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GAF Photography Q4 2015
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Love Brazos Bend State Park.
Whistling Duck Hangout by Billy York, on Flickr
The Spillway Trail by Billy York, on Flickr
Elm Lake Trail by Billy York, on Flickr
Whistling Duck Hangout by Billy York, on FlickrThe Spillway Trail by Billy York, on FlickrElm Lake Trail by Billy York, on FlickrLucky Forward
Member
Here's one last bunch from the airshow I attended a few weeks ago. There were lots of planes that were parked on display, but rather than take wide shots with spectators milling around them I went in close and looked for interesting shapes.
IMG_3654 by Lucky Forward, on Flickr
IMG_3688 by Lucky Forward, on Flickr
IMG_3792 by Lucky Forward, on Flickr
IMG_3782 by Lucky Forward, on Flickr
IMG_3823 by Lucky Forward, on Flickr
IMG_3855 by Lucky Forward, on Flickr
Terrific shot, you captured the top duck at just the right moment.
IMG_3654 by Lucky Forward, on FlickrIMG_3688 by Lucky Forward, on FlickrIMG_3792 by Lucky Forward, on FlickrIMG_3782 by Lucky Forward, on FlickrIMG_3823 by Lucky Forward, on FlickrIMG_3855 by Lucky Forward, on FlickrTerrific shot, you captured the top duck at just the right moment.
Thanks! So is the whole golden hours thing really that important? I never really thought of it that way.
I have a cheap tripod but its kind of fragile and I tend to move around a lot while taking my pictures. In that case, would you say that kind of minimizing the movement would be more ideal? I usually take photos on vacation, and I want to see as much as I can. I have used a monopod before as well to help stabilize shots.
Is there any tips towards shooting mid day? Or is it just kind of a physical limitation that makes it less suited towards landscapes?
Thanks for all your feedback!
JadedWriter
Member
I'm no pro at all, but you need to work on your composition. I take a lot of random shots as well, so I can't judge on that front, just try to figure out what you're trying to bring to the attention of the viewer and make sure that's at the forefront. I'm pretty sure these aren't great either, but I figured I'd just show you an example or two.Thank you, I do actually feel like I'm still there when I watch it.
Here's a few more pics. Anyone have suggestions on how I could have made these more interesting? (composition, point of focus etc.)
https://flic.kr/p/zyfmQghttps://www.flickr.com/photos/135667972@N02/
https://flic.kr/p/Aw8LAZhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/135667972@N02/
https://flic.kr/p/Av9aNkhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/135667972@N02/
https://flic.kr/p/AwWD5yhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/135667972@N02/
https://flic.kr/p/zyeCBDhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/135667972@N02/
DSC_4194 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickr
DSC_4233 by Marcus Beasley, on FlickrI don't really like to put focus on any particular people though (not in those settings, concerts are a different thing). How should I handle that then? I just want to shoot things in a certain way I perceive them and I simply don't care about individuals in a crowd, just the whole crowd altogether in the context of the environment.
Those photos you posted are pretty good but it's definitely not the direction I want to head into.
JadedWriter
Member
I'm not what I call the best at shooting crowds since I tend to find the most interesting thing in a crowd to be what an individual or two is doing. These are probably some of my favorite crowd shots:
DSC_3547 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickr
DSC_3632 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickr
DSC_3771 by Marcus Beasley, on FlickrPeople actually doing...things...helps. Your most interesting pic is the third pic. The lighting is nice and the people activity is pretty good as well.
Good shots but it's still not what I'm after. The focus is too much on the crowd for my taste and the environment isn't particularly interesting to me. I perceive my surroundings in a certain way that I would like to portray. I would say my photos aren't where I want it to be but it's already going a little bit in that direction. The third one comes pretty close maybe.
