Photo a Day: Wherein You Read The OP, Like A Smart Person

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Photo a Day: Wherein You Read The OP, Like A Smart Person

«‹›2 »

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Primo Itch posted:

Some from Patagonia

C016820-R1-02-18A por primoitcho, no Flickr

I would crop the bottom out of this one, the oof foreground doesn't do much for me. A more panoramic crop just seems like it'll work better, and make it easier to notice the people.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2013 03:07

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 21, 2024 17:35

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

somnambulist posted:

I like this but SOME detail in the black space would help. I like how dark and moody it is, but some context of the room (very subtle) would help this photo imo.

The vignette on the bottom left is distracting, but i really like the colors

The first one is really interesting to me, but im also a sucker for clouds. The other 2 dont wow me, but i think they're still good photos

I posted this in the portrait thread but its probably better suited for PaD-- I won't even post why i processed it the way i did, id rather just get feedback from personal first impressions. Probably more valuable then hearing my thought process.

Shopping in the future. by francography, on Flickr

My first thought was "cool" but then I looked at the other version you posted in SAD and I like the full color version more.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2013 07:18

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Opals25 posted:

I just got back from visiting family and got to spend sometime downtown taking a few pictures. Not sure how I feel about most of them yet. The day was pretty nice but late winter in the south east means very little color in the environment but never enough snow to pay with!

IMG_6891 by Opals25, on Flickr

IMG_6856 by Opals25, on Flickr

IMG_6884 by Opals25, on Flickr

The first and the third don't really have a focus that draws me in. It's a nice overview of everything, but nothing that makes me interested. The 2nd one is close, but I get the feeling that you weren't quite centered on the bridge, and it throws everything off. Maybe if you can shoot it again back off a bit so that the whole walkway/bridge can be in view, and try to center yourself a bit more so that the left and right rails look the same.

I'm crossposting these from SAD cause someone told me to. I think. probably. The sun was setting at the back/side of most of these, so the backgrounds pretty blown out. I might have to go back when I have access to photoshop and try using a mask to even that out.

P2250360.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

P2250358.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

P2250352.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

# ¿ Feb 26, 2013 05:47

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

RangerScum posted:

It's part of Indiana Dunes State park, about a one hour drive from Chicago, which after looking at your avatar I am guessing is probably somewhat close to you.

The person and the dog were comped in, but they were there with me and I had them in another shot of the plant so the angle/shadow is consistent... I just didn't like the other composition as much. They probably have a slightly different contrast level than their surrounding which could be screwing things up?

As for the balloons, I grabbed them out of a different photo I had taken, and yeah that was a part of the photo that I struggled with. I like having them in there because it makes it all a bit more surreal, but I want the initial reaction to be something other than "those look bad." I dodged them to add highlights consistent with the scene's lighting, but I agree something is still somewhat off about them. Are they too bright/colorful? I could desaturate them a bit more.

Yeah, this looks like you cropped in a nightime sky with a daytime smoke cloud and then added some balloons and it just feels really unnatural.

MrBlandAverage posted:

FYI, the Michigan City Generating Station uses coal and natural gas, so it's not nuclear

Aside from the balloons, the steam coming out of the cooling tower also looks weird to me. edit: because what Spime Wrangler said.

Coal produces more nuclear waste in the atmosphere anyways, so maybe he's just making a really witty point about the downsides of coal power?

:buddy:

# ¿ Feb 27, 2013 19:09

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Baron Dirigible posted:

I like this one the most of your shots; the second would work better with only one duck, I think, and the DOF in the third feels off to me. That said, the white flecks at the top are distracting in the first two shots -- is that a dirty sensor?

Looks like snow to me (a dirty sensor shouldn't ever show up as white dots).

# ¿ Mar 4, 2013 23:16

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

copen posted:

Edit:

more photos

Saint Louis Cathedral by pboutell, on Flickr

cold squirrel by pboutell, on Flickr

I don't know about this one kind of boring.. but look how cold he is

I like the processing on the first, but cutting the top of the building off is pretty jarring. The 2nd one is nice too, but you could have stopped down some more to get the whole squirrel in focus.

Messing with expired film.

