Photo assignment Sept 20-Oct 5 2008

[rocketman]

The days are getting shorter and fall is in the air, gardens are slowly losing thier color while the trees are doing just the opposite. Its a great time of year for taking long walks in the parks or woods and watch life slowly spin down and prepare for a long winters nap.

The "standard" rules:

• Photos must be shot between Sunday. Sept 20 2008 and Sun. October 5 20008--15 days.
• You must provide the EXIF information if asked (we'll help you, if you'd like to know how to get it).
• Your photograph must adhere to the theme, which will be described below.
• This will consist of three of our best, not 2 or 4 but three
• Title your photos so they can be referred to later.
• Post only your final shots in this thread. Please post other series, experiments, and photos for comment and criticism in the PHOTO COMMENTARY thread.
• And, the most important rule: have fun! We're looking to spread the joy that many of us derive from taking pictures, particularly ones that tell a story of some kind.

And now for a slight divergence from previous assignments:
• You can crop photos but no other photo modifications, I decided to allow this since being from the “old” school of film days I rarely created a print I did not crop in the enlarger so for me it doesn’t really count as modifying your photo, because you are limited to only one frame size/proportion there are times that you just can’t avoid a bit of something encroaching into the shot from the side. But this should be limited. Try to compose such that you don’t have to.

Now the theme:
Three for Three

tell us in three photo's what does that mean to you? Sports? Or perhaps a winning combination?

Again its up to you how to interpret this theme, what does Three for Three mean to you? Sports? A winning combination? You decide.

And the other big change. Out of the three you post you must also choose the best and the worst and include a short paragraph as to why. These comments ( by the poster only) will go in the assignment thread. All other comments will go in the commentary thread as always.

Arrange the photos from best to worst out of the three you decide on posting, so that we keep each consistent. This also means you should post them together in one post or at worst in three seceding posts (if you us attachments rather than img tags. So you should not post until all three are ready and you have done you self-critique.

Yup, you're on the hook to do a little self-critique of your entries. Keep it simple, no more than a short paragraph and include it directly under each of the two entries you choose as best and worst effort.
Failure to include it will “disqualify” you (not that there is any “qualifying” really, but you get the idea!)[/I]

OK? Ready, Set, Go (humm a possible Three on Three??)..

RM

 

[rocketman]

Berkeley Springs WV

Ok, IÔÇÖm going to start the ball rolling here by posting three from my ride up to Berkeley Springs WV. and try to give an example of what IÔÇÖm looking for as to the self-critiquing. Try to include both good and bad points and what you did or did not do and what you think you could do to improve it. If you get a chance to return to the place you shot at (for such shots as mine below where the items are fixed) and try another set using what you learned from your critique we could perhaps revisit this theme again at a later date and see what improvements we have made.

As a motorcycle destination Berkeley Springs is a definite Three for Three because, for me, visiting historical sites has always been high on my list of interests even since my Mon gave me my Great, Great, Great, GrandfathersÔÇÖ diaries written during Civil War times of his travels from his home town of Cincinnati to Washington, Harpers Ferry and such places.

My three choices from those I took yesterday are as follows

Photo #1 Berkeley Springs Bubbles

Far and away this my favorite for the simple composition and the way it almost looks like something blown in glass. I think I got the lighting just right and the highlights on the ridges adds to the sense of depth and gives a good overall sense of contour to the ripples. Also the colors of the pebbles in the pool adds a nice bit of contrast to the sandy bottom. On this one I did go for a close crop as I didnÔÇÖt want the any extraneous objects cluttering up the image and shy actually getting into the pool I had no way getting any closer.

Photo #2 Geo. WashingtonÔÇÖs bath tub.

Mostly just for fun and interest.

Photo #3 Berkeley Springs Park Band Stand

On this one I think I should have moved a bit to my left so that the lettering would have been more centered since that was main subject, telling the viewer just where I was when shooting this series, even more so than the band stand itself. I could have even gotten in a bit closer and that might have removed some of the attention that the background objects get from a wider shot. I also failed to pay close attention to what was passing in the background, that yellow truck really bothers me the way it stands out. I thought of using the fill flash, but instead waited for some more even cloud cover, which didnÔÇÖt quite turn out as I hoped.


So that's kinda of what I looking for, get out there and shoot, shoot shoot!
RM

 

[BeerTeam]

Morning light

Nicolet

The ride home

Commentary on my shots:

"Morning Light" is my favorite, but somewhat lucky as the headlight did not burn the image.

Nicolet is one of the shots that I took right before I was to put the camera in the bag.

The ride home says it all.​

 

[boney]

I'm breaking the rules. Sorry... I posted these as a tryptic, in "viewing" order for continuity.

