PHOTO ASSIGNMENT #01 - Spring

[M38A1]

Let's kick off our debut post with the topic of SPRING. Spring can be many things to many people. For example, a dawning of new life for birds, plants or animals. Here are a few examples to get the ideas flowing.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/scooterstuff/XStock23.jpg

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/scooterstuff/07WillowCityLoop043.jpg

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/scooterstuff/07WillowCityLoop058.jpg


Use this thread for posting shots previously taken, or current shots asking questions, or just talking about the assignment. I'll open up a different post a few days before the contest ends for you to post your actual submission entry. Your submission entry can be something new or one you posted here, but the picture HAS to be taken between now and Sunday, March 22nd midnight. I'll make my decision sometime after midnight Sunday and announce at that time. The winner will then post the next two week assignment topic.

Let's get out there and create some great spring shots!

.

[silvElise]

First question I would have is should this be a single shot or can it be several shots combined to one final picture? Example would be taking a foreground object picture then composing it in a nother background picture I take?

[M38A1]

First question I would have is should this be a single shot or can it be several shots combined to one final picture? Example would be taking a foreground object picture then composing it in a nother background picture I take?

Hmmm..... That sounds interesting, but is a bit contrary to Rule #8 about using post-processing to create something substantially different than the original image. I'd say that type of shot is stretching the limits for just getting started. Maybe a later assignment?

[silvElise]

Hmmm..... That sounds interesting, but is a bit contrary to Rule #8 about using post-processing to create something substantially different than the original image. I'd say that type of shot is stretching the limits for just getting started. Maybe a later assignment?

Ok cool!
Usually with this stuff I try to think outside the box to get something artsy and different so I am trying to push my limits while learning something new.. That is the point of this right?

Just trying to figure out what I can get away with in the rules :)

[StarWatcher]

Some cameras, like my D200, have multiple exposure/overlay features built in so the distinction of "post processing" may get a little blurry. For example, I can set it up to expose up to 10 images in sequence and the camera will automatically adjust the final combined image for the proper cumulative exposure. Alternatively, I can select images at random that are on the camera's memory card and overlay one image on another with some camera control of how the final image will be balanced between the two original images.

This camera is now the previous generation of DSLR and I'm guessing there are even more features with newer cameras that will blur this distinction even more. If the photographer has an image in mind when he configures the camera to take the shot(s), where does pre-processing stop and post-processing begin?

--Mike

[M38A1]

I think we're getting too wrapped up on the post-processing discussions. It's allowed by doing it in person with various tools, and the cameras do it automatically. (as an example, when I shoot an image, it's compared to about 40,000 images in the camera for best exposure at those settings) I'll still say that 90% of the picture is going to ge composition that tells the story. The balance is just for effect.

So let's not get hung up on it. Do what you think is proper to present a picture. Remember - we're not all professionals and this is a learning experience for everyone both new and seasoned. Just don't submit a picture of a bluebonnet that happens to be mid-70's purple/blue/black velvet under a black light and expect folks to raise an eyebrow. ;-)

Let's see some of your conceptual prior "spring" type shots......

[poser]

not that great and no proccessing, just cropped a little...

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c52/jlbohac/D40/grasshopper.jpg

[poser]

^^^^^^I guess I should have included the "please critque" comment

[M38A1]

Me? I think it's pretty cool. Great DOF surronding just the grasshopper, framed a tad bit off center and the tire gives a good frame. The two grass stalks sort of pull my eye away though. YMMV. (you asked!)

[xcaliber]

hope this works oops put in wrong thread

[poser]

Me? I think it's pretty cool. Great DOF surronding just the grasshopper, framed a tad bit off center and the tire gives a good frame. The two grass stalks sort of pull my eye away though. YMMV. (you asked!)

not just you but anybody.
what are your thoughts on not having the subject dead center?
I came across an article online about stratigically placing your subject in the frame to create a certain "feel", lke coming or going or something.
Now I wasn't trying to cerate a particular feel with the framing, I had just figured out the macro function on my lens while corner working at TWS

[silvElise]

not just you but anybody.
what are your thoughts on not having the subject dead center?
I came across an article online about stratigically placing your subject in the frame to create a certain "feel", lke coming or going or something.
Now I wasn't trying to cerate a particular feel with the framing, I had just figured out the macro function on my lens while corner working at TWS

Ill expand on this a bit more some art theory :)

usually with your subjects you want to use the rule of thirds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
That article explains it a bit more.

