Posts for: evandr
Sep 12, 2011 01:03:57 #
I went ahead and worked with the white duck and, as you can see from this histogram adjusted image that shows the contrast between the high and low dynamic ranges, the back of the duck is totally blown out, there is simply nothing there to effectively recover. Another thing that was not apparent at first; the ducks bill was far too bright on the underside because of the reflection off of the duck's white feathers leaving it to look like the shadow was on top and that is one of those "something is just not right" things that is there but is rarely noticed.
By the way, the second shot is very interesting, quite unique, but I would never of known exactly what it was if you had not told me; the last shot is excellent!
By the way, the second shot is very interesting, quite unique, but I would never of known exactly what it was if you had not told me; the last shot is excellent!
It appears that the dynamic range on this photo is somewhere between 15 and 18 stops
Sep 12, 2011 00:38:13 #
I agree with Jonsund, the angle of the sun makes it very difficult to properly expose the whole shot, the dynamic range is just too wide, but, the shot is a great candidate for some of the special effects filters you can get for post production. I would imagin that an equilizer or portrait smoother would produce some nicely interesting effects, also applying a B&W filter and then toning it down may produce a better photo also.
Sep 12, 2011 00:24:31 #
Great subject matter and a good shot all in all, everything fits together well but the foreground does seen a bit under exposed, also I would have opted to lower the horizon a bit maybe only catching the area just below the top 2 wires on the fence by getting closer to the cows as much as possible without losing your frame (a wider angle lens would have worked great for this) and then angling the camera up slightly.
If you were concerned about blowing out the sky then a graduated ND filter would have worked seeing that the Barn is light enough that a longer shutter speed through a graduated ND filter would probably have worked well. I have a question What camera and lens were you using and did you use a polarizer on your lens?
If you were concerned about blowing out the sky then a graduated ND filter would have worked seeing that the Barn is light enough that a longer shutter speed through a graduated ND filter would probably have worked well. I have a question What camera and lens were you using and did you use a polarizer on your lens?
Sep 12, 2011 00:05:49 #
liv2paddle wrote:
http://www.digital-photography-school.com/mastering-panning-to-photograph-moving-subjects
Ive read this article before and it is a good one, it brings up another point that would apply here.
If Fran truly wanted to freeze every point of the cyclist, wheels and all, a sufficiently powerful flash or getting close enough to the subject for the flash to be effective, and having the flash on rear curtain sync (second curtain sync on Cannon) would have frozen the subject solid while leaving the background with the desired motion blur.
The only drawback would be that some of the foreground and anything else that was caught by the flash would also tend to lose some of its blur at the moment of flash leaving faint motion trails but that effect can also be quite interesting.
Sep 11, 2011 23:37:25 #
TTKBJR wrote:
I don't know if this will help or not or what lens you were using. Perhaps a longer zoom lens to narrow your depth of field which will blur your background but also allow you to capture the biker with a faster shutter speed while panning? Just an idea.
The concept is good save for one minor detail; the idea behind a pan shot is to imply motion by blurring the background directionally. Simple bokeh would not have the same effect. If you were to freeze the wheels then you would also freeze the background sufficiently that the bokeh is all that world be left.
Sep 11, 2011 12:27:11 #
tilde531 wrote:
I'm following this discussion because this is a new area of interest for me (unexplored territory with my lil' pretend camera lol)
JimH mentions something I never thought of, and josoIII offers excellent advice/constructive critique on many posts as a rule!
One can REALLY learn a LOT from contributors here. This place rocks!
I'd say congrats on what appears to be a pretty successful first attempt! :)
JimH mentions something I never thought of, and josoIII offers excellent advice/constructive critique on many posts as a rule!
One can REALLY learn a LOT from contributors here. This place rocks!
I'd say congrats on what appears to be a pretty successful first attempt! :)
Tilde, never apologize for your camera, it is not the camera that you are trying to improve, it is your skills. There are pretend photographers such as the one who follows around the pro at the wedding or family portrait shoot trying to shoot over their shoulder after the pro sets the shot up, but there are no pretend cameras unless it was made as a child's toy. 90% of the success of the photographer lies in the skill of the photographer and not the camera. The simple fact that you are here demonstrates that you are seeking to improve your skills and that means you will even if you never get another camera. "You just keep shooting - Bryan Peterson"
Evan
Sep 11, 2011 12:15:59 #
Fran wrote:
Jim, Thank you so much for your feedback. I totally understand what your comments and they make so much sense. I wasn't using center point focus. Just changed the focus to center. Can't wait to try it again!!! So exciting!!!
