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Some photos from today

A

Anonymous

Guest
Well, I was out practicing again today. It just amazes me how many bad pictures I take. Most are because I don't check my settings before pressing the button, others are simply because I guess wrong on the settings. In any case, I am still pretty disappointed in how many wasted shots I take. Thank goodness I'm not paying for film and developing. <img src="/metal/html/indifferent.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":|">
Today I was at our local museum again. The biggest problem that I ran into was that there were so many people there due to the nice weather. I can't say that I got any shots that knocked my socks off. Instead, I included some shots that were close, along with my own critiques. Please feel free add any comments or suggestions of your own.
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OK, this is a water tower with the name of the museum on it. My goal was to focus on the museum's name and using a real shallow DOF to noticeably blur the train. I assumed that by using my 50mm prime at f/1.4 I should have lots of DOF and this should have had a real nice effect. As you can see I failed on the attempt. <img src="/metal/html/frown.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":(">
<image src="http://findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/gf1.jpg">
This shot turned out alright. Nothing terribly complicated but I got the focus, exposure and composure reasonably correct.
<image src="http://findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/gf2.jpg">
Once again, this shot turned out alright as well. Pretty simple stuff but I got the focus, exposure and composure reasonably correct at least. The sun was starting to get pretty high so the light was starting to become a problem. Also, the crowds were starting to grow and become a pain too. <img src="/metal/html/frown.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":(">
<image src="http://findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/gf3.jpg">
Sigh ... this shot was supposed to a real artsy type of photo. Using just the light from the window I focused on the book and wanted to soften everything behind it. Well, after looking at the photo I can see that the most prominent object in the frame is the lamp and that should have been the focus point, not the book.
<image src="http://findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/gf4.jpg">
This is the same photo as above but in black and white. It seems to work a little better in black and white than in color, but I still think I blew it on this one. <img src="/metal/html/frown.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":(">
<image src="http://findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/gfbw.jpg">
Just a shot of an interesting wall on a building. I was waiting for a Model T to go buy for affect, but that didn't happen soon enough so I got bored and just snapped this shot. <img src="/metal/html/indifferent.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":|">
<image src="http://findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/gf5.jpg">
They played an 1867 style baseball game that I tried to shoot. We got there early and unfortunately our seats were too close to get any decent shots. You'd think that with as many baseball games as I've been to I'd know better. Obviously not. <img src="/metal/html/frown.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":("> The 1867 version of baseball is much more compact than the modern version. This is a shot of the team striking waiting their turn in the box.
<image src="http://findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/gf6.jpg">
And last, these flowers were an awesomely bright yellow. But as you can see the mid-day sunlight pretty much wiped out the colors. I could fix this in PhotoShop but I'd like to have better photography skills so I don't have to do so much editing after the shot. <img src="/metal/html/indifferent.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":|"> Also, I lost patience waiting for the fat chick behind the sigh to move. It was a long day and I figured that in all likelihood I probably wouldn't be selling this photo so I just snapped it, fat chick and all. <img src="/metal/html/frown.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":(">
<image src="http://findmall.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10325/gf7.jpg">
 
Hey Nim, don't be affraid to sharpen your photos with Photoshop Elements. Thay'll look much better...
John
 
My Nikon Coolpix 8700, when set to manual focus, will show the area infocus by outlining it. Does your's do that? Also do you know about hyperfocual distance? If not, I'll write up an explination for you.
Some people have a good eye, (like you) and need techinical training to achieve what they see. Keep clicking, your getting there.
Later, Frank EastBay
 
But I'm trying to highlight my camera work (or lack thereof) so that all of you can critique it. True, I could enhance these photos in PhotoShop but that would only cover up for my photography flaws and not help me to learn how to do it right. So much post photo processing can be done in PhotoShop that it can hamper your photography skills if you come to depend on it. My goal is to be a better photographer so that I can get the best possible image to start with. As I have mentioned before, I plan on trying my hand at setting up a local sports photography business. I'm guessing that with any luck I'd be shooting around 500 photos a day. There's no way I can PhotoShop that many photos in a timely fashion. It'd be far easier to just shoot the pictures correctly in the first place and skip all the post processing work. Plus, it's a personal thing. I want to know what I am doing wrong so I can increase my photography skills.
PS ... sorry for the rant. It's early and I'm kind of cranky in the morning until I've had my coffee. <img src="/metal/html/wink.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=";)">
 
My camera does have focus points that tell me what should be in focus. In most cases where I blow the focus aspect it is because I forget to check the focus points or in the case of the window lamp photo I simply choose a poor focus point. <img src="/metal/html/frown.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":(">
I did some research on hyperfocal distance and I believe you are correct in identifying that as my problem. I've had good success using DOF at fairly close ranges so I was surprised that I couldn't achieve it in the train photo. After reading about hyperfocal distance as you suggested I now understand why it didn't come out as I had planned. Thanks Frank, that is the kind of help that I am after in this forum. <img src="/metal/html/biggrin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":D"> I also included a link below to a neat hyperfocal distance calculator that I found while doing my research.
For me, the biggest problem I still have is that I simply rush and forget some aspect of the shot. I only shoot in manual mode so I force myself to choose the ISO speed, shutter speed, focus points and f-stop. I'm usually pretty good at composing the photo in the view finder but in my excitement I often forget to double check my settings. I keep hoping that with practice I'll start being more aware of my settings before I trip the shutter.
Thanks again Frank for the great tip on hyperfocal distances. <img src="/metal/html/biggrin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":D">
 
You either sharpen in camera or do it with a graphics program. DSLR's respond real well to sharpenng and they all need it.
Either that or all of your pics you post will look too soft....
John
 
I was reading a technical article on the net, about sharpening. The author suggested that if you will want to isolate something with sharpness, you should turn off sharpening in the camera and selectively sharpen in PhotoShop. I'm not technically adept at PhotoShop (Yet), but I'll keep this idea in mind.
Later, Frank
 
How would you get the effect you wanted without moving? Zoom in or change lenses.
Dave
 
It's Greenfield Village & Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan. I included a link below.
 
you how to improve on your photographic skills, as I have none of my own. Just wanted to say that I liked the B&W shot. Some subjects just scream for B&W and that was one. It just seems to set the tone of the picture.
 
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