The Photographers' Corner 2013-2020

[ERD50]

What about posting your own pictures for a start?

Well, as I said earlier:

I don't take a lot of photos myself, but they are usually just documenting things, not too often do I try to do something 'artsy'. And I'm not too thrilled with my artsy attempts, which are just half-hearted anyway.

So I doubt my pics of where I ran the gutter drains will be of interest to anyone, or our family gatherings, or typical vacation snapshots.

But since you asked, I ran through whatever photos I had on my computer, and I found a few that might be of some marginal interest. They were taken with a decent quality point&shoot (Casio Ex-Slim EX-S880), but generally no tripod, no special lighting, and just taken as a memory jog of the event. So I don't really consider them good examples of what photography can be. But people can skip over them easily enough, so I'll give it a go (not until tomorrow, we have company today).

I seldom do any post-processing, sometimes just to learn how to use the tools. But this kind of inspired me, and I did a modest amount on a few photos, and I'll post the before/afters as well.

I'm open to any comments/critiques, I could learn something from the talented people here. Or if someone just wants to say that some photo I kinda like just stinks, that's fine too. This is subjective, I can like something someone else hates, and vice versa, and that's just life, and I'm fine with that. Sometimes I find it interesting that others have a different view, and I like to hear about it.

An example - one poster had posted his HDR photos in another thread or two. HDR is a fascinating technique, but I rarely care for the ones that are done to look cartoon-ish or other-worldly, other than just as a diversion. But other people love those. No right or wrong, and I like to hear from both sides, it expands my horizons.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Photo of "Moriah" waiting in the crane well to be hauled out at the "End of Season". 32' Pearson 323 docked in Bay City, MI. (9/25/13)

Nikon D7000 - 50mm(18-105mm f/3.5-5.6) 1/200 sec at f/8.0, ISO 100

Chuck

I love the vertical lines on that, interesting composition, IMO. Really draws me in. Many other great photos here as well, don't have time to comment on them all right now.

-ERD50

 

[veremchuka]

I've been enjoying the pictures, so many are excellent.

What are these berries? I never saw anything like them colorwise!

 

[REWahoo]

American beautyberry. Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry) | NPIN

 

[Major Tom]

After being troublesome and mentioning the rule of thirds guideline, here's one that completely ignores it. I was in a rather desolate place and wanted to show how it seemed to be made up of sky and not much else, so I let the sky take up most of the picture. It's not a fantastic image, but it achieved it's objective.

Of the few things I have learned about photography, a very useful piece of advice I received was to think about what I wanted to achieve with a picture before I took it. That way, I could ask myself afterwards whether it achieved that goal. It's a neat way of sidestepping all the "is it good enough/how come no-one else seems to like it/are my photos any good?" malarkey.

 

[ERD50]

I have a little downtime before company arrives, so here's a few samples of snapshots I've taken. This first one is just a shot of our patio blocks a few years after they went in. I always wanted moss to grow between the blocks, there is something homey and comforting to me in that. A bit of dappled sunlight.

I think this is too flat though, and I didn't attempt any post processing. But I kinda like it, but I think it's boring, that's about all.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Here's one form my Budapest trip, St Stephan's Basilica. I cheated on this one - I saw a serious photographer who seemed captivated with this feature, and then I noticed the late afternoon sun hit the gold cross and made it glow. I wish I could see his shots (I should search flicker).

Then I used the shear/perspective adjustments, I should have tweaked the upper left corner some more, but it also seems to make it artificially flat. But again, just a snap shot to jog my memory of the trip.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Here's two from inside the water feature on the north side of the Chicago river. I just used the auto settings of the camera, so that is the level of 'freeze' that I got.

I would like them better if there was more open area to look through, but I think they are kinda fun.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Another from inside the Basilica in Budapest.

I really liked Major Tom's recent example of breaking the rules of thirds - in his pic, I see that little structure saying "Look how tiny I am compared to that big blue sky!". I think that's neat.

So this pic struck me, because it almost seems like a helter-skelter jumble of collage pieces, rather than an orderly formal structure of domes and arches. Angles and overlapping arcs, and the light in the near-center - I just find it interesting and like the inter-play. Of course, the shadows are all grainy, I would have needed to take more time to get a better exposure, I don't think I had a tripod with me, and if I did it was one of those pocket sized things.

