Topic: Photography, yay! (Warning: Very, VERY dial-up unfriendly) (Read 182886 times)

Stifled Dreams · « **on:** 29 Sep 2005, 18:26 »

The Comics & Drawings forum doesn't get as much love as it deserves. It is my favorite section.

So, here is a thread to talk about photography! I'm pretty sure there hasn't been one. I'm taking first-year photography at my school, although I've taken it a few times before. I'm so happy that I didn't mess up when I was developing my film, I think it's one of the hardest parts of photography! (I kept putting it on and off the reel in that little black bag thing because I thought I had done it wrong.)

So yes, feel free to post pictures you've taken, digital or not. This thread is supposed to be more about photography as an art form than it is about photography being used for memories.

Also, here is a picture that I developed last summer. It was taken using a cheap Holga camera, and it is somewhat out of focus. Oh well.
EDIT: Taken out to save bandwidth for more pictures later! If you are very curious and would like to see it anyways, just PM me. It isn't really that great, though, haha.

Sonet · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Sep 2005, 18:44 »

Pretty cool... Though cutting someone off right at the feet is a compositional no-no.

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Sep 2005, 19:19 »

Don't mean to get super-defensive, but let me explain. I was using a lomographic camera (lomography.com if you are curious). It had 3 zoom settings: close-up, portrait, and building. It also had two aperture settings: sunny or cloudy. The viewfinder is no type of viewfinder at all; you look through it and you see what you'd see if you weren't looking through it, even if you are zoomed it. We also taped our cameras up because they were prone to light-leaks. Basically, you just shoot without knowing what you'll get.

Lomography is way cool, though. (I'm using a real camera these days for my photo course.)

EDIT: (Although I admit that I didn't know that it was bad composition. I can see why, though; doesn't look that great. I'm going to thank you now for potentially helping me not get marked down in photo. I figure that since I'm probably taking this course for the next four years, I probably would have made that mistake at some point.)

pip_helix · « **Reply #3 on:** 29 Sep 2005, 21:34 »

it reminds me a little of diane arbus' work - the one person, the cityscape - i really like it.

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Sep 2005, 11:40 »

Thank you. If anyone else has something they want to share, I'd love seeing your work!

I made a contact sheet today, and the negatives that I developed look pretty crappy - I think I should have had the shutter speed higher (they're pretty blurry). Oh well, it's always good practice.

saturnine1979 · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Sep 2005, 14:27 »

Some of my stuff...

aaaaand, I didn't take this one, but I'm the subject.

EDIT: Also, I agree that this section rocks. It should be way more active.

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #6 on:** 01 Oct 2005, 08:30 »

Way awesome, saturnine. I love the first color one - it is often hard to take good color pictures, I've found. At least for me, things that would look awesome in black and white look pretty bland in color (feel free to disagree, of course). I'd like to see any more of your pictures that you feel like showing!

pip_helix · « **Reply #7 on:** 01 Oct 2005, 09:09 »

i watched one of my friends plant peas last spring, and photographed the chore. these are my three favorites.

saturnine1979 · « **Reply #8 on:** 01 Oct 2005, 09:13 »

i'll be doing a shoot either today or sometime soon, so i'll definitely post the results here!

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #9 on:** 01 Oct 2005, 09:35 »

Wow, pip_helix, those're pretty nifty, too. The third one is funny - Super Snappy, hee!

I have to start shooting for my project again soon.

pip_helix · « **Reply #10 on:** 01 Oct 2005, 09:56 »

thanks!

yeah, the super-snappy made for a good laugh, and they're pretty tasty when all is said and done.

good luck with the project.

Freelance Physicist · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Oct 2005, 23:27 »

Click the thumbnails to see a larger version.

Budapest, Hungary: 2004

Santa Monica, CA: 2005

UCLA: 2005

San Diego, CA: 2005

GregC · « **Reply #12 on:** 11 Oct 2005, 07:18 »

One pic and I'll save a little bandwidth and put a link to my Gallery page with photos. I have more but I need to scan them.

Griffith Observatory in LA. I love art deco.

DustyLens · « **Reply #13 on:** 11 Oct 2005, 17:44 »

The shots by saturnine are great, except for a few lighting issues in the second color one. Where were you standing for the building shots?

