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Water and Wood . . . ?


Sutton Warrior

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Parked up waiting for a job, the weather was strange. Very wet, raining but bright . . . I had the Compact in the glove compartment??? is it worth having a hose about??

 

These are the results of not moving more than 20 meters from the car, holding my hand above the lens to stop the rain splashing on it, and on occasions, holding the camera on the floor, pointing and hope, you dont think I was going to grovel, in good clothes do you?

 

Whilst I dont put any, in the watch out Sir David Baily class, or even 1st in the forum competition. I do see them as personal satisfaction, I have a thing about wood and a pleasure to look at . . . occasionally, biased opinion . . . :rolleyes:

 

Its also interesting to see the sharpness, colour and how the rain drops help, as I say, only a 5mpx Canon S50 compact.

 

1 Raining!! It would have been better to have got a few leaves and floated then down as a point of interest in the picture, live and learn?

1gutterIMG_4283.jpg

 

2 I like this one, the leaves look so fresh and sharp.

2StumpleavesIMG_4296.jpg

 

3 Not sure about this at all?

3StumpshootsIMG_4298.jpg

 

4 Grain on the sawn stump, bark and shoots, all very clear and defined.

4halfstumpshootsIMG_4299.jpg

 

5 Good colour, sharp, some may prefer the low angle?

5StumplowshotIMG_4286.jpg

 

6 looks like I have been polishing the Ivy.

6IvyberriesIMG_4275.jpg

 

Open to discussion, criticism and how you would do it! But I think the fact that the weather was so poor encourages one to look at the bad days as well as the ideally lite opportunities. Another point, to get the 6 above, I took 25 shots, not considered by some as good form, the scatter gun approach . . . may be so, but its better than not having any at all?

 

SW

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I have to admit that I also have a bit of a thing about wood....there's just something about the grain and the patterns that I just love!

 

Here are a couple that I took last weekend, trying to combine wood and spring flowers.

 

I think I had the idea right, but the technical expertise is slightly lacking!

 

b63671c9.jpg

 

f86e9589.jpg

 

The first shot is a rather unusual one, shot at ground level at the entrance to the garden, a view that isn't normally seen. The second one is a picture of a lonely bluebell head on top of some rather nice weathered wood. The first was taken with the camera on automatic, and the second was using the macro facility, which I obviously need some tuition on!

 

Any hints and tips on what I should be doing to improve these pictures would be most welcome! I know what I intended to shoot, but the finished result didn't quite live up to my expectations....

 

Janet

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Janet, trying to look at your photos 'Exif information', ie shutter speed, aperture etc. This information is not available with your pictures. Its usualy transferred and held, unseen, automaticaly, at the point of taking the picture and accessed with an Exif program. However, it is only transferred with the picture when you save your pictures if you use 'save as', I suspect you are using 'save', 'save' does not transfer the exif detail to the picture. Exif information is also a requirement of the competition, although it seems not to be an enforced rule at the mo?

 

SW

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Cliff love the wood shots, clear as a bell and sharp.

 

i was told many years ago that if taking a photograph with tree or shrubs as the background to give them a spray with the hose first.

 

Janet, maybe try just one bloom as the petal at the top and the blooms in the background tend to take your eyes from the main subject or try and get the whole bunch in focus

 

like that photo medwaygreen has on here.

 

 

Cheers Fred

my mind not only wanders-- sometimes it leaves completely.

 

 

Updated 7/3/09

http://sites.google.com/site/pomfred/

 

 

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Cliff love the wood shots, clear as a bell and sharp.

 

i was told many years ago that if taking a photograph with tree or shrubs as the background to give them a spray with the hose first.

 

Janet, maybe try just one bloom as the petal at the top and the blooms in the background tend to take your eyes from the main subject or try and get the whole bunch in focus

 

like that photo medwaygreen has on here.

 

 

Cheers Fred

 

Fred,

Hose? . . . it was chucking it down with rain!!! . . . is that over kill . . . :g::lol:

 

As a last resort/glove compartment option, the '5 mega pixel S50' compact does well I think. Just goes to show, we don't really need expensive DSLR's . . . ???? :g: Been that route in my mind a few times, especially as I :rolleyes: the royal we . . . also own a D40X and a D80. If push came to shove, and I had to choose just one camera/lens, to serve me for the remainder of my photographic life, nothing more technical than I do here on site, hard up, no cash . . . so whats new <_<

 

Money no object (within reason) I would probably choose a D90/Nikon 18-200VR. However, if money was an issue, and I had to stick to what I know, keep it cheap, light and practical, the D40X/Nikon 18-70 fits the bill, with the Canon S50 compact making me think twice. The second glance may make me look at the D40X coupled with the 18-200VR superzoom? Would be a tough one, especial as I've been getting results from the 18-200 recently, but its heavy in comparison . . .

 

Why the D40X . . . Its simple, basic operation in the way cameras used to in the days of film, but with the hybrid mixture of main control + menu, it can do all I want, I'm used to the menu system having used a compact on and off for a few years . . . but then I dont have to make the choice, so I can indulge myself and dream of a D90 . . . or the new D5000 . . . now there is an option . . . :headhurt:

 

. . . Mmm, back to Wood and Water . . . :thumbs:

 

SW OFC :P

Edited by Sutton Warrior
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b63671c9.jpg

 

Any hints and tips on what I should be doing to improve these pictures would be most welcome! I know what I intended to shoot, but the finished result didn't quite live up to my expectations....

 

Janet

 

 

Janet, Fred's advise on the Macro shot I think is good, might try a little stronger colour?

 

This is my version of the normal picture, I have tightened the crop, strengthened the colour in 'levels' made the knot hole a feature and added a touch of sharpen. Try it on the original, as I obviously cant go to far on the reduced pixel count shot.

 

2Janetwoodandflowersb63671c91_edite.jpg

 

SW

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Cheers SW.

 

That crop is much better. I hadn't tried to fiddle with it in Elements, but I'll have a go as soon as I get home! (I'm house sitting this weekend)

 

It certainly needed sharpening. I'm not sure why it didn't come out much sharper to start with - any ideas?

 

Janet

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Cheers SW.

 

That crop is much better. I hadn't tried to fiddle with it in Elements, but I'll have a go as soon as I get home! (I'm house sitting this weekend)

 

It certainly needed sharpening. I'm not sure why it didn't come out much sharper to start with - any ideas?

 

Janet

 

 

Needed sharpening, any ideas . . . ? You had been at the Gin . . . :unsure::lol:

 

Pictures often need a tad of 'sharp', I suspect from the low elevation, you were crouched at an awkward angle? if so, that can often introduced camera shake I have found? Windy? thats wind blow, not :blink: wind . ! . ! . ! excuse me . . . ;) The camera chose to slow a shutter speed? Get the tripod out Janet . . . :thumbs: Exif could have helped to answer some of these.

 

SW ofc

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