Photo of the day: November 2012

[ijohn.8.80]

Taken at the lavender farm the other day.

[Cheese&Apple]

Centennial Park Greenhouse by Cheese&Apple on Flickr

[Phrasikleia]

[acearchie]

Originally Posted by Phrasikleia

Awesome shot! I remember reading ages ago about how you scout out your locations on Google maps with some sort of sun program?

Would you mind sharing how you find your locations again and how you know to look in certain areas as I am sure there must be somewhere around me that is interesting and I would be keen to try out some less people orientated photography.

[AlexH]

Sleepin in the park by DigitAl3x, on Flickr

OM-D + Summilux 25mm

[Phrasikleia]

Originally Posted by acearchie

Awesome shot! I remember reading ages ago about how you scout out your locations on Google maps with some sort of sun program?

Would you mind sharing how you find your locations again and how you know to look in certain areas as I am sure there must be somewhere around me that is interesting and I would be keen to try out some less people orientated photography.

Thanks, acearchie. That would be TPE, which is available for free for Mac OS or as a purchase for iOS. I rarely go anywhere without consulting it first. I'm especially fond of its ability to measure the heights of hills and mountains to figure out if any of them will be blocking the sun from reaching whatever it is you want to photograph. I also use Google Earth a lot, not only for its sun feature (an option you can turn on in the top bar), but also for figuring out alignments and for seeing Panoramio photos that are geo-tagged to the location I'm researching. The Panoramio photos are usually just snapshots, but they can be very helpful for getting to know new locations.

[grassland]

going down the steps towards the beach.

[Kebabselector]

Visited the Frankfurt German Christmas Market the other day (in Birmingham UK!)


Faces by Scphoto_uk, on Flickr

[ijohn.8.80]

Taken today for a photography assignment where we had to emulate another photographers work. I chose a picture from Candida Hofers "Library" book. Only another three emulations to go! The difference in colour of the books above, back, centre is due to the huge skylights that actually run the entire length of the room.

[shigzeo]

Latest headphone purchase: Audio Technica ESW11LTD. Currently the 2nd highest end portable headphone in the world, after the Ultrasone ED8. The Beyerdynamic T5P is of course marketed as a portable headphone, but come one, it is the size of a studio monitor. Thus, the reason I say the ESW11LTD is the 2nd highest end portable (true portable).

Taken in my studio in Chiba, Japan. Nikon D800 (could have been taken with a coolpix as I use flash photography the camera doesn't matter, but I have the D800). Lens is the Cosina Makro Planar 100/2. Lighting setup for this shot was a simple single strobe and an elaborate reflector that I constructed about two weeks ago.

[ocabj]

Originally Posted by ijohn.8.80

Taken today for a photography assignment where we had to emulate another photographers work. I chose a picture from Candida Hofers "Library" book....

This is a very nice photo. Good work.

[shigzeo]

Originally Posted by Phrasikleia

^^^Nice composition, Dale.


Sometimes you just gotta get groovy...

Leaves in the river scene is brilliant. Brilliant.

[ocabj]

I'm pretty sure a one-piece is SFW...

Lighting breakdown including diagram here: http://www.ocabj.net/behind-the-shot...beverly-hills/

[NeGRit0]

Originally Posted by acearchie

Out of interest what was the theme? "Textured" or something similar?

No, it was supposed to be a photo showing my personal style choosing from themes of People, Places, or Things. Though I honestly dont know what my style is, but that was the best shot from the week so i handed it in.


Here's another assignment:



EDIT: Strange, not sure where that thick border came from.

[Doylem]

Originally Posted by Kebabselector

Faces by Scphoto_uk, on Flickr

Is there a green cast?

Originally Posted by ijohn.8.80

Very nice... and I like the solitary reader. Is the white balance a little too warm?

I've got a job to photograph this house, Blackwell, less than a mile away from my shack, which is one of the finest houses from the 'arts and crafts' period. Should be fun...

[ijohn.8.80]

Originally Posted by Doylem

Very nice... and I like the solitary reader. Is the white balance a little too warm?

I used my light meter to check the light frequency initially, from quite a few places around the room and this was consistent. I have been using Phras' suggested method of white balance for a while now, UniWB tailored for my camera. For this shot I also took a shot of my white balance, grey white and black cards first also. After doing the batch change in camera raw using the UniWB settings, it was indeed correct. I didn't need to use the white cards as a proof setup.