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #14 on:** 11 Oct 2005, 17:56 »

Quote from: Freelance Physicist

Hmm, this thread is becoming very dialup-unfriendly... oh well.

Sorry, put a warning in the title.

saturnine1979 · « **Reply #15 on:** 11 Oct 2005, 18:43 »

i was in the Eiffel Tower replica at the Paris hotel.
it was a pretty amazing view.

if you don't mind, can you tell me what exactly you think is off about the lighting? i'd definitely appreciate criticism!

Se7en · « **Reply #16 on:** 11 Oct 2005, 18:47 »

Budapest at night is beautiful. Somewhere i have some pictures taken at dusk, from up by the palace, looking out over the whole city.

saturnine1979 · « **Reply #17 on:** 11 Oct 2005, 18:48 »

Freelance:
I love your shots, but I've got a few crits.

#1 - in the second shot, i would crop that right side where the other board is sticking out. it's very distracting, compositionally, and i think the peice would benefit more from a more vertically inclined framing.

#2 - i don't know how it would look, but i'd probably crop out the cars in the background of the piano peice. they're also quite distracting (as cars tend to be, although they fit well in your first photo), but i wonder if the picture might suffer too much without the rest of that space. just a thought.

Greg:
What'd you use to take that shot? It's gorgeous!

Se7en · « **Reply #18 on:** 11 Oct 2005, 18:55 »

Personally, id have waited untill the pug got out of the way in that shot, and waited till a trabant came along. MUCH more suitable for the setting.

Freelance Physicist · « **Reply #19 on:** 11 Oct 2005, 22:35 »

Quote from: se7en

Budapest at night is beautiful. Somewhere i have some pictures taken at dusk, from up by the palace, looking out over the whole city.

Indeed, it is. I had lots of opportunities to walk around at absurd hours of the morning in the four months I spent there last year. I'd really like to see those dusk pictures.

To saturnine: I appreciate your critiques, though I do disagree with them.

If I cropped out the other surfboard, the surfer would be left alone in the picture with a rather bland background of sand and sky. Since the surfer would be the only point of interest, the viewer's eye would be uncomfortably confined to that corner of the picture. The other surfboard, while a little distracting, provides a second anchor point so that the viewer can more freely explore the rest of the picture. Otherwise, I'd have to crop everything but the surfer (which would still be a good photo, just not as compositionally as interesting as putting the subject on the edge of the frame).

I'm amazed this photo came out so well since these surfers were behind me. I didn't have time to line up a shot or even turn around as they ran by, so I just pointed my camera over my shoulder and hoped for the best. I love the freedom digital cameras provide as I don't have to worry about wasting money on high-risk shots.

As for my piano photo, I don't see a way of cropping out the cars without also cropping out the tree and lampost, unless your talking about airbrushing them out. I think they lend the scene an extra amount of weirdness (beyond the already weird tree and lamp) since it sets the scene of a late night outdoor piano recital.

Funny story behind this picture: the piece being played is Erik Satie's Vexations, a creepy, highly-discordant piece that is only two bars in length, but played slowly and repeated 840 times, in all taking about 24 hours to perform. It was performed by three UCLA piano students (and any piano players who happened to walk by) who switched off every hour. I watched about five hours before walking home to sleep for two hours before getting up for class again.

Now to return the favor:

saturnine: I really like your photos. It's evident you know when to use soft and sharp focus (especially in contrasting the woman at the window and Ceasar's Palace (I've been kicking myself for not taking my camera on my last trip to Vegas a few weeks ago)). The lighting problem that DustyLens refers to is that the girl's arms and the palm fronds to her right are overexposed. Your first picture is just fun (let me guess, she hates candid photos of her. Most of my friends don't like me when I have a camera since I prefer candids to poses).