You do have nice DOF, Bokeh, and brilliant colors.

However the scene falls apart a bit because your attention is drawn every other place other then the subject. Like M38 said the grass takes away that is where photoshop comes in handy on removing that also the colors are so vibrant and your subject is not which makes it hard to want to focus on him! Not much you can do about that....


Great shot just some tips

[sparkyphotog]

Here's a spring pic. Posting it here because it was taken last week. I call it "First Leaves".

http://sparkyphotog.smugmug.com/photos/487844530_PcfYf-M.jpg


My thoughts are that the branches in the background are a bit distracting, the depth-of-field is not shallow enough. On the other had, the repeating pattern of the branches all pointing in the same general direction with the few bright leaves breaking that pattern up seems to work.

Thoughts?

[TexasShadow]

Is this a contest, as in competition? Or a showcase and critique?
In my opinion, the latter is more constructive than the former.
But then, I'm opinionated. ;-)

[TexasShadow]

usually with your subjects you want to use the rule of thirds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds
That article explains it a bit more.

However the scene falls apart a bit because your attention is drawn every other place other then the subject. Like M38 said the grass takes away that is where photoshop comes in handy on removing that also the colors are so vibrant and your subject is not which makes it hard to want to focus on him! Not much you can do about that....
This post raises several issues about the 'rules', which would be interesting to debate sometime, but this is probably not the place.

My point is, in restrained brevity, when every photographer follows the 'rules', the photos all look the same. Reality, including nature, is very diverse, even chaotic sometimes. And not everyone's perspective and frame of mind sees in 'two-thirds' perspective. Nor is attention always restricted to one focal point.

So feel free to break the 'rules' if they don't fit what you want to convey. That is what art is all about. Expression. Be daring. Experiment. Express yourself the way you see it.

Disclaimer: my opinion again. :trust:
I'll go away now.........

[Azylum]

This is an awesome thread. I bought a DSLR a few months ago. Not because I thought it would make me some kind of wanna be pro photographer, but only because I got a great deal on it. Now I need to learn how to use it, lol. I'll post up a couple of pics I took this week out in the back yard and see what yall think.

P.S. I'm gonna ask alot of questions so please don't get too aggravated if they seem stupid.:D

[M38A1]

Is this a contest, as in competition? Or a showcase and critique? In my opinion, the latter is more constructive than the former.


You raise a good point. No, it's not a contest to see who's better then the next. Rather, a place to showcase your best shot based on the current assignment. Yes, there will be a winner chosen for what is percieved to be the best shot of the group. But everyone is a winner to some extent seeing what others have done, how they have done it and learning from the group effort.


This post raises several issues about the 'rules', which would be interesting to debate sometime, but this is probably not the place.
I'll go away now.........

Those discussions would happen one level above. This section is the contest section. So, if you are inclined to start a discussion on rules and application of them to a specific or general shot, please post it up. You do some nice work, so I'm sure we will all grow from your experience and comment. ie: don't go away.


This is an awesome thread.
P.S. I'm gonna ask alot of questions so please don't get too aggravated if they seem stupid.:D

Glad you found us!

Again, post up the general photography questions a thread level up. You're in the contest level now.

[10-95]

Here's my wife's favorite. I took it with a cheap Kodak digital camera. Hopefully I can get something fairly artistic, but I still have the cheap camera!

http://vstromerz.smugmug.com/photos/490351545_QdSSy-M.jpg

[10-95]

I can't resist. Here's a couple more with the same cheapo camera.

http://vstromerz.smugmug.com/photos/490351556_PkDUQ-M.jpg

http://vstromerz.smugmug.com/photos/490351530_ADVUL-M.jpg

[Voni]

So, it's not the camera. It's the eye for beauty . . .

Nice!

Voni
sMiling

[Hairsmith]

2mp Sony U30

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c340/hairsmith/DSC00043.jpg

[STScott]

Hairsmith.....that's a good start....hope you don't mind if I give you some tips:

1) angle the camera so just the main branch is in the frame. The green pot in the upper right hand corner is distracting as is the branch in the background. This photo would look great with just the main branch and a black background.

2) use something to diffuse the flash or power it down some if you can. For the best result get the flash off the camera and diffuse it.

Here it is after a quick edit:

http://scottbromley.smugmug.com/photos/490586366_Zfmnx-M.jpg

You can still see some harshness on the petals from the direct flash but I tried to soften it a bit.

