PHOTOS PLEASE

[andyman]

BITCHIN CAMARO

[andyman]

[GONNAFISTYA]

[tnf]

Taken with a Sigma 50-500mm lens I borrowed from work.

[Fanatic X]

To excite your eyes, here are a few more from the recent road trip ...









fags

[chopov]

FanaticX, which (PS-?) filters do you use on your images? How do you manage to get this diluted-postcard-from-the-fifties-look? Tutorial please! ;-)

[PhoeniX]

He posted this aaaages ago I think so it might not be correct now..

Thank you very much, I try to keep PP to a minimum by getting the exposure right via grads, spending time over my composition, and using manual focus to get a sharp shot (and I also try to avoid shooting in harsh light).

But as a general workflow I will start in adobe camera raw and:

adjust white balance if necessary
clarity slider set to 50
maybe add in up to +7 saturation
sharpening & noise reduction, set to zero
split toning, sometimes do a 7, 7 in the highlights hue & saturation sliders (gives a lovely warm tone to a landscape)

Then into CS3:
straighten horizon, clone dust bunnies out + minor distractions
I also like to add a subtle dark vignette from time to time
dodge highlights & burn shadows subtly which applies contrast selectively to the areas of the image that need it
Crop if necessary, resize, and then smart sharpen (usually <100%, 0.3, 0 for an 800px image)

And that's about it, 15mins tops

[seremtan]

awesome shots FagnaticX. i'm impressed you get that HDR-ish effect on some of them without using photomatix

some recent efforts, to illustrate the fact that while britain looks like shit for 6/7 months of the year, the rest of the time it's quite photogenic:

[tnf]

This is my first ever attempt at a nighttime waterfall shot - my tripod is a $20 piece of shit - a nice tripod is one of the next things on my list. It makes it hard to avoid some camera shake when the shutter activates. I just wish I had the ability to take shots like Fanatic's. Amazing stuff.

[PhoeniX]

Heh I tried something similar the other day... but instead of a waterfall it was our pond .

[ForM]

So I have been sitting on the back porch a lot of late, mostly because it isn't to cold or to hot. Kind of like the little girl whom ate the little bears porridge...
It's been "Just right!"

Now you people know I love my nature. And even tho there's a lot of bugs about, zig zaging and flitting and landing and crawling about, I have been busy watching the birds in the area.

For a long time this area was kind of vacant of them. Sure, I would get the crows and Starlings and the occasional Robin, but that was about it. And for the last three years I have been laying seed out, putting up bird houses, even went so far as to try to draw Hummingbirds, and yes their flitting about but not landing.......

So last week I showed a pair of Swallows, much to my chagrin a tad out of focus.... And I know bird photography is hard as I tried my hand at it before. It is NOT easy to get a good focus..and you tnf, have been doing a good job with it.

Last pic clearly shows what a good lens can do for you sir. Excellent focus on that eye.


So any ways........I was sitting out side, expecting the Swallows to land on that fence post out back. I even set up with my tripod a bit early as to what I am used to seeing them, beers next to me, new pack of smokes and a fully charged Battery....as we all know bat's tend to die when you least expect it..... The cats jumping up and down on the porch making a ruckus....me rolling my eyes each time I heard one land...knowing that "You are scarring off my birds ya fuckin over grown rodents"...... my dog running about like a mad hatter not helping the expectations of which I sat down for to wait patiently for.........

So as all this was going on and I'm watching a Falcon (unsure of breed) fly over to the south and it led my eye to this big ass 'ole time dish that's left over from around the cold war era and I spied this......

A female Bluebird that I did not expect to see again. I spied her a couple of weeks ago but figured she would just move on, much like has happened the years before. I smiled and clicked anyway.



Yea, she was a bit distant but not a bad shot for the yardage even for heavily cropped. I watched as she flitted away over the field, I sighed heavily, and again heard a cat land with a thud on the porch........

But then she came back.....landing on the dish and just looked over the back yard.......I did not bother clicking her again, possibly should have....but just waited.....

And then......from out of the field flying low, was her mate. He made a sweep over her and then landed on the fence post that the Swallows had perched on the week before, the place that the Swallows tend to call "Their Diving Ground" for bugs...

And he sat there......I shot him as he struck a pose.........



He looked about, very guardedly.....and then he heard a cat hit the porch as did I and he looked.........



I however kept clicking...as I cursed my cats...........

But then I heard Mom......sing a song and a chirp and Dad looked up at her on the 'Ole dish and spied my way again....and he to chirped.......

From out of the field came their Son.......... and he landed next to daddy.........

(click click click)



"Awsome" I said to my self as I kept clicking and watching........

They sat there, Father Lording over son as son eyed his new terrain......and then he dived into the pillow of grass and came up with dinner ....



and they flew away.


