Perpetual Photography Thread

wire · Post by **wire** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:53 pm

Trying my hand at taking pictures of our Christmas tree ornaments.

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 6:37 pm

Those turned out quite well, wire. Third is my favorite. I love the (lack of) dept of field. The first one has a nice translucency to the ornament that makes it look like it is glowing.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:46 am

They all do seem to have that nice glow of the season. I prefer the first one due to the composition and probably liking the ornament more. On the third I like how you used the bokeh/out of focus areas to your advantage, nice work.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:21 pm

I took this snapshot out my hotel window in Copenhagen a couple of weeks ago. Really more to show my kids the snow, but when I went back and did a little pp, I found it was one of my favorite pics from the whole trip. Although nothing special, something about the composition is pleasing, and the four red lights are visually interesting (imo).

Sometimes my best shots are unintentional.

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:19 pm

No image for me, carpet_pissr.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:49 pm

Curse. PicasaWeb is blocking that, yet Flickr doesn't? Interesting.

OK, here's a link then, hope it works:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kbedwardz/C ... 5713038770" target="_blank

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 2:12 pm

Here we go Carpet_pissr...

Well it just doesn't work, no idea why heh.

I dig the selective color and the obvious falling snow in the streetlights is easily my favorite part. I can see why you ended up liking this one. And 3200 ISO!

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 3:01 pm

Thank you sir.

If I were a photoshop jockey with time on my hands, I would have done the selective coloring the proper way (just the lights), but as you can see, I got the back end of a car too.

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:21 pm

I'm love love loving my new D90. Thank you once again to all the advice in my camera purchase thread.

Here's one of my favorites from my very first shoot when I gave the camera's low light performance a trial by fire:

Some from my family's visit to the newly revamped California Academy of Sciences, another available light test for the camera:

And from Pete Rock's pet picture thread (lolcatted up by popular demand), another one from my experimental shoot the first day I got the camera:

wire · Post by **wire** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:32 pm

Nice shots...what lens are you using?

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:43 pm

The fixed 50mm f/1.4D. I'm pretty sure all of the ones I posted are with the aperture wide open.

wire · Post by **wire** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:04 pm

wonderpug wrote:The fixed 50mm f/1.4D. I'm pretty sure all of the ones I posted are with the aperture wide open.

I've been trying to figure out what lens I need to get next and I'm really leaning towards a prime 50mm 1.4 or maybe a Lensbaby Composer or both

I'm making my list of photography gear and software I want and I may need a 3rd job.

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 1:37 am

Nice images wondepug. The depth of field is really small on that lens. I have a 1.2 50mm and it's crazy. Unfortunately, mine is a Minolta lens and is manual focus only. You've got some great color on them, too. The fish and the little one are great.

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 11:22 am

wire wrote:I've been trying to figure out what lens I need to get next and I'm really leaning towards a prime 50mm 1.4 or maybe a Lensbaby Composer or both

I'm making my list of photography gear and software I want and I may need a 3rd job.

Those Lensbabies look really really fun, but at this point I think I need to build my collection of workhorse lenses, filters, and accessories before I start investing in the more niche creative fun photography toys. Someday.

EvilHomer3k wrote:Nice images wondepug. The depth of field is really small on that lens. I have a 1.2 50mm and it's crazy. Unfortunately, mine is a Minolta lens and is manual focus only. You've got some great color on them, too. The fish and the little one are great.

Thanks! I was thrilled with how well the lens handled in low light, but yeah, the depth of field is crazy small; I can't imagine how tiny it must be on the f/1.2 wide open. It can be a great effect, but you definitely do have to be careful. I never used to have to worry about whether I focused on someone's nose instead of their eye.

Sectoid · Post by **Sectoid** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 11:38 am

wonderpug wrote:
wire wrote:I've been trying to figure out what lens I need to get next and I'm really leaning towards a prime 50mm 1.4 or maybe a Lensbaby Composer or both

I'm making my list of photography gear and software I want and I may need a 3rd job.
Those Lensbabies look really really fun, but at this point I think I need to build my collection of workhorse lenses, filters, and accessories before I start investing in the more niche creative fun photography toys. Someday.

EvilHomer3k wrote:Nice images wondepug. The depth of field is really small on that lens. I have a 1.2 50mm and it's crazy. Unfortunately, mine is a Minolta lens and is manual focus only. You've got some great color on them, too. The fish and the little one are great.
Thanks! I was thrilled with how well the lens handled in low light, but yeah, the depth of field is crazy small; I can't imagine how tiny it must be on the f/1.2 wide open. It can be a great effect, but you definitely do have to be careful. I never used to have to worry about whether I focused on someone's nose instead of their eye.

Yeah, it gets even more fun when you have a manual focus and you find it is easier to move your head back and forth to adjust the depth of field correctly instead of changing the focus. Looks like a chicken trying to take a picture.