Joso, you're right there is no perfect. I think that's what makes it's interesting.
Arphot, great shot. I need to try shooting vehicles and motorcycles soon.
Joso, you're right there is no perfect. I think that's what makes it's interesting.
Arphot, great shot. I need to try shooting vehicles and motorcycles soon.
The motion blurr does not have to be pronounced, sometimes just a little is sufficient. If I had used an even slower shutter speed and was successful at catching Chad with an extream blurr on the background it would have implied a speed far too fast for a man on a sidwalk riding a motorcycle.
A friend of mine moving his Harley Davidson down the sidewalk to position it for a family photo shoot
If you want to imply faster motion without over blurring the background then panning and tilting (or cropping to a tilt as I did here) gives a boost to implied motion. Also, it is best to leave more in front of the moving object than behind it, it give the moving object somewhere to go and that makes for a more pleasing shot.
Sep 11, 2011 11:44:20 #
JimH wrote:
Fran, I think your only problem is that the subjec... (show quote)
Your're right about subject movement, however, I think that the movement of the legs and the rotation of the wheels transsending to a tack sharp and stationary torso and bike gives an added dimension to the shot and does an even better job of implying motion. If all you wanted was a tack sharp and totally stationary subject then a cut-and-past would have sufficed (no fun in that), a cheap trick to mimic a well shot pan but the effects would be the same.
Sep 10, 2011 12:34:05 #
Sharon98115 wrote:
quote=evandr Post production is anything you can ... (show quote)
Thanks Sharon98115. I said I use Xara Pro 7 but I have to keep in mind when promoting it that I do a lot of graphics creation and extream manipulation for which Xara is fantastic but for photo "retouching" getting the right plugins is important.
I love Topaz Adjust, Lense effects, and B&W. I also use Fluid Mask for masking, DOF pro when I need extensive Depth of Field work (DOF pro can be challenging to learn), and Photoshop Elements 5 when I need to do fine pixelating work such as the use of their clone tool, the one tool where a pixel based program like photoshop still does a much better job over a vector based program like Xara. In my opinion for post photo work the clone tool is at the top of the list for most useful and productive tools a photo editor needs to have at his/her disposal and for that Photoshop elements is still king.
Therefore, if I had to make a reccomondation for someone who is just getting into photo editing and wants to keep it affordably simple yet sufficient I would suggest you compare photoshop elements (a program that has had all the unnecessary tools stripped away, making it much easier to learn and use than Photoshop) and Xara Photo & Graphics Designer 7. Both programs come with an extensive set of plugins which by adding a few specialty plugins will make either program very capable of doing anything you might want to do to your pictures.
Sep 10, 2011 02:15:19 #
Post production is anything you can do to make a good picture better. Cropping, adjusting color balance, smoothing things like skin and perhaps rermoving unwanted distractions that cannot be cropped out and that is just for starters, it takes patience, practice, and a degree of skill but thankfully modern software is constantly making it easier and the programs more and more user friendly but you do have to put forth some dedicated effort to get good at it (not years, unless perhaps you choose photoshop, but a few months of tinkering with a good program should garner you sufficient skills to produce post production work you can be proud of). The key for those who do not like post production is to learn how to take pictures so they need no post production - that takes a pro!
As far as showing you how to do post production it will take a lot more than a few paragraphes on this forum. You need to decide on a good user friendly program and then dig in with tutorials, books and so forth coupled with lots of practice. You will not find a pro worth his/her salt that does not have some pretty in-depth skills at post production. I use Xara pro 7, powerful (and you do not need a degree to make use of it... Ahem...Photoshop!) and affordable along with a group of other programs that I have put together to serve my needs and editing style.
I took the liberty of doing a little post production work, what do you think? I warmed the picture up a bit, added some room to the bottom below the front paws and eliminated the legs of the other pup. I also took some of the unnecessary space off from the left side.