JadedWriter
Member
I honestly think the more you shoot, the more you'll figure out your perspective. I shoot way better than I used to so just use every photo session as a learning experience. Also do not be afraid to crop your shots, it helps a great deal, and on that note some Halloween from yesterday:
DSC_4324 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickr
DSC_4470 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickr
DSC_4472 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickr
DSC_4436 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickr
DSC_4375 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickr
DSC_4367 by Marcus Beasley, on FlickrMore here:
Lucky Forward
Member
It helps if you are able to verbalize in your head what it is about a particular scene that appeals to you, e.g. "I like how the people are all huddled against the wind and cold" or "I like how everyone is looking intently at something down the street" or "I like how those lovers are oblivious to the crowd around them." Once you can put that idea into words, the next step is to compose a shot that emphasizes and accentuates that idea, and to eliminate as best you can all the extraneous elements that don't contribute toward portraying your central idea.
That's good advice. Actually I often feel alone in a crowd and disconnected, it's that I would like to try to portray but it's not something many people will like or can identify with
JadedWriter
Member
I know everything about feeling alone in a crowd actually, but it's hard to convey that in a picture without focusing on an individual that's pretty distant from the crowd itself.That's good advice. Actually I often feel alone in a crowd and disconnected, it's that I would like to try to portray but it's not something many people will like or can identify with
Astral/H3X
Member
Jaded, those most recent photos you posted all pretty much have the same thing going on -- the flash is too strong. It's washing them out. There's a few things you could do about this, one of which is in Lightroom, you might actually be able to pull down the Whites so that it more evenly matches the rest of their skin (though it's no miracle worker), alternatively, using a bounce card or other diffuser can do wonders in at least softening it up.
What I would change in those, is just using a smidge higher ISO, and a smidge weaker flash, and then pull down Whites in LR.
What I would change in those, is just using a smidge higher ISO, and a smidge weaker flash, and then pull down Whites in LR.
JadedWriter
Member
That was literally my first time using the flash and I didn't even know how to adjust the damn thing till yesterday. I actually had my effing ISO up to a thousand and it softened the pics a lot, took away a lot of the detail on a lot of them. The first pic is actually before I started using the flash so it shouldn't be too bad outside of the ISO being at 640. My least fucked ones are probably these when I had the ISO at 320:
DSC_4521 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickr
DSC_4526 by Marcus Beasley, on FlickrI think if I do this again next year I'll hopefully have a better lens set up for it...having the aperture at 1.8 probably didn't help matters either actually. God damn I really need to buy that Lightroom subscription cause what I'm using must not be good enough to correct my fuck ups.
Astral/H3X
Member
Jaded, what's your workflow? Are you pulling Jpegs right off the camera and adjusting those?
I'm looking at your ISO 1000 photos, specifically this one: https://flic.kr/p/zCjjL5 , and what I notice is that your ISO is way too low. I'm not seeing *any* ISO noise grain on it, maybe there's an overly aggressive noise filter, and that's why you're losing detail? Some noise doesn't look bad, and you can easily see detail through it that's lost when trying to crush all noise.
Looking at Joker, his hair is in focus, not his face. If you look you can basically see individual strands of hair, and then his face looks smeary. It looks like a combination of out of focus, and overly aggressive noise reduction.
EDIT: Also I've shot with a f3.5 so no it's not that you're shooting at f1.8
I'm looking at your ISO 1000 photos, specifically this one: https://flic.kr/p/zCjjL5 , and what I notice is that your ISO is way too low. I'm not seeing *any* ISO noise grain on it, maybe there's an overly aggressive noise filter, and that's why you're losing detail? Some noise doesn't look bad, and you can easily see detail through it that's lost when trying to crush all noise.
Looking at Joker, his hair is in focus, not his face. If you look you can basically see individual strands of hair, and then his face looks smeary. It looks like a combination of out of focus, and overly aggressive noise reduction.