So I kinda like it, others may find it annoying and cluttered I suppose. But that's what makes the world go 'round.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Another from Budapest. I did some contrast adjustment on the second version.

The point of this one was to catch the contrast (not the photo kind) between old and new in Budapest, with most of the skyline filled with old structures, and the modern black glass building in the foreground on the right.

It was overcast, so not a great shot, but I still like that I captured that old/new juxtaposition.

-ERD50

 

[Major Tom]

I think this is too flat though, and I didn't attempt any post processing. But I kinda like it, but I think it's boring, that's about all.

-ERD50

I have a lot of pictures that I feel the same way about ERD50. I do see what you like about the picture with the moss in the cracks between the paving stones, though.

If I like a picture, that is all that really matters to me at this point.

 

[ERD50]

OK, one more dome from Budapest, the original and adjusted. Again, kind of offset and funny angles, but I find that interesting (I have some others straight on that I don't care for as much). At least on my monitor, the adjustment enhanced the lighting and colors and I don't think it made it look too artificial.

Well, that's all for now, gotta get ready for company. Maybe this will motivate me to attempt some serious shots that I don't feel I have to make excuses for. But this has been fun, and it pushed me to try some post-processing, which I rarely do, other than to just experiment and play with.


-ERD50

 

[TOOLMAN]

I've been enjoying the pictures, so many are excellent. What are these berries? I never saw anything like them colorwise!

Callicarpa

 

[TOOLMAN]

Callicarpa

DW corrected me. Says these are "Callicarpa Early Amethyst" to be exact.

I don't know what these other berries are, but they are very common in the mid atlantic woods. I think they are an invasive plant as I did not see them 50 years ago. They grow on bushes about 4 feet high. Nikon D7000 body. Nikon - Micro 105mm f/2.8G ED IF AF-S VR, no flash, hand held

 

[TOOLMAN]

Pics from this morning ... A natural saver
Nikon D7000, Nikon - Zoom 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR, hand held

 

[Bestwifeever]

We trapped and relocated that little guy from our basement several times last year, toolman.

Really nice photos.

 

[Ronstar]

Went on a helicopter ride

And my next class project - my homemade wheat ale

 

[ERD50]

And my next class project - my homemade wheat ale

I really like that one. I think the stark black background really sets off the textures in the wood and the grain and pretzels. And I like that all the tones are browns, that might be boring in some pics, but here I think it really works well. The lighting seems perfect to me, and that's tough with glass reflections and everything else going on. How did you light that?

A couple things that I think might make it even better (though I could be wrong, I guess I'd have to see the changes - and of course it's just my subjective view) - maybe there could be a little more area above the glass? It feels a little closed in to me. And since I'm a beer guy too, when I think of a wheat beer, I generally think of a lot of creamy, white head on it. So maybe the glass could be filled a little lower, and with more foam?

Certainly minor details, a really great shot, IMO. I'll be curious what your instructor has to say.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

So here's a fun little thing I played with. The "Palace of the Arts" building in Budapest is a modern hall (we saw/heard the Vienna Symphony there, with the talented and beautiful pianist Alice Sara Ott) - an interesting building and I could not get it all in one shot. I thought about trying to capture enough of it and try a stitching program, but no tripod, and I never tried stitching before, so this was a shot in the dark for me (dusk actually - so my handheld shots are not in great focus).

So the first sample is the three photos roughly placed in one frame to show the 'before'. I downloaded a free open source panoramic stitching program, and I was overwhelmed at all the options. So I just hit "go" with the defaults, figuring I'd get garbage, but a few minutes later the results shocked me, I couldn't believe how well it did.

Upon closer examination, I saw it did a kind of Escher thing on the stairs. It's like the program did its own bit of artistic interpretation.

-ERD50

 

[explanade]

Handheld shots can be stitched together in a pinch.

 

[Ronstar]

I really like that one. I think the stark black background really sets off the textures in the wood and the grain and pretzels. And I like that all the tones are browns, that might be boring in some pics, but here I think it really works well. The lighting seems perfect to me, and that's tough with glass reflections and everything else going on. How did you light that?

