Perpetual Photography Thread

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 2:11 pm

I would love that as my desktop Enough. Do you have a link to a large version?

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:06 pm

Jag wrote:I would love that as my desktop Enough. Do you have a link to a large version?

I've been using an image of the ISS with all it's new panels, etc as my desktop for awhile. Maybe I should change mine as well. What desktop size do you need? Let me know and I will hook you up. And I hope you saw my comment about fooling around with picture controls to get more vivid shots like you are used to from your point and shoot.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:16 pm

Enough wrote:
Jag wrote:I would love that as my desktop Enough. Do you have a link to a large version?
I've been using an image of the ISS with all it's new panels, etc as my desktop for awhile. Maybe I should change mine as well. What desktop size do you need? Let me know and I will hook you up. And I hope you saw my comment about fooling around with picture controls to get more vivid shots like you are used to from your point and shoot.

1280x1024 or any close variation.

I saw the comment, I will definitely try that.

The Preacher · Post by **The Preacher** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:21 pm

Enough wrote:Jag, have you begun to explore the use of "picture controls" for your D5000? Nikon and other users have made available a number of different ones and the cam comes equiped with a number of them as well. If you miss the punchy colors of point and shoot I would try vivid, landscape, portrait, dxmodeiii and see if any of those trip your trigger. DSLRs tend to produce less punchy results by default in order to error on max headroom in the RAW file, thus when folks come from p and s to DSLR they often have your reaction. So give the picture control thing a shot and report back.

Is this something that can be achieved equally well in post-processing? Or do you get a better result at time of shot?

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:28 pm

The Preacher wrote:
Enough wrote:Jag, have you begun to explore the use of "picture controls" for your D5000? Nikon and other users have made available a number of different ones and the cam comes equiped with a number of them as well. If you miss the punchy colors of point and shoot I would try vivid, landscape, portrait, dxmodeiii and see if any of those trip your trigger. DSLRs tend to produce less punchy results by default in order to error on max headroom in the RAW file, thus when folks come from p and s to DSLR they often have your reaction. So give the picture control thing a shot and report back.
Is this something that can be achieved equally well in post-processing? Or do you get a better result at time of shot?

Much better result in post than at capture (but then all the "purists" can't say that the shot is unedited), that's why they configure DSLRs in part to default on less punchy colors. It always cracks me up on the "I shoot only unedited out of camera shots" like it's manly or something. Well fine, what picture curve, sharpness and other settings do you use and am I allowed to count my stuff as straight off the camera if I load a custom curve into my camera? For me setting up the camera so it does it all internally is what you do when you don't want to be bothered with post or are in a hurry. And as Jag and many others here are parents out taking snapshots of kiddos I don't think they want to mess in post-processing, thus my nudge to play with picture controls.

It depends on the photo but usually a quick contrast curve can go a long ways in post. Perhaps someone will want to post what they feel is a flat photo and I can do a workflow you can do in post to punch it up a bit.

Malificent · Post by **Malificent** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:31 pm

Enough,

Would you mind briefly chiming in on what was involved in taking that shot? Settings, prep, etc?

The Preacher · Post by **The Preacher** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:01 pm

BTW, without resurrecting the other thread, my new toy is on the truck: D5000 kit.

Thoughts on good beginner books?

Malificent · Post by **Malificent** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:52 pm

The Preacher wrote:BTW, without resurrecting the other thread, my new toy is on the truck: D5000 kit.

Thoughts on good beginner books?

I liked:

Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Vol 1 and 2
Good, easy to read books that are focused on explaining "If you want this kind of shot, you should turn your dial here, aim here, press this button." As he says, written in the style of a friend explaining how to take a shot rather than talking a lot about theory. Good way to get into the photo taking process without getting overly theoretical.

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman
This book was absolutely fantastic, but it is definitely more theory oriented - what are the "rules" of composition, what should you be thinking about when framing a shot, etc? This isn't going to explain a lot as far as technical details of your camera, but I think it will definitely help produce good photos.