GregC: Although that is a good picture of the observatory, I'm much more partial to your photo of the blues guitarist (call it a music bias). I like that it's grainy and scratchy like an old record.

~~~

Heh, I've only been using a camera for little more than a year and here I am writing at length as if I know what I'm talking about.

GregC · « **Reply #20 on:** 12 Oct 2005, 04:49 »

Quote from: saturnine1979

Greg:
What'd you use to take that shot? It's gorgeous!

Thanks! Just an old Ricoh SLR camera and Kodak Tri-X Pan B&W film. I developed the film and pic myself.

Quote from: Freelance Physicist

Although that is a good picture of the observatory, I'm much more partial to your photo of the blues guitarist (call it a music bias). I like that it's grainy and scratchy like an old record.

Thanks! Again the Tri-X film. It lets you push it to the extreme. The dude was flat out awesome. It was hard to concentrate on taking the picture.

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #21 on:** 12 Oct 2005, 22:14 »

My photos from the most recent roll of negatives have actually turned out better than I thought they would. Also, I've learned a lot about developing the the last few weeks. I have realized, however, that I have a very long ways to go, though. I've removed my first picture to save bandwidth. That way, I can scan in some newer photos next week to show you guys. I've been reading your critiques and you all seem like a dedicated group of photographers! It is refreshing to see others' work.

Freelance, I think the tree and lantern in the back of the piano photo give it an interesting, almost eerie quality, although since they are only in the background and take a while to notice. So I agree that although the cars are distracting, it would be best not to crop that one.

I do have a question for all of you, though; where do you develop? I develop in school, as I've said. Does anyone here own equipment? And, if so, was it worth buying it?

I'm merely curious, and I figure that this would be a good place to have discussions about equipment and the process, as well as actual photographs.

Freelance Physicist · « **Reply #22 on:** 12 Oct 2005, 23:41 »

I bought my digital point-and-shoot (a Fujifilm FinePix A340) a few weeks before I left for Hungary in August of 2004. I edit my photos using GIMP and have them developed by Shutterfly. I like Shutterfly since they offer to develop photos without automatic color correction. This way, I get prints that look like what I see on my monitor when I finish my own post-processing. Plus, it's much cheaper than printing them on my own.

I think a better method for saving bandwidth would be to use thumbnails or links to where the pictures are hosted. I'll edit my post.

Se7en · « **Reply #23 on:** 13 Oct 2005, 02:21 »

Il have to get my budapest pictures off my brother, i think i used his camera. God i miss my fuji s7000, that was a lovely camera.

saturnine1979 · « **Reply #24 on:** 13 Oct 2005, 04:51 »

Wahoo: Urban Exploration!

A few friends and I went to an abandoned mental hospital in Memphis. I got some good stuff, I think. Let me know what you think.

cheers.

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #25 on:** 13 Oct 2005, 11:13 »

Quote from: Freelance Physicist

I bought my digital point-and-shoot (a Fujifilm FinePix A340) a few weeks before I left for Hungary in August of 2004. I edit my photos using GIMP and have them developed by Shutterfly. I like Shutterfly since they offer to develop photos without automatic color correction. This way, I get prints that look like what I see on my monitor when I finish my own post-processing. Plus, it's much cheaper than printing them on my own.

Digital cameras do have both pros and cons; I'm still a big fan of printing in the dark room, because it is really pretty fun. I figure I could get a cheap enlarger etc with ebay, because thanks to digital cameras, a lot of people don't want theirs. My dad has a digital, and we use Shutterfly, too - they send nice prints.

Saturnine: what an awesome place to take pictures. It looks like it was a pretty fun shoot, eh?

Freelance Physicist · « **Reply #26 on:** 22 Oct 2005, 15:25 »

Hey Saturnine, your last expedition reminds me of another guy who specializes in photographing abandoned buildings: Kendall Anderson.

Look into his galleries for other good stuff, especially the Toronto Don Valley Brickworks.

Unfortunately, I don't have any of my own work to contribute as most of it has been crap lately.

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #27 on:** 23 Oct 2005, 11:52 »