A couple things that I think might make it even better (though I could be wrong, I guess I'd have to see the changes - and of course it's just my subjective view) - maybe there could be a little more area above the glass? It feels a little closed in to me. And since I'm a beer guy too, when I think of a wheat beer, I generally think of a lot of creamy, white head on it. So maybe the glass could be filled a little lower, and with more foam?

Certainly minor details, a really great shot, IMO. I'll be curious what your instructor has to say.

-ERD50

Thanks for the critique! Heres a photo of my setup. Work lights with natural light bulbs from 2 sides and top through a bankers box with tracing paper "windows" in the sides and top. Black foam board lines the back.

I see you caught the closed in feel. I got that too. I think the problem stems from the bankers box being too small and the largest tracing paper I could find was 11 x14. I need a bigger setup so that I can get more light behind the beer to create a thin line of light down each side. I also need to work on the beer head. That beer had been sitting a while during setup and I stirred to get as much head as I could. Plus I've been keeping my CO2 PSI low because I have a stout in my 2nd keg. I'm going to make a bigger light box. Next time I'll have everything ready before I tap the beer. I read that the pros put glycerin on their glasses to retain the wet look. I did that, but I think I put too much glycerin on it. I'll report in with my teacher's thoughts.

 

[Ronstar]

I really like that one. I think the stark black background really sets off the textures in the wood and the grain and pretzels. And I like that all the tones are browns, that might be boring in some pics, but here I think it really works well. The lighting seems perfect to me, and that's tough with glass reflections and everything else going on. How did you light that?

A couple things that I think might make it even better (though I could be wrong, I guess I'd have to see the changes - and of course it's just my subjective view) - maybe there could be a little more area above the glass? It feels a little closed in to me. And since I'm a beer guy too, when I think of a wheat beer, I generally think of a lot of creamy, white head on it. So maybe the glass could be filled a little lower, and with more foam?

Certainly minor details, a really great shot, IMO. I'll be curious what your instructor has to say.

-ERD50

Thanks for the critique! Heres a photo of my setup. Work lights with natural light bulbs from 2 sides and top through a bankers box with tracing paper sides and top. I see you caught the closed in feel. I got that too. I think the problem stems from the bankers box being too small and the largest tracing paper I could find was 11 x14. I need a bigger setup so that I can get more light behind the beer to create a thin line of light down each side. I also need to work on the beer head. That beer had been sitting a while during setup and I stirred to get as much head as I could. Plus I've been keeping my CO2 PSI low because I have a stout in my 2nd keg. I'm going to make a bigger light box. Next time I'll have everything ready before I tap the beer. I read that the pros put glycerin on their glasses to retain the wet look. I did that, but I think I put too much glycerin on it. I'll report in with my teacher's thoughts.

Nice panorama btw!

 

[ERD50]

Thanks for the critique! Here's a photo of my setup. Work lights with natural light bulbs from 2 sides and top through a bankers box with tracing paper sides and top. ....

Ahhhh, I had a feeling that some work and thought went into that light set up. Lighting really is key.

After I posted, I took another look, and I have to say that on closer inspection I was even more impressed. I know the 'food porn' photographers really put in a lot of effort to get the shots they get, and to my eyes, your photo is equal in quality to those high end food shots.

I expect that your instructor will be impressed as well.

You know, you might be able to add some 'top' to that shot in an image manipulation program (I use GIMP, free, open source on all platforms). You could expand the canvas, then the tricky part would be to paste in more of that black background seamlessly. But I'm sure it can be done.

-ERD50

 

[Meadbh]

You know, you might be able to add some 'top' to that shot in an image manipulation program (I use GIMP, free, open source on all platforms). You could expand the canvas, then the tricky part would be to paste in more of that black background seamlessly. But I'm sure it can be done.

-ERD50

A better idea would be to just drink the beer and pour some more to photograph. Repeat until you get it just right. Several attempts might be required.

 

[FIREd]

The Golden Gate Bridge on a crisp december morning. I love the warmth light of the low winter sun and the fog that usually hangs around the bridge makes itself rare at that time of year.