Lensbabies are very niche. You can get some interesting effects with them, but I find you can do the same in Photoshop without them. If you found one on Ebay dirt cheap it might be worth picking up. Otherwise, your plan of getting "workhorse" glass is the way to go.

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 1:26 pm

I didn't know programs like autostitch could use more than a couple of pictures to make a panoramic, or I would have taken more shots of the sky to get more of the double arc.

I didn't do much color correction. The background are grey clouds, so I really don't have much to work with. Any help would be appreciated. I didn't upload the full-size files.

Sectoid · Post by **Sectoid** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:49 pm

Very nice, Bakhtosh! I like the first one the most.

Clanwolfer · Post by **Clanwolfer** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:57 pm

This is my first time showing my rookie photography skills off outside family, so be gentle.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:09 pm

Got the D40 and figured I'd warm up a bit today. Only had time to spend 20 minutes or so in the field behind my house. Nothing exciting, the lighting was not all that interesting but what the heck.

I only shot on auto today and I'll rtfm tomorrow or shortly so I'll be able to actually adjust things.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 10:40 pm

Ahh, nothing like a minty-fresh photon bucket... enjoy!

Looking great for auto settings, the lens looks sharp eh?

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:17 pm

Enough wrote:Ahh, nothing like a minty-fresh photon bucket... enjoy!

Looking great for auto settings, the lens looks sharp eh?

Yeah, I was using the 55-200 zoom. I haven't shot with an SLR in at least 15 years, and so there is a bit of a transition. I'm looking forward to figuring it out again.

The third picture of the rocks my son had found and put up on our retaining wall, was just me messing around with focusing on the front/middle/rear rock. I picked the latter, but it's all experimenting for right now.

wire · Post by **wire** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:23 am

I've been doing a lot of lightbox work for my 365 Project. Here are a few that I enjoy that I've taken recently.

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:00 am

Very cool! Even the smoke one alone makes me want to build my own lightbox.

Clanwolfer wrote:This is my first time showing my rookie photography skills off outside family, so be gentle.

Somehow missed this when you first posted it, but I think the shot turned out really well!

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:17 am

I'll post a couple since I've been interested in photography awhile, if somewhat limited by time and equipment. Here are a few photos I took over in Italy a couple of years ago. I think they turned out fairly well given that they were taken with a point-and-shoot Olympus C-450.

Canal in Venice

The Castello in Vernazza

Overlooking Vernazza in the Cinque Terre

I'm particularly interested in image editing methods, like how to get rid of the blue haze over the mountains in the background in the last photo. Any way to do that?

Just picked up a Nikon D40 a few weeks ago, so I'll be very interested to start learning that and see how the photos improve.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:46 pm

Baha!! I has your ducks!!

Canon SD750 point and shoot, overcast at dusk.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:26 pm

You've got to get one of the ducks diving by the "No Diving" sign!

Here's my first night shot with my new Tokina 11-16 F2.8 (of my sister's home that they designed/built themselves):

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:49 pm

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:00 am

Jeff V wrote:

anyone else cold?

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:58 pm

My little brother bought a D60 for his trip to Rwanda/Congo back in November, and showed me a few things up at my dad's cabin over the weekend. One thing was the continuous shooting mode. Great for catching the kiddo's in action, or even, I found, for taking portrait type shots as it lets you pick the best of the bunch based on subtle differences. Here are a few action shots when I was messing around.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:18 pm

I like the one where both feet are off the ground.

Yeah, continuous shooting mode is also good for some wild-life shooting, for the same reason.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:58 pm

Thought I would get everyone thinking of warmer times.

Taken from my recent trip to Captiva Island, FL.

Malificent · Post by **Malificent** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:06 pm

A few recent ones since the last time I posted that I'm proud of:

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:41 pm

I love that train tracks image, very nice! I especially like how you composed it to have the tracks peaking on a hill in the foreground and then disappearing into out of focus areas in the background, it helps creates a feeling of depth. Well seen.

zinckiwi · Post by **zinckiwi** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:44 pm

One of Trouble Number One and Trouble Number Two:

Trouble Number One trying her first PB&J:

Sectoid · Post by **Sectoid** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 2:27 pm

zinckiwi, that last shot definitely looks like trouble. Actually, looks like a Batman villain enjoying a PB&J. Nice shots all around as usual!
Had a Midterm in my photography class this past week, you can check out the shots on my Flickr. They kinda hang together well, but there are a few weak ones. For those not on Flickr, here are my two favs:

soup · Post by **soup** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 7:35 am

Speaking of train tracks...
Got lucky the other day with some good lighting.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:23 am

That's a great shot soup. Looks like an FPS.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:50 pm

ya I was thinking Stalker.

Grimwar · Post by **Grimwar** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:13 pm

I just recently started photography, so I am not a pro by any means, but here are a few of my favorites I took this weekend...

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:13 am

Austin wrote:That's a great shot soup. Looks like an FPS.

Or an album cover. Just drop in a brooding band in the corner and you're all set.