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Giuanniello

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 21, 2012
754
213
Capri - Italy
Good morning to all photographers and photographers wannabe like me!

So, being the winner of last week's contest it's up to me to pick a theme for this week's one what should I put you through? Thinking of sending you to grab a landscape from the top of a mountain not less than 20 miles away and not shorter than 6.000ft with the clause it gotta be hiked by feet and mandatory to use a tripod and a long lens or, to make it easier, reach the closest ocean and grab a sunset's long exposure which includes a dog in the foreground (did you take your dog out to play???).

Well, let's make it simple and real but with a premise, to me photography means lot of things, I like to shoot semi-candid headshots and when I am at it I kind get frantic, excited, it really takes me and it's one of those rare times when my mind doesn't rumble about 4-5 things at a time (...) or, on the other side, I like to go grab a seascape (living on an island that's quite simple) where I can sit and wait just enjoying the scenery without any schedule so that it ends up in a relaxing hike for both the dog and I.

I would ask you to publish whatever any photograph which gave you an emotion, whatever the subject, something you didn't think it would be that great when you took the shot but once on the screen you were "wow, this is better than I thought".
Restrictions is no animal shots, no kids, no alterations in post processing besides the usual light, sharpness, shadows, vignette, in a few words "no PhotoShop".

Let's go ahead, eager to see your shots and to move the learning curve upwards.

Good luck everybody and thank you again for giving me this privilege

***************************************************************************************

The usual rules apply:


· The photographs must be your own work.

· Be creative and have fun.

· You may only submit one photo per contest.

· Please do not comment on photos until after the judging has taken place.

· The contest runs for a week and starts now!

· At the end of the week, The Judge (last week's Winner) will choose a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place photo, providing as much feedback as possible.

· If the Judge is unable to complete the selection within 48 hours of the deadline for close, then a vote will be carried out to select a winner. This will be based on the number of "likes" each image has. In the event of a draw, the second place winner from the previous week will choose the tiebreaker.

· The 1st place Winner will start a new thread with the topic/theme of their choice, and act as the Judge for that contest. (Winner has 48 hours to create new theme, after that it defers to 2nd place).

· Please update the Weekly Contest Master List when you post a new contest
 
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Giuanniello

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 21, 2012
754
213
Capri - Italy
Here one of mine, I was going home after a day at work and the church is on my way, I noticed the old man waiting out of the door whilst the ceremony was being held inside, I took a step back and took (again) the little Fuji X-Pro1 with the 35mm f1.4 mounted, took three shots before the man realized what I was doing, didn't really expect much out of it but when I downloaded pictures on the computer what first hit me was the contrast between such a happy circumstance like a wedding should be and the face of the man outside...


20978493919_66c3096f99_o.jpg
 

Nathan King

macrumors regular
Aug 24, 2016
205
716
Omaha, NE
I'm self-admittedly a terrible portrait photographer. I'm not much of a people person and often can't evoke a natural pose or response from people. This is just a quick candid image of an acquaintance and not a terribly strong image; however, this is one of the very few times I feel I froze a fleeting glimpse into the essence of who the subject is. Here is the frame, unedited from the original contact sheet:

31834335787_90689cc86d_z.jpg
 

Robotti

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2014
251
713
2018C8D9-C7A9-49C9-B7C7-094E9F7B6C09.jpeg


I asked her to just stand there, while I checked that my fill light was low enough for the next shot. Look how beautiful she is, the little smile, the place she went in her mind. For just those few seconds, while she had nothing to do, but just be herself.
 

Hughmac

macrumors 603
Feb 4, 2012
5,998
32,521
Kent, UK
So, the other day I took my infrared converted Panasonic DMC-G1 out for the first time in a while.
I set the picture mode to Dynamic B&W and took a few shots.
Wrecked boats always give me an emotional feeling, because I spent so long working on the rivers Thames and Medway and know well the dangers involved.
It was very cold when we went out, so there was an element of 'that'll do' in my shooting, but this one came out better than expected; processed later with minimal PhotoShop assistance.



View from Sharps Green in Infrared
by Hugh Russell, on Flickr

Cheers :)

Hugh
 

mollyc

macrumors G3
Aug 18, 2016
8,053
50,533
Everything I have to offer has been through PhotoShop, although not usually heavily edited, so I will have to stay out of this contest, sorry :(

Cheers :)

Hugh

Me too. Since I shoot raw, everything goes through LR, and I do a lot of light shaping there, working with the light and shadows that are present, but making them more to the vision I had in my head when I was shooting, and I sometimes take things through PS as well. Also, my main subjects, other than flowers, are kids. Interesting competition, though, and I look forward to seeing more entries. :)
 

Hughmac

macrumors 603
Feb 4, 2012
5,998
32,521
Kent, UK
Me too. Since I shoot raw, everything goes through LR, and I do a lot of light shaping there, working with the light and shadows that are present, but making them more to the vision I had in my head when I was shooting, and I sometimes take things through PS as well. Also, my main subjects, other than flowers, are kids. Interesting competition, though, and I look forward to seeing more entries. :)
But, as my eventual entry only had shadows and contrast adjustments I felt it was OK to take part ;)

