Topic: Let's talk Canon digital SLRs...

[Ryan Sims]

More from me.

Mike Doughty in Louisville last night.













The rest:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryan-sims/sets/72157603099065639/

[Brian]

considering you had to compete with the heads of the of people in the front row, those are some nice shots!  I like the one of the cello player reading the sheet because of how that one female audience member is also in focus. 

looks like a nice venue too.

[stirinthesauce]

went out at sunrise earlier this morning, down to the valley, for some shots.  Here are 3 different sunrise shots from 3 different locations I've been half-ass scouting around for this, so here are some resized example.  

Which one/s do you like and why or dislike and why.  I'm kinda on a deadline to get a bunch of landscapes into this gallery in the next 2 weeks and I need more material.  Sunrises I lack, I tend to want to sleep in.

The third pic is noisy (I can fix) but I didn't feel like any more editing at this moment.

[Brian]

i like the first picture because i think it gives the sense of a sunrise the most.  in other words, it looks the most like the morning of the three pictures.  the other 2 seem draw my focus to the clouds and not necessarily the sunrise. 

[possibly completely stupid comment]

the last two pictures, to me, give the feel of a sunset.  i realize both "look" the same, but a sunset doesn't have the same "feel" as a sunrise. Because of the ridge line(how dark it is) and clouds of the last two pictures, it just feels like the sun is going down.  the color of the landscape from the light of the sun in the first picture gives the sense that a new day is starting. does that make any sense?

[/possibly completely stupid comment]

[Frank in JC]

went out at sunrise earlier this morning, down to the valley, for some shots.  Here are 3 different sunrise shots from 3 different locations I've been half-ass scouting around for this, so here are some resized example. 

Which one/s do you like and why or dislike and why.  I'm kinda on a deadline to get a bunch of landscapes into this gallery in the next 2 weeks and I need more material.  Sunrises I lack, I tend to want to sleep in.

The third pic is noisy (I can fix) but I didn't feel like any more editing at this moment.

I think the 3rd is the most nicely composed.  Try cropping some of the land off the bottom and tweaking the curves and saturation.  I spent about a minute doing this, and I wanted you to see how the curve is shaped.  The "curves" tool is probably the most powerful tool for exposure control.  It can be confusing at first, but becomes intuitive over time.

[Brian]

frank - just for my own benefit,  explain why you think the 3rd pic has the best composition.  i'm still trying to get better about critiquing composition in my own pictures

[stirinthesauce]

Thanks for the feedback, from both of ya'll.  Frank, I agree about the cropping.  Just needed to hear it from someone else.  I'll go back in PS and do that.  I'll also take a look a the curves tools.  Brian, I like number 1 too.  I'll probably get both of these printed.  

[Sanjay]

I agree with Frank and like the 3rd the best. 

I also love the 1st one.  Try cropping some of the land, right up to where the fence's bottom is, then crop some of the sky out to make it look like a panoramic.  Then work with the curves or saturation to bring out some of those reds. 

If you can't quite get the blue in the sky of the first one right with the curves as Frank showed you, since they are a bit tricky, what you can do is drop the temperature down and bring the saturation up, this will make the blues pop out quite nicely. 

Ryan, for the wine bottle I have some suggestions for you.  When we shot liquids or drinks we always made sure that we had a light source reflecting through the glass.  So in order to maintain your current composition of the photo, which I really like, I would suggest getting some sort of high watt bulb either shining through the bottom of the bottle or on the side enough to make it more translucent.  If you can dettach your flash or have a strobe available I would place it higher than the camera and to the right.  The combination if independently lighting the bottle and having secondary light source which is not from the position your camera is at will go a long way.  The effect I assume will appear something like light coming through a window if you get it right.  Experiment with your exposure and f stops by using a tripod.

[stirinthesauce]

I agree with Frank and like the 3rd the best. 

I also love the 1st one.  Try cropping some of the land, right up to where the fence's bottom is, then crop some of the sky out to make it look like a panoramic.  Then work with the curves or saturation to bring out some of those reds. 

If you can't quite get the blue in the sky of the first one right with the curves as Frank showed you, since they are a bit tricky, what you can do is drop the temperature down and bring the saturation up, this will make the blues pop out quite nicely. 

ha!  we were thinking alike.  I did exactly that just now in pic 1 and am currently uploading to mpix for some prints.   

[Frank in JC]

frank - just for my own benefit,  explain why you think the 3rd pic has the best composition.  i'm still trying to get better about critiquing composition in my own pictures

Uh... just because? 

Good composition is like pornography, I don't know how to define it, but I know it when I see it.

Basically though, the sun is framed by the curve of the hill and the pattern of the clouds seems to be rolling away from the rising sun.  It just seems to work.  Also, it's the sky that grabs your attention.  In the first shot for example, there's really nothing that catches the viewer's eye.  The second one is nice, but the gap of clear sky between the land and the clouds seems to hurt it a little.  Also, I think it would be nicer if the the sun was closer to the left side of the frame, with the hill sloping downward and away. 

These are just my opinions, so please take them with a grain of salt.

[Brian]

thanks for the response.  it's much appreciated.

i guess i just let the color of the first picture win me over without any regard to composition.

[Ryan Sims]

+T to the page.

Great advice Sanjay.

I'll see if I can replicate the shot at some point and use your advice. At the time it was an "oh shit, the wine is dripping everywhere" moment that turned into "ohhhh I better grab the camera."

[phanophish]

Not directly related to landscapes but I was shooting some Senior photos a few weeks ago for a friend's daughter and thought I'd share..

[Frank in JC]

Not directly related to landscapes but I was shooting some Senior photos a few weeks ago for a friend's daughter and thought I'd share..

Very nice work, background included.  She and her parents will be pleased! 

With all due respect, my only comment would be to see what happens if you dodge the catch light in her eyes a little (or just fake it and paint it in). 

FWIW, I started messing with the Imagenomic Portraiture plug-in and it truly is amazing.  The sample images on their website aren't BS.

[phanophish]

Not directly related to landscapes but I was shooting some Senior photos a few weeks ago for a friend's daughter and thought I'd share..

Very nice work, background included.  She and her parents will be pleased! 

With all due respect, my only comment would be to see what happens if you dodge the catch light in her eyes a little (or just fake it and paint it in). 

FWIW, I started messing with the Imagenomic Portraiture plug-in and it truly is amazing.  The sample images on their website aren't BS.

She is a cute girl and pretty photogenic so it was fun for me being able to focus on composition and lighting.  I have not really done any post processing, just a quick exposure adjustment and bumped saturation a bit.  I'll probably lighten up her eyes and teeth when i go to print the image. 

The Portraiture plugin is really cool I've played around with it a bit, I went ahead and bought the Imagenomic "package". I'm not always a big fan of that highly processed skin look for portraits so have not done to much with it.  I probably should try it out as an adjustment layer and drop the opacity down to better control how aggressive the effect is.