EDIT: Also I've shot with a f3.5 so no it's not that you're shooting at f1.8
JadedWriter
Member
I was shooting RAW and altered the pics from there. It's really hard for me to know whether it's the ISO setting or the noise reduction getting rid of some of the detail. Should I just turn the noise reduction off on the camera? The whole noise thing is a pain for me to wrap my head around cause sometimes the picture wasn't soft at 1000 and other times it just feels like it didn't get any kind of detail. Sometimes I also think the lens I'm using has schizophrenic focusing, sometimes it's spot on, other times smeared as all hell and it did that a decent amount as well. Also I'm getting as much in the middle of the focus area with as many cross types available for focusing yet it sounds like stuff is still out of focus in that area.
Edit:
Is this normal beginners error or should I really be feeling like shit about the whole thing?
Edit:
Is this normal beginners error or should I really be feeling like shit about the whole thing?
Astral/H3X
Member
I personally would turn off any noise reduction on the camera. It may not affect the RAW, but I'm not sure. The only thing you should notice from ISO, and purely ISO, is a sort of "grain" to it -- until you get past 3200 it shouldn't look soft and fuzzy.
Now, what you MIGHT be seeing, is motion blur, from it having the shutter open too long.
This is actually why I'm all manual, all the time. The AF very rarely gets the exact part I want in focus, in focus, so I pretty much said fuggit, might as well make sure it's my fault when it's off.
EDIT:
Both of those things are normal, though more so the first one. What I noticed as I was learning, is that you have that initial "Wow every photo I take is so awesome!" because you're going from a cruddy camera phone to a real camera. Then you learn some stuff, start learning what a good photo looks like/doesn't look like, but the thing is you learn what a good photo looks like, before you get good at taking those photos. It's all about learning, and you will ALWAYS have something about your photos that you'll see and want to improve -- right now it's a pretty rapid rate of "I don't like this aspect of my photos -- here's how I fix it -- okay now I know better", but it'll always be there.
So while it's *normal* to feel a bit shitty about mistakes, there really isn't much justification to it -- you're learning. What's more important now is that you can see that there was a mistake, can identify it (or find help to identify it), and then keep it in mind next time.
Astral/H3X
Member
That's actually really awesome! Took me a second to see what you were talking about, but it's a cool little surprise in the photo.
JadedWriter
Member
I have stuff that looks soft and fuzzy at 160:
DSC_4207 by Marcus Beasley, on Flickrunless that's the noise reduction and the fact that the lens I normally use has no image stabilization to it. Or is that the result of the shutter speed being 1/60th? The learning thing is annoying to say the least. I thought I got some decent pics till well hey "your shit is washed out." Especially since it can easily be blamed on my dumb user error to say the least makes me a little annoyed. Now I know why I saw people out there with diffusers and somebody had a softbox attachment to their flash...I was just out there stupidly unprepared. I really need to stop being so damn cheap with this whole thing.
yeah i was really happy when i was going through the pics. it was pitch black to my eyes!
JadedWriter
Member
Praise the old blood.
Astral/H3X
Member
I have stuff that looks soft and fuzzy at 160:
unless that's the noise reduction and the fact that the lens I normally use has no image stabilization to it. Or is that the result of the shutter speed being 1/60th? The learning thing is annoying to say the least. I thought I got some decent pics till well hey "your shit is washed out." Especially since it can easily be blamed on my dumb user error to say the least makes me a little annoyed. Now I know why I saw people out there with diffusers and somebody had a softbox attachment to their flash...I was just out there stupidly unprepared. I really need to stop being so damn cheap with this whole thing.
That photo looks more out of focus than anything. If you look at his arm, right along the stitching, you can see the plain of focus. There's no ISO noise at all on this photo. There might be a smidge of motion blur but that's really not what's going on here.
JadedWriter
Member
Then my auto focus is whacked to fucking hell cause it seems to do that a lot. Anyway to fix this?
I strongly believe there are a few issues at play:
1) F1.8 means that you have a very narrow focus plane. Thus if your focus does not hit really well you get bokeh in places you wouldn't want it.
1b) It also means that your lens is not shooting at its best IQ level.