The room on these upper two storeys does have a warm orange glow from the light shades and the wood, I may have been a tad heavy with the saturation in pp at 18. It looked the best from 14-18.

That shot was taken with my 50mm prime, I'm going back with my kit 18-55mm for a wider view and to see if I can gain access to the third floor also, which is off limits to the public. Not today though, it's going to be a lovely day here, 39 degrees C (nearly a century F), dust storms followed by thunder storms!

----------

Originally Posted by Doylem

I've got a job to photograph this house, Blackwell, less than a mile away from my shack, which is one of the finest houses from the 'arts and crafts' period. Should be fun...

Congrat's on the job! It's one of my favourite architectural styles, which didn't make it here in a big way, but I did get to work on a few homes of this style when I was consulting. It always amazed me what was covered up in the name of modernisation though! Which I always recommended exposing again.

[ijohn.8.80]

Originally Posted by ocabj

This is a very nice photo. Good work.

Thanks, it was an 11 shot bracketed merge. My first attempt that I was willing to share! Just a few weeks ago, I was dead against any manipulation of photo's in this means, but I started to see in Phras's works how it is actually necessary to create a beautiful shot of some scenes. No camera is capable just yet of showing all that detail of highlight and lowlight in one shot, some assistance is required!

[Doylem]

Originally Posted by ijohn.8.80

I used my light meter to check the light frequency initially, from quite a few places around the room and this was consistent. I have been using Phras' suggested method of white balance for a while now, UniWB tailored for my camera. For this shot I also took a shot of my white balance, grey white and black cards first also. After doing the batch change in camera raw using the UniWB settings, it was indeed correct. I didn't need to use the white cards as a proof setup.

I just use my eye. It's a sophisticated piece of equipment...

Originally Posted by ijohn.8.80

Congrat's on the job! It's one of my favourite architectural styles, which didn't make it here in a big way, but I did get to work on a few homes of this style when I was consulting. It always amazed me what was covered up in the name of modernisation though! Which I always recommended exposing again.

Thanks... The architect was Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott. Check out Blackwell's website. I'll post more pix as I take them. There was too much daylight coming through the windows today; I think I'll do better on a cloudy day...

[rustyb99]

Here is one from Rockaway I took after the hurricane


DSC_0004 by MichaeljPhotog, on Flickr

[Kebabselector]

Originally Posted by Doylem

Is there a green cast?

Now you mention it, yes looks like there is - I see a bit of post-post fixing to be applied shortly!

[Phrasikleia]

Originally Posted by ijohn.8.80

Taken today for a photography assignment where we had to emulate another photographers work. I chose a picture from Candida Hofers "Library" book. Only another three emulations to go! The difference in colour of the books above, back, centre is due to the huge skylights that actually run the entire length of the room.

Originally Posted by ijohn.8.80

I used my light meter to check the light frequency initially, from quite a few places around the room and this was consistent. I have been using Phras' suggested method of white balance for a while now, UniWB tailored for my camera. For this shot I also took a shot of my white balance, grey white and black cards first also. After doing the batch change in camera raw using the UniWB settings, it was indeed correct. I didn't need to use the white cards as a proof setup.

The room on these upper two storeys does have a warm orange glow from the light shades and the wood, I may have been a tad heavy with the saturation in pp at 18. It looked the best from 14-18.

A charming scene. I spend a lot of time in libraries, so this photo is particularly appealing to me. I see Doylem has already mentioned the solitary reader: if you waited for others to vacate the area, it was a good choice. He also mentioned the white balance, which does look quite warm. The room appears to be full of tungsten lights, so the white balance you chose is probably "correct," and a feeling of warmth is quite appropriate for this shot anyway. Nonetheless, do keep in mind that choosing your white balance in post is a creative decision. "Correct" is necessary for some purposes (art reproduction, product photography, most portraiture, etc.), but otherwise, the world of 'tints and temps' is your oyster.

Originally Posted by shigzeo

Leaves in the river scene is brilliant. Brilliant.

Thanks, shigzeo. That one was fun to do.

Originally Posted by Doylem

...my shack, which is one of the finest houses from the 'arts and crafts' period...

That's a nice shack you have there, Doylem.

