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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-10-2010, 06:21 PM
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The 1.7 is a bit soft already, but I enhanced the effect by dropping the clarity in the RAW editor in Photoshop.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-10-2010, 05:56 PM
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A picture of my daughter with the Easter Tulips I bought for her.
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Forum: Photo Critique
04-09-2010, 04:33 PM
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Thanks for all the advice. I've adjusted the curves slightly..
and the comment on not over processing is duly noted. I love photography for the moments, but I also love to see what I can do afterwards in pp to make it something special. I'm still finding my balance with that.
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Forum: Photo Critique
04-09-2010, 03:58 PM
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Brit - I like the idea and will give it a shot.
Here is a 66% crop with fake lens blur applied to the background. Just my first shot at this, and I'm not sure if the crop is too close and the blur settings too high. Just an example to see if there is any promise to this approach.
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Forum: Photo Critique
04-09-2010, 03:20 PM
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I want to thank everyone for their constructive feedback. I've truly learned a lot from you comments. Unfortunately with work being very busy, I haven't had a chance to try more post-processing, such as blurring the background. I will do that soon and post the results. In the meantime, I wanted to post the original picture in hopes that it will give everyone a better idea of my starting point. Thanks again for the feedback - even the tough love is valuable to me. This photography stuff is quickly becoming a passion that I wasn't expecting when I bought my K-x.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
04-08-2010, 12:06 PM
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Congratulations on the boy! You've got a lifetime of joy - and great pictures - to come.
Let me wholeheartedly recommend the 50mm for this. While 100mm is great for portraits, it is better for setup shots where you're a comfortable distance away. For newborns, your shots are often going to come standing over your baby, leaning over a crib, or lying on the floor at odd angles to get that shot of your baby falling asleep in his walker. The 50mm is great for this - and the 1.4 will give you tremendous play with artistic depth of field shots in those situations. You'll come away with some beautiful photos.
Best of luck on one of the greatest moments in your life.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
04-07-2010, 07:45 PM
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I can't get over how beautiful those shots turned out. I have appreciated reading along, and am now convinced that I will take a trip to Saratoga this year again - this time with my K-x. I'm totally inspired and can't wait for the summer. Thanks guys.
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Forum: Photo Critique
04-05-2010, 05:14 AM
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Thanks for the feedback. I actually never considered a simulated depth of field. I really like that idea. A little phony bokeh never hurt anyone, and it may allow me to keep the picture all color without the background washing things out too much.
Much appreciated. I'll give this a shot and post the results.
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Forum: Photo Critique
04-03-2010, 08:35 PM
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So it's not a real photograph if the background is grayscaled?
I did that because I really like the shot and the color of the duck, but unfortunately the background washed it out quite a bit. I was hoping to gain something by doing the selective color. So, if I go full grayscale, it's artistic, but if I add color it into grayscale, it reminds everyone of some cheesy Kim Anderson photo?
I guess I've got a long way to go, and much to learn.
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Forum: Photo Critique
04-01-2010, 06:44 PM
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Beautiful shot. However, I personally find the tilt a little distracting. You may want to crop slightly and straighten.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-01-2010, 04:46 PM
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You seem to have a really nice eye for composition. I like these photos a lot.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
04-01-2010, 04:43 PM
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Stunning. I love the lighting in these. Awesome captures.
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Forum: Photo Critique
04-01-2010, 04:32 PM
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Another Duck picture I took that, again, I am considering enlarging to a 20" print for my office. Any criticism is welcomed.
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Forum: Photo Critique
04-01-2010, 04:29 PM
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The background seemed to take away from the beautiful color of the ducks, so I made everything but the ducks grayscale. Feel free to critique. I'm thinking about making a 20" print from this for my office and would like some input on ways to improve before printing.
Thanks in advance.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
04-01-2010, 01:26 PM
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Could someone post examples of portraiture pp done well vs. overdone, or done poorly?
