Photography 56k no-go zone

[ioiiooio]

Just thought I'd dump these here. Our electricity cut out and so I was messing around with the different special effects on my cell phone camera - here is the "negative" of some DVDs:







As normal:

[Toxxyc]

OK, so these are some of my firsts after getting my camera (Nikon Coolpix L110). Let me know what you think:

I've always liked taking pics of flowers, and I think it's because they tend to stay still enough for me to get a decent shot.



This was taken on the wall outside the cleaning rooms of some caravan park. I just noticed it and only later saw the sharpness of the photo. I liked it instantly.



Birds are another one of my favourite. They aren't photographed as often as you'd think, and specially birds I don't see everyday, I like. See the Kingfisher:



Another one (or the same one, I cannot tell) at a different location. This one is a little out of focus, and I hate myself for not being able to manually control the focus on me camera. Main reason I want a better one.



And then this is one of my favourite bird pics. My dad loves it as well. This swallow had it's nest below where we were standing, and due to heavy, heavy rains (so heavy, my parents were stranded when they tried to leave the resort a day or two later) his little mudhouse got damaged. I guess he tried repairing it. Notice the dirty water, same as on the first Kingfisher pic, due to the rains.



Just upstream though, a "kolgans" (don't know the English word for it) was making his way like there is no care in the world.



And then we noticed this guy. I'm still ****ed at my friend who was with me, as everytime he moved, this little guy did the same. So, naturally, he kept walking around, making me struggle with the shooting. I managed this half-decent one before he made off to the grass (coming up next):



He made it to the grass, and due to the lens focusing on the blades rather than the insect, he is (sniff sniff) blurry. I do like the way he's "fighting" to make his way through the grass though. Strong one, this was.



A few weeks later we made off to Salt Rock for a sea holiday, and this pic was quickly snapped from a moving car. Clouds can make for the most beautiful pictures in the world, I think.



Now, criticism: Commence!

[Toxxyc]

My shot on the eclipse: I didn't want to re-post the pics, so I'll just linky them to the thread where I did post them.

<pictures. click the >> arrows to see them>

[Mikit0707]

Hi photo fundis! THought this might interest you lot and didn't want to make a new thread:

In short, Lytro is developing a new type of camera that dramatically changes photography for the first time since the 1800s. Rather than just capturing one plane of light, it captures the entire light field around a picture, all in one shot taken on a single device. A light field includes every beam of light in every direction at every point in time. Experimentation in this field started in the mid-1990s at Stanford with 100 cameras in one room. Lytro’s innovation is making it small enough to fit in your pocket. Really.

As a result you can refocus photos after the fact, wiggle around the orientation, and even show the photos in 3D. Get excited, Jason Kincaid, because it’s not too far away from those 3D moving photographs in the Harry Potter movies.

There's an example picture on this website, along with the rest of the story. Sounds neat! :)

[onona]

O_O

[Mikit0707]

O_O

Inorite, I was totally the same.

[echo]

2010 National Geographic Photography Contest Galleries


So pretty.

[Azraphael]

Damn Onona, I bow to your supreme photo-taking skills. You are so lucky to be able to travel and find such exotic locations. I bought a Nikon D3100 last week and have been absolutely sucked into all of this, although I find that I am currently spending more time in Photoshop (Elements), playing around. Here are 3 of my first attempts, all of the same subject matter because he is so easy to shoot and loves the attention. In case you can't tell, I LOVE the lomo effect.







Feel free to comment, don't be too harsh though, these are amongst the first photo's I've taken and was looking more towards the image manipulation than the photo's themselves. Still, I'm happy with how they came out.

Hey guys, funny that this thread should revive now. I'm looking at getting a camera for a beginner, probably something affordable at entry level. Bear in mind that I do intend on taking it quite seriously as I am a graphic designer so having some good photography skills is an advantage. My budget is anywhere between R2000 - R3000 including whatever starter lenses etc I might need. I realise that's probably not going to get me much, but I think it should suffice for starters... or am I wrong and should I save up more?

Edit: all of those are really nice Onona, i was gonna pick a favourite... but I can't decide because they're all very nice.

The camera I picked up was a sweet ass deal from Orms. It is very entry level but comes with enough to get you started.

