Photo of the Day - March 2010

[grassland]

More of the bird that wakes me up on days that I decide to sleep in...

very nice looking northern flicker!

 

[Ish]

A happy consequence of Dale's instructions: more people joining the party!

As for C&C of your pic: This one leaves me wondering what it was you were trying to capture. Perhaps the experience of being there was quite wonderful, but nothing in the photo really translates that experience for me. Was your subject supposed to be the house? The field? The road? None of those things really "pop" in this photo, and they all have a rather equal amount of visual weight (which isn't much). When you shoot into the sun, try to do it when you can capitalize on long shadows that form leading lines or else on distinct streaks of light coming through some barrier (or both). That will add drama and interest to your photo. In this case, we have a really washed out scene with nothing really popping out to grab our attention.

Well, there's mist... and there's haze. Mist is forever changing: hiding, disclosing, drifting, rising, falling, clearing. The top pic has a beautiful mood (and I guess that mood probably didn't last long). The bottom pic is hazy, rather than misty, and haze tends to stick around all day... doing nothing except reducing the clarity of the scene, without adding any mood. On hazy days I don't take any landscape pix all; it's too frustrating...

Many thanks for your comments! I was trying to capture the house and its vineyard sitting in the Italian countryside in the morning mist, sorry Doylem, haze! of another warm late summer/early autumn day. However, if that doesn't come over it's not working as a picture. It would have been nice to be able to stay or change my vantage point and get some more photos. Thanks also for the suggestions. The sun's beginning to come out here now so hopefully I'll be able to try them out. Your comments are always welcome even if I don't ask for them every time. You'd probably get a bit fed up if I did.

I loved the colours and textures in this scene, also taken in Italy.

Fujifilm FinePix F810
f/3.2
1/240
ISO 100

 

[grassland]

Another

little noise maker.

 

[pdxflint]

Thanks mcavjame, Phrasikleia, Doylem, NeGRit0, TheReef and RHVC59 for your comments on my harbor sunset shot... really appreciate the great comments. RHVC59, I really do like the Tokina 12-24. It's built extremely well, and is sharp with good color transmission. I'm not in love with it's flare susceptibility, but it's something you can work around. I had considered trading it for the 11-16 f/2.8 (still might) but mainly it would be for the newer coatings, not any other performance issues. F/4 is actually very adequate for wide angle work and the 24mm long end is more handy than I realized it would be... so I'll likely keep it a long time.

Phrasikleia, I don't really have a good reason for using 1/1600 wide open at ISO 800... except I was in that mode because it was getting dark fast and I was actually shooting more with the sun at my back, so my hand-held "mode" was sort of set... when I heard a boat start moving behind me in the other direction I started shooting fairly quickly... and wound up leaving the settings where they were... In hindsight I'd likely drop ISO and close it down to f/5.6... I was in aperture priority mode, should have just clicked 'er down right then-- thanks for keeping me on my toes, like Doylem. And just for you, John, next time I'll rearrange the boats.

Tower Bridge

Makes me want to reach out and straighten out that toy model just a bit...before it falls into the river.

Photo of my wife, more at jasonbeck.deviantart.com
Loads of snow in Cedar City!

Nice jacket.

Love the light in this one, and the composition.

My hometown Sydney. I never tire of our landmarks.

Great colors and light. I just love this bridge, and Sydney, period!! The water looks a bit smooth-ish... almost like it's solid in a way.

I loved the colours and textures in this scene, also taken in Italy.

Nice detail, especially with a point 'n shoot. I'm not so crazy about all the tile in the foreground, but it is a shot that is full of character. I'd really hope to be nowhere around any of these buildings if an earthquake ever happened there, though.

 

[pdxflint]

Olympic



Camera: Nikon D300
Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 80 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Lens: Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 AF-D

 

[Razeus]

 

[MattSepeta]

Nice shot, I love the DOF. Was that shot with a 50 f/1.8?