As far as showing you how to do post production it will take a lot more than a few paragraphes on this forum. You need to decide on a good user friendly program and then dig in with tutorials, books and so forth coupled with lots of practice. You will not find a pro worth his/her salt that does not have some pretty in-depth skills at post production. I use Xara pro 7, powerful (and you do not need a degree to make use of it... Ahem...Photoshop!) and affordable along with a group of other programs that I have put together to serve my needs and editing style.
I took the liberty of doing a little post production work, what do you think? I warmed the picture up a bit, added some room to the bottom below the front paws and eliminated the legs of the other pup. I also took some of the unnecessary space off from the left side.
Sep 9, 2011 21:19:58 #
henrycrafter wrote:
I have used photoshop 7 for more than five years.
I can do everything that I want to do except HDR.
I know the progam and canot see myself using anything else!My POINT Learn the program you have available. Bells and whistles are not the end all be all.
Vorel will probably do what you need to do.
It is poaaible to second guess yourself to death.
Good luck
I can do everything that I want to do except HDR.
I know the progam and canot see myself using anything else!My POINT Learn the program you have available. Bells and whistles are not the end all be all.
Vorel will probably do what you need to do.
It is poaaible to second guess yourself to death.
Good luck
You are very correct but don't discount passion and banner waving, if it were not for passion and dedication to your own product arsenal then the whole field would fade into obscurity for passion breeds passion and the same holds true for indifference.
Sep 9, 2011 20:48:58 #
[quote=Randyb1969]
True statement. Mirror lock up is a special needs feature where almost inperceptable camera "vibration" can make a real difference in the quality of the shot which is not very often and never off of a tripod.
KG wrote:
Mirror lockup is useful in the right situations. That has already been proven time and again. It's more a question of your shooting style and the subject matter you prefer that determines how often you will use it.
True statement. Mirror lock up is a special needs feature where almost inperceptable camera "vibration" can make a real difference in the quality of the shot which is not very often and never off of a tripod.
Sep 9, 2011 20:39:06 #
gopostal2 wrote:
Hello, my name is Jodi and I am just beginning to get serious about photography. I am looking to upgrade the digital camera I currently have and am requesting suggestions. I am looking to spend around $400. What cameras should I look at in that price range? Thanks!
Whatever you decide to do Jodi as far as a DSLR goes make sure you pick the brand you want to stick with as a dedicated hobbiest, lenses between brands are not interchangable (without special adapters which I detest on several levels) and switching from one brand to another means selling your camera and all your lenses and starting over and that is just a pain. I love my Nikon equipment but putting all passions for a particular brand aside both Canon and Nikon have great comparable cameras in the same price range and skill level. My only real recommondation is that you buy a entry level camera that comes with a lense as a kit and then, as you can afford it, get the necessary peripherals starting with a good sturdy tripod and then perhaps a cable release.
Evan
Sep 9, 2011 13:53:57 #
dasloaf wrote:
sorry, I read reviews on and they say they break easy and not well made. I work sporting events and right now have the sidelines to myself. The monopod works great!
I have a good Manfroto monopod and I use it quite often, especially in dense crowds where the bush hawk would be a bit awkward (I prefer the Bush Hawk in lighter crowds) but I would still have to give it a great rating because my Bush Hawk is injection-molded with fiberglass reinforcing; maybe they have improved their quality before I bought mine but I highly recommend them, especially when hiking or walking on soft and/or uneven ground. My ability to easily carry, raise, point and shoot in less than a second, because my finger is always on the trigger and swinging my arm up puts the Bush Hawk snuggly into my shoulder with one hand on the trigger and the other on the lense making it easy to steady with the viewfinder right smack in front of my eye, makes it quite valuable to me; besides, anybody who would treat their camera equipment so harshly as to be able to break one of these puppies needs to reconsider their hobby or profession.
Sep 9, 2011 13:41:59 #
Leopold Lysloff wrote:
Do give that Leica D-LUX 3 POINT AND SHOOT a look... (show quote)
Leica is the Cadallac of cameras, the D-Lux is what Bryan Peterson carries around when he does not want to carry his big guns but money is an issue here and a Leica D-lux will cost as much and probably more (unless it is used) than a good entry level DSLR. I just checked at Adorama and their Leica package is nearly $900 -