[onona]

Your goggie is gorgeous :3 :3 I'm also a big fan of Lomo photography so I like what you've done with your pics. Your camera is a great one for learning all the fundamentals of photography, and I'm sure you're going to love taking more and more pics. Your second photo is particularly nice - largely because it follows the compositional rule of thirds, which makes it very "comfortable" to look at. Animals are a little unpredictable which makes them challenging subjects to shoot - I suggest you learn how to use the shutter priority mode on your camera, so that you can avoid getting motion blurred photos when your animal subject moves as you shoot. The nice thing is that as you become more comfortable with your camera, you'll become more confident with shooting in full manual mode - and that's really when you can become the most creative with your shots, because you control every aspect of how the camera is taking them. Keep posting your pics!

I actually had a stupidly busy week so I felt like I deserved a present, and went and bought myself a Canon 7D on Friday. Yesterday I spent the day at some botanical gardens in Gloucestershire with friends and today I spent the day at London Zoo, putting my new toy through its paces. I have to say, I'm in love. I just need to invest in some better lenses now.

Here are some pics from yesterday and today.





















Okay I think that's enough photospam for one post :P

All zoo pics

All botanical garden pics

[Toxxyc]

You have a great eye for photography. Nothing beats your white wolf picture. :)

I like the one with the bee, as well as the first one most (one with the little white flowers, similar to the one I posted). And I've noticed you seriously prefer to keep your subject to the right side of the lens. I have to learn to naturally use the rule of thirds more. Too bad I can't view FB pics at work :(

[onona]

Cheers Toxxyc. Heh yeah I do have a tendency to place my subject on the right of the lens, but it's also from a tendency to face the subject from a certain angle. Remember, if your subject is looking sideways, it's best to leave some leading room on that side of the photograph. I find myself using the rule of thirds without even thinking about it - it's a composition that always feels right.

By the way I noticed that you'd posted a bunch of pics that no-one responded to. I think it's because I got distracted by the interesting link that Mikit posted after them. I'll check them out this evening.

[Chainsaw]

Onona, that grayscale shot of the fish is absolutely beautiful. I love those kinds of shots, but that one is definitely one of the better I've seen.

[Toxxyc]

By the way I noticed that you'd posted a bunch of pics that no-one responded to. I think it's because I got distracted by the interesting link that Mikit posted after them. I'll check them out this evening.

It'd be appreciated. I do wish for some criticism, I'm new to photography (like really knew, been taking pics occasionally since about November 2010), so I can improve where I may. I know a little about shutter speeds, ISO's, angles and rules, but generally I think I've got a long way to go. Also, I think you can notice that I love to take macros, with my subject dead-center in the lens. Something I need to work on... :)

[Griff3n]

Flip I love photography, but more as a hobby. When ever I have a chance I grab my moms Cannon 500D and take some shots... There is just something so cool about being behind a lens :)

@Azraphael - That first photo is epic man :) The tongue sticking out the bottom is so cute. And the secound one is also great. Not a big fan of the third one tho.

@Onona - Epic photos are epic.

[Banlam]

Went to go watch some rallying this weekend, some of the pictures, click for full size:






http://blog.gcawood.com/wp-content/u...5978-Large.jpg

You can see the full album here

[onona]

Toxxyc, sorry for being a total ******* and not posting some feedback on your pics until now :/ To make up for it, I've actually made the effort to make a new version of each pic to demonstrate some creative ideas for you to think about.

Flower shot
Actually quite nice. Colours could be adjusted a little to bring out more complimentary tones, and the image as a whole is a little out of focus but it's a decent enough shot. Next time, spend a little longer getting your lens focused properly, as you should have least part of the image perfectly in focus. Also be careful of shooting with your lens at its widest focal length, as you've got some chromatic aberration in there - look at the petals on the sides of the image, and you'll see blue fringing on them - a common artefact found on less than fantastic lenses when they're open at wide angles. I've taken your photo, introduced some complimentary tones, adjusted the whites a bit to get some details back (although that's very limited on a JPG), and added some subtle vignetting to give a bit of shape and focus to the image.



Weird thing on wall
Interesting shape but it's getting kinda lost in all the space around it. With small stuff like that, either zoom in on it and fill more of the frame with it, or compose the shot more interestingly; ie, don't stick it in the middle of the frame, which is the most boring place for a subject. I've cropped your image to conform to the rule of thirds, adjusted the white balance to bring cooler tones into the image, brought the overall exposure down a bit, and adjusted the colours a little overall to make the image pop a bit more by enhancing the cooler tones from the white balance so that the wall and shadows compliment the warm tones of the object itself.



