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Photo Assignment: Weekend 10/27/07

Feeback Time II

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JohnF, who apparently has a pretty wry sense of humor, is back again with a nice submission. An interesting old building with a bike included, always good. But that it's a dental museum, open wide, well. . . . You see where he's going. Nice.

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BMWDean joins us again this week with three submissions of merit. The shot above is simply hilarious. It addresses the theme perfectly and it's just plain funny. Deryle's teeth have a lot of character and I would recommend that he seek work as a tooth model. 500 bonus points (100 each) for the gold crowns--have two myself. My dentist doesn't get it, but I dig 'em.

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Another neat, super wideangle shot from BMWDean--motorcycle related, to boot. There is noticeable barrel distortion in this image and severe fall off in the corners. Is this a lens attachment or a lens? In spite of technical imperfections--which do add drama--this is a powerful and exciting shot. Reminds me a bit of a Sport Illustrated shot in a football stadium.

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This is a really interesting close-up. It's an F800 engine cut-away or K1200? I remember something like this from last year's show. This is a great angle, nice lighting, just very successsful. Thinking about DoF, the foreground is a bit blurry and the background is not. This is due to where to point of focus (where the AF was pointed) is centered. Nothing serious, just an observation. I generally prefer the foreground focused and the background trailing off. Takes away nothing from this successful effort.

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Here's one of mine. Brilliant but flawed. Seriously, I like this shot because it's unusual in that it records a mundane and rarely photogrphed occurance. It's an opening (though hardly wide) and so attempts to address the theme. The shallow DofF really draws attention to the obvious character in Kelly's working-man's hands.

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Franze from Switzerland--18 posts--comes in this week with this diminuitive submission. Doesn't really fit the theme that I can see. Also, toooooooo small! But a nice image from a ride and welcome submission from a newer member. "Camera set to idiot." :rofl A sense of humor always helps. Post again and thanks for joining us!

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Grossjohann is back with a number of submissions this week. The above fails to address the theme and is a fun if ordinary photo. But it garners 10,000 bonus points for including an R1200GSA. Nice.

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GJ's second submission is an excellent composition, addresses the theme well, is an excellent example of shallow DoF, and is really, really gross. (50 bonus points)

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This should be cropped and displayed. As GJ already asks, what are the odds of capturing a flash in your exposure. A flash's durantion is in the tens-of-thousands of a second range. I'm not a statistician, but those have to be long odds. Neat image.

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CJack joins us this week with a photo from his other expensive hobby. This is a nice product shot, for lack of a better description. It's a clear image with good color, too. The shadows from the flash are a bit of a bummer, but that can be relieved with a simple and inexpensive reflector. They even make them for SLR cameras with built-in flashes. If I can pick on just one other small thing, if the DoF were just a bit greater, the trains would be in focus, too. The point of focus seems to be on the drawbridge and leaves the trains a bit fuzzy. With all that said, it's a pretty successful effort and looks like a lot of fun. I'll never know because if I came home with model train stuff, my wife would kill me and bury me in the backyard.

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Nice to have lamble join us this week, though I miss his old avatar. This is a successful shot that addresses the theme through technique, namely DoF. An otherwise ordinary shot of leaves has so much "punch" because they are set in stark relief to the fuzzy background. A nice shot.

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Of the two bridge shots, I like this one better. The angle (from below) adds a sense of drama to the image and the vertical composition is unexpected. We actually have two vertically-composed bridge shots this week--although if we include Deryle's bridge, that's three. I kill me. :wave

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How very nice to have Sue Rihn-Manke join us this week with this idyllic sunrise. Sunsets are commonplace subjects, sunrises far less so. This is a beautiful shot that definitely tells a story. I'm not sure if I see revealing an interpretation of the theme (though I could just be a dunderhead) but I don't care--it's a great shot. The inclusion of the tea set (which is actually full of coffee) is splendid. I'm sorry that you missed the steam of the coffee. How great would that have been. The whole shot is a bit undersaturated due to the difficulty of shooting into the sun, but post-processing might help that. Beautiful photo.

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Happy to see Burnzilla back this week with a couple of beautiful submissions. This one is gorgeous. This photo is all about light and I can't say enough nice things about it. The texture in the water is magnificent and the overall cast of maroon is just great. This is more like an oil painting than a photograph. The color, light, and texture completely overshadow its ordinary composition. I love this shot.

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JDMetzger is back with what may be this week's most unusual submission. He kind of beats this shot up, but I really like it. Very unusual subject and a bold composition, angle of attack. I agree that the vanishing point does sort of prematurely vanish. . . . I wonder if lifting the camera, pointing it down slightly, may have helped? 350 bonus points for creativity. Whereas we like to see the subject off center, rule of thirds, golden mean, and all of that, this shot's absolute and rigid symmetry is what makes is so compelling. This is a shot worth returning to and experimenting with. It's already quite successful. Who knows how it might evolve with further efforts?

