The Photography Thread

[PeteJ]

How to embed Flickr images (thanks Alastair):

Use this button on flickr to view the size image you want.

Use this button here when posting to make an image. In the post box thing then highlight the url you used as well as the [IMG] tags at each end. Then click the button to add the link back to the relevant flickr page.

It'll look like this without the spaces in the tags:
[url=http://page url ][IMG ]http://image url][/IMG ][/URL ]

Late last year I got into photography as it was something I've always fancied trying. I gave up for a while because it was so damn cold (though I have a few snow shots, which almost killed me it was so cold) but now I'm back into it good and proper. I'm crap at it still, mind.

I uploaded a couple of my photos just now they aren't the best or worst ones I have, but just a few I had on my harddrive that I scanned in to play with in photoshop (which I had no previous experience of). And yep, they are the most uninteresting photos ever taken

My camera.

Anyone got any photos they want to show off or advice? I hope so, I need some tips...

[marcus]

The kite one is nice

Were I not to live in such a ****-hole area Id take some too, but I dont think vandalized telephone booths and bus-stops are much to write home about. Hopefully Ill have some taken during my diving holiday soon, Id love to get some good underwater shots.

[Spatial]

Those are some real purdy pictures

Seriously they're very picturesque - the first beach one and sky one especially

I particularly like the roundabout in the middle of nowhere

[RobRoy]

V nice

The roundabout one is class 8)

[bungle]

Well, if you have any specific questions to ask go ahead. I myself am just starting to get really interested in photography as well, having a father who is an enthusiast. I just bought a Nikon D70 so I can steal all the lenses from his F5 and F100 muh ha ha ha ha. But if you do have any questions I would be glad to relay them through him. Nice pics by the by.

[Spatial]

Snap snap, grin grin, wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more?

[DaiSuki]

Very nice Pete

I like to see well-taken 35mm stuff; imo digital cameras are killing the art (didn't get it right first time? never mind, just keep clicking away until you get close enough). Would love to be able to do it myself, got a half-decent 35mm setup here, but never find the inspiration. I like red.jpg particularly

[bungle]

In a way I agree DaiSuki but digitals are still very useful and the Digital SLR's are incredibly talented.....best photos I have ever seen were taken with a Hasselblad, although you can't beat a good old Leica...beautiful pics for pitence (compared to a Hasselblad ?3500 up, and they aren't easy to use)

[Magnakai]

Hey, those are pretty good.
My brother's doing a photography degree, my dad's a semi-pro photographer, and my uncle's a very professional photographer (won loads of awards and stuff) so I've had the opportunity to see lots of award winning photos with all sorts of subject and situations...
Bearing that in mind, I think your ones stand up really well.
Tbh, you need a better scanner. If you take slides, they're easier to index and store, plus the colour's apparently fuller or something... I remember my uncle telling me something like that, and he knows what he's talking about. You can get a slide scanner which is a lot easier to use and provides much better quality. That might be going a bit overboard though...
It's probably worthwhile running some sort of colour configuration thing on your screen and scanner...
You also need to run them through Photoshop for some level balancing. There's no shame in that at all.
All in all, I think they're pretty cool. I especially like the kite one. The red hue leands it a surreal air, and the sillouttes of the kite and surfer gave it a bit of focus and detail.
Basically, it made it more intresting
The sky one was nice too, though I would've liked to have seen it with a wider range of focus, maybe with the grass in midground in focus too. Or on the other hand, with the sky and clouds in focus, and the grass and twig out of focus. Or the sky and grass in focus, and the twig out of focus. Too many possibilities!
Beach1 was pretty poignant, but I think it may have worked better in a landscape view, with the post on the right... about as far away as it is now, actually. But of course, I'm just guessing, not having been there.

Actually, I'm the one in the family who sits around and plays guitar or video games, not the ones who wander around the place fiddling with their exposure and apeture, so please don't take anything I said too much to heart. I'm just sorta throwing stuff at you
Overall I really liked them. I must've, to spend time typing up that post

[gooner]

Hi, im into photography too. you can check out my pics on www.digi-darkroom.com

love your pics mate, especially beach2.jpg the sepia feel to it is excellent and complimented with the blue sign, its a creative touch to a modern technique which is tiring.

for those thinking about it, you dont need a good camera or have to live in a nice area to enjoy and be good at photography, just give it a go and see how you take it also when buying books dont buy digital photography books, buy books on photography, the digital ones tend to forget about teaching about apature and painting with light and tell you how to correct pictures gone wrong

[DaiSuki]

the digital ones tend to forget about teaching about apature and painting with light and tell you how to correct pictures gone wrong

That's exactly what I was trying to say

[bungle]

the digital ones tend to forget about teaching about apature and painting with light and tell you how to correct pictures gone wrong

That's exactly what I was trying to say

Ahhhhhh

[MartyG]

Rule of thirds is an important part of composing photos, most of yours ignore this which isn't always a bad thing, anyway, it's worth looking up though. It's also worth looking at the way apature selection affects photo composition. Oh, and exposure speed, water effects love longer exposures, but remember this'll affect you apature -> longer exposure = smaller apature = larger depth of field. Beach1 would have given you a much different photo with a longer exposure.

I also can't stress enough the importance of a tripod and external shutter release.

I have a few different SLRs, been taking photos for quite some time. Nikkon F90X, Nikkon F50 and Olympus OM10 (great little camera, you can pick these up dirt cheap, often with fast lenses, which means you can use shorter exposure in lower light levels).

I always tend to look for the unusual, and I like doing B&W stuff, I also like playing around with filters (an art in itself). One thing that's definitely worth getting is a polariser filter.

I did have a mini dark room in my last place, and I really need to sort that out for this house.

The best one in there for me is the arty farty one. The colour foreground works well with the grey background. It almost looks digitally altered. Anyway, look forward to seeing some more of your stuff.

Regards
Marty

[Ginger Tosser]

Nice Pics,

I've started again to get back into photography, i've let it lapse for a few years. I agree with marty, get a decent tripod and do some long exposures. Night shots are worth messing about with, although with print film the processing can make them look ****e.

Anyway click here to see one of my night efforts, critique welcome !

What lenses do you have ? I've always fancied the EOS 35-350mm, but sadly out of my price range.

[stroppa]

Anyway click here to see one of my night efforts, critique welcome !

Don't know why, but my head tells me that picture would look much better in black and white.

Also, PeteJ, I really liked your 'artyfarty.jpg' photo, definitely the pick of the bunch(if you'll pardon the slight pun) for me. The colour of the flowers really contrasts well with the background.