Photo of the day: November 2012

[Phrasikleia]

[gaswerks]

fresh ...

[someoldguy]

Just someone's shack ... wonder what the upkeep on this place costs...



M9 , 35/2 , f9.5@1/350 , iso 400

[Puckman1]

I just started up with Photography, so you'll have to take it easy on the newbie as I mostly don't know what I'm doing yet.

My first post in this forum. Feedback and critique welcome (I'd love to learn more from this).

Picture at the lake, taken yesterday.

[Designer Dale]

American Crow

EXIF Summary: Canon 7D 1/500s f/8.0 ISO400 Sigma 120-400@400mm

Last bird for a while. Promise...

Dale

[yogeewan]

Diwali night Fireworks! This one ended up like a towering palm tree!

[Doylem]

Originally Posted by Phrasikleia

Very nice. Not one of your "Wow!" pix, but more meditative, more "Mmmmm"...

Originally Posted by Puckman1

Your pic looks fine... but it's a bit 'mealy' and dull. Are you using a high ISO? You might be better reducing it for a well-lit shot like this. A little work in PP might also produce a whiter white and a bit of sparkle...

Originally Posted by Designer Dale

I love the glossy feathers and catchlight in the eye...

Originally Posted by Oberhammer

For once, I think your PP work really suits the shot: especially the white roof against the grey sky...

Originally Posted by Rowbear

Superb... Love the detail and colour palette...

Grasmere village and Dunmail Raise...

[rustyb99]

Here is another one of mine


DSC_0114 by MichaeljPhotog, on Flickr

[Puckman1]

Originally Posted by Doylem

Your pic looks fine... but it's a bit 'mealy' and dull. Are you using a high ISO? You might be better reducing it for a well-lit shot like this. A little work in PP might also produce a whiter white and a bit of sparkle...

Grasmere village and Dunmail Raise...

Image

I think that was at ISO100 actually. As I said, still learning the ins and outs of lighting, etc. The exposure was less than perfect and has already been doctored up a bit using Lightroom (WB mostly).
I still haven't figured out how to get those photos that "pop and sparkle" as you said.

Thanks for the input.

Also, LOVE your landscapes. I assume this is somewhere in the UK? Would love to visit that kind of countryside landscapes sometime...

[grassland]

" Sixteen tons and what do you get another day older and deeper in dept" men working hard

[acearchie]

Originally Posted by Doylem

So much to look at in this photo. Lovely shot with the moody clouds too!

Here is mine for today. As always, comments are appreciated!


Countryside by acearchie, on Flickr

[AlexH]

Getting cold by DigitAl3x, on Flickr

[Razeus]

201211120759 by dharrisphotog, on Flickr

[Rowbear]

Originally Posted by Oberhammer

Your PP works wonders here.

[Phrasikleia]

Originally Posted by Doylem

Very nice. Not one of your "Wow!" pix, but more meditative, more "Mmmmm"...

That's a really nice comment, Doylem, thank you. You've described the mood I was in that day perfectly. I hadn't been out shooting for months, aside from a few doomed outings when the weather did not reveal the beauty of the places I visited. By the time I got to this gorge, I was feeling deflated, off my game, and exhausted from a long period of overwork. Then I got thrown this softball by nature: perfect, misty, autumn conditions for shooting the gorge--and not just for a moment but for five glorious hours. The only sounds were the rushing water and falling leaves, and perhaps a little humming sound of me coming out of my funk. I left the gorge that day feeling utterly refreshed. I wish it could be like that more often.

Originally Posted by acearchie

Here is mine for today. As always, comments are appreciated!

OK, I'll take you up on the comment request. There really should be more commenting in this thread. I think we all get a bit apathetic at times. Anyway, the soft light is quite nice in this photo, especially in the way that it gives a 'rim light' around her head, and you certainly have no shortage of beautiful models to work with (you're probably the envy of every portrait shooter in this forum). The composition here seems a bit arbitrary to me, though. She's centered in the frame, and her head just touches that big, blank white area above her. I feel as though she should either overlap that white area by a lot or else it shouldn't be in the frame. Also, there is a fringe of foliage at the right that looks to be neither here nor there; I would just crop it out. Perhaps some portrait shooters here can offer their comments as well.

[TheReef]

Originally Posted by Phrasikleia

Nice on P, I love the contrast of those awesome blues and golden autumn colours!

Originally Posted by Designer Dale

Ringneck Ducks: Ladies First.


EXIF Summary: Canon 7D 1/400s f/8.0 ISO400 Sigma 120-400@400mm

Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Ringneck Duck

Dale

Nice sharp capture Dale. I like how the trailing duck is swimming through the blue slip stream of the leading duck.

Originally Posted by Doylem

I really enjoy this one, feel like I'm sitting in the grass looking down into the valley. I like how on the left in the foreground there's a little 'mountain' that further contributes to the great framing and balance of the land.

Originally Posted by acearchie

Here is mine for today. As always, comments are appreciated!

by acearchie, on Flickr

I'm with P in the nice light and models, I'm no portrait shooter but her expression and body language remind me of whenever I take a photo of a friend and they're giving me the "please no pictures now" look
It has a nice quality about it, and she really pops with the shallow DOF, MF film I'm assuming?

