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Photo of the day : October 2013
- Thread starter ijohn.8.80
- Start date
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Tokyo City Hall flying their Olympic colors last month
Olympic City Hall by Smithshashin, on Flickr
D800e 35mm lens f/8 for 6 seconds
Olympic City Hall by Smithshashin, on Flickr
D800e 35mm lens f/8 for 6 seconds
Hey! What is AlaskaMoose doing in Canada?
What...Alaska isn't in Canada???
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This is my first attempt at a seascape photo (as in TheReef). Taken at Cape Norman, Newfoundland. I'll keep working on it.
Thomas's bakery is making me want a nice pie. Sadly round ere we've only got a crap chippy and Tesco Metro (who haven't got any mini pork pies in their deli counter).
I did, but with a different image.
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This is currently my iPad home screen image. It works quite well with the new iOS 7.
I love that shot, Archie. I've been trying to do some portraits (candid-like) for the past few days and failing miserably. Haha.
Backyard Portraits-11 by Puckman2012, on Flickr
With portraits I never think there is a failure as you are capturing a moment with that person. Recently I found a load of pictures from my Dad's youth. Some are awfully framed, out of focus, over/underexposed or a combination of all three! What matters though is seeing different locations, different people and different emotions. If stored these photos can be great to look back on in the future and I hope that a site like Flickr is still going so I have the option to go back through all the photos I have taken in the past.
In this photo you have linked the only thing I would comment on is the hand placement. The lighting and expression are great but the hand is closing off the face a bit too much IMO. If I'm being really picky I would say the framing is a bit tight and the eye line is a bit too low.
I am only suggesting these things as that's the sort of thing I say about my photos and aim to improve on.
Often with this candid style expression comes first, then exposure, then framing, at least, that's what I aim for. If I can get all three then great, but I don't think I've managed it yet.
Wow, thanks! All I can say is stick with it. I can see that my shots have got better as I have learned more but I still have people I look up to and still feel I am miles off what their shots look like.
Your use of the word "if" worries me! If you want to take portraits just do it, don't worry about what they look like and there is definitely no way to improve without trial and error and some practical experience.
Thanks, means a lot coming from you.
Love the purple glow mixed with the sharp LEDs, makes for a really zany image.
Yay, get to post 2 in one day (one for September and this for October). End of last month's thread was a shot of Rome at night.
Starting this month off with the city of Amalfi at night.
I'm no landscape photographer but this is the best time when the ambient light matches the practical lighting. One day I will find a location that I really like and wait until this magic moment happens. Still searching though...
Another one from my last roll of film.
As always, comments appreciated!
Sydney by acearchie, on Flickr
I like that! A lot.
Appreciate the comments. I agree about the hand placement. As you said, it's hard to focus on some of the smaller such details when doing semi-candid stuff (this was semi-posed, if that makes sense).
I'm still barely scratching the surface with portraits (this is my 2nd week trying it), so i have a long ways to go yet.
You, on the other hand, regardless of content (as someone else mentioned), you seem to have a way to make the most out of any location. I think it's specially the lighting that you have a knack for.
If I took that same shot as yours here, on my own, it'd very likely look like a casual snapshot of my girlfriend looking out a window, with harsh lighting, shiny reflections on her skin, etc...LOL.
That sun at the weekend seems like ages ago now. It has turned rather cold and miserable the last few days.
Comments always appreciated.
Comments always appreciated.
If it's only your second week then you are definitely off to a good start!
I have said it many times before but by shooting a lot of film it has really made me appreciate lighting, location and mood.
Everyone has been snap happy at some point and sometimes you don't think about what your shooting but instead just shoot as you know that there are no repercussions and being able to fit thousands of shots on a memory card means that you won't run out of space either.
Next time you are out shooting pause and think about the light and setting. Intentional or not you have definitely done that in the shot you posted. The subject is in the shade on what looks like a sunny day. You might have chosen to use the softer light rather than the harsh direct sunlight which would have made more a very contrasty image.
For my personal taste the lighting is best is the golden/magic hours so either sunset or sunrise although I have yet too shoot at sunrise!
Once you can figure out how to get hard and soft light with natural light only that's when it becomes really exciting. I am only just starting to get there but hopefully with a bit more shooting I will continue to improve. In fact, I recently just shot a music video that was only lit using natural/practical lighting and I am really excited to get my hands on the final edit!
If you are looking for advice, I would suggest finding a photographer who's photos you really are inspired by. I have a couple and every time I see a shot that I really would love to have taken, I save it on my computer to use as a reference. I have certainly found that there is a pattern in the shots that I like and if you start to see this you can start to dissect what sort of lighting has been used and how they have achieved it.
A lot of photographers want to get into portraits and go straight down the strobist route. There is nothing wrong with this at all but there is so much you can do with natural light that I think a lot of people could have saved money!