2) 1/60s is a shutter time that will allow motion blur when people move.
I would suggest you test different settings with the same subject in front of the camera in good light to see what happens when you change things up. Ideally you would do this with the aid of a tripod, but that by no means is a requirement to get a better feel for what your lens does at different F-stops, your camera does with different ISO values and what movement in your subject does at different shutter times.
JadedWriter
Member
Yeah I have heard 1.8 is only ideal if you're pretty much standing on the subject.
Astral/H3X
Member
Here's what I would do Jaded.
Right now, it seems, you can see the issues in your photos, but can't necessarily find what's causing them. You've got some great photos, but a lot of them are getting messed up, and I think you might be getting a bit frustrated not seeing where the mistake is coming from. You're seeing ISO issues where there aren't any, you're thinking it's ISO when it's just out of focus, etc.
There are online resources that explain the relationship between ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, and USUALLY these will also show what too much/too little of each looks like, and I think after seeing some exaggerated examples of too much ISO, too slow shutter speed, etc, you'll get a much greater feel for what goes wrong in the photos when it goes wrong.
Another thing to try, after you've done that, is intentionally mess up some photos (not important ones mind you). Take your ISO too high, and try to shoot some photos. You'll figure out very quickly what your photos will look like, when it's an ISO issue. Take some photos at too long a shutter speed, intentionally miss the focus, just to train your eye more on what the photo looks like when something like this has gone wrong. I've taken enough out of focus shots, that even without having to magnify a photo, I can tell just looking at my viewfinder that I didn't get it right, even when it's very slightly off.
Building your understanding of when to use what settings will ALWAYS improve your shots, always. ISO Aperture and SS are all equally important -- they each give you something, and they each take something away. It's all about figuring out the perfect balance, and knowing what was out of balance when a photo goes wrong.
It's all learning though! Your photo are great, aside from that though.
Right now, it seems, you can see the issues in your photos, but can't necessarily find what's causing them. You've got some great photos, but a lot of them are getting messed up, and I think you might be getting a bit frustrated not seeing where the mistake is coming from. You're seeing ISO issues where there aren't any, you're thinking it's ISO when it's just out of focus, etc.
There are online resources that explain the relationship between ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, and USUALLY these will also show what too much/too little of each looks like, and I think after seeing some exaggerated examples of too much ISO, too slow shutter speed, etc, you'll get a much greater feel for what goes wrong in the photos when it goes wrong.
Another thing to try, after you've done that, is intentionally mess up some photos (not important ones mind you). Take your ISO too high, and try to shoot some photos. You'll figure out very quickly what your photos will look like, when it's an ISO issue. Take some photos at too long a shutter speed, intentionally miss the focus, just to train your eye more on what the photo looks like when something like this has gone wrong. I've taken enough out of focus shots, that even without having to magnify a photo, I can tell just looking at my viewfinder that I didn't get it right, even when it's very slightly off.
Building your understanding of when to use what settings will ALWAYS improve your shots, always. ISO Aperture and SS are all equally important -- they each give you something, and they each take something away. It's all about figuring out the perfect balance, and knowing what was out of balance when a photo goes wrong.
It's all learning though! Your photo are great, aside from that though.
Also never be afraid to know better than your camera. YOU are the one taking the photo, not the camera.
JadedWriter
Member
Long story short put the fucking thing back on manual. I've been using aperture priority mode for like a month and a half and it looks like it's starting to do more harm than good.
Astral/H3X
Member
Only thing I ever have on auto is my ISO, and even that's about 50/50, and I still keep a tight leash on it.
As far as focus goes, one thing you could try, is setting AF to a button, so that you can press it, have it focus on whatever. That'll get you in the general spot, then manually focus the rest of the way. It'll take a bit, but you'll notice improvements pretty quick in your ability to get something focused. (except at night. Fuck focusing at night on a DSLR)
JadedWriter
Member
I'll have to try that. I'm never too saw how much time I have to focus given the nature of what I'm shooting. Though I think I'm definitely going to go back to manual like what I normally did. I guess aperture mode is just a noob crutch until you learn how to compose a damn shot. And thanks for saying I actually have good shots minus mistakes. I've been doubting myself every now and then.