[M38A1]

Here's a little spring-time froggie I snapped last year sometime. I sort of liked how it turned out 'cept for the one blade of grass up his brisket. No post-processing done.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/scooterstuff/Froggie.jpg

[poser]

I'm no photog, but I have always disliked the way the flash that comes on any camera tend to wash out pics.
I've found that putting toilet paer (CLEAN un-used toilet paper :eek2: ) over the flash is a cheap and easy way to dufuse the flash a little

Hairsmith.....that's a good start....hope you don't mind if I give you some tips:

1) angle the camera so just the main branch is in the frame. The green pot in the upper right hand corner is distracting as is the branch in the background. This photo would look great with just the main branch and a black background.

2) use something to diffuse the flash or power it down some if you can. For the best result get the flash off the camera and diffuse it.

Here it is after a quick edit:

http://scottbromley.smugmug.com/photos/490586366_Zfmnx-M.jpg

You can still see some harshness on the petals from the direct flash but I tried to soften it a bit.

[Hairsmith]

All good comments and all appreciated.
Not meant as excuses just comments as to why the picture turned out as it did. This was the camera I took it with
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/sony_u30/sony_u30_inhand.jpg

And it was obviously taken after dark could not see the pot until the pic was loaded to the computer.
Looking forward to seeing more pictures and comments. Great Thread.


Hairsmith.....that's a good start....hope you don't mind if I give you some tips:

1) angle the camera so just the main branch is in the frame. The green pot in the upper right hand corner is distracting as is the branch in the background. This photo would look great with just the main branch and a black background.

2) use something to diffuse the flash or power it down some if you can. For the best result get the flash off the camera and diffuse it.

Here it is after a quick edit:

http://scottbromley.smugmug.com/photos/490586366_Zfmnx-M.jpg

You can still see some harshness on the petals from the direct flash but I tried to soften it a bit.

[silvElise]

Here's a little spring-time froggie I snapped last year sometime. I sort of liked how it turned out 'cept for the one blade of grass up his brisket. No post-processing done.


cleaned that brisket for you

[M38A1]

That's great. Now what does it take for you to do the whole lawn, say.... once a week? :clap:

Thx-

[silvElise]

That's great. Now what does it take for you to do the whole lawn, say.... once a week? :clap:

Thx-

Ill be nice and do it for 50 bucks an hour which is a discount. The average yard (I hate yard work) figure about 4 hours.

So 200 to mow and edge a week?

Yeah that is why I pay my service 30 bucks biweekly :)

gives me time to enjoy my weekend :rider::rider:

[BexarWolf]

My spring submission for critique. No processing done. Taken back in July of '06 with my first "decent" digital.....Kodak Easyshare 5mp. lol

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/7654/picture005npu.jpg (http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture005npu.jpg)

[M38A1]

It's interesting how the near sunflower doesn't have the detail in each vane, but the one further back, does. That must be an exposure thing going on???

[BexarWolf]

It must be because I took several shots at different settings (like I always do with a new-to-me camera) and this one is the one with the blown out colors on the taller flower. It almost looks like I turned up the colors in PS but it's an untouched photo. <shrug>

[Tracker]

OK, I went out this afternoon. These were all taken within a mile of my house. Nice shooting day--moderately cloudy.

Critique, please. I'd also like to know what you think of my post-processing choices.

original shot in HIRES JPEG:
http://leavelles.smugmug.com/photos/491340128_n4F5D-M-1.jpg (http://photos.leavelles.net/photos/491340128_n4F5D-X2-1.jpg)

cropped & color adjusted:
http://leavelles.smugmug.com/photos/491339958_nru3L-M-1.jpg (http://photos.leavelles.net/photos/491339958_nru3L-X2-1.jpg)

original (shot in RAW)
http://leavelles.smugmug.com/photos/491339812_6KR6H-M.jpg (http://photos.leavelles.net/photos/491339812_6KR6H-X2.jpg)

cropped:
http://leavelles.smugmug.com/photos/491339833_GeGeQ-M.jpg (http://photos.leavelles.net/photos/491339833_GeGeQ-X2.jpg)

cropped slightly and paint.netted the white plastic bag hanging in the trees out.

http://leavelles.smugmug.com/photos/491339788_qzgdC-M.jpg (http://photos.leavelles.net/photos/491339788_qzgdC-X2.jpg)

[Tracker]

how to you display a smaller pic linked to a bigger pic on the forum, e.g. where the photo is a hyperlink to the bigger pic.

figgered it out. Use the image icon to create the "thumbnail", then highlight that and use the bigger photo link location to create a hyperlink of the first image.