Well, what was intended as a short reply has snowballed into a mini-essay. Take from it what you want and by no means should any of it be taken as fact, just sharing what I have learned so far!
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Thank you.
I like that! A lot.
I'm taking an experimental lighting class and it has been a lot of fun. This assignment was for edge lighting using only props purchased from the dollar store. The surface is a rubber silverware drawer liner. The latex gloves are from a multi-pack and are filled with two bags of marbles.
It took a while but this was the final image of the night. I think the total exposure was 69 seconds. I used a Protomachines flashlight as my source. Three diagonal ten second bursts from the top edge and three diagonal five second bursts from the bottom. I used a slightly desaturated blue and gold for the colors.
On my trip to California a few weeks back , I decided to take a film body along and shoot some B&W . Took 4 rolls of TMax 100 , shot them all , mostly by playing with orange/red/no filters .Anyway , finally starting to develop and scan the rolls .
EOS1 , 28-105 , orange 15 filter , TMax 100 , f8 (or thereabouts} at 1/whoknowswhat . Scanned in Coolscan V
EOS1 , 28-105 , orange 15 filter , TMax 100 , f8 (or thereabouts} at 1/whoknowswhat . Scanned in Coolscan V
Part of a product shoot I did with a client. We were actually creating video segments, but I picked up some stills for them along the way.
Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens Canon 24-70mm 2.8L USM
Focal Length 70mm
Shutter Speed 1/2000 secs
Aperture f/3.2
ISO/Film 200
Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens Canon 24-70mm 2.8L USM
Focal Length 70mm
Shutter Speed 1/2000 secs
Aperture f/3.2
ISO/Film 200
Since I haven't posted a photo today. I'll use my slot today to give you something to compare to. (And apologies to everyone else)
The portrait you saw above was shot in soft shade because it was after having a previous attempt turn out very harsh, even though taken around sunset.
Julie_Reggie-6 by Puckman2012, on Flickr
As I said. Still learning. But this one here is not at all to my liking. As I stated before, looks too much like a snapshot, with shiny foreheads, etc.
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Thank you.
I'm taking an experimental lighting class and it has been a lot of fun. This assignment was for edge lighting using only props purchased from the dollar store. The surface is a rubber silverware drawer liner. The latex gloves are from a multi-pack and are filled with two bags of marbles.
It took a while but this was the final image of the night. I think the total exposure was 69 seconds. I used a Protomachines flashlight as my source. Three diagonal ten second bursts from the top edge and three diagonal five second bursts from the bottom. I used a slightly desaturated blue and gold for the colors.
Reading the description made me appreciate this even more...I can't imagine I would have ever thought of doing something like this.
I'm not sure I follow how you used the flashlights to make the colors?
Really loving your portraits. Very impressive. Even more so because you are restricting yourself to available light--and exploiting it so well. Great stuff
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Another pic of the town of Amalfi. The former one from earlier in the thread was at dusk. This one at dawn. The former was dominated by "blue." This one is dominated by "rose." Same subject, similar composition. Different feel because of the different light.
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With portraits I never think there is a failure as you are capturing a moment with that person. Recently I found a load of pictures from my Dad's youth. Some are awfully framed, out of focus, over/underexposed or a combination of all three! What matters though is seeing different locations, different people and different emotions. If stored these photos can be great to look back on in the future and I hope that a site like Flickr is still going so I have the option to go back through all the photos I have taken in the past.
... All I can say is stick with it. I can see that my shots have got better as I have learned more but I still have people I look up to and still feel I am miles off what their shots look like.
Your use of the word "if" worries me! If you want to take portraits just do it, don't worry about what they look like and there is definitely no way to improve without trial and error and some practical experience.
... I'm no landscape photographer but this is the best time when the ambient light matches the practical lighting. One day I will find a location that I really like and wait until this magic moment happens. Still searching though...
Another one from my last roll of film.
As always, comments appreciated!
Sydney by acearchie, on Flickr
I love the atmosphere of this photo. The pose and the expression suit the low lighting well.
Maybe you should listen to your own advice Archie!
 Think about the photo you were talking about in the first quote. You said you were casting around looking for something to shoot and found those. Don't let the fact that there wasn't anything more interesting nearby put you off experimenting. You have a talent for photographing people which I'm sure you could extend to other things, including the landscapes you are still searching for but haven't found yet! If you like subject isolation you could incorporate that into a landscape shot. I hesitated to say landscape because the background may not be a landscape but couldn't think of an alternative phrase on the spur of the moment. Just because it's a landscape shot doesn't mean the whole landscape has to be in focus, you can use it as a backdrop. If you're still in London there must be loads of things of interest you can photograph with the city as a backdrop.
As somebody famous ^^ once said: "All I can say is stick with it."
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