The Master In You: Monthly photo topic
Jul 23, 2021 18:29:32 #
I have always liked this from when I had just begun my dream of getting into photography last year with the T2i I inherited from my father. I didn’t know about raw photos and was enjoying the results from auto modes. This was probably aperture priority at f/5.6 and thankfully the camera went for a higher shutter speed.
Jul 24, 2021 06:52:35 #
fergmark wrote:
I had a really enjoyable morning (at the Oceanside beach 6 years ago) paying attention to what was going on with the sand, as each wave washed over it, again and again, leaving a slightly altered pattern and terrain. There were flat areas that appeared to be very three dimensional. After watching for a while, I was able to see varying amounts of darker particles intermingled with the sand particles, and how they, being more buoyant, were being rearranged. Probably some organic material.
I've not actually done this yet. You are concentrating on the sand, and how each wave changes that topography. I usually concentrate on the waves and how I want to capture them. I think I might have to start paying attention to more things when I'm at the beach. The third image looks like an areal photograph . Very cool.
Erich
Jul 24, 2021 06:53:28 #
Jul 24, 2021 06:56:43 #
Craigdca wrote:
I have always liked this from when I had just begun my dream of getting into photography last year with the T2i I inherited from my father. I didn’t know about raw photos and was enjoying the results from auto modes. This was probably aperture priority at f/5.6 and thankfully the camera went for a higher shutter speed.
I use aperture priority more now than I used to. This image was taken in bright sunlight. So, at 5.6 I would expect the camera to choose a pretty high shutter speed above 1/500 which would capture all the detail of your wave and the spray. Nice photo.
Erich.
Jul 24, 2021 08:05:56 #
ebrunner wrote:
I've not actually done this yet. You are concentrating on the sand, and how each wave changes that topography. I usually concentrate on the waves and how I want to capture them. I think I might have to start paying attention to more things when I'm at the beach. The third image looks like an areal photograph . Very cool.
Erich
Erich
The local sand at the beaches in the sound is very gravely and not at all conducive for this sort of thing. Could be that where you are there are areas where much finer sand can be found. Just in the habit of keeping an eye on where I’m walking so I don’t spoil potential shots. Sand or ice. Sometimes you see miniature landscapes that look as if they could exist in vastly larger versions. From the window seat when flying, I am captivated by the land formations.
Jul 24, 2021 10:34:59 #
ebrunner wrote:
I use aperture priority more now than I used to. This image was taken in bright sunlight. So, at 5.6 I would expect the camera to choose a pretty high shutter speed above 1/500 which would capture all the detail of your wave and the spray. Nice photo.
Erich.
Erich.
Thank you, Erich.
Jul 24, 2021 13:57:56 #
Craigdca wrote:
I have always liked this from when I had just begun my dream of getting into photography last year with the T2i I inherited from my father. I didn’t know about raw photos and was enjoying the results from auto modes. This was probably aperture priority at f/5.6 and thankfully the camera went for a higher shutter speed.
I can't help but wonder what you decided to crop out in this shot. It is such fun to watch the waves hitting the rocks and wondering which ones will make the most dramatic spray. I have spent hours just watching.
Jul 24, 2021 15:18:49 #
fergmark wrote:
I can't help but wonder what you decided to crop out in this shot. It is such fun to watch the waves hitting the rocks and wondering which ones will make the most dramatic spray. I have spent hours just watching.
I wonder how others crop their shots, also. This original image could be seen as a day at the beach, but my attention at the moment was on the splashing wave which I wanted to emphasize in the final.
Jul 24, 2021 16:32:26 #
Craigdca wrote:
I wonder how others crop their shots, also. This original image could be seen as a day at the beach, but my attention at the moment was on the splashing wave which I wanted to emphasize in the final.