1600superhg050.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

1600superhg051.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

1600superhg043.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

# ¿ Mar 11, 2013 04:06

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

404notfound posted:

Steel blue by khyrre, on Flickr

I'm just starting to get into a serious attempt at photography, and this is one of the first pictures I've taken that I didn't just delete immediately. Since I still don't have an intuitive grasp of exposure settings (and since sunsets are naturally trickier to shoot), I just snapped about a dozen exposures and then threw three of them into Photomatix and got this. I also took it into Photoshop briefly just to heal away a few specks on my lens.

I feel like I'm cheating, since I basically just took a bunch of lovely exposures and Photomatix automatically gave me something that looks really cool and way better than anything I've ever photographed before... or maybe, to a more experienced eye, the picture's actually not all that well-executed, composition-/color-/whatever-wise. What could I have done better? Should I spend more time playing around with the Photomatix and/or Photoshop settings, or perhaps just not develop a reliance on HDR to make up for poor exposures?

Yo unless your lens was horrifically dirty those spots were probably on your sensor. It's really loving hard for stuff on the front of the lens to show up in the final picture.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2013 14:47

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Dial M for MURDER posted:

I really like the colors of this shot, but for some reason her limbs seem to be out of balance; like she has larger arms and legs than her body should allow. Something of the perspective looks off somehow.

This one I really like.
IMG_2425 by avoyer, on Flickr
The colors combined with the tight facial features really seems to work for me...minus the look other have commented on.

And to open myself up to come crit here is a photo I took last year with a P&S. I was walking through the pike place market for my work and I had a unique opportunity to take a very repeated photo from a completely different angle.

I still don't have access to any light room or Photoshop so there was nothing I could do about the photo through those means. But I have started taking all my photos in RAW if that is any consolation. I still could have cropped it if warranted.

Your horizon is super crooked. Nice otherwise though.

Matlock posted:

Ran across this bird today. Didn't have a long time to shoot, as it was aggressive and chirping loudly at all passerby on the well-frequented trail. Really didn't know what the deal was until I got home--and I noticed it was defending its nest.

Don't have too much to say about these, but they are quite nice. Any particular reason you chose to shoot in B/W for a wildlife shot? Also remember to add in some critique in the future!

Here's one of mine. I feel like I have a bit too much open space (there was a chair just below what I cropped).

_5130338-Edit.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

And this is a cliche macro shot that I liked.

_5100500.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

Dr. Despair fucked around with this message at 04:20 on May 17, 2013

# ¿ May 17, 2013 04:16

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Edmond Dantes posted:

Sorry, couldn't resist. Went full Sergio Leone (2.35:1).

I like (and stole) this idea :thumbsup:

_5130338-Edit.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

# ¿ May 17, 2013 17:07

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

mAlfunkti0n posted:

I live under power lines. I feel like it's underexposed a bit, but I'm not sure how to fix that without either blowing out the sky metering elsewhere or making it to dark like this while keeping the sky mostly in check.

IMG_0910.jpg by jarredsutherland, on Flickr

I agree, the sky is a bit dark, although I like how the tower/trees are nice and black, it helps with the monolithic feel of the picture. I would try pushing the whites and highlights a bit more, or raising exposure and lowering the blacks/shadows to keep the tower dark.

It might be worth it to convert to black and white and up the contrast too, you could probably get away with making the sky a bit brighter (and honestly the blue sky poking out seems like more of a distraction than anything else).

fake edit: looking at it full size I see that there is a bit of color in the shadows still, so you can either just increase the exposure a bit to make that clearer nad make the colors stand out more, or try going full on black and white. Or somewhere in between!

I mean, if your sky was clear and blue and flat I would expose for the trees and tower, but the sky's got some texture and stuff, more so than the trees and tower do here.

I am a fan of the blacked out foreground look for that sort of shot though:

_5250407.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

_5270451.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

# ¿ Jun 3, 2013 21:24

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

You can also invert by pressing ctrl-i .

Cool experiment though!

# ¿ Jun 5, 2013 00:08

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

xzzy posted:

I wouldn't say it was "hammered" but there is talk about it.. somewhere. I have no idea what thread it was in though.

Maybe in the awesome photos thread?

Probably the Photojournalism thread.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2013 17:33

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Count Freebasie posted:

Just got back into photography after a four/five year hiatus. Street has always been my favorite. First shots in a long time yesterday -- here's one:

Consumer by crashcart, on Flickr

It's pretty hilarious seeing someone apologize for breaking a rule only to have the very next poster break the same rule.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2013 14:49

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Count Freebasie posted:

I'm pretty new to this, so if you want me to gently caress off with my criticism, feel free to let me know.

