Photography

comicIDIOT · Posted: 03 Mar 2012 02:14:50 am Post subject:

Any votes as too which one I should frame? I'm going for the very top or the center of the lower nine.

Wow, it's apparent here that Facebook increased the image size since I uploaded the individual photos to Facebook.
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-Alex

KermMartian · Posted: 03 Mar 2012 11:22:43 am Post subject:

Hmm, I vote for the very top with the solitary tree. Nice landscapes!
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comicIDIOT · Posted: 04 Mar 2012 03:03:03 am Post subject:

Thanks, I hope to get them all framed as I have the wall space in my room to do it. But, I don't have the closet space. Since my photo project of photographing a wall-mural calendar will take a considerable about of wall space; I'll have about 43 frames on the wall - 5 rows for the weeks, one row for the day and one for the month. And I'll just switch the months out and rearrange the numbers within the weeks as we enter each month.
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-Alex

comicIDIOT · Posted: 17 Mar 2012 06:30:54 pm Post subject:

Took a photo this passed Monday with my DSLR. Just transferred it over to my iPad and edited it using Snapseed and using Lightroom on my computer. Top is Snapseed, lower is Lightroom.

Snapseed is severely limited when compared to Lightroom: Destructive editing, no color correction, limited adjustments and no exposure control (just brightness). I do like how it auto-selects portions of the image when using "local adjustments," the grass, clouds, road and sky are four different adjustments, with some cross selection with the grass & road due to how the selection works. I wasn't able to "paint" or select what would be selected. My only control was the start - which the program selected parts of an image from - and the radius of the adjustment circle, wherein everything similar was selected and couldn't be deselected.

I definitely prefer the Lightroom copy over the Snapseed version but it's a pretty powerful program as it stands. Luckily, I got it for free from a Starbucks promotion. So my dissatisfaction isn't disappointment \o/

Not related to anything but man, I had a blast coming down the hill/mountain; My speed demon was thoroughly satisfied.
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-Alex

_player1537 · Guru-in-Training Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Posts: 2958

Not saying anything you don't already know, but the top one is really off in terms of the colors. I really like the other one, though. The grass stayed green and realistic, and the road stayed dirty, as if people have been down it (instead of the other one, where it looks brand new and orange). I am curious how the second one would look with a darker blue sky, though.
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comicIDIOT · Posted: 17 Mar 2012 07:00:20 pm Post subject:

I'll give it a shot tomorrow!
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-Alex

ParkerR · Member Joined: 15 Nov 2010 Posts: 135

Finally decided to try a little HDR. Using my Nikon s3000, I took a high, normal, and low exposure picture while trying to keep the camera still. (harder to accomplish with a point-and-shoot). Then fed the three to Photoshop and messed with the merge to HDR. Tried 3 presets and the last I just dragged most of the values up.

Default preset

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71679/HDR/Untitled_HDR2.jpg

More saturated preset

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71679/HDR/Untitled_HDR3.jpg

Photorealistic high contrast preset

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71679/HDR/Untitled_HDR4.jpg

Custom preset

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71679/HDR/Untitled_HDR5.jpg

comicIDIOT · Posted: 22 Mar 2012 02:36:46 am Post subject:

Those are great examples of HDR. The second is pretty much perfect except the lack of contrast - it looks rather flat. The the photorealistic high contrast one adds the contrast but it looses any HDR affect. If the foreground trees were a bit more exposed and the sky had more detail it would be a great shot. Look into purchasing a circular polarizer and shoot in RAW if you have the capabilities to edit it.

You mentioned photoshop so you'll definitely have the software and it's not processor intensive to edit RAW. You can also fake an HDR with a single raw, but I find better freedom in shooting three or so exposures in RAW, editing for color and such then saving as a TIF or DNG before continuing to HDR. Also, Photoshop isn't great at making HDRs, invest in Photomatix if this is something you have interest in pursuing.

Some say HDRs aren't photographs, but there are some neat photographs with that are HDR, and a lot of landscape photographers use at least some level of HDR processing these days, sadly. I've been happy with my Circular Polarizer and a few tweaks in Lightroom to satisfy my landscapes.
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-Alex

allynfolksjr · Minor Calculator Deity Joined: 20 Apr 2005 Posts: 1273

(I think HDR pictures look silly, but that's a discussion for another day)

After dinking around with film SLRs for a few years while going on sort of a photographic vision quest, I've finally decided that I'm ready to go back into the world of digital photography. To that end, a nice shiny Canon 60D and Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 lens were added to my collection. Here are some early test shots:

Birds by allynfolksjr, on Flickr

Shoes by allynfolksjr, on Flickr

The "Brick" by allynfolksjr, on Flickr

Living Room View by allynfolksjr, on Flickr

Early impressions: the noise is sexy and smooth on the body, and the AF performance (especially on fast lenses) is spot-on.
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elfprince13 · Posted: 24 Apr 2012 11:32:19 pm Post subject:

I think the lamp is my favorite feature of those 4 photos. It looks really weirdly good for being a lamp.
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comicIDIOT · Posted: 06 May 2012 04:08:52 pm Post subject:

KermMartian · Posted: 07 May 2012 10:29:32 am Post subject:

Still looks pretty nice to me. Sadly, we had a cloudy evening in NYC, so the supermoon wasn't visible. Nikky, nice job on those digital photos; I particularly like the hipster shoes. Fun fact: I was cool before it was cool, wearing Converse sneakers back when I was in elementary school. Back then I was mocked; today I would be lauded. Razz

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comicIDIOT · Posted: 08 May 2012 01:07:01 am Post subject:

May 15th is the 3rd Leg of the AMGEN Tour de California bike race going rom South to North California. The 3rd leg will go from San Jose to Livermore.