Bird on branch
The biggest problem with this shot is the reflection on the water, as it competes tonally with the bird in the foreground, since it's a similar brightness. If you'd shot this with a DSLR, you'd have been able to use a polarising filter to cut those reflections down which would have improved the image immensely, so bear that in mind for the future, especially for when you get a DSLR. The image also suffers from the same compositional problem as the previous; that is, placing your object in the middle. It would have been better to zoom more into the bird (you would need a decent telephoto lens for that kind of shot though), as you're showcasing the bird, not the boring water behind it, and then placing the bird into a more interesting position in the frame. I've cropped your image to change the composition (notice how I cropped it, leaving space in the direction that the bird is looking, as this feels more comfortable to viewers than if I cropped it the other way around), tried to bring the brightness of the water down a bit, and tweaked your colours very slightly.



Bird in trees
This image suffers from a confused focus, because the tiny bird is having to compete with a very busy background. This is exacerbated by the fact that around the bird, there are a bunch of gaps in the foliage, resulting in very bright spots that compete with the white of the bird. It would have been better to move to a slightly better spot to shot from to avoid this, and it also would have been better to zoom in a lot more to show off the nice bird! I'm assuming you were simply limited by the focal length of your camera lens here; again, telephoto lenses are the best to shoot birds with, so when you get your DSLR, be sure to get one (Canon do a very affordable and actually decent quality EF-S 55-250mm telephoto lens that you should definitely consider). I've cropped your photo, increased saturation and introduced some blue tones to some of the leaves to echo the blue of the bird.



Perching bird
Again, compositionally problematic. The colours are also quite dull - one of the best things about birds is their bright colours, so showcase that. I've increased the saturation of your photo and shifted the colours overall to a slightly warmer side of the spectrum.



Kolgans
Like the first bird photo, this one is problematic due to the strong reflections on the water which visually compete with the subject. Once again, a polarising filter would have largely dealt with this. Also a relatively weak composition which loses the subject somewhat, but it's a pretty well taken shot in terms of sharpness. I've cropped your image to improve composition, tried to get the reflections down a little, increased saturation a little and adjusted the colours to be a little on the cooler side. I've also lightened the area around the eye a little, as you always want the eyes to be visible, since humans tend to look for the eyes in order to connect with the subject. Lastly, I straightened the photo so that the strong lines are more horizontal, and people tend to find those more comfortable to look at.



Beetle 1
Probably the best shot of the lot. Nice focus and range of tones. I've cropped it slightly to improve composition and adjusted the beetle's body to be a little more blue to compliment the warm tones of the ground. I've also darkened the background a tiny bit.



Beetle 2
It's a shame this image is quite out of focus because it has some nice shapes in it, notably the curved leaves along the top. The image would have kicked ass if you'd gotten your camera lower to the point that it'd been looking straight across instead of slightly down. Insect images taken from their eye level tend to have more drama as they bring people into their world more effectively. I've adjusted your colours slightly to introduce a slightly dreamy feel to it.



Sky
Apart from some over-exposed clouds in the middle, you've captured a nice range of tones in the sky. However, you should have focused purely on the sky instead of including land, as the land is completely featureless and thus adds nothing to the image. If there'd been some silhouetted trees, that would have been nice but the flat horizon actually ends up dominating the image, pulls the eye down there and then shows the viewer nothing. I've cropped your image to remove it, adjusted the sky a tiny bit to get a bit of definition into the clouds, and added a very subtle vignette to balance the new crop a little better.

[Toxxyc]

Thanks. A mouthful, but things I'll definitely keep in mind. I noticed from most of the photos that the lens is definitely an issue, but that's the problem with a point-and-shoot, even though the Nikon CoolPix L100 is a more "decent" one of the lot. Most of these pics where taken in very short time, birds and insects simply don't sit still for long enough, and as such focus tends to be an issue. Also, keeping my object in the center of the lens... Happens automatically, I'm going to have to force myself to do otherwise or I'll just forget again.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll work on these things during my next getaway, make sure I get some more decent shots (I'm more n00b than even I realized :O). Thanks again! :3

[echo]

2011 International Photography Award Winners

Some of the best ones:

[Ro$hi]

^Those are beautiful. Especially the first one - looks like a fantasy world...

I found these on my computer. Haven't really gotten into photography yet because I really hate the compact digital camera that our family shares.
I took these at a bird park in Plett in 2008, as you can see by the hideous date in the lower right corner of each photo (I didn't know how to remove it at the time, and come to think of it, I don't know why it is the default option in the first place.)
Also, my photo editing skills at the time were pretty much limited to Windows Picture Manager, and I had an affinity for high saturation.

I like this one for the interesting position which the cranes were in, almost like a mirror image. Pity about the meh background though...


I like the soft colour tones of this bird. Again, the background composition is uninspired.

[brazed]

I finally have a working PC again, so expect a few uploads in the next week or so