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Forum: Photographic Technique
04-20-2020, 03:22 AM
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Ok well I thought I was being nice. If you want, I can go over your images and tell you what's wrong with them.
Judging by the one you posted here for example - the dock shot - I'm sorry, I find it VERY hard to believe you've 'won awards' of any actual merit. It's horribly underexposed, too much competing for the subject, white balance is WAY too cold, and overall, just a badly composed shot.
I'd like to see this museum image of a sunset as well, please.
So easy to string a bunch of " I do this .... so I'm a pro" online. Are you doing photography for your full time career? Probably not, right? Put the ego away.
You proved my point. I offered some real ( albeit hard ) advice and you replied with your ego. Very common of photographers that think they are a LOT better than they are.
Just because you have a nice camera doesn't mean anything. Just because you may or may not have won awards ( that can't be proven ) doesn't mean anything.
I DO know, that most of the time there are local 'photo contest', the judges aren't even photographers; kind of cancels out any 'rep' earned by that win.
Here's the facts.
Your images are judged by other photogs and are NOT up to snuff. Take that at face value and swallow some pride.
If you're going to just whine about other photogs not liking your images on HERE, lol, I can certainly direct you to a few other photog sites : see how you fair there.
fredmiranda.com Go ahead. See how well your images compare to some of the folks there.
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Forum: Photographic Technique
04-19-2020, 12:37 PM
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I'll chime in here as one who has numerous images in the PEG, and I regularly sell my landscape work to / through businesses, restaurants ( repeating and rotating the images per 2 month ) and the like.
I can tell you this. A WHOLE lot of people with really nice cameras believe they are incredible photographers. Not true, by a long shot.
Unfortunately, the way DSLR were marketed ( and still are ) it really, really gives folks a 100% false sense of their skill level. "My camera takes awesome pictures" Certainly does. You want it though, so YOU are taking the image.
Photography is A LOT like American Idol. Ever wonder why some of those just horrible "singers" try out? Like, how do you NOT know you're really bad? It's because nobody has told them the truth.
Your family and friends SHOULD encourage you, but not tell you that your OOF images are beautiful. When you're never told you are actually bad at something, you don't know you're bad at something.
Do like the others here say. Post in the critique section to get a realistic C+C on your images, instead of folks " in a mindset " ( said earlier by someone ) just ripping your work apart because, simply, they didn't take it.
Study actual professional photogs in your field of interest and figure out WHY those photos are SO good. They're not doing anything you can't, or can't learn to do.
The other more important thing. Don't strive for recognition goals in photography. Shoot for technical goals. Shoot for personal improvement goals. Stop paying attention to what other photographers are doing / how they are processing.
Sometimes, also, learning and growing comes with equipment requirements. For example : You'll NEVER take an award wining photo of a sunset WITHOUT ND Filters. Having the proper equipment for what you're trying to shoot helps.
Keep shooting FOR YOU. You'll get where you want to if you keep at it and keep learning.
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Forum: Photo Critique
02-02-2019, 11:23 AM
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It's a decent enough image. Some points to ponder:
- right side branch, very distracting as it exits the frame unfinished
- foreground reflection is a distraction : too much or not enough reflection. Would either take the image closer to where the tree touches the water OR pan back a fair amount and get all tree / all reflection
- the tree / root in the water half submerged ( to left side and behind some the subject tree ), big distraction. Takes away the separation of subject and background.
- I feel, overall, there is too much of your main subject not in frame
- overall, as well, just too busy. The branches, the grasses in the water (fore ground and background to right ) all compete for the eye , and takes away from your main subject.
- there is a weird halo in between branches + background sky. I can see it in the colour image, but it's much more predominant in the B+W
- overall the B+W conversion is flat. The reflection, background area, and the branches are all the same tone. Mountains could be darkened to fix that, add a bit of contrast.
Hope these tips help
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-25-2019, 06:44 AM
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These are very good. Exposure is perfect in both ground and sky, excellent shooting.
#2 specifically stands out to me, even though they are all very well done. I would think if you cloned out the few people in #2 you'd have a easy seller on your hands.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-24-2019, 05:02 AM
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Thank you very much, glad you like them :)
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-24-2019, 02:38 AM
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Thank you very much for the kind words. Greatly appreciated
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-23-2019, 12:24 PM
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Nice grab. I'd like to see a B+W version of this one.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-23-2019, 12:19 PM
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I agree, the colours really make this one stand out. Beauty of a shot
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-23-2019, 12:04 PM
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Thank you very much :) Glad you enjoyed them.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
01-23-2019, 05:52 AM
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Yes, the few times I've played around with it, I realized pretty quickly it's so much better than the tubes :)
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-22-2019, 08:05 AM
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I've recently been re tooling my B+W processing, thought I would share a couple.