Thank you for saving this thread! I have nothing to post because I just learned my teacher doesn't give us back our projects until the end of the year, and all of my prints that didn't turn out like crap were handed in.

Also, could anyone provide me with tips for shooting on a rainy day? I really need to go outside to take these pictures, but I'm afraid that they will turn out dark and awful because it is supposed to be rainy until Thursday. Yes, I am a very amateur photographer, I know, but that is why I'm asking for advice and taking a course!

saturnine1979 · « **Reply #28 on:** 23 Oct 2005, 12:19 »

My momma's sending me some film this week, so I'll probably get out and do another shoot soon.

I've also got a very ambitious photography/graphic novel'ish type project in the works, but I haven't started with it yet.

McTaggart · « **Reply #29 on:** 27 Oct 2005, 03:00 »

Stifled Dreams: Use fast glass. If it's actually noticably dark feel free to under-expose a bit. Not only will you get to use faster shutter speeds, but it also looks more real (sometimes). If you're shooting black and white use fast film and/or push process. Ilford HP5 Plus at 800 ISO has really nice looking grain.

saturnine1979: I swear I've had the same idea. I just don't have anyone to act/model. Or ideas for story. Or setting. Or much else for that matter.

Also, digital:

That last one everyone loves, except me. That was taken the week I got my camera, or at least thats my excuse.

Film:

http://mctaggart.deviantart.com">http://mctaggart.deviantart.com

Luke C · « **Reply #30 on:** 01 Nov 2005, 14:00 »

I love browsing through photos. They don't have to be professional with a 'meaning' or anything like that just random photos.

Coreh · « **Reply #31 on:** 16 Dec 2005, 18:18 »

This one I took during a fireworks show I went to.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c101/Coreh/HPIM0085.jpg
This is the sky on the same night and at the same place of the fireworks show.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c101/Coreh/HPIM0077.jpg
And this one is a tree down the street from my house.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c101/Coreh/HPIM0255.jpg

I'm an amateur and I used an HP Photosmart E317 that I got (early) for Christmas.

ElRodente · « **Reply #32 on:** 17 Dec 2005, 07:32 »

i am getting a reasonably nice point&shoot digital camera for christmas, so maybe i will put some nice things in here

here are some bug photos i took

Sonet · « **Reply #33 on:** 17 Dec 2005, 17:36 »

I didn't take this picture, and it's probably a good thing that I wasn't there to. I very well might have squeezed the thing to death for being too goddamned cute.

JodyAnthony · « **Reply #34 on:** 17 Dec 2005, 20:58 »

I'm the farthest thing from a 'photographer,' not that I would ever really want to be one. But heres my favorite picture that I took. It was like 2 years ago after some big ice storm

Sythe · « **Reply #35 on:** 18 Dec 2005, 09:46 »

Brookline Ave, Holyoke, MA

Belvidere Ave, Holyoke, MA

Some park in Jersey

Bunnies ftw.

Leonidas · « **Reply #36 on:** 23 Dec 2005, 16:19 »

ElRodente · « **Reply #37 on:** 23 Dec 2005, 16:33 »

leo: that 3rd one is brilliant, do you have it any bigger?

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #38 on:** 24 Dec 2005, 12:19 »

Sythe, you should check on your camera to see if you can get the date in the bottom right to turn off (unless you like it like that). I like the pictures, but it is distracting.

And woah, Leonidas, what are those animals in the first one called? They look pretty badass! I really like the colors in the last one, it is a calm scene.

Sorry that I've been abusing this thread, I'm going to make an enormous post at the end of the school year when I get the photos I've turned in back. I'll post a really silly one in a bit, when I scan it.

McTaggart · « **Reply #39 on:** 25 Dec 2005, 05:24 »

New lens, so here's the obligatory kitty portrait:

And since it's a macro lens, a (tiny) spider on a (tiny) flower.

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #40 on:** 25 Dec 2005, 11:44 »

That spider is all types of amazing. I love how it is slightly grotesque, but still really stunning.

I actually didn't get to scan in my picture, and now I will not be able to use a scanner until '06. Oh well.

Orchid · « **Reply #41 on:** 25 Dec 2005, 12:29 »

Hey... I'm a complete newbie to photography, so my stuff's probably not going to be very good. Still, I'll never get better without criticism, right?

These are my favorites so far. I took them in Italy this spring, so sadly I can't go retake them to fix anything but I'm trying to learn from their flaws.

