The Photographers' Corner 2013-2020

[WyndChym]

I believe this is an Orb-Weaving spider. I found it in our tomato garden and used a KODAK DC4800 (12 yrs ago).

[slk320]

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

[TOOLMAN]

Pic's from a walk in the woods yesterday.
Nikon D7000, Nikon - Zoom 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR

[MichaelB]

The photographs on this thread are amazing.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd I'm not an artist like you, not even trying to be one. Compared to most people here, I am an unskilled amateur (I'm shooting all my pictures with P&S cameras after all). My pictures are not meant to hang over someone's sofa (not even my own). They are snapshots meant to document my life. I use them in my photo-journal and they usually are for my eyes only. What attracted my eyes to the dawn sky was the color and for me that was the most important element in the picture. I captured what I saw. I was not trying to convey anything more than it was a beautiful morning with an awesome rainbow sky.

The photos I get the most compliments on are the ones I shoot for myself.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slk320 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 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]

Quote:

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

Callicarpa

[TOOLMAN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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