The Photography Thread

[Ish]

Guys,

As most of you know (from the shots I post) I mostly shoot macros. Main reason is just because I find it so interesting and I'm reasonably happy with my results.

The portraits I've done likewise.

The landscapes. Not. Where I live is pretty flat so not really "dramatic" as such but I've worked on my composition and have got some reasonable compositions. But I keep overblowing the sky.

Any tips?

[Alastair]

No time to comment, sorry, some great shots though guys. Ish, do you have a polarising filter for the sky?

I went seagull hunting yesterday:

[Ginger Tosser]

Played around with macro today.







Apparently, It's a Rock Rose.

Nice pics over the last few days.

[Extra Terrestrial]

The landscapes. Not. Where I live is pretty flat so not really "dramatic" as such but I've worked on my composition and have got some reasonable compositions. But I keep overblowing the sky.

Any tips?

Do you mind me asking where you live? It sounds like you live in a town or city judging by your 'where I live is pretty flat' comment; can you possibly hop on a train / bus or drive your car to somewhere rural or by the coast?

I really enjoy looking at your photographs on flickr but there is a need to mix your work up and take some landscape / wide shots as seeing macro upon macro can get a bit exhausting if the photos are consistent within one photo subject.

But at the same time, I think to myself that because you enjoy taking macro photos and the results certainly speaks for themselves so just carry on with that until one day you find a decent opportunity to be in the right frame of mind or you are in an environment to take landscape photos.

Can I also ask what you mean by 'overblowing the sky'? I hear that phase every once in a while but never understood or have been shown an example of what that means.

[Alastair]

...
Can I also ask what you mean by 'overblowing the sky'? I hear that phase every once in a while but never understood or have been shown an example of what that means.

When the sky goes white instead of blue or the clouds end up blending in with the sky so there is no contrast. It's basically over exposing the sky and a PL filter is the easiest way to fix it.

This is a decent example from mine. The sky above the trees should either be blue or have some clouds but you can't tell because it's overblown. It's just white.

[MartyG]

I see you put that last pic into the Amateur Photographer monthly comp GT - I was thinking of putting my Union Flag shot in there, but when I browsed through I saw there were already three flag pics up, so went with the stained glass window I took last week.

[Extra Terrestrial]

When the sky goes white instead of blue or the clouds end up blending in with the sky so there is no contrast. It's basically over exposing the sky and a PL filter is the easiest way to fix it.

This is a decent example from mine. The sky above the trees should either be blue or have some clouds but you can't tell because it's overblown. It's just white.

Thanks for the detailed explanation mate - I won't have to ask again. I assume that overblown/exposure applies to daylight than at dawn or dusk.

I have to say that the photos on the last two pages makes for great viewing; well done to those efforts. Good luck to Ginger Tosser in the competition too!

[Extra Terrestrial]

Jesus 'effing Christ.

I took 713 photos last night between 7:57pm till 8:51pm and I'm now sorting them out(!)

[Alastair]

Were you cataloguing each brick in your house or something? That's a bit over the top!!

The overblowing sky at dawn/dusk would be less of a problem but could still happen as it's more to do with the difference between the sky and the exposed area of the shot. So, less light on the subject may still result in a less bright sky overexposing. Put it this way, my PL filter is almost always on my lens if I've got sky in the shot.

[Gareth C]

Jesus 'effing Christ.

I took 713 photos last night between 7:57pm till 8:51pm and I'm now sorting them out(!)

Blimey...that's considerably more than I have taken all year!

[Extra Terrestrial]

A small teaser for what is to come - I love living in Woodbridge!

[Ish]

ET - I know what you mean about mixing it up, I'm consciously trying to take more landscapes and stuff but I do seem to find myself sucked back in to the macro world! I live in Bedford. It is pretty flat but in places quite scenic. I'm aiming to get over to the east coast a lot more this summer. Last year I didn't have a car so was a bit stuck.

Alastair - I was using my polariser but still wasn't happy. It was funny weather on Sunday to be fair to me. I'll post a couple of shots on flickr later. I think I just need to practice more to be honest!

[babs]

I found out just how difficult it is to capture fast action in poorly lit indoor environments with the built in flash over the weekend. I'll upload the photos soon for you to see what I mean

[MartyG]

I took quite a lot of landscapes at the w/e, but didn't upload them to flickr because I didn't think they were particularly interesting. Mostly trees and water.

[Gareth C]

Landscapes are the great unknown for me. I have a few interesting shots from all my various attempts but mostly because they have lots of fog etc. Landscape photography is definetely an artform (but then I guess any type of photography is).

here are some of my favourites...