Just thought I would share.......


Also might add, no PP was done to any of these........Cropped yes.......and exif is there......as I did make a few changes during the shoot.

Happy shooting kids.

[Whiskey 7]

Fanatic X

Where are those simply beautiful pictures (this and previous page) from

[Fanatic X]

He posted this aaaages ago I think so it might not be correct now..

Thank you very much, I try to keep PP to a minimum by getting the exposure right via grads, spending time over my composition, and using manual focus to get a sharp shot (and I also try to avoid shooting in harsh light).

But as a general workflow I will start in adobe camera raw and:

adjust white balance if necessary
clarity slider set to 50
maybe add in up to +7 saturation
sharpening & noise reduction, set to zero
split toning, sometimes do a 7, 7 in the highlights hue & saturation sliders (gives a lovely warm tone to a landscape)

Then into CS3:
straighten horizon, clone dust bunnies out + minor distractions
I also like to add a subtle dark vignette from time to time
dodge highlights & burn shadows subtly which applies contrast selectively to the areas of the image that need it
Crop if necessary, resize, and then smart sharpen (usually <100%, 0.3, 0 for an 800px image)

And that's about it, 15mins tops

This was not written by me fortunately...

[Fanatic X]

Fanatic X

Where are those simply beautiful pictures (this and previous page) from

Canadian Rockies: Banff, Lake Louise, Yoho National Park

[PhoeniX]

This was not written by me fortunately...

Sorry, I saved it for some reason and thought it was from you from here. Who knows then.

[tnf]

Here are some flight shots in sequence of an osprey. These birds are fantastic to photograph if you know where to find them and get there early enough to see them active. I need to find where the ones I watch hunt, I really want to catch a shot of them fishing. If you haven't seen an osprey catch a bird, check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CEtxcOQwDY

They do drown on rare occasions. Looking at that video you might see why.

Like Form said, birds are a bitch to get focused on when they are flying (these aren't perfectly sharp - still learning the lens and what shutter speeds and apertures it performs best under).

[tnf]

Here are a few more:

Was near the airport looking for Golden Eagles and other raptors, got a few shots of planes taking off. Here's one:



I think this is a Western Kingbird, but I am not sure. Form do you know which bird this is?


Another plane shot:


Not very good at landscapes yet. Here's one:



A couple sunsets:

[tnf]

Notice his tongue wagging and spit flying out.


Staring contest.


Finally got a bird landing.

[Fanatic X]

Sci-fi goodness. Taken today with the Panasonic LX3.

[saturn]

Nice pics y'all. It's been a while so I just fired up Lightroom to export a few photos to flickr from my last trip to Menorca.
Lovely little island near her bigger sister island Mallorca and party island Ibiza.

I had two lenses with me: a Tokina 12-14mm for the wide-angle shots and a cheap plastic Nikon 70-300mm lens.
The first two photos are shot with the 70-300, you'll see that the resolution is subpar, but not too shabby.

Menorca Lighthouse at dusk, zoomed in at 300 mm.


Sailboat in foggy conditions, zoomed in at 300 mm


Same Menorca Lighthouse with wide-angle lens. I was 1 kilometer closer, physically.


The sea was so damn clear.

[Whiskey 7]

Sci-fi goodness. Taken today with the Panasonic LX3.

Wiki Clicky – Silent Running perhaps

A great movie.... and your pic

[ForM]

I think this is a Western Kingbird, but I am not sure. Form do you know which bird this is?

I'm afraid that call is incorrect. It looks more like a Male Meadowlark. and a very mature one at that........here is the female counter part......

[Fender]

wow... last few posts have had some great stuff

[ForM]

And now for something completely different..........

A Tip for tnf and a trick........

Tip first......tnf, I know the first thought is to keep the aperture as wide as you can to get as much light as you can to keep the shutter speed as fast as possible, however I might suggest you close it up some. I notice your shooting at 5.6 and such, try 8.0 or smaller as some lenses dont hit the sweet spot till around an F/8.....and if you are really venturous, close it up to 32, but remember, the more you close it, the more ISO you will need to gain that light. I'm willing to bet you will gain a little more focus, if you accept a little bit of noise. Even that can be fixed with things like Noise Ninja......and stuff.

The trick.......Macro....the completely different part..........

[Cue song..........] "Come on, lets get down with the sickness......"

Macro shows stuff, stuff you did not ever think you would see.... Anyway I dusted the 60 mm off and attached a tube of 36 mm...upped my ISO speed to 800 to make up for the light loss at an aperture of 32......and got ..............

Gunky Goodness........




Yea, I know it's kind of sick. But ya cant beat the focal clarity.

[ToxicBug]

Sci-fi goodness. Taken today with the Panasonic LX3.

you got me intrigued by the LX3... any words about it?