The sky seems to be a little flat to me, especially since the colors of the trees and the water are so deep and rich. Not sure how you would (or if you would) want to address that (maybe a little more contrast with the clouds?), but it's just my $.02

Telling someone to gently caress off because of criticism is a probatable offense, so critique all you want. It's a good way to improve!

# ¿ Jun 20, 2013 01:46

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Boneitis posted:

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

This shot's got some good potential, but definitely do some post work before rushing out to show everyone, it'll be worth it in the end.

Clone out the dust, bring up the exposure, double check that your horizons are straight, and don't fret about the ice machine, it looks fine there. It's no more out of place in the picture than the boat is.

P6280062.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

P7030024.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

P7030074.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

# ¿ Jul 4, 2013 03:29

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

rio posted:

What is that object with the face at the bottom?

It's a broken pot.

# ¿ Jul 4, 2013 04:03

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Marshmallow Blue posted:

I agree, especially in regards to the part I bolded. Personally I like to catch moving water still, but this is kind of middle ground where maybe the light around you doesn't allow a shutter speed fast enough for that and its not slow enough to make the water more flowy. A cool part of this composition is how the river flows towards where the sun is busting through the trees.

Edit: facts about shutter speed and compensating based on mm: Thanks! I've already learned a lot in the past couple days on the thread.

More hiking, about 5000 feet up looking back at The lake on the clouds

You have this nice scenic vista of a lake, and the only thing in focus is a sign 5 feet away. Shoulda stopped down to get everything interesting in focus, and I probably woulda ditched the sign too, I don't think it's a very strong focus.

Might as well post some fireworks while I'm here.

P7041027.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

P7041028.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

I call this one: Generic 70's Coor's Ad.

35img046.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 18:29

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Is that what they call "the leica glow"?

# ¿ Jul 24, 2013 14:44

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

SpaceGoatFarts posted:

Aboard the USS Alabama. New here and just open to any criticism to help me get better at this. Thanks!

DSC01439 par GoatG, sur Flickr

DSC01447 par GoatG, sur Flickr

DSC01443 par GoatG, sur Flickr

Hey you should post some critique before you get double super banned or something for not reading the OP because there's a reason the thread title says to read the OP.

Hurry, hurry! Before it's too late!

# ¿ Aug 1, 2013 23:32

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

InternetJunky posted:

I'm interested in opinions on post-processing and crop choice for this image (since that's basically all that's in my control)

Here's the original:

I think you succeeded in your goals. I like the processing and am very disturbed by the image (which I hope you're going for). If it were my shot I'd probably crop out the really dark right area.

The tomato is a great image and I really dig the background colour you've chosen. The other shots could use some more diffuse flash in my opinion. The highlight on the top of the tin and bottom of the ring is quite distracting.

I like the processing, I would go with a wider crop though. 8x10 or wider instead of a square crop.

Mr Yuck posted:

Millionth-ing that this doesn't feel exploitative. Had she been asleep and drooling, perhaps, but it's a complete story in one frame. I didn't immediately think that she had Alzheimer's. It just seemed like it was chronicling the realities of aging (which it still does, just in a different way).

This is fantastic. The woman is close enough to get some detail, but you get to see her leaning up against that beautiful wall.

Here are two of mine from this morning. I'm still saving up for a polarizer and ND filters, but I'm very thankful for Lightroom's gradated filter feature.

Windswept Sunrise by Mryuck88, on Flickr

Picture Frame Pier by Mryuck88, on Flickr

Does anyone think this photo would be better if the sun was hidden behind clouds? I like the light, but thought this crop framed it better than the unedited shot showing more of the pier railing.

I like the first one, the second one I'm not a fan of though. The pier is just too obviously not in focus for me, I would have liked to see you get the pier in focus and then stopped down further to keep the focus pretty solid out to infinity. Soft clouds are hard to notice, soft edges on a hard silhouette not so much.

When in rome~

P8150218.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

P8200806.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

P8200821.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

# ¿ Aug 25, 2013 17:45

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Probably closer to f/16 or f/22. As far down as you can stop before diffraction makes everything too soft for your taste.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2013 18:17

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

grack posted:

How.... how did you manage to do this?

