Photography.

[Strider]

Personally I'm not a fan of HDR, it doesn't look natural and I can't really see the benefits.

I mean sure some of the colours can look great... like the richness of the car. There are exceptions where it can produce something dramatic, but I think it really needs to be considered and thought out beforehand, it's not something that can enhance that many photo's. On the whole, it's not really my thing, but yeah maybe just something fun to experiment with.

 

I dunno if you feel the same, seeing as the bridge is by far your favourite, and that's the one where the HDR is by the least apparent.

 

Yeah i agree. It is fun to play about with like you say, but i can't imagine I'm going to be doing much HDR at all. Also i find it is a bit of a ball ache to actually create the HDR for not that amazing results.

 

When i was editing the bridge photo I could've gone a lot more 'HDRish' but it just ends up looking like a painting and fake. However subtlety done I think it looks quite smart.

[Goafer]

I really like the tree photo from the tree line down. The colours and detail look great. The sky ruins it a bit though.

[Goafer]

[banjothreeiechapters]

nice man what is it

[Goafer]

It's a Sackbot from LittleBigPlanet 2.

[Coolness Bears]

It looks like it is dead.

[Eenuh]

Great photo Goafer! Looks really nice! =)

 

 

I need some advice. Like I said I need some photographs for my school portfolio (just to show I can hold a camera I guess). Today I had a little school project and had to take some pictures. Though I didn't have the time to really do much or think about compositions much and was given a pretty basic digital camera, I figured I should try to use some of the pictures for my portfolio.

 

I've selected these three for now and did some touching up, but not sure what I can do to improve them, or if maybe they're good enough like this.

 

Mine building thing.

 

Men working... don't think I'll use this one as it just seems a bit messy/uninteresting?

 

Mine thing again. Not sure which version is better? Not much difference but in the first one the building is a bit darker. Might give a better contrast?

[Retro_Link]

I think the first photo might benefit from being rotated slightly and cropped, so that the edge of the building is parallel to the edge of the photo... though I'm not quite if you've got enough space down the right hand side to do this without cropping into the building, but maybe just try, even if it's only squared up the slightest bit more.

 

Personally I think the second of the [same] two photo's is better. I looked at them individually and I think the structure stands out better against the sky, and prefer something about the overall 'colouring' of that photo. I think a bit too much detail is lost in the more contrasted one.

 

The worker photo... I quite like it cropped right down to around the height of that white square on the fence behind the workers. I don't know if the original image is big enough for you to be able to turn it into a landscape photo like that?

Edited June 7, 2011 by Retro_Link

[Goafer]

I agree that the first picture needs straightening. If you could get the diagonal of the building running from corner to corner, that would be good too.

 

Had a quick go at it to show what I mean. Couldn't quite get the diagonal without changing the aspect ratio of the image. To get the rotation to work, I had to build some of the bushes in the bottom right corner (very roughly!). I've also adjusted the levels to add more contrast. For me black and white images need to have a tiny amount of pure black and pure white in (high contrast).

 

 

That's just what I'd do with it anyway.

 

I'd probably do similar things to the others too. More contrast and straighten any vertical lines, although they're pretty straight already.

 

I prefer the second of the two images. It has more detail in the structure of the building. With some level adjustments to add a bit more contrast in, I think it would end up better than the top one.

[Eenuh]

Thanks Retro and Goafer!

 

Here's the first one rotated a bit. The one I showed was already a crop, so I redid this one from the original one. It's a bit different now though, shows less of the bar thing on top.

 

 

And here's the workmen. No idea if this is proper landscape size, probably not. =P

 

 

 

As for contrast, I always find it a bit hard to judge. I already changed these from the originals, but I never know how far I should go in changing the levels and contrasts... Especially since it's hard to see on my screen; if I look at it from a bit of an angle, it looks completely different. =/

Edited June 7, 2011 by Eenuh

[Retro_Link]

Just to be picky, I'd rotate that picture anti-clockwise ever so slightly, so the horizontal line [girder/whathaveyou] at the base of the tower is level with the bottom of the photo... this should also make the 'balcony' and roof the same distance from the right edge.

 

I like the broken concrete flooring of that photo, nice shapes and shadows.

[Goafer]

For contrast, do you use levels or just the contrast tool? If you use levels, hold alt as you move the sliders. It'll show you what is turning pure black for the lower slider and pure white for the higher one. The areas that are either pure black or white have lost all detail and will just be solid blocks of colour (or black/white in this case).

 

I usually aim to have things just turning black/white, then adjust the middle slider until it looks right. That way you can be sure you have the full scale of greys in the image. I do sometimes go a bit contrastier and have large areas of black, but that's my own preference. It's not to everyone's taste!

[Goafer]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2011 by Goafer

[Goafer]

Edited June 23, 2011 by Goafer

[Happenstance]

Nice, makes it look like its drifting

[Goafer]

Yeah that's what I was going for. I've updated it a bit now, with a better wheel and blurred the bit seen through the window. Original post is edited with the new version.

 

Colour version:

 

[Frank]

Great photo. I'm unsure of that wheel though. It seems too blurry.

[Goafer]

Great photo. I'm unsure of that wheel though. It seems too blurry.

 

It's supposed to look like it's spinning faster than the road. As if it's not gripping properly and wheel spinning.

 

I did over do it a bit, although I quite like it. I think if I did it again I'd see what it would look like with less blur.

[Frank]

I see what you were going for. Not a big fan of it, although the blurriness really suits the Japanese/German styled one that I saw somewhere. Forgotten where :p

 

~ ~ ~ ~

 

I love these photos. I looked outside my bedroom window and caught this.

 

 

 

It looks so magical I feel like a Deku or Saria could be hiding in the bushes. The lighting was perfect.

[Goafer]

Went to watch my friend's boyfriend's band, Motorcade at a local music festival:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ReZourceman]

Rad as man.

[Grazza]

I went to a place in Cornwall called Restormel Castle. It was really nice; I saw a weasel on the way to the ruin, and buzzards in the valley:

 

 

 

 

 

[Retro_Link]

Nice, looks like a cool place.

[dan-likes-trees]

 

 

 

 

[chairdriver]

The last photo is my best. I love the person in the shop doorway, loving life.