Taken on the north shore of Hawaii. Sometimes all the pieces just fall together in a perfect way!

 

[Ish]

little noise maker.

Grassland: nice focus on the bird's eye. Go on, tell me it's not stuffed!

Camera: Nikon D300
Exposure: 1/100
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 80 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Lens: Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 AF-D

Considering I'm a person who doesn't really like boats, or harbours, I must say that I've really enjoyed seeing your series of pictures on just the things I don't like! Beautiful light and crisp detail. You've inspired me. Given there are two places in the UK that claim to be the furthest from the sea, and that they're both near where I live, I'll probably do something rather different!

Thank you for the comments on the Italy picture. That P&S is a nice little camera. I did get a DLSR very recently but the grey, overcast weather hasn't inspired me. Things are getting a bit brighter now though so I'm hoping to get out.

 

[MaddMacs]

Great shot. Good exposure and nice saturation.

Niiiice

Thanks for the positive feedback! I was pleased with this one, especially the quality of light, I just wish there were fewer trees in the bottom left.

I really like the b/w treatment for this scenic composition. This one jumps out at me. The only negatives... maybe... are the ridge edges. Some halo-ish effects. But, overall I like it.

Great atmospheric depth with this one. Nicely composed.

Nice tones here. Really good use of B&W. If you added the grain to make it look like film, I'm not sure you needed to do that. I don't think this one really gains anything from the grain.

Thanks, again. I went back and looked at the settings in Aperture. It seems the 'halo' and the 'grain' went hand-in-hand with the 'definition' slider. A slight modification and it improved both conditions. Thanks for the C&C! An extra pair of eyes helps gain perspective.

 

[NintendoChick]

It's been a while. Trying to get back into the swing of things:

 

[Doylem]

A quiet corner of Kendal, this evening...

 

[MaddMacs]

Camera: Pentax K200D
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 10 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

 

[Designer Dale]

Seedlings in protective tubes. Nisqually Delta Wildlife Refuge

EXIF Summary: 1/60s f/8.0 ISO100 Tamron 28-300 VC@100mm

Dale

 

[Razeus]

Nice shot, I love the DOF. Was that shot with a 50 f/1.8?

the 24-105 L at f/4

 

[VirtualRain]

Tired sea turtle on the beach in Kauai... (at first I thought it may be dead but it turns out it was just... turtle-like... slow)

1/640 @ f2.8, 55mm

 

[macrumormonger]

Tired sea turtle on the beach in Kauai... (at first I thought it may be dead but it turns out it was just... turtle-like... slow)

1/640 @ f2.8, 55mm

I believe there should be LOLturtles like LOLcats. I think this one is thinking "OM NOM NOM NOM".

 

[the1sttransport]

Tired sea turtle on the beach in Kauai... (at first I thought it may be dead but it turns out it was just... turtle-like... slow)

1/640 @ f2.8, 55mm

There's something about this pic I find stunning. Love the perspective and depth of field, and of course the subject!

 

[grassland]

Same Little Bird

honest not stuffed

 

[Abyssgh0st]

I took this today, one of my first times shooting in bright light (been so damn dark lately!) with my 55-250mm, and I was happy with the quality.

Feel free to CC!

Shot in RAW, then converted to EXIF JPEG in DPP:

79mm
ƒ/4.5
1/1000
ISO 200

 

[GoCubsGo]

^ can't see the pic man.

 

[Abyssgh0st]

Fixed, thanks Jess

 

[GoCubsGo]

Oh HAI yeah very nice. Textures are always good to me.

 

[mikeschmeee]

Here is another one...

 

[sukanas]

It's been a while. Trying to get back into the swing of things:

was this shot in ucdavis near the death star?
the rain in davis... lol

 

[ChefJayPeek]

This is a boardwalk at a nature preserve that was destroyed by Hurricane Ike. The tide was VERY low when I shot this, normally the water would be higher.