How tough are ya'?

[manaheim]

First of the many shots to come taken with my new camera. I wanted to try doing some black and white shots but with a little more contrast. I had seen some examples or railroad tracks on here and since I live right next to a railroad, I wanted to go out and shoot something I have never shot before.

Hey big!

I'll be right up front and tell you that railroad track shots have really got to be something unique to get my attention, so whenever I see one I tend to be like "Oh look... a shot of a railroad track." Overall, I have that reaction for this shot.

That being said, here are some of my impressions...

1. You have the track pretty much dead center, but it isn't PERFECTLY so. If you go this route (in my book) you need to make sure it is dead-on with no perspective issues. (I think the shot also isn't perfectly level)

2. That division between the two sides of forest in this shot is a bit weird for me. The part of sky visible is small and oddly shaped and winds up being somewhat distracting.

3. I think where you have a shot of something straight trailing off into the distance and where the forest on either side lacks any particular interest (and where you appear to have had a nice sky) that the thing to do might have been to take this shot in portrait instead of landscape. It would have accentuated the sense of distance, and if you kept the exact perspective, might have made your eyes trail into the horizon and then up into the sky, which would have been a cool effect.

4. Something makes me think that the angle on the tracks is too aggressive... I can't really see them trailing off that far. I almost want to raise the camera up a bit while continuing to point down so I can see more of the actual track.

5. You have the horizon at dead-center which generally doesn't work as it doesn't lend visual tension to the shot, making it too easy to view and just move past. Look up the rule of thirds. (my portrait suggestion would help this also)

Just some thoughts. Keep at it!

 

[manaheim]

Thanks alot for the reply man, you really know your stuff! I had the same feeling of showing off more of the road to the right to balance the photo. Thank you for you reply I will be asking you more of your opinions in the future.

My pleasure! Glad it was helpful!

I tend to think I know what I'm talking about

Doesn't everyone?

Yeah, but I do it with gusto!

 

[Nikoncs4]

how about this one?

 

[camz]

Camz, honestly, I think these are extremely good and far better than I could ever do.

1. The shots bring out the sexiness of her, despite the fact that I don't personally find her that attractive. Something particularly about the way her breasts are separated by the necklace is quite alluring.
2. The poses are interesting, but look relatively fluid and not at all posed.
3. The lighting is both interesting and complimentary... it's somewhat a shame that you don't have more detail in her hair, but where it's a darker part of the shot, I think that might have been unavoidable.
4. The power lines in 1 are kinda unfortunate, and yet you perfectly lined up her arms with the lines, which winds up being kinda cool.
5. The lines in her skin under her arms in 1 is a -little- distracting.
6. The muted colors fit her complexion and clothes very well.

Seriously great stuff, IMO. (keeping in mind, of course, that I am NOT a portrait photog)

Thanks for the kind words and the C&C....much appreciated. I never really noticed that the lines underneath her arms on #1 were distracting and will be editing going forward. Thanks bro!

 

[PhotoXopher]

When you're done there I'd appreciate your input on this one:

I was going for depth and a little something to capture one of the main 'highlights' of my home town.

 

[Big]

First of the many shots to come taken with my new camera. I wanted to try doing some black and white shots but with a little more contrast. I had seen some examples or railroad tracks on here and since I live right next to a railroad, I wanted to go out and shoot something I have never shot before.

Hey big!

I'll be right up front and tell you that railroad track shots have really got to be something unique to get my attention, so whenever I see one I tend to be like "Oh look... a shot of a railroad track." Overall, I have that reaction for this shot.

That being said, here are some of my impressions...

1. You have the track pretty much dead center, but it isn't PERFECTLY so. If you go this route (in my book) you need to make sure it is dead-on with no perspective issues. (I think the shot also isn't perfectly level)

2. That division between the two sides of forest in this shot is a bit weird for me. The part of sky visible is small and oddly shaped and winds up being somewhat distracting.

3. I think where you have a shot of something straight trailing off into the distance and where the forest on either side lacks any particular interest (and where you appear to have had a nice sky) that the thing to do might have been to take this shot in portrait instead of landscape. It would have accentuated the sense of distance, and if you kept the exact perspective, might have made your eyes trail into the horizon and then up into the sky, which would have been a cool effect.

4. Something makes me think that the angle on the tracks is too aggressive... I can't really see them trailing off that far. I almost want to raise the camera up a bit while continuing to point down so I can see more of the actual track.

5. You have the horizon at dead-center which generally doesn't work as it doesn't lend visual tension to the shot, making it too easy to view and just move past. Look up the rule of thirds. (my portrait suggestion would help this also)

Just some thoughts. Keep at it!

Haha, I knew you'd say something about the sky. It's just a natural thing that happened. I understand the rule of thirds but at the angle of the camera, I wasn't comfortable with lying down to compose it (there are passenger trains that run 60mph on those tracks so I free handed it). I appreciate your time!

 

[manaheim]

I wanted to convey the size of the art piece with this one, as well as the multitude of colours. I think the child playing on it is a bonus. Technicalities of the shot: 24mm *1.6, 1/10, f/2.8, ISO 800 (the lights on the wheel cycled through the entire spectrum of visual light, so if I exposed any longer they started noticeably shifting to white).

I'm proud of it, and can't see things wrong with it (too close), so beat it to death manaheim.

Oh, see, now this just isn't fair. I saw you post this one a while back and I sat and stared at it and ground my teeth over it for a good 10 minutes. I didn't comment on it then, and now you're forcing my hand!