As it turns out, I'd list these in "favorite" order the same way. I've gone back to look at them a few times now and feel they should fall in this order anyway. Here's why:

The first picture has the best exposure of all of them. While they were all shot in strong afternoon light, complete with harsh shadows, the first image contains the most detail in the darks, and is still not washed out in the highlights. I'm not too sure that dividing the image in half, forground in one and background in the other is technically "correct" but I think it works, mostly as a part of the tryptic, to show that there is more to the location than just the rock window. I could have shot this with only the rock wall in the frame and the window as a secodary item, but I didn't, and I don't know why.

#2, looking through the window, is exposed for the background. The reflections from the rock behind me provides enough light to allow some detail to the left of the window, but in the shadows to the right, all details are lost. Also, I'm not a fan of the background, which I'll take up in #3.

#3 provides us with the reason that taking pictures in the middle of the day isn't always such a great idea. The lighting is harsh, the shadows are strong, and a whole lot of detial is lost because the camera is not able to "capture" the entire dynamic range of lighting conditions. (special note below) So, the image has lost the depth of the canyon in the shadows, and while the light plays nicefully on the textures of the forground, the large dark sections in the image take away from it.

Special note: All of these images were purposefully taken to prevent overexposure of the sky in an effort to maximize the ability for me to draw out the details in the shadows when I processed the RAW files. These were shot in RAW + JPEG mode, and these are the original JPEGs that the camera produced. Obviously, as camera technology becomes better the images they're able to capture becomes better as well. Niether of the older point and shoots that I still use could have captured these images as well- considering the settings. I've only processed a few of the RAW images I took last week, but from what I tell, the "final" images, when I'm done manipulating them, should have much more detail and be a bit lighter in the shadows. So therein lies the rub. Shoot for raw, or shoot for JPEG? I suppose it depends on the target viewing media.

 

[lightzoo]

Dusk

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/GgaqBYS_tqo0l1Ead7WSpg?authkey=Z67mDpiyHHQ"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/thelightzoo/SOmbLfx5HoI/AAAAAAAAEwk/K7QvMQdhDcE/s800/IMG_0081.jpg" /></a>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FOwbuI2vcge2sfzLTbEGKA?authkey=Z67mDpiyHHQ"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/thelightzoo/SOrwD3kohmI/AAAAAAAAEyA/JDE6qSiuqX4/s400/IMG_0099.JPG" /></a>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ksCqm4WKQYaW5iyKkHufuQ?authkey=Z67mDpiyHHQ"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/thelightzoo/SOmbKUVQxNI/AAAAAAAAEwc/Ys0Rj8PktSI/s800/IMG_0113.JPG" /></a>


I had to drop my vehicle off in the evening for an early appointment so I grabbed my camera, one lens and shot these while walking back home. My theme is the sky at dusk so I have placed them in order of time.

The first one is looking west. Being a lifelong geek, IÔÇÖve always found beauty in transmission and in the last few years light. I also like the hourglass shape of the tree at the intersecting E-W electric/N-S phone lines and changing sky. I will probably try this again.

The next one is a sugar maple in full fall beauty. I started at 17mm and zoomed to 55mm. The photo was exposed longer at 55mm giving the trunk and limbs definition. I would like to try this with a tripod and a little longer exposure at 55mm, maybe close the aperture a bit. This was shot six minutes after the first photo and the sky is south.

As I came up my sidewalk I noticed the shape of the shadows on the lawn. It was late but I still had a little time. I ran in the house, grabbed my tripod and set up shop. At this point nineteen minutes (1140 seconds) ticked by since the first photo and the sky is southeast.

I like the angle of the house to the stone wall along the driveway and the way the shadows fill in between. I also like the tone of the light from the amber glass on the left brown column contrasting against the rich blue sky. At first look on the camera LCD I thought the overexposed porch light was overbearing, but after seeing it on the pc I think being by the door it adds a warm and inviting feel to the house. The thing that bugs me about this photo is as I was walking up the driveway I put my UV filter back on the lens. In my hurry I didnÔÇÖt remove it and have reflections of the porch light in on the filter surface. I also donÔÇÖt like the light from the window of the neighboring house.

Thanks for challenging me to study my photos and thanks to all others who critique, itÔÇÖs helped me understand what I like, dislike, but most importantly....Why!

KB

 

[Voni]

I was looking for three of something and found these Shelby cars with the Bad Rabbit logo, three legs down. With each of the shots I enjoyed capturing the overhead clouds in the shiny car hoods.

My favorite is the RED one, because it's Red. But also, because I liked the way the clouds reflected and the angle is pleasing to my eye.

The second is actually smoother because it had no center stripe which allowed me to capture the clouds on a color just darker than the sky. I would have liked to crop the dark shadow at the left lower corner.

The third also has that dark shadow and an imperfection in the striping around the rabbit.

All in all they are really pleasing to me. And I realize I have a lot more to learn before I get to critique with any authority

Voni
sMiling