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson
Very good book for understanding exposure and light and how to use it creatively as well as technical aspects of ISO, shutter speed, aperture and more.

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:28 pm

Jag wrote:
Enough wrote:
Jag wrote:I would love that as my desktop Enough. Do you have a link to a large version?
I've been using an image of the ISS with all it's new panels, etc as my desktop for awhile. Maybe I should change mine as well. What desktop size do you need? Let me know and I will hook you up. And I hope you saw my comment about fooling around with picture controls to get more vivid shots like you are used to from your point and shoot.
1280x1024 or any close variation.

I saw the comment, I will definitely try that.

Jag, I think you mean 1920x1200.

(i.e. can I have one too, Dad?)

I think a lot of photographers who talk about out of camera being manly are older photographers with a film background. Today half of the artistry is in post processing.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:03 am

EvilHomer3k wrote:
Jag wrote:
Enough wrote:
Jag wrote:I would love that as my desktop Enough. Do you have a link to a large version?
I've been using an image of the ISS with all it's new panels, etc as my desktop for awhile. Maybe I should change mine as well. What desktop size do you need? Let me know and I will hook you up. And I hope you saw my comment about fooling around with picture controls to get more vivid shots like you are used to from your point and shoot.
1280x1024 or any close variation.

I saw the comment, I will definitely try that.
Jag, I think you mean 1920x1200. (i.e. can I have one too, Dad?)

I think a lot of photographers who talk about out of camera being manly are older photographers with a film background. Today half of the artistry is in post processing.

Agreed on both accounts.

I made one at 1920 at 100 dpi, I think this should work for both of you. Thanks so much for the kind words all. I'm sure it's not entirely risk-free shooting from a car with the metal camera hanging on the metal window mount, but damn it was fun.

Viewed this large you can just make out the primrose flowers in the shaded foreground and a few stars above. Hope this size works for everyone, if not let me know and I will see what I can do.

@Malificent, for shooting and post process I promise to revisit that next time.

Major congrats on joining the DSLR club Preach! Also look into Thom Hogan's guide for the D5000. I noticed it does say on his site that he is writing one, so I would guess it will be out fairly soon. Buy this especially if you want a layman's take on your manual that passes the lift test, he is excellent at evaluating Nikon cameras and writing user guides with recommended settings for given situations and lots of learning about everything photography/DSLR sprinkled in.

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:54 am

Thanks, Enough. Looks great.

Malificent · Post by **Malificent** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 10:51 am

Enough wrote:
@Malificent, for shooting and post process I promise to revisit that next time.

Heh, you're not on call. No promises necessary - I just think lightning shots are ridiculously cool, but have no idea how I would take one.

Jag · Post by **Jag** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:07 am

Welcome to the D5000 club Preacher. We'll have to compare notes.

I just got a new work PC complete with a great looking new wallpaper. Those dark blue clouds just look great on the desktop. It was worth risking your life for my enjoyment. Thanks Enough

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:47 am

A different take on grassland tstorms again from night before last (be sure to click through to large size for star viewing):

Malificent · Post by **Malificent** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 4:59 pm

Bump for a couple of shots from last night (click through to the larger versions):

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:05 pm

Those look awesome. Don't mean to criticize because I think they look great overall, but are the sloped horizons intentional?

Malificent · Post by **Malificent** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:00 pm

wonderpug wrote:Those look awesome. Don't mean to criticize because I think they look great overall, but are the sloped horizons intentional?

