Photography
Related: About this forumJuly Photo Contest Comments Thread-Comments Only Please
July Photo Contest Comments Thread-Comments Only
July Photo Contest is now open. Please post comments in this thread only. Also, you are welcome to add explanatory text regarding your photo submission here, i.e; how you composed, edited or techniques used to take your photo. Or add to your title, but be brief.
The submission thread can be found here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/103677132
Soph0571
(9,685 posts)Hurrah!!!
MichaelSoE
(1,576 posts)First off, I looked outside and saw that it was "an infrared kind of day." So I grabbed my old Olympus 510 which I had converted to IR.
Next, I went out, set my white balance and started walking. I live in what I think of as a minimum security prison, a gated community in SW Florida. The compound has many bridges spanning the canals that finger out from the main lakes.
Shooting here and there, I noticed the line curving along the shrubbery. Took a shot.
Then I utilized the old rule of "Look in the viewfinder. Realize your subject then see if there is anything in the frame that you do not want appearing."
Re-positioned, changed the focal length and because I can get a histogram, adjusted the exposure.
Not done yet.
Into the digital darkroom, opened the raw file and did some contrast tweaking on the "negative"
On to the print. Fine tuned the contrast, did some dodging and burning and finally gave it a selenium toning.
I stopped there but later as I typed this I went into photoshop and applied a technique I used in the darkroom. A diffusion filter basically softens light areas, giving that soft glow. I would insert a filter in the enlarger, softening and diffusing the shadow areas on the print.
This is what it looks like.
urbanhermit
(744 posts)mnhtnbb
(31,319 posts)a few years ago. Set the whole thing up--sand and shells--in the shade on the deck of the house where I was staying. Took about 40 shots with different arrangements of the shells and from different angles to highlight textures and shapes. Not much post processing other than cropping. It was a pleasant way to spend some time.
Callalily
(14,885 posts)Placed orchids on black granite tile, taped black construction paper to the wall for backdrop. Then shot the photo!
HAB911
(8,811 posts)The date was Thanksgiving Day, 2016 and my wife yells at me, "There's something big in the back yard!" I thought, "how big could it be?" grabbed my camera and was I ever surprised.
As for the mask, my wife took a photo of me in my stylish anti-viral mask and I cut it out in Photoshop and use it for all types of funny photos. Layer, transform, warp allows custom fitting to any face or angle!
flamin lib
(14,559 posts)HAB911
(8,811 posts)he came up a drainage area on the back of my property from the lake and seemed as though he was looking for an exit to the larger world. unfortunately everyone here has fences so it was a dead end. he watched me stalking him, didn't freak out, just calmly retraced his path back to the lake. I sure would have freaked out had he come after me! 20 years ago turkeys were a daily sight, not so much now with urbanization.
I had another similar encounter once. I was standing at the backdoor to my garage and heard the loudest crashing against my gate, obviously something very large, waited and heard it again. It was so intense I was almost afraid to peek around the corner to see what it was, but mustered up the courage and looked. It was a turtle more than a foot across acting as a battering ram against the gate! I opened it and let him go about his business, hope he remembers me!
flamin lib
(14,559 posts)and graft them onto the turkey and then a jeep with little people in it and then . . .
Careful, down that road lay madness . . .
HAB911
(8,811 posts)I'll grab a photo of Trump off Google, ha!
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,308 posts)Composing a photo is not easy for me. I'm used to finding beauty in the world that I did not create, so this was a challenge.
I wanted to photograph my camera strap, since this was something I actually made. It took some doing to figure out just how to compose this photo.
But the more I looked at this photo, the better I liked it, so here it is!
I used my iPhone 11 to take the picture.
Callalily
(14,885 posts)Very nice composition. Isn't it nice to get out of ones comfort zone.
And...I really like your camera strap!
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,308 posts)I really appreciate your kind remarks, esp. in light of what I said about the composition!