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This is a bitchin' picture. Fit the theme? I don't know, but I like it a lot. I love the color and that the bike is in partial sillhouette. It's an iconic image, one that would appeal especially to BMW afficianados, but to others as well, I'm guessing. Love the exposure, the twilight in the bottome. I might crop out the goobers in the lower margin, though. Minus 10 points for goobers.

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Bricciphoto has already said much of what needs to be said about this fine photo. I really like this. It reminds me, a bit, of the recent shot by Outback UFO. It's no copy, of course, but just a similar study in lines and contrast. Nice submission and a successful effort if I may say. I particularly like the shadowplay on the terrestrial. 100 bonus points for adding "terrestrial" to my vocabulary and 50 bonus points for going to church.

Barring any last-minute submission amidst all the trick or treating, that's all folks. It was a banner week and really nice crop of photos. We've all been thanking each other for our submissions and work, but I would like to add my sincere thanks to everyone who participates and makes this so fun, photographers, critics, and viewers.

Next week's theme will be up in a day or so. Watch for it! :wave
 
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nother neat, super wideangle shot from BMWDean--motorcycle related, to boot. There is noticeable barrel distortion in this image and severe fall off in the corners. Is this a lens attachment or a lens?

'Twas a fisheye lens. All three were fisheyes. Ergo, distortions.
 

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CJack joins us this week with a photo from his other expensive hobby. This is a nice product shot, for lack of a better description. It's a clear image with good color, too. The shadows from the flash are a bit of a bummer, but that can be relieved with a simple and inexpensive reflector. They even make them for SLR cameras with built-in flashes. If I can pick on just one other small thing, if the DoF were just a bit greater, the trains would be in focus, too. The point of focus seems to be on the drawbridge and leaves the trains a bit fuzzy. With all that said, it's a pretty successful effort and looks like a lot of fun. I'll never know because if I came home with model train stuff, my wife would kill me and bury me in the backyard.

Speaking of expensive hobbies, after taking this while fiddling with the Coolpix camera, I suggested I reactivate my other hobby of decades ago and get a Nikon D44x or maybe a D80. She didn't say she would bury me in the back yard, but did suggest that I sleep on it.
 
Woo! I did better than I thought! :clap

Thanks for the constructive feedback as always, Tom!!! Really appreciate you doing this; it sure is a lot of work with all the submissions! :thumb
 
'Twas a fisheye lens. All three were fisheyes. Ergo, distortions.

Clearly a very nice lens, Jeff. Are you using a crop sensor camera? Or is it a legit 10.5mm? Either way, a very nice lens.

All three shots were great, but that middle one seemed to have so much fall off. Maybe it was just the light. . . . I'm shooting Canon lately, but I've used Nikkor glass for many years. Great stuff.
 
Great photos.

By looking at this weeks submissions, I am seeing a lot of nice DSLR with some fancy lenses. It would be great to see the camera info while judging the photo. Having that info would be great for our next camera purchase.

I am shooting with a CanonA 610 and a four year old Canon S70 Point and shoot. The S70 is an advanced P&S. If I were to replace the A610 I would look into purchasing a G9 or a S5 IS.

I would go to a entry level DSL but I like a camera in my pocket not at home on the shelf.


Looking at this weeks photos, the old story of it is the person behind the camera only goes so far.
 
Thanks for taking so much time to address out submissions, Tom. This is such a great project. I hope we can keep it up.

IÔÇÖm not sure that IÔÇÖm qualified to help with the reviews, but IÔÇÖm here if you like. Otherwise, I will try to help by submitting only one image each week.

LetÔÇÖs see if we can keep this up!
 
Great photos.

By looking at this weeks submissions, I am seeing a lot of nice DSLR with some fancy lenses. It would be great to see the camera info while judging the photo. Having that info would be great for our next camera purchase.

I am shooting with a CanonA 610 and a four year old Canon S70 Point and shoot. The S70 is an advanced P&S. If I were to replace the A610 I would look into purchasing a G9 or a S5 IS.

I would go to a entry level DSL but I like a camera in my pocket not at home on the shelf.


Looking at this weeks photos, the old story of it is the person behind the camera only goes so far.

I held out for years before replacing my Nikon Rebel with a DSLR. The Cannon looked great, but I just wasnÔÇÖt ready to go with the Cannon lens (this was about 4 years ago). I'm using a Nikon D70 (6 megapixels) with a Nikkor AF 35-70 (F 2.8) lens, and for the "keep it in your pocket all the time" camera, I use a Sony Cyber-shot (DSC-W100) 8.1 megapixels with a Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom.
 
'Twas a fisheye lens. All three were fisheyes. Ergo, distortions.