Astral/H3X
Member
With street photography, IIRC, a lot of people just get a wider lens, put it at F4 or so, and shoot like that -- most of everything will be in focus. You'll need to be closer, but focusing is much less of a concern.
JadedWriter
Member
Yeah I want to get the Sigma 2.8 17-50 lens cause it's faster than my kit lenses so I can use something with some image stabilization but money does not grow on trees and unlike some people on here I don't get paid to take pictures.
Astral/H3X
Member
Oh don't worry, I feel you there. Big reason why I have all this manual equipment is because it's cheaper!
JadedWriter
Member
Broke photographer gaf unite. I'm hoping I find a good deal some where.
Soldier of Winter by Tony F, on Flickr
A Rat & His Girl. by Tony F, on Flickr
Returning For You by Tony F, on Flickr
Following by Tony F, on FlickrFirst time posting in here but long time admirer of everyone's work. I've felt intimidated posting my work in here since there is a lot of good stuff I always see and I kind of slipped away from my photography up until a couple months ago. This is all stuff from the last month or so. I have a lot of stuff from the past week to edit but it's fun since I am practicing new techniques I've been picking up from reading and watching tutorials.
If anyone wants to add me to Flickr, feel free! I will add back.
[/url]Returning For You by Tony F, on Flickr
First time posting in here but long time admirer of everyone's work. I've felt intimidated posting my work in here since there is a lot of good stuff I always see and I kind of slipped away from my photography up until a couple months ago. This is all stuff from the last month or so. I have a lot of stuff from the past week to edit but it's fun since I am practicing new techniques I've been picking up from reading and watching tutorials.
If anyone wants to add me to Flickr, feel free! I will add back.
I really like these last two. The lighting in them is great. Especially the last one. I like how soft the background is, you kind of move your eyes over it at first but then start exploring it after your eyes draw away from the girl.
Nice stuff!
Thank you! The last one is when my wife and I went to the west coast for the first time last month. I like turning everything into a piece of cinema in my head or a story, so I kind of went with that as she walked. I try to practice that a lot while shooting photos. I live in Orlando, FL so I never get to do the type of landscape with people photography I really enjoy. I've been putting money into budget lighting equipment to work on the conceptual portrait side of my passion until I can travel more to scenic places.
JadedWriter
Member
Dude your shit is legit.
First time posting in here but long time admirer of everyone's work. I've felt intimidated posting my work in here since there is a lot of good stuff I always see and I kind of slipped away from my photography up until a couple months ago. This is all stuff from the last month or so. I have a lot of stuff from the past week to edit but it's fun since I am practicing new techniques I've been picking up from reading and watching tutorials.
If anyone wants to add me to Flickr, feel free! I will add back.
Me too! Well, for the last 20 years. My wife and I just built a house in Clermont and moved out from Metrowest two months ago.
any pts wizard in here know how to make digital images look like film? I'm trying to go for a specific look but I can't for the life of me make my files look like it came from a film camera. It's just too clean and contrastsy. I want something similar to this
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tang1975/
I have a ton of film camera but the logistic just make it so hard to shoot with them and get results in a reasonable time now (too expensive and no more good lab in hawaii)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tang1975/
I have a ton of film camera but the logistic just make it so hard to shoot with them and get results in a reasonable time now (too expensive and no more good lab in hawaii)
Nice work Mr Hyde, lovely pics. Are you working with artificial light in the first two images? Lovely setup.
Here are some from my last wedding on saturday, lovely couple, i´ve been incorporating a speedlight+soft box to my sessions and i'm really liking the results. I had been working only with available light before and i realized you can't just hope the light works everytime.