[sparkyphotog]

It must be because I took several shots at different settings (like I always do with a new-to-me camera) and this one is the one with the blown out colors on the taller flower. It almost looks like I turned up the colors in PS but it's an untouched photo. <shrug>

Camera light meters are calibrated to a middle, or average grey tone. Something that is very bright like sand or snow, the camera meter will attempt to make grey, therefore it will under expose the scene. Something that is very dark the camera meter will attempt to make brighter, and will over expose the scene. In your sunflower picture above, there is a lot of green. My experience is the the normal tone for green from plants is about 2/3 to 1 stop darker then middle grey. Therefore, your camera meter over exposed the scene and blew out the highlights of the flower pedals. When there is a lot of green in the scene from plants and trees, I routinely set exposure compensation to -2/3 or -1 stop. That usually does the trick.

[Tracker]

It's interesting how the near sunflower doesn't have the detail in each vane, but the one further back, does. That must be an exposure thing going on???
and/or depth of field, maybe?

[BexarWolf]

Camera light meters are calibrated to a middle, or average grey tone. Something that is very bright like sand or snow, the camera meter will attempt to make grey, therefore it will under expose the scene. Something that is very dark the camera meter will attempt to make brighter, and will over expose the scene. In your sunflower picture above, there is a lot of green. My experience is the the normal tone for green from plants is about 2/3 to 1 stop darker then middle grey. Therefore, your camera meter over exposed the scene and blew out the highlights of the flower pedals. When there is a lot of green in the scene from plants and trees, I routinely set exposure compensation to -2/3 or -1 stop. That usually does the trick.

I agree 100%. The camera I was using was a "cheapo" for it's time 3 years ago and didn't have a lot of adjustments available. I'd love to have a DSLR but can't justify the cost right now so I settled for a new-to-me Canon SD950 IS. It's 12mp (a little more than necessary in a point and shoot) but it has a lot of user-adjustable settings. I'm still working with it to get what I need out of it but at least I can see what I did and make the adjustments there instead of the "shoot and pray" method I used to use.

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/1339/c9301362a.jpg (http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?image=c9301362a.jpg)

[dixonduke]

I did some shooting yesterday....

Still playing around with about 350 pictures.

Here a couple that adheres to the spring challenge. Although it was windy, 48 degree and raining in Woden most of the day.

Original, SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) f5.6, 1/125, ISO 400, 200mm
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/491732478_dZvQx-L.jpg

Cropped
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/491732535_zyVia-L.jpg

SOOC: f4.8, 1/400, ISO 400, 50mm
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/491743582_rvGs9-L.jpg

Cropped & Color tweaking
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/491742445_7CNYd-L.jpg

Comments/critique please....

[sparkyphotog]

I agree 100%. The camera I was using was a "cheapo" for it's time 3 years ago and didn't have a lot of adjustments available. I'd love to have a DSLR but can't justify the cost right now so I settled for a new-to-me Canon SD950 IS. It's 12mp (a little more than necessary in a point and shoot) but it has a lot of user-adjustable settings. I'm still working with it to get what I need out of it but at least I can see what I did and make the adjustments there instead of the "shoot and pray" method I used to use.

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/1339/c9301362a.jpg (http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?image=c9301362a.jpg)

It should have a fairly easily accessible exposure compensation setting. It will have a symbol like +/- on it. Nearly all point-n-shoot cameras, even many of the cheap ones, have this setting, though on some it may be buried in a menu.

[M38A1]

Here's a couple more I dug out from the depths of my hard-drive that are 'spring-ish'. Untouched at this point.

Nothing says Spring like Daytona, huh?
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/scooterstuff/daytna12.jpg

The springtime cactus is a great color basket
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/scooterstuff/07WillowCityLoop053.jpg

This old coach has been removed from Dripping Springs. It used to sit off Hwy 290 but is gone now.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/scooterstuff/07WillowCityLoop003.jpg

[Tracker]

I'd still like some critique on my shots, please.

dixonduke:
like the cardinals. That's a tough one to crop--probably try two or three different ones. The female seems to be the focal point to me, so I'd try putting her at a one of the "thirds", probably upper left. Might be worth a try:

m38a1:
although the event of Daytona is interesting, this picture doesn't tell me much of a story. :shrug:

on the catus, I'd try cropping it where the big flower center top is a 1/3 from the right, a 1/3 from the top

on the wagon, if you could have maneuvered your angle so the fencepost wasn't in front of the wagon, I think that might have been better. Also, I bet there were some interesting macro shots of the hardware on the wagon itself.

