Photography Thread

Subject: Photography Thread Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:29 pm

Unlike the "Post a random picture" thread, this one is for photographs you yourself have taken. Critique is encouraged! Treat this as a way to get advice and get better. Some ground rules (Nooooooo, not rules on GTWF!):

Pictures of yourself are OK, if there's some artistic merit to it (no simple "mirror shots" with duck lips)
Pictures should be ones you yourself have taken. Pictures taken by someone else that are an outstanding example of a technique or style are ok, so long as you credit the original photographer and discuss the technique or style.
Again, critique is encouraged. Constructive criticism; not just "This is shit" but more along the lines of "Well, the depth of field is a little shallow for this kind of photo; consider dropping the shutter speed a tad or raising ISO"
Along those same lines, don't get too defensive of your photos. If there was some restriction that led to the photo looking like it did, point that out (ie; there were a bunch of yahoos in the way so this was the only vantage point I had or there were a lot of shadows right at this point so I tried to compensate as best I could); but listen to constructive suggestions on how that can be avoided in the future
It doesn't matter what you used to take the photo with. Camera phones, cardboard box with a pinhole in it, disposable camera, Canon EOS 1Dx (drool, jizz)...
Usual forum rules apply to keep Riv from kidnapping us and selling us for medical experiments

Gogogo!

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:45 pm

katmandu wrote:: cardboard box with a pinhole in it

so hipster Not a single fuck wa

I want to do this actually... I find pinhole photography pretty great

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Wed Aug 22, 2012 11:59 pm

this thread is going to be extremely inactive... but eh.

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:59 pm

Hey! Where'd the damn pictures go? I had comments to make...

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Thu Aug 23, 2012 6:14 pm

katmandu wrote:: Hey! Where'd the damn pictures go? I had comments to make...

I need critique anyway, even though these were a few years old taken with my old ass camera back when I didn't know wtf DSLR was. (I went through my photobucket and picked random pictures.)

Spoiler:

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:46 pm

I really like the second one. Don't think I'd change anything about it. The first one... technically, I think it works, but just doesn't grab me. Do you remember any of the settings from it?

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:54 pm

katmandu wrote:: I really like the second one. Don't think I'd change anything about it. The first one... technically, I think it works, but just doesn't grab me. Do you remember any of the settings from it?

I don't remember at all lol. back then I didn't pay much attention to settings. I just watched out for ISO.

now I have a lot to consider like shutter speed and f/stop. I have a bad habit of using a really low f/stop, so I end up with really out of focus pictures lol. mostly because I'd rather sacrifice f/stop than shutter speed. I shake pretty badly, so I always try to stay at a high shutter speed.

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:41 pm

MiloTime wrote:

katmandu wrote:: I really like the second one. Don't think I'd change anything about it. The first one... technically, I think it works, but just doesn't grab me. Do you remember any of the settings from it?

I don't remember at all lol. back then I didn't pay much attention to settings. I just watched out for ISO.

now I have a lot to consider like shutter speed and f/stop. I have a bad habit of using a really low f/stop, so I end up with really out of focus pictures lol. mostly because I'd rather sacrifice f/stop than shutter speed. I shake pretty badly, so I always try to stay at a high shutter speed.

Tripods. Or a monopod. Or pretty much anything to rest the camera on. If you gotta have the f-stop, you gotta find a way to save shutter speed... or vice-versa.

I feel ya on the hand-shaking. I've managed to get lower than the 1-over-focal length rule for handholding shutter speed by tucking in my elbows and getting everything close to my body, but for the most part, I still have problems with motion blur from low shutter speeds.

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Sat Aug 25, 2012 12:19 am

katmandu wrote:

MiloTime wrote:

katmandu wrote:: I really like the second one. Don't think I'd change anything about it. The first one... technically, I think it works, but just doesn't grab me. Do you remember any of the settings from it?

I don't remember at all lol. back then I didn't pay much attention to settings. I just watched out for ISO.

now I have a lot to consider like shutter speed and f/stop. I have a bad habit of using a really low f/stop, so I end up with really out of focus pictures lol. mostly because I'd rather sacrifice f/stop than shutter speed. I shake pretty badly, so I always try to stay at a high shutter speed.

Tripods. Or a monopod. Or pretty much anything to rest the camera on. If you gotta have the f-stop, you gotta find a way to save shutter speed... or vice-versa.

I feel ya on the hand-shaking. I've managed to get lower than the 1-over-focal length rule for handholding shutter speed by tucking in my elbows and getting everything close to my body, but for the most part, I still have problems with motion blur from low shutter speeds.

I've always wanted one of those... gyropods? is that what they're called? the ones that let you move around with barely any noticeable shake since the camera stays almost in place while you move.

I might look for a few more pictures tonight or something, I dunno. otherwise, I'm going to have to get off my ass and take new pictures.

Posts : 6633 Join date : 2011-10-26 Age : 34

Does it count as photography if it's not real? :V

Spoiler:

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Sat Aug 25, 2012 12:30 am

greg-the-fox wrote:

Does it count as photography if it's not real? :V

Spoiler:

I suppose it depends on the persons view... maybe (if only public places were dystopian level clean like that) pokerface

anyway, I have two pictures I took from FC (an example of my f/stop habit in the first picture)

Spoiler:

Posts : 6633 Join date : 2011-10-26 Age : 34

I wish I could make my renders look like Mirror's Edge but I don't know how to get that photographic quality Seriously?

I guess the major thing I'm missing is depth of field, I also want to control the temperature of the shadows. I guess I need to mess around more in photoshop.

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Sat Aug 25, 2012 12:41 am

greg-the-fox wrote:: I wish I could make my renders look like Mirror's Edge but I don't know how to get that photographic quality
I guess the major thing I'm missing is depth of field, I also want to control the temperature of the shadows. I guess I need to mess around more in photoshop.

you could always make a custom white balance. I like to see if I can perfect a white balance for when I go outside, since arizona is like... really fucking yellow atmosphere half the time.

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Sat Aug 25, 2012 12:43 am

greg-the-fox wrote:: I wish I could make my renders look like Mirror's Edge but I don't know how to get that photographic quality
I guess the major thing I'm missing is depth of field, I also want to control the temperature of the shadows. I guess I need to mess around more in photoshop.

What you really need is textural detail. Every surface in your render is perfectly smooth, and that's impossible. Real objects have slight dents and bulges, scratches, discolorations, flaws, etc.

Video games typically handle it with bump maps (primitive), normal maps (typical and efficient), or displacement maps (higher-end, more demanding, but more beautiful end result).

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Sat Aug 25, 2012 12:46 am

oh, you're talking about rendering...

Posts : 6633 Join date : 2011-10-26 Age : 34

Okay I have actual photographs I dug up
I'm not good at this so don't laugh at me pokerface

I have trouble knowing how to crop things...
Gonna post a ton of like the same image with different variations and ask what I should do with it

Spoiler:

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Sat Aug 25, 2012 2:08 am

Caution, these are fucking huge.

Spoiler:

Subject: Re: Photography Thread Sat Aug 25, 2012 2:39 am

greg-the-fox wrote:: Okay I have actual photographs I dug up
I'm not good at this so don't laugh at me

the concept of a reflection from a skyscraper is a good idea. what ends up looking better is actually the reflection of the sky rather than the reflection of another building. mostly because of the angle though. also the building at the bottom kind of ruins the illusion.

sometimes it's about the perspective, more than the subject. the non-cropped picture makes me feel like I'm right there looking at the building, where as the cropped ones ruin that illusion.