Photography challenge

[DerekD]

19 minutes ago, big Neil said:

How far away was the subject Derek? Did you use a tripod or monopod for these images?

bn

hi @big NeilProbably only 6 or 7m away and it was on the monopod (takes most of the weight but allows me to swing the camera pretty quickly). I had the camera lens wound right back to the low end of its capabilities but it lets me snap away without disturbing the subject matter. I took several bird ones at the dam too.

Edited September 9, 2023 by DerekD

[JonD]

A few more abstract images I snapped on my phone while picking up some timber at a hardware yard.

An old steel shipping container pained brown had some signage written on it. The paint had worn and shrunk over the years leaving these patterns.

I told my wife they were artworks in a shop down where I had been working and they were $1100 each, she said she liked them and believed they were worth it🤭

 

 

 

[JonD]

A couple more recent ones from my old phone. Any guesses on the jaws ?

 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by JonD

[Blackfish]

Nice photos Jon. Mulloway Jaws ?.

[JonD]

20 hours ago, Blackfish said:

Nice photos Jon. Mulloway Jaws ?.

Tailor

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by JonD

[Blackfish]

Dohhhh, great set of Jaws.

[Blackfish]

Test

 

[Steve0]

Not for the (lack of artistic) photography skills, but for the subjects:

Selfie on eroded sand

The rod is 10'6". The top of the sand ledge is a tad under half the rod length. The cause was a moderate storm. When a bad one hit I could not get down, close to all sand eroded away and there was little other than rock left.

 

 

In case you need Luderick bait on the beach.

 

[Steve0]

The 2019/20 Border fire burnt to the edge of Eden, but that doesn't mean Eden was spared

About 4:45PM on 4 January it was so smokey, automated lights switched on. There is no colour tweaking. We see it as the phone camera took it (very eerie to see).

The beach was a mess of charred leaves and creatures that paid the price:

Above and below: Charred leaves achieved a depth of about 30cm in places
 

 

A single feather only hints at the scale of destruction suffered by birds

In about 1km, without digging into the charred leaves I found more than 20 birds washed ashore. Most were even sadder sights than the above. Also amongst the carnage washed up were a dead Wallaby and dead Penguin. At a guess, ocean predators had full bellies.

 

 

Bluebottles rise above debris.

Edited May 12 by Steve0

[Steve0]

This photo of the black wave would have blown the size limit above.

Edited February 9 by Steve0
Typo

[JustJames]

1 hour ago, Steve0 said:

This photo of the black wave would have blown the size limit above.

 

In the aftermath of the fires, I went scuba diving in Jervis Bay with some friends.  It was touch and go whether we would be able to go at all, but just before we were due to leave the roads were open and the word from people in Jervis was "please come...we need tourist business!".  I remember on dives outside the heads finding handfuls of charred leaves in gulleys 15+ metres under water.  It was very weird being in Jervis in what should have been peak holiday season and having the place to ourselves.

 

Vaguely related...time flies!  I let my son drive there to rack up the hours on his L plates.  A few weeks ago he tore up his P's.

[Steve0]

2 hours ago, JustJames said:

 I remember on dives outside the heads finding handfuls of charred leaves in gulleys 15+ metres under water.

Charred leaves 15m under may explain the dead Leatherjacket in the char heap not mentioned above.

[Steve0]

Storm front rolling past (unedited).

[DerekD]

There is a backstory behind these photos which I hope goes someway in helping you understand why they are so significant to me in my growth as a photographer. I’ve enjoyed photography since I was a kid but between the gear, the film and developing costs it wasn’t the cheapest of hobbies. Around 2005 I was given a Canon EOS 350D which opened up my photography world. In addition to the personal photography I ended up doing events such as weddings now and then. This camera really helped me grow as I could try things at very little cost beyond the original outlay. I learned about composition, lighting, working with people, etc. Over time I was also finding limitations with the gear, especially in low light so I walked into my camera store to fix this issue and the brief that I want to take photos which make people say “Wow!”. The solution was to buy a newer camera (Canon EOS 80D) with better sensor, higher ISO and better lens. With a bit of practice I started to get more of the photos I knew I was capable of. About 2 years later Canon released the full frame, mirrorless camera with eye detection (Canon RP) which I added to my collection. I bought it specifically for portraits and found it partnered really well with the 80D as they each have strengths which complement each other.

During the Covid years I found and started following a photographer in Melbourne and his how to videos on working with light and models. His explanations were clear and his style and work really resonated with me. Early this year he advised that he was doing three day workshops in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. The first two days being studio and advanced studio photography were of less interest to me as I don’t have a studio and probably never will and I couldn’t justify the cost. The third day which was coincidentaly on my birthday was of real interest. It was learning how to find and shoot in natural light. I put my name down and went to the course last Sunday. Turned out to be a fantastic birthday present to myself.