Thanks for putting in the original. I hadn't guessed that it was so heavily cropped. My two cents is that this original is far more interesting a shot than the crop. Straighten the horizon of course. There is a lot of value the what R.G. said about context awareness. In his photo, which included the far off rainbow and the much closer tree, I had no problem finding the tree of great interest, just as I have no trouble recognizing the wave crashing against the rock an element of interest. The sunbathers who are paying it no mind do not detract from it, and the cliff side has nice interest also. With the wave isolated in a tighter crop, it has little to support it, and for me lacks real interest. Believe me, I have zoomed in on countless things including crashing waves, only to realize that the shots with some context were of some interest, while an isolated wave left me with very little.
Jul 24, 2021 16:40:35 #
fergmark wrote:
Thanks for putting in the original. I hadn't gues... (show quote)
It can go either way, with the straightened original as an interesting street photography type of photo and the cropped version as a natural landscape view. As much as I like the original with fresh eyes, I still hesitate to publish it as I didn’t get any consent forms from anyone. Is that an issue that needs to be considered?
Jul 24, 2021 16:57:34 #
Craigdca wrote:
It can go either way, with the straightened original as an interesting street photography type of photo and the cropped version as a natural landscape view. As much as I like the original with fresh eyes, I still hesitate to publish it as I didn’t get any consent forms from anyone. Is that an issue that needs to be considered?
Your question is not one of my areas of expertise. I have read plenty about it here and elsewhere though, which answered my own questions. In general these people (in your photo) are not particularly identifiable and in a public place. If you had been able to zoom in on, as a portrait, that is something else. I think in your gut you can usually tell if you might be infringing on someones privacy. I go out and shoot people at public events, a lot of times focused on the young children that, in their innocence, make such great subjects, but I would sure not think to publish a shot like that, but in a public place people are fair game. When you are selling an image, other factors take precedence. Thats all I know.
Jul 25, 2021 07:38:16 #
Craigdca wrote:
I wonder how others crop their shots, also. This original image could be seen as a day at the beach, but my attention at the moment was on the splashing wave which I wanted to emphasize in the final.
Just my opinion, but I think you did well to crop out the beach scene. Your emphasis was rightly on the dramatic splash of the wave, but including the beach and the people kind of put the sea and the rocks into background mode. While I can appreciate the importance of context, all the elements of an image should support, or at least inform, each other in some way, and, frankly, I don't see how the two halves of the original image (upper and lower) support each other, either thematically or pictorially.
Jul 25, 2021 11:38:38 #
Craigdca wrote:
I have always liked this from when I had just begun my dream of getting into photography last year with the T2i I inherited from my father. I didn’t know about raw photos and was enjoying the results from auto modes. This was probably aperture priority at f/5.6 and thankfully the camera went for a higher shutter speed.
That definitely does not look like Pasadena! Is that by any chance Sycamore Cyn beach?
Auto modes have their place. But you statement "thankfully the camera chose a high shutter speed" shows the limitation of auto mode.
Have you gone back and shot that again? If you did go back , what would you do differently?
Jul 25, 2021 11:50:56 #
jburlinson wrote:
Just my opinion, but I think you did well to crop ... (show quote)
Thanks for your affirmation. I checked the data and was definitely zoomed about max on my 18-55mm lens. Otherwise I would have zoomed in more to get more clarity on the waves which were my target. And then no people would be in the shot.
While people are curious to see what people do as is human nature, I was excited about the big splash. The people scene is entirely different and can work, but it’s that WAVE that wowed me.
Jul 26, 2021 10:45:52 #
Craigdca wrote:
I wonder how others crop their shots, also. This original image could be seen as a day at the beach, but my attention at the moment was on the splashing wave which I wanted to emphasize in the final.
If I'd cropped this one in closer it would have said "Wave hitting rocks", but as shown it says "Storm hitting rocky coastline", which IMO makes for a more interesting composition. The surrounding context supports the composition as a whole. On the other hand your uncropped version has what I would describe as two competing subjects - the human activity and the wave/cliffs. The human activity is in the foreground and fills a large percentage of the frame whereas the wave/cliffs are relegated to the background. The two are competing but it's an unfair competition. Most people seeing it would probably think "Nice day at the beach", but as you say you wanted to make the spray the main subject, so in this case I would say you were right to crop in on the wave and you were also right in not making it exclusively about the wave.
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