I love the fish-eye lens, but I have a hard time justifying the expense I suppose if I had one, then I would have more ideas that require it
 
I would go to a entry level DSL but I like a camera in my pocket not at home on the shelf.

Looking at this weeks photos, the old story of it is the person behind the camera only goes so far.

I just sold all my hi-end DSLR gear in July and bought my wife an F800ST and me a Canon G9. I've had all the gear (fisheye to 300mm, tilt/shift lenses, strobes and doohickeys galore) and there are some technical limitations equipment overcomes, but a photo is really all about the subject, the composition and the exposure. If you can't master those three variables, all the equipment in the world isn't going to help. Many of my favorite photos were snapped with an old Canon G2--including some that were technically extremely complex. A skilled photographer with a basic camera can outshoot a less skilled, but well-equipped photographer any day of the week. All that said there are some inherent disadvantages (of equal magnitude) to both simple P&S cameras and DSLRs. I want to challenge myself to reach new technical and creative levels, and I no longer shoot professionally, so I simplified my gear (of course starting with the knowledge of what I can and can't do with a G9 helps). :wave
 
As others have said Tom, thank you very much for taking the time and effort to provide reviews of the many pictures. Additionally, I enjoy and appreciate the contributions themselves (and the commentary). How people see their world and what they value can be seen/implied in these pictures. I remain convinced as well that beyond honing artistic and technical skills, the process itself forces us to move beyond a 'complacency of the familiar' and into looking with 'fresh eyes' and possibly feeling in new (or revitalized) ways. Again, thanks Tom for providing thoughtful and helpful responses. -Bob
 
Great photos.

By looking at this weeks submissions, I am seeing a lot of nice DSLR with some fancy lenses. It would be great to see the camera info while judging the photo. Having that info would be great for our next camera purchase.

I am shooting with a CanonA 610 and a four year old Canon S70 Point and shoot. The S70 is an advanced P&S. If I were to replace the A610 I would look into purchasing a G9 or a S5 IS.

I would go to a entry level DSL but I like a camera in my pocket not at home on the shelf.


Looking at this weeks photos, the old story of it is the person behind the camera only goes so far.
I like to use http://www.dpreview.com to compare cameras. With some cameras, they do studio shots of the same subject, so you can view the results of one camera over the other. Had I known about this site several years ago when I bought my DSLR, I would have probably bought a Nikon D100 over the Canon 10D, but I made the mistake of listening to a salesman before thoroughly researching the choices.
 
:clap

Thanks for the feedback and the significant time investment, Tom! This whole series of exercises should really help us when riding season starts in earnest again next spring.
 
Thanks Tom for such kind words. Even when I lost points, you said it in a way that made me giggle: "Minus 10 points for goobers." That's a quote that will stay with me. :)
 
focus

Seems having removed the Panzer, the authorities will not allow me to put it back as a moving avatar.

Buttons...there are so many on everything these days, and so many functions and options and add ons- it's good to get some focused direction (pun intended) on what we can do, then go out and press a few, to see what the result is.

It's even better when someone has the ability to pass valid comments.

Thanks.
 
Thank you both for your time in reviewing the pictures. I have learned much, and the reviews are phrased in such a manner that I will never beat my camera in frustration.
I am upset that I can't remember what I did in that muffler shot to get it that way, out of the 20 or so I took of that subject. I may have to pull the exif data.
The camera is an Olympus 765 Digital with 10X Optical zoom.
Again, thanks for the kind words, and inspiration.
 
Tom Wrote:

"PGlaves, having received this week's memo, is back with a nice submission. Fits the theme well and is an interesting, well-composed shot. The exposure on the tractor's opening is right-on, but the rest of the image is a bit over-exposed. This is a RED tractor--I want to see that. I think this could potentially be fixed in processing."

The tractor is more a brownish red than it appears in the posted photo. It is rusty with a reddish tint to the rust - by eye and by electrons. Several other shots looked a bit browner depending on the angle of the lighting.

I think it got redder for some reason when I resized the photo for posting too. I use an ancient (mid 1990s) version of Arcsoft Photo Studio I got with a camera that recorded the pictures on 3-1/2" floppy disks - yes, that old!!. I use it because it is very convenient but I have noticed before that saturation seems to increase when I shrink photo size.
 
Wow! Seems I missed out on on being able to add to quite a good collection this week. While I did have internet access on vacation, I only spend ten minutes (if that) just to check some email,, somehow after flying for the better part of the day just get to San Lucas, and only having a week, well I had better things to do than play on the internet! I don't know maybe I'm crazy, but....:dunno

Did take a ton of shots and will post a report soon and did think of the challange what tried a few along those lines.. so even though its now done, just to keep my hand in the mix, heres one I took and which I will disqualify myself imediately for posting late and out taken outside the window and all but...

Like Grains of Sand......

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RM
 
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