Criticize away, please - and no, it was very dark and so I had a hard time telling whether I was level - the area was completely non lighted and I forgot to bring a flashlight - I need to go back into the latter two for sure and crop and adjust the horizon a little more. The top one, the moon ended up being so close to the top and the fisherman so close to the bottom, I'm not sure I can adjust without losing key elements of the photo. But the not quite even horizon is definitely not intentional. Something to work on.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:13 pm

Malificent wrote:
wonderpug wrote:Those look awesome. Don't mean to criticize because I think they look great overall, but are the sloped horizons intentional?
Criticize away, please - and no, it was very dark and so I had a hard time telling whether I was level - the area was completely non lighted and I forgot to bring a flashlight - I need to go back into the latter two for sure and crop and adjust the horizon a little more. The top one, the moon ended up being so close to the top and the fisherman so close to the bottom, I'm not sure I can adjust without losing key elements of the photo. But the not quite even horizon is definitely not intentional. Something to work on.

I carry a bubble level with my night shooting kit for this very reason. Even a cheapo hardware store one is groovy, just hold it on your flash mount and you should be golden (and bring along a red LED headlamp to see!).

Edit, I totally forgot to mention I also really like what I see here. The light on the fishing line is down right magical. More please!

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:16 pm

If you have an iPhone there's also that free bubble level app that has the advantage of being lit but the disadvantage of making you a big goofball.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:23 pm

wonderpug wrote:If you have an iPhone there's also that free bubble level app that has the advantage of being lit but the disadvantage of making you a big goofball.

And I think it needs some level of calibration.

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:30 pm

Austin wrote:
wonderpug wrote:If you have an iPhone there's also that free bubble level app that has the advantage of being lit but the disadvantage of making you a big goofball.
And I think it needs some level of calibration.

I'm pretty sure it works just as well no matter how big a goofball you are. ;)

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:35 pm

If you are after a thought-provoking photography as art read, check out this blog post. Something I am continually thinking about, hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

Malificent · Post by **Malificent** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:55 pm

Enough wrote:I carry a bubble level with my night shooting kit for this very reason. Even a cheapo hardware store one is groovy, just hold it on your flash mount and you should be golden (and bring along a red LED headlamp to see!).

Edit, I totally forgot to mention I also really like what I see here. The light on the fishing line is down right magical. More please!

I'm working off a Panasonic FZ-28, which is one of those bridge super-zoom cameras. One of the things that I don't get with it that a full DSLR would have that I miss (no wireless remote, for example) is I have no flash mount or capability for off camera flash. I'm saving to get a better camera.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:18 pm

Malificent wrote:
Enough wrote:I carry a bubble level with my night shooting kit for this very reason. Even a cheapo hardware store one is groovy, just hold it on your flash mount and you should be golden (and bring along a red LED headlamp to see!).

Edit, I totally forgot to mention I also really like what I see here. The light on the fishing line is down right magical. More please!
I'm working off a Panasonic FZ-28, which is one of those bridge super-zoom cameras. One of the things that I don't get with it that a full DSLR would have that I miss (no wireless remote, for example) is I have no flash mount or capability for off camera flash. I'm saving to get a better camera.

Hmmm, hold the level along the tripod mount on the bottom of the camera? It should be level and not be totally overlapped by the tripod mount. Any other level lines on the FZ-28 body anywhere?

wire · Post by **wire** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:26 pm

Wonderful shots. I really like the light on the fishing line.

The water line looks straight to me. What would be considered the horizon line in this kind of shot? The water line or the background terrain, which may or may not be straight?

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:33 pm

Question: I want to do HDR photos. I know how to do them. I also have the software to do them. Trouble is my camera does not have AEB(auto exposure bracketing). I can do it by hand but therin lies the problem. And before you say tripod I tried sitting it on a table, a tree, and a chair. See since I dont have the auto ability to set it for 3 photos each using the different exposure each time i click the shutter I have to click the shutter for a normal pic..then go into the menu and change it to 2 below and click shutter...then go into menu and raise it 4 clicks then click shutter.. No matter how careful i am not to disturb the camera I never can get aligned photos..so my HDR software is always misaligned also. In the end I cannot take a clear precise photo like this.