[Psychopulse]

Untitled by chris panas, on Flickr

[Cheese&Apple]

Toronto's historic Distillery District


The Distillery District by Cheese&Apple on Flickr


f/8 at 24mm, 2.0 sec and ISO 200

Out last weekend trying to brush-up on night shots...I do find them a significant challenge. Suggestions are most welcome.

[snyder7]

Hiking on the Gold Creek Basin I came across this really nice fiery bush lit by a brief opening on the clouds. This lasted no more than 3 minutes in the ever changing conditions in Snoqualmie Pass summit. This area is great in that it is very rich with places to explore...

[Keleko]

Originally Posted by acearchie

Here is mine for today. As always, comments are appreciated!


Countryside by acearchie, on Flickr

I've been working on portrait photography lately, so I'll give my thoughts as well. (The image won't show for me for some reason... anyway...). I'm also trying to learn from The Grid episodes when they do their blind critiques. Those are VERY helpful because a lot of the images they critique over time often have the same kind of problems. They're all freely available to watch online.

As already mentioned - the branches on the right, distracting big white sky, center frame, head bordering against the sky, pose is not that interesting.

I do like the hair rim light, but I think her face and body is too dark. A reflector or fill flash to brighten her up would help her stand out even more. What I've been learning is that you should try to get the portrait subject to be about a stop or maybe 2 stops brighter than the background in an outdoor shooting situation. That is not a hard and fast rule, of course (nothing in photography is), but it's what I see done again and again.

[Designer Dale]

EXIF Summary: Canon 7D 1/160s f/8.0 ISO400 Sigma 120-400@120mm

Dale

[VirtualRain]

Mykonos, Greece...

[fcortese]

Originally Posted by Cheese&Apple

Toronto's historic Distillery District


The Distillery District by Cheese&Apple on Flickr


f/8 at 24mm, 2.0 sec and ISO 200

Out last weekend trying to brush-up on night shots...I do find them a significant challenge. Suggestions are most welcome.

I like the way the lights above the windows lead your eyes down the alleyway.

Originally Posted by snyder7

Hiking on the Gold Creek Basin I came across this really nice fiery bush lit by a brief opening on the clouds. This lasted no more than 3 minutes in the ever changing conditions in Snoqualmie Pass summit. This area is great in that it is very rich with places to explore...

The fiery bush does indeed light up this photo. I like the yellow-orange color in contrast the the blue sky and somewhat ominous clouds over the mountain range. My eyes did not quite go to those trees at first; maybe if the fiery trees were a little more the the left of the frame?

Originally Posted by Designer Dale

EXIF Summary: Canon 7D 1/160s f/8.0 ISO400 Sigma 120-400@120mm

Dale

I love the reflected image and colors in the water in this shot. Nice capture.

Originally Posted by VirtualRain

Mykonos, Greece...

Even though this is Greece, I half expect Don Quixote to appear in this shot.

[Phrasikleia]

Originally Posted by Cheese&Apple

Toronto's historic Distillery District


The Distillery District by Cheese&Apple on Flickr


f/8 at 24mm, 2.0 sec and ISO 200

Out last weekend trying to brush-up on night shots...I do find them a significant challenge. Suggestions are most welcome.

Then a suggestion you shall have... Keep in mind when you're shooting night shots that the same principles apply as those taken in daylight. Most pictures benefit from a good sense of hierarchy, a certain 'logic' to the image that tells us where the primary point of interest lies. This point is often referred to as the "subject," but I find that term causes a lot of confusion because people often assume that the "subject" is what the photo is "about," which is not necessarily the case. Anyway, in addition to this primary point, there could also be secondary and tertiary ones (or more), but those should not compete with the main point of interest.

In your photo, the primary point is established pretty well: the closest window is the largest lit area and attracts the eye first. It's lacking a strong visual pay-off, however--the kind of interest or 'aha moment' that tells us why we should be looking there (as opposed to any of the other windows which appear to be identical). Then the repeating lights march the eye into the distance, where it finds the lit sign on the bridge. The lit sign is also quite large in the frame, has lots of texture, and even some red color. The sign is therefore competing for interest, even though it's up against the margin and extending out of the frame (which tells us that it's not supposed to be very important). So the sign also does not provide us with that sense of closure/discovery.

So: when you're out shooting night scenes, as you would with daylight scenes, ask yourself which point in the picture will be the anchor, the primary point of interest. If that point is getting the right kind of light and you can find a 'supportive' composition for it, then you're probably going to end up with a nicely resolved photograph.

I hope that makes sense!

[TheDrift-]

Originally Posted by Puckman1

I think that was at ISO100 actually. As I said, still learning the ins and outs of lighting, etc. The exposure was less than perfect and has already been doctored up a bit using Lightroom (WB mostly).
I still haven't figured out how to get those photos that "pop and sparkle" as you said.

Thanks for the input.

Also, LOVE your landscapes. I assume this is somewhere in the UK? Would love to visit that kind of countryside landscapes sometime...

I can see where doylem was coming from here...have you saved and re-saved this as a jpeg?

Jpeg is a 'lossy' format, every time you save it compresses and looses information, and you will begin to see artifcating (blocking of pixels)

If poss try to work in Raw,tiffs, dng's etc and keep files in those formats and only convert to Jpeg as a very last step, so you are saving as a jpeg only once...