[M38A1]

I'd still like some critique on my shots, please.

You have an eye for the cropping part that I don't. The waterfall and bluebonnet look better in your post-processing. The colors seem to come out more which is something I need to work on. I like the water being blurred too. Bags in the trees? You did a find job of removing them. Heck, I couldn't see where they were to begin with.

I think this weekend I'll play with some color manipulation and see what happens.

[Tracker]

You have an eye for the cropping part that I don't. The waterfall and bluebonnet look better in your post-processing. The colors seem to come out more which is something I need to work on. I like the water being blurred too. Bags in the trees? You did a find job of removing them. Heck, I couldn't see where they were to begin with.

I think this weekend I'll play with some color manipulation and see what happens.

Thanks. I usually start my cropping efforts with the focus on the "thirds" and move my primary point of interest in the shot to one of those four points, depending on what tends to lead your eye to the primary point of interest. I find that usually helps in 90% of my shots. I try to shoot that way in the viewfinder, but sometimes that doesn't always work, especially if it's a quick shot from the hip.

The bag was just slightly in from the left edge, center vertically.

[StarWatcher]

Neat thread, I can tell we're going to see great shots!

How do we submit the final shots when the new submission thread opens up? Do we just insert a link to the full resolution image letting the user's Internet Browser do the subsampling on the fly or do we create an image of a certain size, say 1024x768 or what ever is necessary for either portrait or landscape orientation to fit the forum display and link to that?

--Mike

[M38A1]

Neat thread, I can tell we're going to see great shots!

How do we submit the final shots when the new submission thread opens up? Do we just insert a link to the full resolution image letting the user's Internet Browser do the subsampling on the fly or do we create an image of a certain size, say 1024x768 or what ever is necessary for either portrait or landscape orientation to fit the forum display and link to that?

--Mike

I'll start a new thread for this assignment a few days before close time. Posting of the picture in the thread would be preferred. You can always provide a cold link to the larger/full size image, or clickable to the larger version. For bandwidth considerations, let's try to keep them 1024x768 or less for actual posting in the thread.

[M38A1]

Man, these guys wings must be really fast......

Shot this one yesterday with my little P&S.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/scooterstuff/FAB019_sm.jpg

[StarWatcher]

I've read that the wing beat frequency can be around 200 beats per second so even if you wanted to limit your shot to 10% of wing's movement you'd have to shoot at 1/2000 of a second. I see the veins in the left (rear?) wing, what was your shutter speed?

--Mike

[M38A1]

I've read that the wing beat frequency can be around 200 beats per second so even if you wanted to limit your shot to 10% of wing's movement you'd have to shoot at 1/2000 of a second. I see the veins in the left (rear?) wing, what was your shutter speed?

--Mike

Mike,
That's good info to know for when I want to 'freeze' the wings.

This shot was:
f/5.0
1/360th
ISO 200
105mm

[poser]

I've got a few rodeo pics and a few pics from our church mission trip to Galveston this weekend I'll get up for critique.
For me post processing isn't a good option, I'm in need of a new monitor because the one I have is jacked. Haven't had real motivation to spend the money on a new one till now :lol2:
But I'll get them cropped and loaded.

[sharkey]

Thanks. I usually start my cropping efforts with the focus on the "thirds" and move my primary point of interest in the shot to one of those four points, depending on what tends to lead your eye to the primary point of interest. I find that usually helps in 90% of my shots. I try to shoot that way in the viewfinder, but sometimes that doesn't always work, especially if it's a quick shot from the hip.

The bag was just slightly in from the left edge, center vertically.

I liked the flower shot especially the cropped one. The one before w/ the mini waterfall is a bit blah and doesn't attract attention. The lower part is nothing to look at and the concrete seems to take away from the nature aspect? Maybe come in on an extreme close-up of the water and slow the shutter for a dreamy effect?

M38A1 - I like the frog shot with or without the blade of grass. You're eyes are quickly drawn to the frog.

I guess I'll drag the Canon bodies outta of the closet Sat. and participate.