Madre e hija by Nobel Gomez, en Flickr
Los aun novios by Nobel Gomez, en Flickr
La novia by Nobel Gomez, en Flickr
La novia by Nobel Gomez, en Flickr
Here are some from my last wedding on saturday, lovely couple, i´ve been incorporating a speedlight+soft box to my sessions and i'm really liking the results. I had been working only with available light before and i realized you can't just hope the light works everytime.
Madre e hija by Nobel Gomez, en FlickrLos aun novios by Nobel Gomez, en FlickrLa novia by Nobel Gomez, en FlickrLa novia by Nobel Gomez, en FlickrJadedWriter
Member
I ended up having an impromptu photo session cause I got lost in Central Park looking for my jobs film crew for a PR shoot. I paid closer attention to my aperture setting trying to do my best to stay out of 1.8 unless I actually needed it and I'm very pleased with most of my shots focus wise. I even stepped up my photo pose game, which is much easier to do when I'm not chasing around my girlfriend. Pretty much 1.8 to around 2.2 yields some rather weird shots cause I think it drops the shutter speed too low, but when the lighting allows for it it's still pretty dang good. Pretty much today taught me to pay attention to my aperture and adjust it for lighting conditions. Which I'm pretty sure is photography 101 but I was being lazy about it it sounds like. I think once I wrap my head around shooting with my flash I'll be good to go, just wish I had an image stabilized lens that wasn't default 3.5 at 18mm which is the weirdest thing to shoot at looking through my VF, it's like looking through a tube of toilet paper.
If you keep your shutter speed at 60 or higher you shouldn't really need IS. I mean, maybe if you're shooting with 100mm macro or 400mm telephoto, but otherwise your shutter speed should be able to prevent blur caused by shaky hands.
@ alterno, love the colors in that last wedding photo. What's causing the large light bokeh/blur on either side of her head? Some kind of trickery?
@ alterno, love the colors in that last wedding photo. What's causing the large light bokeh/blur on either side of her head? Some kind of trickery?
JadedWriter
Member
I've had some weird occurrences at the weirdest shutter speeds, part of me thinks it's also how I hold the camera like how me just hitting the shutter shakes it too much a bit...guys is this picture as good as I think it is? I know I have to touch it up a bit, but I'll be doing that when I get home. Just wanted to get peoples opinions.
Holding my camera the right way has helped me to take good shots at 1/25 with no IS and I have pretty shaky hands.
Yeah, I can get pretty low. I took this handheld photo at a 20-second exposure.
Traffic on the 405 by brerwolfe, on Flickr
I didn't have a monopod/tripod with me and the hotel balcony didn't have any furniture large enough for me to set the camera on, so I backed myself into the corner and held the camera tight to my chest with my chin resting on top. I was pretty happy with the result.
Astral/H3X
Member
Yeah, I can get pretty low. I took this handheld photo at a 20-second exposure.
Traffic on the 405 by brerwolfe, on Flickr
I didn't have a monopod/tripod with me and the hotel balcony didn't have any furniture large enough for me to set the camera on, so I backed myself into the corner and held the camera tight to my chest with my chin resting on top. I was pretty happy with the result.
Well, let's also keep in mind this is a 16mm on a full frame, where the effects of handshake will already be heavily reduced just by the lens and sensor.
Not saying that isn't impressive! Just saying no one should expect a 50mm on a crop sensor to get 20s handheld shots to look like that haha.
JadedWriter
Member
I need to learn how to hold my camera consistently then. Either my hands or shaky a bit or my balance would get thrown off so I might sway when I shouldn't.Yeah, I can get pretty low. I took this handheld photo at a 20-second exposure.
Traffic on the 405 by brerwolfe, on Flickr
I didn't have a monopod/tripod with me and the hotel balcony didn't have any furniture large enough for me to set the camera on, so I backed myself into the corner and held the camera tight to my chest with my chin resting on top. I was pretty happy with the result.
Put your other hand around the lens and don't press shutter button with the tip of your finger but with the flat part of it. That's helped me immensely.
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