A vegetable stand in Florence.

One of the few b/w shots I've got. It's the ruins of Pompeii, with(I think) Vesuvius in the background.

Venice alleyway. Was trying to include the flag in the window as obviously as possible.

Florence again. "Pace" is Italian for "Peace."

Another from Florence. This one's one of my favorites.

o hay nature :B This is from Capri.

SearchingForThree · « **Reply #42 on:** 25 Dec 2005, 23:41 »

here's some of my favs that i've taken, most of them from in and around my school (excuse the weird texture on some of them, my scanner isn't the best, and they do look a little large...maybe i'll get around to optimizing them :p):

This one was taken using a pinhole camera that i made out of a Quaker Oats container. Put a very small hole in a box along with a piece of photographic paper and expose it for about thirty seconds. The tube shape of the container gave it the warped look:

I developed this one using a technique called solarization which is basically pulling the picture out of the developing chemicals before its finished, rinsing it with water, re-exposing it under an enlarger, then completing its run through the chemicals:

~Rob

McTaggart · « **Reply #43 on:** 26 Dec 2005, 21:25 »

Stifled Dreams: Thanks.

SearchingforThree: I like the shoe picture, it's very warm. Also, that pinhole is great, I hope you kept that camera. I love the look of pinhole images (says the dude who's currently got over a pound of glass in front of his camera).

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #44 on:** 28 Dec 2005, 09:44 »

Yeah, pinhole cameras for the win! I seriously think the most fun part is constructing them, though. I have not made one in a tube before, only in a shoebox.

ElRodente · « **Reply #45 on:** 30 Dec 2005, 12:44 »

i was looking at a jigsaw through a magnifying glass earlier (don't ask why)
and i realised it was all colour halftones, and that they'd used this to enlarge the image

so i did it to leonidas' desert picture and it's now my desktop

(if you want to know how, rescale the picture to 5000xwhatever in photoshop, go to filter>pixelate>colour halftone, set the max radius to 4 pixels, then resize back down to whatever resolution you want, it has to be the same size as your screen, because halftones don't scale very well at all)

edit: got it small enough to upload without losing too much quality

it looks a bit washed out, i'll see if i can fix that

fixed, and background sized (1280x1024)

Verergoca · « **Reply #46 on:** 03 Jan 2006, 04:50 »

Well, I wont claim to be a good at taking photographs or anything, but I love taking them, and trying to make things come out nicely. At the moment I use (when I actually have the oppurtunity, which means when im on holiday) a old Leica mini which I have inherited from my grandfather

Its a real simple thing, but I find it makes great pictures, I think its a keeper... Altough I would like another camera for the "bug-pictures". Odonata ftw!

Anyway, I've just uploaded some of my pictures I had on my computer. They were made in Scotland, around Fort William about 2 years ago when we went there with a bunch of classmates

Bucket thingy

McTaggart · « **Reply #47 on:** 03 Jan 2006, 06:59 »

It's a Leica. 'course it take great pictures. It seems to have handled the difficult lighting with the light fog and the dark ground really well. I like your picture with the post in the foreground.

illu45 · « **Reply #48 on:** 07 Jan 2006, 22:32 »

Very nice stuff here...

Leonidas: Love the picture with the... goat-type things (not sure what they're called, too tired/lazy to look it up).

Anyhow, here are two of mine that aren't too bad, I think...

EDIT: Sorry about the width, BTW...

Stifled Dreams · « **Reply #49 on:** 21 Jan 2006, 10:19 »

I'm in such a "photography" mood, and this thread needs rescuing.

Here is something for my project that is due next week:

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Photography, yay! (Warning: Very, VERY dial-up unfriendly) (Read 182886 times)

Stifled Dreams

Sonet

Stifled Dreams

pip_helix

Stifled Dreams

saturnine1979

Stifled Dreams

pip_helix

saturnine1979

Stifled Dreams

pip_helix

Freelance Physicist

GregC

DustyLens

Stifled Dreams

saturnine1979

Se7en

saturnine1979

Se7en

Freelance Physicist

GregC

Stifled Dreams

Freelance Physicist

Se7en

saturnine1979

Stifled Dreams

Freelance Physicist

Stifled Dreams

saturnine1979

Sonet

JodyAnthony

Stifled Dreams

Stifled Dreams

Orchid

SearchingForThree

Stifled Dreams

illu45

Stifled Dreams