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
03-30-2010, 11:59 AM
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For NAPP, I'm not sure I get it though. If you are only looking for tutorials, those are in abundance on YouTube and elsewhere on the web. Why would one pay $99/yr for that?
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-30-2010, 07:14 AM
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Absolutely beautiful recap. I'm a proud owner of a K-X. Straightforward model name, that K-X.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-29-2010, 03:25 PM
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To demonstrate why I love this lens, I just went outside to my backyard moments ago and took a shot from a decent distance away of a sparrow in a tree. The first pic below is the shot I took at 260mm at f/8 (just handheld from my back porch). The second pic is the crop of the same shot.
BTW - For all you pros that may not be impressed, I've been shooting for only a short period of time (weeks) and admittedly still suck with much to learn. However, that is the point. With this lens, I consistently get shots I am happy with for as bad a photographer as I am.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-29-2010, 01:42 PM
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I got the 55-300 kit and have never regretted it. I love that lens. And trust me, you find shots that can use the reach. I like birds and wildlife down by the creek near me, and the 300 is great for these shots.
And it's funny that weight is such a big factor, because I've never thought of the lens as heavy - never really thought about it at all.
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-28-2010, 11:41 AM
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I'm still relatively new to this, but have found this to be true. Look into an older, inexpensive manual prime that shoots wide open instead of the flash, and you can get great low light shots. I got an M 50/1.7 for $40 and haven't had a need for flash since.
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Forum: Post Your Photos!
03-27-2010, 08:05 PM
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My 6 month old daughter, Brooklynn, at the end of a long day.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
03-27-2010, 07:48 PM
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Man, that seriously looks fantastic! Thanks. I tried using the blur tool to blend together, not the healing tool. I'll have to look into that.
Thanks again.
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Forum: Digital Processing, Software, and Printing
03-27-2010, 07:06 PM
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Anyone have any good tips for cloning out an object to look like the surrounding bokeh (and how to make it as smooth)?
An example is the below image. There is a stick on the right side of the picture that I'd like to clone out, but when I do, you can always tell something was there because the bokeh doesn't like right. And before anyone says it, I don't want to crop anymore.
Thanks for any advice.
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Forum: Photo Critique
03-27-2010, 02:43 PM
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All,
Brand new to this photography stuff and would appreciate the critique on how I can do this better. Here is a shot from today. Two things I already know I need to do better - 1) I don't yet own a tripod, and it would have been great here, 2) I mistakenly forgot to check ISO before shooting in P mode here, and it was left on 1600 from the night before. Am I right in thinking that I should have shot with 200. Minor pp to crop and increase the color saturation a bit (it was a little bland without it).
Thanks,
Dave
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Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help
03-26-2010, 05:12 PM
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First, I just wanted to say that this forum has been like an addiction since I bought my first DSLR last week - a Pentax K-X with the kit 18-55mm and 55-300mm. I have no idea what I'm really doing but I've been reading some good books and this forum.
I decided to get one cheap, fast prime. I've been wanting an SMC Pentax M 50/1.7 since I've heard nothing but good things about them and I could pick one up for about $50. I've been watching them on Ebay, but I didn't want to spend over $50 and they seem to be going for more right now. But today, I just so happened to go the local Camera shop at lunch and they had an old Pentax film camera with an SMC Pentax M 50/1.7 attached. The guy let me buy the lens for $40. It's in great condition and I was dying to get home and try it.
Man, I can't believe how much light this thing "creates" in the low light conditions of my apartment. Plus, the DOF is minuscule when you want it to be - lots of Bokeh fun with this thing. I'm still learning how to adjust to a manual lens, and I'm still learning how to create shots in general - I got a long way to go. But I just wanted to share my joy with you all, since I've been reading your posts everyday and learning so much from you. Here's a shot I took of some flowers I bought my wife tonight - just because I love her ---errr- because I wanted to try my new glass.
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