Wonderful use of a primary color palette in this space. I look forward to seeing more from this job of yours.

[paolo-]

Originally Posted by ijohn.8.80

I used my light meter to check the light frequency initially, from quite a few places around the room and this was consistent. I have been using Phras' suggested method of white balance for a while now, UniWB tailored for my camera. For this shot I also took a shot of my white balance, grey white and black cards first also. After doing the batch change in camera raw using the UniWB settings, it was indeed correct. I didn't need to use the white cards as a proof setup.

The room on these upper two storeys does have a warm orange glow from the light shades and the wood, I may have been a tad heavy with the saturation in pp at 18. It looked the best from 14-18.

That shot was taken with my 50mm prime, I'm going back with my kit 18-55mm for a wider view and to see if I can gain access to the third floor also, which is off limits to the public. Not today though, it's going to be a lovely day here, 39 degrees C (nearly a century F), dust storms followed by thunder storms!

Lovely shot I must say as well. Impressive if this is one of your first attempts at photo manipulation. However, I must agree, to my eyes the saturation and white balance is a bit off. I hope I don't come off nosy or pedantic but I was intrigued by your photo so I brought it into photoshop. Turns out there's something up with the black level of your red channel as it was almost up to 20%. This might have been a white balance issue or something else. I think this is what was giving a red cast over the image. I also brought the saturation down a bit, it seems that HDR tends to over saturate things a bit. I then played around with the curves to get a bit more contrast and tone it a bit. Five minutes and two adjustement layers, here's what I managed off of your jpeg. Again, I hope I'm not coming across the wrong way, I really enjoyed your work and by no means do I want to belittle it.

[ijohn.8.80]

Originally Posted by Phrasikleia

A charming scene. I spend a lot of time in libraries, so this photo is particularly appealing to me. I see Doylem has already mentioned the solitary reader: if you waited for others to vacate the area, it was a good choice.

Thanks Phrasikleia. Libraries have a special place in my heart, a place of sanctuary, solitude and safety. I did a lot of my high school research and studies in this very room!

I was there at opening time and waited for the first student to be visible to fire off my series of shots. I was lucky that she remained in one position, typing furiously for the duration! In the shot, it looks like she is reading and I like that.

Here is another I took yesterday in the local Church of England cathedral. It's compiled from a series of nine graduated shots. The OCD in me wanted to remove the kids art works, the open sign and the flags on the back left, but I held back.

[ijohn.8.80]

Originally Posted by paolo-

Lovely shot I must say as well. Impressive if this is one of your first attempts at photo manipulation. However, I must agree, to my eyes the saturation and white balance is a bit off. I hope I don't come off nosy or pedantic but I was intrigued by your photo so I brought it into photoshop. Turns out there's something up with the black level of your red channel as it was almost up to 20%. This might have been a white balance issue or something else. I think this is what was giving a red cast over the image. I also brought the saturation down a bit, it seems that HDR tends to over saturate things a bit. I then played around with the curves to get a bit more contrast and tone it a bit. Five minutes and two adjustement layers, here's what I managed off of your jpeg. Again, I hope I'm not coming across the wrong way, I really enjoyed your work and by no means do I want to belittle it.

Howdy Paolo, I intentionally wanted this room to look slightly exaggeratedly warm, it has a very special place in my heart and the thing that has always stood out to me about it is the light and the wood (which is what I mean by warm for this room). Comparing yours to mine, I guess to be realistic it should be somewhere between the two and closer to yours as the lights are slightly yellow/orange glowing, not white.

I am a beginning student of photography, using programs like photoshop and photomatix at the most basic operations only. I have no idea how to even view the red channel black portion levels at a % for example. After a quick search of photoshop, is this in selective colour? That's the only place I can find that. When I open the exported Tif from photomatix, all colours are sitting at 0% in selective colour, but it has got the definite red cast to it as you mention. Taking that back by -20% does make all the difference though.

So for my future reference, does the term "warm" refer to red? Or is it red, yellow and orange, or something else altogether? This is so that when Doylem says to me it's too warm, I'll understand what he's actually saying next time!

Thanks for your advice, it's appreciated, no offence taken at all. Thanks for your time.

[TheDrift-]

Originally Posted by AlexH

Sleepin in the park by DigitAl3x, on Flickr

OM-D + Summilux 25mm

Great shot,