GunForumMeme posted:

Speaking of proper cropping, this picture leaves me so torn. Whenever I cropped out the open space/horse butt on the right, I thought that it was lacking the background that gave the image a bit of location character, but whenever I left it uncropped I thought that it was too distracting and too wide. No matter what the focus seemed to be still in the eye, but no matter the crop the grass was always greener on the other side. Clarity is maxed, but I think with the reduced vibrance it works. I could be wrong though.

Edit: Same image, with minimal processing.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2014 16:22

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

mulls posted:

This is really cool. I also notice that my eyes start at the bottom and move up and to the left, which is unusual. I think part of what makes this great is that the figure leans diagonally, which is a lot more interesting tracing a path straight upward.

My one critique is that the perspective makes it feel like the shape is falling away as I move up because it starts to get narrower towards the top. I wonder if it would be less unsettling if taken from a taller vantage so you get less of that "looking up from below" effect.

Thanks for the critique. I agree I still need to think more about how to compose across multiple frames for more impact. I think it's kind of telling that your favorites were the ones that were totally accidental and hadn't been consciously framed.

Here're a portrait I took with a 1990s point and shoot.

dust yo negs, man

# ¿ Dec 24, 2014 03:20

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

squirt the daisies posted:

I like the colours on this photo but due to its fov i feel constrained on where my eyes can look. Also, with so many lines in the picture (shadows, trees), those light patterns under the bridge are hard to see. One other thing i like is that it gives me a HL 2 vibe

I think black and white is fitting for this picture, reminding me of the famous Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima (albeit, a little less epic ).

I just got a new camera this Christmas (an Olympus XZ-2), my first camera in years (i had a Canon A590IS before) and i'm really excited with it, learning things every day. Here are three seasonal pictures, the beautiful, the fight and the desolated.

find a copy of understanding exposure and read it, and then don't bother naming all your pictures cause man it's weird and if your picture needs a name to explain what's going on then it's probably not doing it's job

your snow looks really blue on my screen too, might want to check your white balance

PC230055.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

PB090156.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

_MG_0757-Edit.jpg by MrDespair, on Flickr

# ¿ Jan 3, 2015 01:14

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

totalnewbie posted:

A good rule of thumb is 1/60 or faster for hand-held shots. On the staircase photo, you're at 1/25, which will introduce some camera shake. This will all be explained in Understanding Exposure, but you'll either have to have a lower f-stop which sacrifices depth of field, or increase ISO, which adds noise.

Try to keep your hand-held shots above 1/60 (or even faster if you really want sharpness).

I think a more useful rule of thumb is 1/focal length, so if you're using a 300mm lens you want to shoot for 1/300, if you're shooting a 15mm lens you can probably get away with 1/15. That's assuming you're shooting 35mm, so on crop you might be a little worse off, but still, it's a good starting point.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2015 03:25

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

sajobi posted:

drat, sorry, will post thumbnails from now on

better post critique too :ssh:

# ¿ Feb 9, 2015 21:30

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

threnody posted:

I would totally normally agree with this, but for some reason I really love it cranked when it's architecture.

Un-HDR-'d, I don't think either of these are that remarkable. Composition on the first one is good, but I hate that I had to crop out the very front of the castle because it had all kinds of scaffolding and poo poo all over it.

The second image is nothing special, but I think with architecture shots the HDR adds something. Ambience. Drama. Something. HDR photos of cars, on the other hand, I totally agree with you about.

You love it like a crack junky loves his next hit.

e.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2015 01:20

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Dread Head posted:

You can tell these where shot on a Fuji.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2015 22:09

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2016 23:48

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

Karl Barks posted:

I'm hoping to get some critique of some of my street shots. street photography is new to me, and I'm trying to get a feel for what makes a good photo. thanks!

dust your loving negs

# ¿ Aug 5, 2016 05:51

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 21, 2024 17:35

Dr. Despair: Nov 4, 2009; 39 perfect posts with each roll.

InternetJunky posted:

I know I desperately need to clean my sensor. Aside from that, I appreciate any input

clean your loving sensor jesus loving christ it takes 5 minutes, do you show up at work with a shirt covered in cheeto dust too? or stinking of booze? then why would you post a picture online to show people without taking the time to do even the most basic cleaning to it? god loving damnit man have some pride in your work

# ¿ Oct 10, 2016 04:43

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > The Dorkroom > Photo a Day: Wherein You Read The OP, Like A Smart Person

«‹›2 »