FYI: For you nature lovers out there, get a photo book from John Shaw on amazon. He takes some outstanding images.

[ctoons]

Man, these guys wings must be really fast......

Shot this one yesterday with my little P&S.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/scooterstuff/FAB019_sm.jpg

That looks a lot like one I took last week.
http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss23/ctoons/Spring/bee.jpg

another shot of the same tree:
http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss23/ctoons/Spring/blooms.jpg

I have an Olympus SP 350. I know absolutely nothing about the settings yet, so all my pics are point and shoot.

[beardking]

These last few posts are KILLING my allergies. :)



(I have nothing better to add to the thread currently, but I like to keep up on it, so this was my way to subscribe.

[Azylum]

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m81/zcarninja/my%20photos/31909023.jpg

[ctoons]

Taken today
http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss23/ctoons/Spring/Lizard.jpg

From last year- Easter Sunrise Service on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss23/ctoons/Spring/P3230144.jpg

[poser]

one of these will be my submission for the first round.
as always any and all comments / critiques are appreciated...

http://thebohacpage.smugmug.com/photos/495414813_RMn2d-XL.jpg

http://thebohacpage.smugmug.com/photos/495415705_qcw8F-XL.jpg

http://thebohacpage.smugmug.com/photos/495416345_wXGze-XL.jpg

thanks!

[dixonduke]

Those are some really nice shots. I like the caddy pic a lot, I think #2 is my favorite though.

[poser]

Those are some really nice shots. I like the caddy pic a lot, I think #2 is my favorite though.

Thanks! yeah the caddy one is pretty cool, but I'm with you I think the blue bird house is my favorite

[Tracker]

I like both the sailboat and birdhouse shots.

I'd crop the first picture along the top edge so only green background shows behind the boat.

I like the birdhouse. Interesting textures. Did you try any angles on the birdhouse to get a less busy background? The house is slightly distracting to me.

[poser]

I like both the sailboat and birdhouse shots.

I'd crop the first picture along the top edge so only green background shows behind the boat.

I like the birdhouse. Interesting textures. Did you try any angles on the birdhouse to get a less busy background? The house is slightly distracting to me.

I have a few other angles, though I like this one best, personally I like the house in the background being out of focus.

I'll post some of the others

[Tracker]

Poser,
I can see how the house could add to the picture.

My opinions and $2.38 will get you a cup of coffee. If I was a professional photog, I wouldn't be in IT. :shrug:

[poser]

Poser,
I can see how the house could add to the picture.

My opinions and $2.38 will get you a cup of coffee. If I was a professional photog, I wouldn't be in IT. :shrug:

I wasn't trying to knock your opinion, I heard others say that, but i thought the house was cool, and when taking the pics i was trying to get it in the background. I may try and crop one of the other shots so its not so noticable.

[M38A1]

Here's a curveball...... Spring can mean other things too!

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/TxBBQRub/09Dad_84055.jpg

[dixonduke]

I'll Be right over! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[poser]

I'll Be right over! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

:drool::eat::drool::eat::drool::eat:
I'm right behind you!

[M38A1]

So this evening I decided to see if the birds wanted to play for some Spring test shots.....

Nikon D40x with the 18-200VR. Yeah, I think I'm enjoying my lens again.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/TxBowHunter/PA01_c.jpg

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/TxBowHunter/PA01_b.jpg

[Azylum]

i took this one last night just after sunset while on a scavenger hunt:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m81/zcarninja/my%20photos/32109283.jpg

[anaconda]

I wish I had read this thread earlier! I would have taken some of yesterday's and today's photos with a little different perspective and have something to enter. Still, let me post a couple in here since this is the non-contest thread--how (early) spring can mean different things to people depending on where you are....

Like...to some people spring is finally being able to take your kayak out in the fjords...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/anaconda_aggie/misc2/kayak.jpg


Or that it might be the first day of spring, but over here it still looks like winter to me!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/anaconda_aggie/misc2/landscape.jpg

[anaconda]

So this evening I decided to see if the birds wanted to play for some Spring test shots.....

Nikon D40x with the 18-200VR. Yeah, I think I'm enjoying my lens again.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/TxBowHunter/PA01_c.jpg

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/TxBowHunter/PA01_b.jpg


Looking good!! Did you do something to your lens?

[M38A1]

Looking good!! Did you do something to your lens?

