago and I have been going photography-nuts. I also acquired my first telephoto lens. The flower/blinds shot is part of a July daily photo challenge ("Out My Window") while the doorway was one that just caught my eye in San Luis Obispo.  July 1 2013 by LibbyCr, on Flickr  Summer2013061313_3205 by LibbyCr, on Flickr
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Jul 1, 2013 22:21
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I really like the colors, but I don't know how I feel about the flowers in the foreground on that last picture. They're so bright compared to everything else.smallmouth posted:I agree with David Pratt concerning the last one. Also the sky looks blown out to me (maybe it's my monitor). I think even crouching and getting them as part of the horizon among the trees would have worked. You're right, and I'd never have thought to crouch, mostly because I've still not quite got the hang of building a good shot so it never occured to me but also because the ground was covered in chicken poo poo  But that's a good thing for me to keep in mind in the future.As for the sky, it was pretty overcast but with thin hazy clouds and I didn't know how to not have a really bright, white-rear end sky while also not having really dim everything else. Need more practice I guess. quote:Of the three the second is my favorite, mostly because it has a sense of motion. I like the off-kilter angle and how the chicken is being a chicken. Again, the sky looks blown out. Thank you, it's my favorite too. I think the chicken looks like a dinosaur.
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Jul 2, 2013 00:19
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Count Freebasie posted:I really like the changing tones throughout the sky, but the foreground does seem kind of like a void. If you could brighten it up just a bit, maybe that would help? I think some rich greens would really balance it nicely. It just seems like so much contrast.  The Hood-1 by TimFPictures, on Flickr Selfie. Wish I owned some strobes and snoots to recreate this sort of light manually.
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Jul 2, 2013 04:51
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tropical posted:
Brighten by 2/3-1 stops, and lose the vignette. If it was centred on the subject then maybe, but it just looks off at the moment.
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Jul 2, 2013 12:10
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crime fighting hog posted:
 Here's a time exposure I took last night. I was down at the marina taking pictures of the Canada Day fireworks mostly as a practice exercise, but this is probably the shot I actually ended up liking the most.
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Jul 2, 2013 16:32
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Entropic posted:
I'm not sure if it was your intent to be able to see nothing but the lights/reflection of the lights but I think either a longer exposure time or bringing out the shadows in post would make for a more interesting photo. My eye is drawn to the silhouettes both of the buildings in the background and the rocks in the foreground but I find myself wanting to see more detail in both. I could be totally alone on this, it's just where I find my attention drifting. Did you get any shots of the fireworks? Edit: Or doing multiple exposures to get that detail, if that's your thing. VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 17:06
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Entropic posted:The exposure is really great there. I'm guessing it was overcast, trying to get detail on a dark black subject like that without blowing out the background would be hard in brighter sunlight. My only suggestion would be to crop it in slightly to cut out the edge of that tent or bag or whatever it is on the left, and maybe cut out a bit of the out-of-focus ground at the very bottom. Yeah, it was a cloudy day and I was in the trees, so it was dark in some spots but I think he/she was standing right in a break in the shade. As for the time lapse, I like it but have a dumb question: how do you shoot photos of lights without getting the starburst pattern like the one in the center there? It really stands out. Did you get shots of the fireworks? How'd they turn out? Okay so here's some more I've done lately:  Big flag by Middleshoes, on Flickr So my first time being in a helicopter, and of course I had to shoot from it at the same time. I took heed of the advice from here and overall I'm happy with how it turned out. I was disappointed though, as soon as I touched down, the sun came back out   Marching by Middleshoes, on Flickr All those Nat Geo shots of camels in the desert with their silhouettes across the dunes? I wish I could pull that poo poo off.  Gelato by Middleshoes, on Flickr I did a story about a gelato shop a couple weeks back, and forgot to bring my tripod like a tool. It's still odd, being a news photo guy, when people turn to me and ask how I want to set up my shot and what they should do. It's becoming increasingly common as of late though, and I best get used to it if I ever want to start doing portraits in a few years. What do you guys think? Looking at this shot I think I could crop out the foreground a bit more. crime fighting hog fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 18:11
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crime fighting hog posted:
Yeah, crop the empty space in the foreground and straighten by using the checkerboard as level i'd say.
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Jul 2, 2013 18:37
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It looks overly yellow/warm to me as well.
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Jul 2, 2013 18:49
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I'm noticing the tones too. I already tried to bring it closer to white, guess it couldn't hurt. Is the crop better now? Gelato by Middleshoes, on Flickr
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Jul 2, 2013 18:50
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Quote is not Edit!
