Photography The Post Your Photos Not For The Photocomp Thread For Critique Or Just For Fun Thread

[Rubber Bullets]

Hi G,

The B&W one above is lovely, I really like it. With the right light in the sky it could well work in colour as well. It looks like it would make an amazing sunrise/sunset shot if it's facing the right way.

Of the 2 above I prefer the 2nd as well, though as you realise it needs better lighting to really stand out. The top one falls a bit between 2 ideas for me. The folds in the rock are interesting, and I wonder whether a much tighter crop and processing just to show as much of them, and as little distraction as possible, might work. At the moment the foreground is a bit distracting, and the bit of grass and sky above is a bit superfluous, at least to my eye.

RB

 

[old.user4556]

That's a question I often ask myself Cal, I believe you get out of photography what you put into it. It's rare that I can just pitch up at a location and just "get the shot" and it's a good one.

I always generally visualise a shot I want to take and then plan out how to get it. That rapeseed photo took me weeks to get between shite weather, not having the time to get out and get it, researching the right location for the sunset and then waiting for a reasonably unobstructed sunset. I used the Photographer's Ephemeris to make sure the sunset angle was right, made my way out one evening (abandoning a family dinner...) and made it just in time. I'm happy with the picture, it's not particularly original though.

I have on occasion spent a loooooooong time (and a lot of petrol...) driving around Glencoe and west highlands on the off chance that I'll "luck" the right conditions but ended up taking some average shots that I relegated to the meh pile. The weather is so changeable in Scotland that sometimes it's impossible to plan for - I went to Skye last September and got one good sunny evening and probably two or three good photos; the rest of the time it pissed with rain and I ended up with fuck all. I think there's also that skill to decide "right, it's overcast and these waves are shite, I'm going to go for a minimalist long exposure mono shot". It's not always a waste, I've been building up location knowledge in my head that will help when I do get the right opportunity.

To answer your question, I'm about 2 hours from decent west coast locations and about 1 hour 30 mins from good east coast locations (St Abbs, Skateraw and Eyemouth). When the swell is the right direction, St Abbs can get some tremendous waves with awesome rock formations, but it's a fair drive and a lot of climbing around rocks so it's a risk / reward. I recommend surf forecast for planning wave heights, swell direction and wave energy. I can see why milou is spoiled for choice on the south coast, you get the benefit of sunrise and sunset from the same location and the prevailing wind is likely to generate a lot of reliable wave interest off the Atlantic that is not interrupted by islands or land. In Scotland, most of the west coast (except the islands) has the best swell off the Atlantic obscured by the Hebrides.

I'll be honest, sometimes I find photography very unfulfilling and frustrating as I can write off a whole weekend trying to get some decent photos and end up with nothing (time and petrol pissed down the drain). I feel a lot of pressure to keep my standard as high as possible if I want to get my shots noticed on Flickr, so unless it's as good as my last shot then I tend not to post it. Maybe if I lightened up a bit, I'd enjoy it more than I currently do.

 

[old.user4556]

Went out for a hillwalk today, some serious storms and showers blowing in.

 

[Embattle]

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/britain-from-above/

 

[Exioce]

Nothing special, just took it to practice HDR through layer mask blending, and to try to get something reasonably appealing from a grey overcast day.
I need to get out more, but those 4AM sunrises are a real pain this time of year huh?


Overcast by markmburns, on Flickr

 

[old.user4556]

That's a pretty good stab at a long exposure, maybe try a bit of black and white with it and push the contrast in the sky in photoshop?

Here's a recent one from me.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

That's great, although I'd probably like it a little more if it was a tad brighter. Love the blues and orange.

 

[old.user4556]

Shouldn't be too dark, I presume your monitor is fully calibrated?

 

[Wazzerphuk]

No, I'm at work and I still need to sort that out at home properly too.... got any good links?

At work here the foreground/front of the posts are just a little too dark, resulting in a little loss of detail.

 

[old.user4556]

Nah there's still subtle wood grain detail on those foreground posts. It's one of those images that's right on the edge where if your monitor contrast / brightness is too low even by a couple of notches, then you'll clip the blacks and lose detail.

I borrowed my old man's Spyder 3 to calibrate my monitor, also see what milou has to say on calibration - I'm sure he's been through those motions a lot more than I have, particularly when it comes to calibrated printed output.

Try one of these - http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-datacolor-spyder-4-pro/p1528824

PS Running a MK3 with no calibrated monitor is like Pirlo playing with skis on .

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Do you really need to buy something to calibrate your monitor?!

 

[Deebs]

Do you really need to buy something to calibrate your monitor?!

Yes

 

[Wazzerphuk]

When I had a CRT monitor I'm sure I calibrated it without external equipment...

 

[DaGaffer]

Nah there's still subtle wood grain detail on those foreground posts. It's one of those images that's right on the edge where if your monitor contrast / brightness is too low even by a couple of notches, then you'll clip the blacks and lose detail.

I borrowed my old man's Spyder 3 to calibrate my monitor, also see what milou has to say on calibration - I'm sure he's been through those motions a lot more than I have, particularly when it comes to calibrated printed output.

Try one of these - http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-datacolor-spyder-4-pro/p1528824

PS Running a MK3 with no calibrated monitor is like Pirlo playing with skis on .

Sounds great...if you only ever look at your photos on one monitor and don't share them. Oh, wait....

 

[old.user4556]

To be fair, if you're photographing and printing it's absolutely essential.

Even top grade panels where the manufacturer hand picks individual IPS panels need calibration.

 

[Clown]

Going through a photography rut. I'm basically jealous that Wazz got a 5D3 before me so there's no point in me living. So in retaliation, you can get some pictures taken with my shitty old 550D and kit lens.


Emirates Greenwich Peninsula. by Clwn, on Flickr


Emirates Royal Docks. by Clwn, on Flickr


Emirates Air Line Cable Car. by Clwn, on Flickr


o2 and Canary Wharf. by Clwn, on Flickr

 

[Wazzerphuk]

I'll have a couple up from the weekend later I think.

 

[caLLous]

But you're taking (good) pictures of things not made of cotton with your 550D so be happy with that.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Coming from the man that NEVER POSTS ANYTHING AT ALL

Do you even take photos?

 

[caLLous]

No.

Well yes. But FH is like the last bastion of internet anonynimity. It's not REAL LIFE. :\

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Why do you pretend to know about lenses and stuff then?

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Yeah, I don't do people but this one is relatively nice for a posed ordinary shot. Their faces after landing.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Fairly sure this was our man on the right of the photo here. Could easily be wrong though.



The crop opportunities and detail are fantastic. This was shot from fecking miles away, this is heavily cropped. Fantastic camera.

Did I mention the camera is great?

Also had no issues pushing shadows as far as I've needed/wanted to so far at ISO 100.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

HAVE SOME MORE FABRIC, SUCKERS

 

[Wazzerphuk]

 

[Wazzerphuk]

 

[old.user4556]

Like that last one wazz.

Here's one i've just uploaded.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Woops, a bit big. Oh well.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

 

[Wazzerphuk]