Thanks for looking / comments :)
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-18-2019, 11:59 AM
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I agree. First one is a wall hanger for sure. Nice images
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-18-2019, 08:44 AM
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normhead, maybe I should have clarified a little. If I have the Sigma or the old Tak 200 X 2x teleconverter, there are zero issues. It's only w/ the 400mm Vivitar. Could be the lens just isn't great. Even on a bright sunny day, she's just not sharp 100%. I've tested it many, many times on stationary object, with a tripod. I only still use it for that 4 or 5 images I might get that ARE actually decent ;)
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
01-18-2019, 06:03 AM
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I've had macro tubes for a few years, they are fun. Near end of summer this past ( 2018 ) and old friend of my dad's gave me some Nikon lenses. Straight to Ebay for an adapter later lol. One of them is a near mint 90mm macro.
First time using an actual macro lens was a learning afternoon, that's for sure ;)
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-18-2019, 05:53 AM
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Nice shot :) I have about a million of these, but none of them are on purpose. Have the yard set up so the landing spots provide a view of the food area. That gives me time to get some nice shots with the birds not right at the feeders. I probably have at least 5 gigs worth of images of birds 'leaving' their spots to hit the feeders lol.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-18-2019, 05:48 AM
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Very nice set, indeed. Composition and exposure are prefect. #1, #4, #5 and #7 very powerful images, beautiful work.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-18-2019, 05:43 AM
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Couldn't agree more with what's being said. I remember when I started to actually understand what I was doing and how to go about doing it. Two things for any serious landscape imaging is a tripod and a set of gradient ND filters.
You don't have to buy a top line filter set, seriously. Ebay has full sets from Japan for like $50 CDN, and they do the trick just as good as the expensive ones.
You can also use a circular polarizer if that's all you have, right now. May just have to shoot a little different angle than you originally intended, but you can get some nice images with just that.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
01-18-2019, 05:34 AM
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Hey, old / new member :)
Here's a few regulars to our place. Thanks for looking, all shot on the K7 and either the Vivtar 400mm or a Sigma 70-300mm.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-18-2019, 05:19 AM
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Thank you all for the kind words, greatly appreciated.
Yes, they can be fairly aggressive. Quite a few times a week, they'll chase the Grackles out of the yard. They come in 5-7 at a time, set up a perimeter and trade off ; one eats, others guard, switch. Pretty cool they way they work.
lol ;) Thank you for the thread links, I'll definitely post the bird stuff there instead, thank you.
The 400mm.... *sigh* it's a good lens. Maybe I just don't have it down yet - shutter +ISO combo - but I find I only get good, nice sharp images about 40%. It's pretty frustrating lol.
Example: A female cardinal will come. They usually survey the scene before actually hitting the feeders, so I know I've got a good minute for shots. I won't move, take 10-15 shots, drive mode hi speed, at least 320 shutter = maybe 5 good ones. Rest are just not sharp, I don't get haha.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-17-2019, 06:27 AM
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I've been a loooooooong time member at Cloudy Nights and I must say, after the short amount of time you've been at it, I would put your work right on par with some of the best I've seen. It's awesome that Pentax now makes a digital camera that is actually really good for astrophotography.
I'm still only sporting a K7 and, any time I've attempted anything other than milkyway / star scape / northern lights, I just can't get past the noise conundrum lol.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-17-2019, 06:16 AM
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Thanks for the hello's everyone. Very glad to be able to be shooting again :)
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-17-2019, 06:15 AM
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Thanks for the hello's everyone. Very glad to be getting this hobby back into my life again :)
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
01-16-2019, 06:07 AM
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Moring
Old member here - I made a post in the introduction section - getting back behind the lens after a few years. Had some health issues with my dad and the mother in law that kept me away from the camera for a while. Wife made a huge career change a few years ago as well, and that's removed some 'free time' for myself, but that's life lol.
Anyway, schedules have stabilized a bit and I've found I now have some time to get back shooting. I used to mainly shoot landscapes , specifically coast line long exposures. Always liked birds though, so challenging and a great test of skill / knowledge / ability. Haven't gone 'out' yet, but I've been able to put some time in the yard with our local winged friends.
Thanks for looking, glad to be back here.
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-16-2019, 05:50 AM
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Morning all :)
Former member from a few years back. Totally forgot username / password and can't remember the password to my old email lol.
Anyway, had some family health issues ( parents / mother in law ) that pretty much kept me off the camera for quite some time. Been recently able to pick it back up again and do some shooting. Can't believe how much I missed it, even if there's no 'in the bag' shots for the day. Just getting back out behind the lens, so relaxing and mind clearing. Definitely be putting more time back in, now that I can.
Glad to see this forum is still up. I do remember it was a great community here, and I look forward to maybe re-injecting back in.
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