Is there perhaps some software out there that will align my 3 photos or something? Im using Photomatix Pro for the HDR software. and my camera is a Canon A75. A little too old to have the AEB built in

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:39 pm

wire wrote: The water line looks straight to me. What would be considered the horizon line in this kind of shot? The water line or the background terrain, which may or may not be straight?

The 2nd and 3rd ones were the ones that. Looked off to me, but maybe it was just an optical illusion.

I'm surprised at the lack of a hotshoe on that Panasonic. My previous camera was an older Panasonic than that one and I was able to use a regular SunPak.

wire · Post by **wire** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:27 pm

Daehawk wrote:Question: I want to do HDR photos. I know how to do them. I also have the software to do them. Trouble is my camera does not have AEB(auto exposure bracketing). I can do it by hand but therin lies the problem. And before you say tripod I tried sitting it on a table, a tree, and a chair. See since I dont have the auto ability to set it for 3 photos each using the different exposure each time i click the shutter I have to click the shutter for a normal pic..then go into the menu and change it to 2 below and click shutter...then go into menu and raise it 4 clicks then click shutter.. No matter how careful i am not to disturb the camera I never can get aligned photos..so my HDR software is always misaligned also. In the end I cannot take a clear precise photo like this.

Is there perhaps some software out there that will align my 3 photos or something? Im using Photomatix Pro for the HDR software. and my camera is a Canon A75. A little too old to have the AEB built in

I'm guessing you don't have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements? The only thing I can think of for you would be to get some kind of editing software like either of those so you can stack and crop. When I say stack, you lower the opacity on one photo and move it around over another photo until you see that key points are in alignment. Do this with all your photos and then crop the edges so everything is still aligned when you upload to Photomatix.

I will say tripod though...you have Photomatix Pro but haven't gone to the local Walmart and bought a $10 tripod? Especially for a point & shoot...a small one is cheap.

Malificent · Post by **Malificent** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:37 pm

wonderpug wrote:
wire wrote: The water line looks straight to me. What would be considered the horizon line in this kind of shot? The water line or the background terrain, which may or may not be straight?
The 2nd and 3rd ones were the ones that. Looked off to me, but maybe it was just an optical illusion.

I'm surprised at the lack of a hotshoe on that Panasonic. My previous camera was an older Panasonic than that one and I was able to use a regular SunPak.

I love my camera, but I really would love to have a hotshoe, or bulb capability, or a wireless remote or any number of small details that you get in a full DSLR that you don't get on what is a highly sophisticated point and shoot. I will continue to save my pennies.

Also, I cheated and went back and corrected the horizon and reuploaded the photos - once it was pointed out, it was going to bug me until I fixed it.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:24 am

wire wrote:
Daehawk wrote:Question: I want to do HDR photos. I know how to do them. I also have the software to do them. Trouble is my camera does not have AEB(auto exposure bracketing). I can do it by hand but therin lies the problem. And before you say tripod I tried sitting it on a table, a tree, and a chair. See since I dont have the auto ability to set it for 3 photos each using the different exposure each time i click the shutter I have to click the shutter for a normal pic..then go into the menu and change it to 2 below and click shutter...then go into menu and raise it 4 clicks then click shutter.. No matter how careful i am not to disturb the camera I never can get aligned photos..so my HDR software is always misaligned also. In the end I cannot take a clear precise photo like this.

Is there perhaps some software out there that will align my 3 photos or something? Im using Photomatix Pro for the HDR software. and my camera is a Canon A75. A little too old to have the AEB built in
I'm guessing you don't have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements? The only thing I can think of for you would be to get some kind of editing software like either of those so you can stack and crop. When I say stack, you lower the opacity on one photo and move it around over another photo until you see that key points are in alignment. Do this with all your photos and then crop the edges so everything is still aligned when you upload to Photomatix.

I will say tripod though...you have Photomatix Pro but haven't gone to the local Walmart and bought a $10 tripod? Especially for a point & shoot...a small one is cheap.