Ok... let's try it this way...

What I like...

1. I love night shots and the colors are fantastic.
2. It has that "What the freakin' hell is that?!" characteristic, which is always a win.
3. You do get the sense of size due to the people around it, which is helpful.

What I have issues with...

1. It's essentially utterly dead. There is no life... no motion... nothing. It's an item flash-frozen in time. Does it move? Does it flap? Does it just sit there? There's so much on the thing... wheels... wings... lights... and yet, it is totally stagnant. There are people on and around it... yet they seem to be stuck doing nothing. It being dead-centered isn't helping this either, because dead-centering something in the frame implies non-movement in many cases.

2. The people blocking the rear wheels are kind of unfortunate because you cannot see the full person and the wheels seem to just mysteriously dissapear. Might have been unavoidable.

3. I wonder if it is -too- dark. A BIT more brightness would bring up some of the details... maybe capture some faces, etc.


So what would I have done? Well, not totally certain, but some things I would have tried...

1. Try for slightly longer exposures to bring life to the object as it moved. Blur those lights, get the motion of the people running it and the crowd watching it.

2. Try for different perspectives... much lower down to more accentuate the size.. ultra wide angle lens at very close proximity to make it look monstrous... etc.

3. Zoomed in on some of the people's faces, various details of the object etc... again, try to capture the life of the thing if you can.

4. Tried different crops... perhaps leave some dead space on the right, even better might be to try to get some people's faces caught by the lights if you can.


It's unquestionably an interesting ... item. I would have shot it as well. I just think you needed to get more aggressive making the photos as wonky as the object itself.

 

[Peter_pan91]

Yo noyze, that might make an awesome B&W if done properly!

just a thought,

peter

 

[manaheim]

When you're done there I'd appreciate your input on this one:

I was going for depth and a little something to capture one of the main 'highlights' of my home town.

This one made me laugh out loud. AWESOME shot. Just fantastic. I think you could give it some tweaks in post processing to make it really pop, but I LOVE the composition... the sky is stunning, the subject is very cool and visually pleasing (love these windmills- so neat), you have a repetition pattern going which is great, the greens are stunning with wonderful texture, etc. Just awesome.

Now... some possible improvements.

I suspect you didn't use a circular polarizer. If you don't have one... get one. This would make the blues and greens REALLY hit you, cut down some glare from the whites, etc. You need need need a CPOL.

If you have a RAW image of this, I would try to bring up the brightness a bit and get back some of the detail in the (corn?) fields below the windmills... It's just a bit dark, which is unfortunate. It's fine, but a touch off.

I would add about 20-25 points of saturation to the entire image to make the colors pop.

Working just with the jpeg, I found myself wanting to add about 5 points of brightness and 10-15 points of contrast. Don't overdo it, just amp it up a little bit.

I would probably give it a gentle sharpening pass to make those blades really stand out. Again, don't overdo it.

Very nice image. :thumbup: I'm moving!

EDIT: Oh one more thing... I think it's angled about .4 degrees. Give it a bit of a tweak.

 

[Peter_pan91]

Hey manaheim, i see you're a architectural (?) photographer and you're from Boston so i thought you may enjoy this photo taken in waltham (MA):

I know it needs a little straightening but i am lazy, so let me know what ya think..

peter

 

[musicaleCA]

Oh, see, now this just isn't fair. I saw you post this one a while back and I sat and stared at it and ground my teeth over it for a good 10 minutes. I didn't comment on it then, and now you're forcing my hand!

Ground your teeth in what sense? (I know I'm not being fair, but hey, you literally did ask for it. :lmao: )

Thanks for your points though. I really would like a full frame camera and ultra-wide lens for these situations. If I finally manage to scrounge that ultra-wide in my sig, it may help matters.

 

[PhotoXopher]

Thanks man!

I definitely have a RAW version I'll try your suggestions with.

I appreciate the input

I love shooting these windmills so I may just have to try your idea about the CP filter as well... ugh, add another item to the list of gear lol.

 

[manaheim]

Hey manaheim, i see you're a architectural (?) photographer and you're from Boston so i thought you may enjoy this photo taken in waltham (MA):

I know it needs a little straightening but i am lazy, so let me know what ya think..

peter

Well, I think you said it yourself. Straightening and perspective correction is most of what this needs. Other than that I would boost the contrast and sharpen it. I think it's a masterful shot. Repetition, interesting lines that carry you in and out of the picture, great textures, abstraction without being abstract. Awesome.

I'd be very curious to see the final product.

 

[manaheim]

Ground your teeth in what sense? (I know I'm not being fair, but hey, you literally did ask for it. :lmao: )

Thanks for your points though. I really would like a full frame camera and ultra-wide lens for these situations. If I finally manage to scrounge that ultra-wide in my sig, it may help matters.

I ground my teeth because I was so on the fence about it, but I felt something was missed and couldn't totally put my finger on how to summarize it, so I moved on.

Was it so big you needed something full frame and ultra wide??? It didn't look THAT big.

 

[manaheim]

Thanks man!

I definitely have a RAW version I'll try your suggestions with.

I appreciate the input

I love shooting these windmills so I may just have to try your idea about the CP filter as well... ugh, add another item to the list of gear lol.

Very glad to help. Yeah, that's a NEAT subject. Some shots at dawn and dusk would be cool also.

Gear is good! one of the best things about photography is all the gadgets. lol