NSR ~ Taking a break

[little_panther]

Hello, this is my first attempt at RAW photography and also using people as my subject matter, hope you like it,

Cnc please

[rek]

Its blurred in the wrong spots. Makes it annoying to look at. kiu though

[inky]

I'm guessing the bokeh effect was added later on via PS (unless you're using tilt/shift lens). It's really not an easy task to make blurring look natural in photographs using post-processing digital programs -- especially detailed ones. You have to remember that the amount of blurring is relative to the distance of that object to your camera (and the aperture, focus, etc). As far as the composition goes, it's not bad but it could've been a lot better. I try not to yell out "RULE OF THIRDS!" or "LESS/MORE HEADROOM PLEASE!" right away in every image that I see just because it's not exactly a rule -- it's a guideline but can always be broken for the sake of creativity. In addition, the image seems slightly underexposed. Probably around a -0.5 or -1 on the light meter. Easily fixed with RAW format.

Anyway, moving away from the technical aspects of the image, I believe that photos about people -- real people (kind of like a photojournalistic style) -- should show a lot about the subject. In this case, I feel that you distance yourself from the subject and it's really hard to get a glimpse of what you want to project with this image. It doesn't always mean you need to get up close and personal with them but figuring out a way to do it is the challenging part -- it's where the artist in you needs to come out.

Anyway, I'm hoping to see more from you. And yes! SHOOT RAW! I seriously need a bigger memory card just because I always shoot in RAW + L mode now. Fuckin loads of memory.

Also, what do you shoot with?

[little_panther]

Wow, after reading your comment I saw all the faults in how I edited and took this image, good job (I will never look at this image again without seeing it's faults, damn you ). The blurring and exposure was done later to the image because I was attempting a cinematic effect. I normally shoot macro, Abstract and Landscape photography. I haven't tried it yet, but I really want to have a shot (hah pun) at still life photography. I shoot with a Cannon 450D, an example of some of my other stuff:

This was our beach at schoolies:



my issue with this image is that I feel it has to much sky in it, though I do like the lead in lines created by the railing.

And here is an example of some macro Photography:



Thanks very much for the CNC, gives me something to improve on.

[inky]

No problem. Experimentation is always good. Trust me, I still make tons of mistakes and I got my ass torn during my first CnC with an audience at my college. It was kinda scary showcasing my work in front of a crowd. I'm no photography major but I'm pretty much an autodidact with everything I do -- although I intend to study photography after I'm done with my current major. Anyway....

Spoiler!

The first picture with the beach has a lot of potential but it's a shame the railing doesn't point directly at the sunset. The source of lighting is kinda awkward, causing weird lighting angles and underexposure on certain parts of the picture (eg. railing on the right side) and regular exposure on other parts, causing an imbalance. Asymmetry can be useful but not this case. The colors of the sky also come out weird. The red/orange gradient going sideways rather than upwards kinda kills the image of the skyline. Then again, these are factors that are out of your hand. But just can't help but notice them.

As for the macro, I'm curious what kinda of macro lens you use. I like it but the DOF is too shallow -- only 1/20 of the picture actually falls into the total depth of field.

Also, YAY CANON!

[little_panther]

Yeah unfortunately all of the stairs point almost away from the sunset at that beach. Photography's just a small hobby (an expensive one) for me. I took studio this year as one of my final year subjects and was experimenting with different ways to display photographs. What do you do at uni with photography?? my macro lens is a cannon EFS 60mm.

Heres the studio arts final piece:



Heres a photograph I took a while ago:



which i think is a tad overexposed.

[inky]

Yeah...definitely an expensive one. I probably won't be buying another lens for a while since my 1.8 50mm is glued to my camera body lol. Unless I upgrade to a 1.3, which I don't see happening anytime soon. I like the studio work and that macro bee a lot. And yes, there's a couple of blown up highlights but not that noticeable for most people. Although it would definitely show up on the histogram right away. I'm a nursing major but I attend photo workshops and I'm a member of the photography club so I get to use their facilities from time to time. As far as education, I'm an autodidact so I learned mostly from reading, workshops, and other hands-on activities. When I have the time, I go out to shoot with some friends who are photo majors. I've been doing photoshop for a while so that's where I learned some of the universal composition "rules" like DOF, rule of thirds, flow, use of converging lines, etc.

[Majorharper]

Sorry to break into the thread and go off topic a little bit, but what do you guys think about the D3100 Nikon? My mom just bought it and I havent experimented with it yet.. Looks nifty

[inky]

Tbh, I don't know that much about Nikons. It's more of Deadsolid's expertise but based on a quick check of the specs, it's a very competent camera. 14mp and a movie mode would definitely prove quite useful. I would suggest investing on a wide aperture 50mm prime lens if you're using the default zooming one. A nikkor 1.8 50mm would cost around $100 but I would suggest getting the 1.4 like DS did for around $300. Definitely worth it. I hope I'm not speaking Chinese but if you feel lost, you can read that long ass post I made about photography basics (link in my sig). Also, please invest in buying a bag for it. You can get a nice lowpro bag that can carry 2-3 lens and 1 camera body for $25. Aside from those, read the manual and practice with auto, then time value, then aperture mode, then finally manual.