No, but I wasn't pleased with some of the performance I've been having of late. Specifically, at the max 200mm or down at 18mm I didn't think it was tack sharp like a lot of other folks pictures I've seen. So Brian took it for a week and shot the heck out of it while I read the tech specs at www.slrgear.com and it turns out I learned one lens can't do it all like I thought. The reviews of the lens were spot on with with Brian found and the reviews that down on the low end and at the upper end of focal length it washes out a bit more than the 'sweet spot' around135mm and f/5.6. Brian shot some amazing pictures with my setup so it's the person behind the camera/lens, not the gear!

So I shoot A priority all the time at f/5.6 around 135mm and the bird pics are the result.

[Tourmeister]

how to you display a smaller pic linked to a bigger pic on the forum, e.g. where the photo is a hyperlink to the bigger pic.

figgered it out. Use the image icon to create the "thumbnail", then highlight that and use the bigger photo link location to create a hyperlink of the first image.

You can create two images, one small for the thumbnail and one larger for linking OR... you can just use the image attachment feature of the post editor to attach your image and it will automatically create a thumbnail and link to the larger original image. However, there are display and file size limitations on attached images.



Cropped & Color tweaking
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/491742445_7CNYd-L.jpg

Comments/critique please....

I like pics like this... Neat textures, good color, and a perspective we don't normally see from with the naked eye.

So this evening I decided to see if the birds wanted to play for some Spring test shots.....

Nikon D40x with the 18-200VR. Yeah, I think I'm enjoying my lens again.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/TxBowHunter/PA01_c.jpg

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg237/M38A1_bucket/TxBowHunter/PA01_b.jpg

I got to play around with the 18-200VR this weekend. Between that and these shots... It's killing me!

[dixonduke]

Some shots I took today.... Although I am having some difficulty getting the correct ones to upload. Seems that I can only upload them as they come out of the camera, and not my color corrected ones. I know I missing a check box somewhere, but oh well... here it goes.

Color correction & Crop
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/496845079_PtyuG-L.png

Color correction
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/496835867_4naC3-L.png

Straight Off Camera
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/496864592_QtAoH-L.png

Straight Off Camera
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/496863721_vxCrX-L.png

Straight Off Camera
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/496865414_CNXB7-L.png

[Tourmeister]

So Duke, when you say color correction, what exactly do you mean?

[dixonduke]

So Duke, when you say color correction, what exactly do you mean?

That I boosted the saturation levels a little bit.

SOOC vs. Playing With Colors (Color Correction/Manipulation)
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/496990748_NuVU7-M.pnghttp://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/496845079_PtyuG-M.png

[Tourmeister]

That I boosted the saturation levels a little bit.

SOOC vs. Playing With Colors (Color Correction/Manipulation)
http://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/496990748_NuVU7-M.pnghttp://r1200gsa.smugmug.com/photos/496845079_PtyuG-M.png

So basically what you are doing is playing with the colors until the captured image looks to your mind like what the actual object looked like to your eyes?

[dixonduke]

So basically what you are doing is playing with the colors until the captured image looks to your mind like what the actual object looked like to your eyes?

As best as I can. In some cases I think I can manipulate the image to look better.. But that is very subjective, and I am really just learning how to use the programs I have acquired.

[Tourmeister]

The following images were all straight off the camera with no post processing. I was using my Nikon 55-200 VR lens. Default settings for camera.

F8.0 1/2500 sec IS0 1600 200mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0024.jpg

F8.0 1/2500 sec IS0 1600 200mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0025.jpg

F8.0 1/2000 sec IS0 1600 200mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0026.jpg

F8.0 1/2000 sec IS0 1600 200mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0027.jpg

F8.0 1/2500 sec IS0 1600 200mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0029.jpg

F8.0 1/2000 sec IS0 1600 200mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0030.jpg

F8.0 1/2500 sec IS0 1600 200mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0031.jpg

F8.0 1/4000 sec IS0 1100 86mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0035.jpg

F8.0 1/4000 sec IS0 1600 86mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0036.jpg

F8.0 1/4000 sec IS0 1600 82mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0042.jpg

F8.0 1/2000 sec IS0 1600 92mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0047.jpg

F8.0 1/1600 sec IS0 1600 165mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0051.jpg

F8.0 1/1600 sec IS0 1600 122mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0056.jpg

F8.0 1/1600 sec IS0 1600 98mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0059.jpg

F8.0 1/2000 sec IS0 1600 98mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0067.jpg

F8.0 1/3200 sec IS0 1600 98mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0081.jpg

F8.0 1/2500 sec IS0 1600 65mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0082.jpg

F8.0 1/2500 sec IS0 1600 120mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0087.jpg

F8.0 1/500 sec IS0 1600 175mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0100.jpg

F8.0 1/500 sec IS0 1600 55mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0102.jpg

F8.0 1/500 sec IS0 1600 180mm
http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/PhotoContest001/DSC_0105.jpg

[M38A1]

Scott-
You too have an 'eye' for framing I haven't developed yet. Nice shots.