A small tripod, or even a home made one would be cheap. But there is free software that will auto-align handheld shots (results can obviously vary, tripod is still best). Enfuse is actually a program similar to HDR, however it doesn't generate the 32 bit image, it blends all the images together based on an algorithm that makes for typically low noise and more natural looking high dynamic range images.... but if you want to stick with HDR you could still get Enfuse and use the image auto-align droplet it installs automatically, drop a stack of images on the droplet to align and then feed it to whatever you are wanting to use for HDR. You get Enfuse with this droplet (and some others) as part of the Hugin project (a multi-featured image stitching program for panos, increased depth of field, etc.). It's a sort of techy bit of software, but as a gamer I'm sure you can figure it out if you want to badly enough (wiki page on enfuse).

Or if you prefer to do it in Linux see this tutorial(which will also go into some details about auto-align).

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:27 am

Malificent wrote: Also, I cheated and went back and corrected the horizon and reuploaded the photos - once it was pointed out, it was going to bug me until I fixed it.

Phew, I thought I was losing it LOL.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:22 am

I keep thinking of making my own home made pod but never do. But i dont think it would help with this since I sat it on 3 different non moving surfaces and it still moved..the damera not the surfaces. All those button pushes and menus really suck.

gbasden · Post by **gbasden** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:34 am

I've been doing a bit of macro work lately - I love bugs in summer.

Enough - that lightning photo is even more amazing than normal.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:43 am

Hey enough..after fooling around with that program you posted I think i ended up finding a way to align photos in Photomatix Pro after all. Ill test it tomorrow. i gave it 2 small test from a few photos today and just now and it 'seems' to work right.

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:25 am

Enough wrote:
Malificent wrote: Also, I cheated and went back and corrected the horizon and reuploaded the photos - once it was pointed out, it was going to bug me until I fixed it.
Phew, I thought I was losing it LOL.

lol me too. When wire commented that they looked fine to him and I revisited them, I thought I must've just made a big blunder misinterpreting the water line.

Glad to see they still look great even with some of the edges cropped out.

gbasden those macro shots look great. In my ventures into macro shooting I'm learning more and more how critical it is to frame an interesting background behind your subject--since it's so easy to just have the subject in mind and assume the background will be ok--and with that moth shot I really like the way the split between green and that purpley grey worked out.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 5:06 pm

My A75 has a macro setting but they always suck. Im sure the hand held part has a little to do with it .

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:24 pm

So I've been primarily shooting with Nikon's fixed 50mm f/1.4. I love it, but at a 75mm equivalent it can be a bit tight at times. I wanted something wider, and started looking into the new 35mm f/1.8G, which is a steal at $200, but (partially because the 35mm is impossible to find right now) I started thinking I wanted to go even wider.

My Tokina 12-24mm f/4 just arrived today, and I took the long, long way home from work to see what it could do. I'm still sorting through all the shots, but here's a few of my favorites from the shoot:

wire · Post by **wire** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:31 pm

Nice shots Wonderpug. Makes me want a wide angle lens now

I've gone a bit abstract as I experiment, which is how I'm surviving my 365 project.

It's been fun trying to find ways to create images in camera in a few minutes that others spend hours creating in Photoshop. Just some colorful yarn, long exposure and motion.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:58 pm

Really wild stuff!

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:02 pm

wonderpug, I'm going to say you got a really nice sample of that Tokina, wicked good IQ! I love all three and the tallship makes me miss living near big water. Enjoy your new challenge/toy. Shooting with a super-wide is not an easy task.

@wire, I've already commented on how much I like your experimentation, but let me just say if you are good at using a gilded tongue to talk smack about your photographs I think this yarn series is just the sort of thing a fine art collector would shovel ungodly sums of money at. Especially if you can add some sort of conceptual piece to it. In any case, way to push the envelope and keep up the good work. I just saw an essay of this guy who sends massive volts through flora and photographs them. Very cool stuff and it's selling for multiple figures.