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
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mollyc

macrumors G3
Aug 18, 2016
8,053
50,533
But, as my eventual entry only had shadows and contrast adjustments I felt it was OK to take part ;)

Cheers :)

Hugh

I'm not a huge PSer, but my end photos look a lot different than my SOOCs. No matter. Still a good competition for many others here. :)
 
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Clix Pix

macrumors Core
I don't shoot portraits, I don't shoot kids and, yes, I do shoot animals (furred and feathered) from time to time. While I prefer to do as minimal editing as possible on my images, it usually is inevitable that I'll be cropping slightly/adjusting exposure, shadows and highlights/edge sharpening/removing extraneous something-or-other bits which were in the scene at the time I was shooting. I am not keen on HDR and "over-cooking" images by using that to punch up elements in an image for a more vivid visual effect, but I do tend to hit the Contrast slider a bit enthusiastically and sometimes the Saturation one as well..... That said, I also recently have been experimenting with using different editing techniques and at times HDR has been useful as I explore its limitations and where to draw the line before the image reaches that "overcooked" look. Like others here, I shoot only in RAW and that does require a bit of work, no two ways around it, as the initial images right out of the camera can be a bit, for want of a better word, "flat." Use of Photoshop or other editing software really is a necessity when working in digital imaging. If one shoots in jpeg, well, then, reality is that the camera does much of the processing, producing results which may or may not be what the photographer actually had intended in the first place. For casual snapshots meant for Instagram, no big deal. Sometimes jpegs can look much more heavily processed than those done by "hand," so to speak, by a photographer working in editing software with RAW images.

Many of the images I shoot are extreme closeups or macros that aren't really meant to evoke a particular emotion, and they don't, either for me or for viewers.....they may be interesting in terms of color or composition or subject, but in a situation of an abstract image being presented, any emotion aroused might simply be curiosity -- "what IS it?"
 
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The Bad Guy

macrumors 65816
Oct 2, 2007
1,141
3,539
Australia
No Photoshop? Hahaha...okay, I'll be sitting this one out then. :D

Edit: Changed my mind. Here's a portrait with only global Lightroom adjustments. An extremely rare thing from me.

I like this image because when this gentleman was in front of me I didn't want to trouble him for any poses or forced emotion, plus he's deaf so couldn't take direction anyway. I figured I wasn't going to get a lot out of him of him due to the circumstances, however I think his face alone tells a tale or two.

_MG_0865.jpg
 
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Apple fanboy

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Feb 21, 2012
56,901
55,839
Behind the Lens, UK
A bit of a snap this one that I wasn't expecting much from. My wife generally doesn't allow me to take her photo so I have to be a little covert with the shots! And as you probably know, that usually means a poor photo.

Anyway I do a B&W and put a slight shadow on the left for this one in LR. If thats beyond what's allowed feel free to just ignore.
Anyway I like the photo as it shows Mrs AFB busy doing her thing.
_DSC2091.jpg
 

Giuanniello

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 21, 2012
754
213
Capri - Italy
Good day everybody,

I don't check on MacRumors so very often but here we are, time to pick the winner and given there were not too many entries it's not that difficult of a task, even tho I would love to give everybody first prize this is not possible and as such:

@The Bad Guy takes 1st place for me with his portrait, there seems to be a "connection" between the subject and the photographer, not just a "posed shot" if you know what I mean;

@Nathan King goes 2nd place for his candid shot, candid often means you have to take it as it is, no options to pick a better background or to take several exposures and then pick the best one so I appreciate the effort, well done!

@triptolemus 3rd place for a well balanced exposure, not the best light conditions to take a well exposed shot but he nailed it, bravo!

@The Bad Guy as the winner, you get to choose the next theme for this contest! Just cut & paste the following bit after you write your description for the new thread. There's a big button at the top of the Photography sub-section to create a new thread.

********

The usual rules apply:


· The photographs must be your own work.

· Be creative and have fun.

· You may only submit one photo per contest.

· Please do not comment on photos until after the judging has taken place.

· The contest runs for a week and starts now!

· At the end of the week, The Judge (last week's Winner) will choose a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place photo, providing as much feedback as possible.

· If the Judge is unable to complete the selection within 48 hours of the deadline for close, then a vote will be carried out to select a winner. This will be based on the number of "likes" each image has. In the event of a draw, the second place winner from the previous week will choose the tiebreaker.

· The 1st place Winner will start a new thread with the topic/theme of their choice, and act as the Judge for that contest. (Winner has 48 hours to create new theme, after that it defers to 2nd place).

· Please update the Weekly Contest Master List when you post a new contest
 

oblomow

macrumors 601
Apr 14, 2005
4,498
18,769
Netherlands
A bit of a snap this one that I wasn't expecting much from. My wife generally doesn't allow me to take her photo so I have to be a little covert with the shots! And as you probably know, that usually means a poor photo.

Anyway I do a B&W and put a slight shadow on the left for this one in LR. If thats beyond what's allowed feel free to just ignore.
Anyway I like the photo as it shows Mrs AFB busy doing her thing.
View attachment 816666

Beautiful portrait, but
you're in trouble
 
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