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Jul 2, 2013 18:52
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Cross post from bird thread: crime fighting hog posted:I'm noticing the tones too. I already tried to bring it closer to white, guess it couldn't hurt. Is the crop better now? -- the background is way too busy and distracting (you almost want a light tent for this kind of shot) -- the plate is not properly aligned with the checker pattern -- the gelato is "leaning" to the right -- too much plate (i.e. move the galato dish forward in the plate) -- some gelato is creeping over the side I do however really like the checker pattern for this and you've got a great rainbow effect going on the dish somehow.
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Jul 2, 2013 19:54
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InternetJunky posted:Cross post from bird thread: I like the advice, thank you! However, the dish is actually chocolate with dyes and flavors. Other than picking it up and putting it on the table, I did nothing to it, which in restrospect I think I would have moved stuff around. I was more worried about my shaky hands forcing me to use a higher shutter speed and ISO and underexposure. And I'll think more of the background next time.
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Jul 2, 2013 20:05
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crime fighting hog posted:However, the dish is actually chocolate with dyes and flavors.
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Jul 2, 2013 20:19
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InternetJunky posted:Mind blown. It looked like stainless steel with a reflection. It was delicious
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Jul 2, 2013 20:22
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crime fighting hog posted:As for the time lapse, I like it but have a dumb question: how do you shoot photos of lights without getting the starburst pattern like the one in the center there? It really stands out. Did you get shots of the fireworks? How'd they turn out? You can lessen starbursts on a longer exposure by using a lower F-stop. I kind of liked the effect for that shot, but it's something to be aware of. I got a few decent fireworks shots I could post when I get home. Most of them either need cropping to re-compose them a bit, or are a bit too busy with too long an exposure layering too many things. I didn't want to clutter up the thread by posting a bunch. It's a fun thing to test out a new tripod and remote shutter on though.
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Jul 2, 2013 21:25
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David Pratt posted:Brighten by 2/3-1 stops, and lose the vignette. If it was centred on the subject then maybe, but it just looks off at the moment. Hey, thanks for the critique, especially since this was posted in the Low Effort thread. I brought the exposure up 2/3 of a stop and it definitely balanced the histogram out more, and let me drop the shadow adjustment. Dropped the vignette too, yeah you're right, it was definitely inappropriate here. I guess I was kind of in a rush for some reason when I was processing it and didn't really pay attention to everything. New version:  Uphill (Re-edit) by shaunckenny, on Flickr
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Jul 3, 2013 03:00
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Definitely an improvement!
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Jul 3, 2013 11:35
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I agree, much better. Some more pictures from my vacation. I tried to mess with a little of everything since it's not often I have a decent stretch of time to spend with my camera. With these I was trying to freeze a moment of movement...I wanted to show some of the farm animals' character.  Heidi by Hunter SA, on Flickr I'm glad I got her with her mouth open, she was a very threatening dog (not for petting). She was tied up on a relatively short length of rope during the day to keep her from the guests, so getting her on a not-busy background is hard: in the one direction is a cluttery open barn, in the other the back of the house/patio with furniture and plants out, and this one features her house which is the same color she is.  A Mouthful by Hunter SA, on Flickr I was so excited I got this. I caught her yawning a few moments before but my hand was on her head and she was looking to the side. I don't think my focus is by any means perfect but this might be one of my favorite pictures from the farm. I'm wondering if I ought to do something to make the red/pink in her mouth stand out a little better, since she's gray and white on gray and white.  Chicken Dance by Hunter SA, on Flickr This one I'm also pleased I got him dancing, he was such a fat fucker flapping around I think I caught him at a good moment. But goddamn that Kentucky tourism warning! It's the first thing anyone notices  I'm afraid cropping it out would make it way too cramped. I guess I could have tried to go around him to the other side if I'd been thinking, but there was a gaggle of brightly colored hens to my back that might have been even more distracting? I'm thinking that was a mistake not to try.I hope y'all don't mind chicken/vacation pics, I took so, so many.
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Jul 3, 2013 22:26
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I don't know, for some reason I kind of like the sign being in the picture. I can't really explain it but it seems like it's in a good position to draw the eye to both the chicken and the sign, but no where else distracting. And it also almost suggests of the danger that the chicken poses Please excuse the darkness on this one, I don't have a computer right now that is capable of doing any (and I mean literally any) post processing, so I can't edit out my dirty, dirty sensor and even increase the brightness. I think that it would have been improved if the ice machine would have been taken out of the picture (is it just me, or does it seem out of focus?) and shot a little more to the left 
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Jul 4, 2013 01:09
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Huntersoninski posted:
You should crop your knee out.
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Jul 4, 2013 01:14
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Haha yes I should. And I will when I get home. Thank you for pointing that out.
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Jul 4, 2013 02:31
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I could just google but... what is agrotourism?
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Jul 4, 2013 02:55
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