I love my camera strap too........even though it's a bit scratchy. I comfort myself with the thought that it would be difficult for anyone to try to cut it off me or steal it in some other way. That was partly why I used the materials I did.
MichaelSoE
(1,576 posts)My inclination would have been landscape. Your shot is perfect. Love the back lighting.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,308 posts)The way I shoot a photo is mostly instinctive. The portrait mode seemed better to me on an emotional level.
I appreciate your supportive comments a lot!
urbanhermit
(744 posts)One of the members of our local camera club had gone to a workshop put on by Carolyn Esplin and taught us this technique.
http://www.carynesplin.com/fine-art-light-painting/
MichaelSoE
(1,576 posts)I was trying some light painting for this contest but was failing majorly. The article had some great tips.
flamin lib
(14,559 posts)the entries so far have knocked mine off.
Got a feeling I might be changing socks again . . . and again.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,308 posts)They always are.
So hang on to your socks!
flamin lib
(14,559 posts)that's okay with me!
But the idea isn't to 'win' because with what I see so far there ain't no way anybody's gonna 'lose'. Particularly the ones who view and vote on the entrants. I don't envy them . . .
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,308 posts)If you've ever read the comments in the voting threads, many voters express their frustration at how beautiful the entries are and how difficult it is to decide!
Soph0571
(9,685 posts)Just a shame you cannot enter - cause the way you are producing images at the moment all our socks would have been knocked off!!!
a la izquierda
(11,784 posts)Im posting from my phone and traveling all day so I cant get the link right.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,308 posts)a la izquierda
(11,784 posts)The original is gorgeous, but I like how weird the post-processing background looks.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)It is a needlepoint adaptation from the 2016 National Fossil Day poster (https://www.nps.gov/articles/fossils-of-the-2016-national-fossil-day-artwork.htm). I used silk, cotton, and wool/silk blend fibers and a lot of different stitches to create the needlework. I do have permission from the National Park Service to adapt their poster for my piece.
This was stitched as a gift to my sister, fossil hunter who had a smilodon species named for her! She also likes elephants so I stitched the mammoth from the 2012 National Fossil Day poster (https://www.nps.gov/articles/fossils-of-the-2012-national-fossil-day-artwork.htm):
On the original poster, the mammoth was in front of a sky with northern lights, but since I wanted the mammoth and smilodon to be a paired set, I changed the sky to match. The smilodon poster had a long-horned bison and a condor in the background, but I simplified it by removing them.
I like the cat better!
HAB911
(8,811 posts)For the Holiday Inn photo, my girlfriend drove and I held the shutter open while passing. What appears to be 'steps or bumps' in the lights were made by the highway which is concrete with rather large seams, so the effect while driving is, bump, bump, bump, bump. The very strong white lights lower left and streaming along the bottom from left to right are automobile headlights sitting in the entrance.
Holiday Inn is one of several I played with, something I do until I tire of the exercise. Here is another, taken from a boat of the Clearwater Fl Hilton, 1976 Kodachrome, baby.
a la izquierda
(11,784 posts)Im posting from my phone so Ill adjust the size later.
mnhtnbb
(31,319 posts)also at the beach, sunset. Just played with color enhancement post processing to up the Impressionist effect and enhance the reflection of the cloud color in the water.
urbanhermit
(744 posts)We were driving on some back roads and stumbled upon this shot up, abandoned car. There's post processing done to make it look like a vintage postcard. Not sure how vintage the photo looks but that was the intention.
Talitha
(6,479 posts)I planned on putting the original photo in this thread but can't find it.
There were several power lines cutting through the sky above the Moon, and I needed to clone them out to make the image look better. If the original photo ever turns up, I'll post a side-by-side comparison in the forum.
BTW, the roundness of the image wasn't done through post-processing. It's just the way things look through the 90mm telescope. Makes kind of a nice frame, though.
mike_c
(36,214 posts)I hope the invitation was still open. If not, feel free to delete the second one or ask me to delete if that's better.