Two years ago I captured the photo below and last year I opted not to traverse Mount Hamilton for a picture. This year they'll be on my favorite road, Calaveras, where the below picture was shot. So, I'll be back there again. Hoping to one up myself.

My 18-55mm EF-S is out on loan in China with my sister and I got my 50mm EF lens after this was taken (on my camera it will be closer to a 85mm EF-S due to the sensor size) so getting up there early and setting up a great angle will be key. I have no plans to go up prior to the 15th. It starts at 11am in downtown so they'll be by my position around noon. I plan to be at the same corner as the photo below by 10a and ready by 11.

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-Alex

comicIDIOT · Posted: 15 May 2012 11:56:28 pm Post subject:

I wasn't pleased with the photos I got and with the weather. It was way to sunny this year. Harsh shadows hurt quite a bit.

I originally wanted a photo in the same place as the above, and camped out for quite a while there but like I said, the shadows were quite harsh and it'd be a pain to expose for racers in the sun, in the shade and in both so I moved the the next turn and shot them coming up the hill in full sun.

This was the third stage, of eight, from San Jose to Livermore. Next they're headed from Sonora to Clovis, more info here.
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-Alex

christop · Posted: 17 May 2012 02:24:51 pm Post subject:

comicIDIOT · Posted: 17 May 2012 03:34:34 pm Post subject:

It is exactly what I'm referring to. Smile

I have a crop sensor camera so the 50mm EF is the equivalent of an 85mm EF-S when attached to my T1i.

It won't get that hot here, but our lack of clouds is pitiful.
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-Alex

christop · Posted: 17 May 2012 06:22:10 pm Post subject:

Ah, ok. It just sounded like you were saying that EF-S somehow affects the focal length differently than other mounts, when in reality a 50mm EF lens would have the same focal length and field of view as a 50mm EF-s lens when used on the same body. Likewise, an 18mm EF lens is the same as an 18mm EF-S lens (on the same body). The EF-S lenses just can't be used on a full-frame camera without modifying either the lens or the camera.

Speaking of 50mm, I recently bought a Canon EF 50mm 1.8 Mk II on eBay! So now I have a good portrait lens for my 10D. It also came with a Rebel 2000 film camera.

Anybody want a Rebel 2000 for the cost of shipping? It's not really worth the hassle of listing it back on eBay (I'd be lucky to get $10 for it). Plus I haven't tested it so it might not even work. It looks like a decent camera if it works. If nobody wants it I can save it for my kids when they get older. Smile

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Christopher Williams

comicIDIOT · Posted: 05 Jun 2012 03:52:42 am Post subject:

Did you manage to find a home for the 2000? I don't want it, as I have the Rebel G, but I'm curious.

Did some car photos tonight using my vacuum mount, stuck it on a my friends Datsun Z (since bought by Nissan and modernized as the Nissan Z). Here's a shot I got from my phone using a slow shutter app looking back at the camera & mount. Not nearly as good as the real thing which will come later on in the day.

Tomorrow I'll also be photographing the transit of Venus across the Sun! At least, attempt to. That was shot at 300mm with an aperture of ƒ/45 and a shutter of 1/4000th. I plan to stack all my neutral density filters and an infrared filter on there for good measure, as the image I linked to wasn't aided by any filters. Maybe my red filter for B&W photography since that itself cuts the light down by a quarter.

I'll see what the results bring Smile

I plan on testing it out earlier in the day to get an idea but also during transit.
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-Alex

comicIDIOT · Posted: 05 Jun 2012 10:52:42 pm Post subject:

So, I stacked all of my neutral density, my Red B&W filter and my infrared filter. The ND's alone blocked at least 3 stops of light, 7 at the most. The IR blocked another 20 or more because of how dark it was AND since it blocked all visible light and the camera has it's own filter that blocks (most infrared) infrared light.

I took many shots this evening but my favorite is below.

And of course, the car photos!

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-Alex

christop · Posted: 06 Jun 2012 12:13:16 am Post subject:

Nice filter stack and Venus Transit photos!

All I got of the Venus Transit was this:

ISO100 230mm (cropped a lot) f/22 1/4000s, no filters, taken at 19:24 MST (02:24 GMT).

I tried to wait for the sun to be as close to the horizon as possible so the atmosphere would filter it out as much as possible, but the foreground (or middleground) eventually got in the way. I need to find a better spot for observing sunsets around here.

Oh, and I haven't found a new home for my Rebel 2000. It's just sitting on my dresser next to my 10D and Pentax ME. One of my kids will probably inherit it when they're old enough to appreciate photography.
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Christopher Williams