I think if you ran your ISO down from 1600 to say, 400 or less, you'd notice a significant difference in quality with reduced 'grain' in the pictures. It's a trade-off between shutter speed, aprature and ISO with the available light, but it looks to me you could come down some on ISO and pick up the colors a bit better.

[Tourmeister]

Well, I was not controlling the ISO. I just let the camera pick that. I was surprised to see it so high though... I understand the concepts of how aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, and film speed are related, but I am not good at applying those concepts except in a crude manner.

As for the framing, those are all cropped images, especially the bee pictures. I just look at the original image and try to cut away the distractions. I should spend more time cropping all my images, particularly those from ride reports. I tend to just do a batch resize and maybe a batch rotate, but that is it. I don't mess with the images at all.

[txbanditrydr]

Cropping of a picture using software is a ton of fun and can really make the difference between a snapshot and a photograph. Newcomers to digital photography tend to get lulled by this power - something we didn't have when taking the roll into a processing kiosk. As a result, the photographer gets lazy... loses viewfinder awareness and starts getting sloppy with composition because they can simply crop out the unwanted elements later.

One of the main reasons for a DSLR is you get to see what you shoot before actually taking the picture. Once the love affair with post picture processing wanes the photographer will start concentrating on in-camera cropping... maybe walking over a few feet or changing to a longer lens to compress certain details. This will usually result in a higher success ratio of quality pictures taken.

Less cropping means more pixels to play with. Free-hand cropping also leads to goofy aspect ratios that might look nice on a computer screen but won't fit in any picture frame unless it's custom made. Some more common ratios are 3:2 (6"x4" print) and 5:4 (8"x10" print) and sometimes a picture will look better with one ratio and not another due to added/subtracted elements. Always keep a copy of the original shot in case you need to make a specific ratio of crop later.

[Tourmeister]

Cropping of a picture using software is a ton of fun and can really make the difference between a snapshot and a photograph. Newcomers to digital photography tend to get lulled by this power - something we didn't have when taking the roll into a processing kiosk. As a result, the photographer gets lazy... loses viewfinder awareness and starts getting sloppy with composition because they can simply crop out the unwanted elements later.

One of the main reasons for a DSLR is you get to see what you shoot before actually taking the picture. Once the love affair with post picture processing wanes the photographer will start concentrating on in-camera cropping... maybe walking over a few feet or changing to a longer lens to compress certain details. This will usually result in a higher success ratio of quality pictures taken.

Less cropping means more pixels to play with. Free-hand cropping also leads to goofy aspect ratios that might look nice on a computer screen but won't fit in any picture frame unless it's custom made. Some more common ratios are 3:2 (6"x4" print) and 5:4 (8"x10" print) and sometimes a picture will look better with one ratio and not another due to added/subtracted elements. Always keep a copy of the original shot in case you need to make a specific ratio of crop later.

:tab Very true. I use a two level approach. First I try to do the cropping through the view finder like you mention, by moving back or getting closer, zooming in or out, and changing my location. However, the camera forces a particular rectangular aspect ratio, horizontal or vertical. So I try to do what I can within these constraints. Then once I get the image, I look at it again and do a software crop if I think it makes for a better image. However, I ALWAYS save all my original images in case I want to make changes later, say for making the image fit a standard print out size for framing. Some programs will force the crop to maintain a particular aspect ratio if you want.

:tab Another thing I try to do is to focus on everything in the viewfinder and not just the subject. This helps me keep distracting stuff out of the picture... sometimes. There is not always time to make a perfect composition and still capture the moment. Like most things in life, perfection is the goal but more often than not, compromise is the reality :doh:

[Tracker]

The robins were out today.

http://leavelles.smugmug.com/photos/500598283_Y2XWz-XL.jpg

cropped down. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave many pixels for larger prints.

http://leavelles.smugmug.com/photos/500610076_npKpc-O.jpg