While the overcast weather was not optimal, Peter and Bec had taken the time to scout out locations in the Darling harbour area which could be used for the lessons. On a sunny day it makes it very easy to show where the light is coming directly and where it coming in as a reflection. An overcast day means the lighting is diffused and comes from multiple directions. One of the first things Peter explained was that in a scene bright colours such as a bus sign can be a distraction so he had us set our cameras to monochrome. For those less familiar with photography a lot of cameras can shoot in both JPG (what the camera thinks are the best settings and compression for the photo) and RAW which is the unadulterated data but it can be manipulated more easily later. On my 26MP camera a large JPG is about 6MB and a RAW file is about 30MB. While the JPGs and what I was seeing would be in monochrome I could go back later and put the colour back in using the RAW files. Next thing is he made sure we knew about zebra-ing which is a function in modern camera which shows when parts of the photo are blowing out (typically white-ish areas which are looking overexposed). He then had us switch to manual. While a little harder at first it allows you to keep pretty consisting lighting over multiple shots. In the various auto modes the light values can jump around between shots depending on the aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings. He also introduced us to the Peak Focussing function which is a neat little trick mirrorless cameras have – in manual mode the section of photo in focus can be made to light up in colour. I used eye detection for this session. Essentially Peter taught us to find and paint with the light. You can’t see light but you can see shadows and use these to work out where the direct or reflected light is coming from. There were three models and he rotated them around at various locations (including an underpass and a park station) to explain the concepts. At times I was torn between following him and taking a few photos of the models at each of the stands. I learned ways of photographing I had not known of before and I also had a few epiphanies along the way. I’m not a professional photographer as such. I am self-taught. I was in the company of people that do it for a living so I was a little intimidated at first but then realised my way of connecting with and directing people to get the photo I wanted put me in good stead. It was when I had a particular model to myself or realised something wasn’t working for me so made small changes that I started getting the photos I really wanted. In the end I took about 1,700 photos of which I have to delete a lot of the early ones due to a struggle with focus and camera settings. It annoyed me at first but I reminded myself this was why I was doing this course. These are just 4 of the ones I took but they are to me the photos I want to be able to do far more consistently.

While not at a peak in my growth they do represent a pretty big milestone in that (to me at least) I am reaching the point when I can now reasonably expect to get an “OH WOW!” photo when I had out for a session.

Camera used was a Canon RP (mirrorless) with Sigma 50mm 1.4 lens and Canon 85mm 1.8 lens.

Edited May 13 by DerekD

[big Neil]

On 9/11/2023 at 8:55 AM, JonD said:

A few more abstract images I snapped on my phone while picking up some timber at a hardware yard.

An old steel shipping container pained brown had some signage written on it. The paint had worn and shrunk over the years leaving these patterns.

I told my wife they were artworks in a shop down where I had been working and they were $1100 each, she said she liked them and believed they were worth it🤭

 

 

 

Good job she didn't tell you to go down and buy a couple of them Jon...LOL.   bn

[big Neil]

Great that you had a very successful day learning how to assess and take better photographs Derek. Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns.

I really like the first 2 photos which I assume are the same photo in B/W and colour. Colour wins the day for me.

Keep shooting!

bn

[Robbo from Sydney]

On 5/10/2024 at 12:21 PM, DerekD said:

There is a backstory behind these photos which I hope goes someway in helping you understand why they are so significant to me in my growth as a photographer. I’ve enjoyed photography since I was a kid but between the gear, the film and developing costs it wasn’t the cheapest of hobbies. Around 2005 I was given a Canon EOS 350D which opened up my photography world. In addition to the personal photography I ended up doing events such as weddings now and then. This camera really helped me grow as I could try things at very little cost beyond the original outlay. I learned about composition, lighting, working with people, etc. Over time I was also finding limitations with the gear, especially in low light so I walked into my camera store to fix this issue and the brief that I want to take photos which make people say “Wow!”. The solution was to buy a newer camera (Canon EOS 80D) with better sensor, higher ISO and better lens. With a bit of practice I started to get more of the photos I knew I was capable of. About 2 years later Canon released the full frame, mirrorless camera with eye detection (Canon RP) which I added to my collection. I bought it specifically for portraits and found it partnered really well with the 80D as they each have strengths which complement each other.

During the Covid years I found and started following a photographer in Melbourne and his how to videos on working with light and models. His explanations were clear and his style and work really resonated with me. Early this year he advised that he was doing three day workshops in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. The first two days being studio and advanced studio photography were of less interest to me as I don’t have a studio and probably never will and I couldn’t justify the cost. The third day which was coincidentaly on my birthday was of real interest. It was learning how to find and shoot in natural light. I put my name down and went to the course last Sunday. Turned out to be a fantastic birthday present to myself.

While the overcast weather was not optimal, Peter and Bec had taken the time to scout out locations in the Darling harbour area which could be used for the lessons. On a sunny day it makes it very easy to show where the light is coming directly and where it coming in as a reflection. An overcast day means the lighting is diffused and comes from multiple directions. One of the first things Peter explained was that in a scene bright colours such as a bus sign can be a distraction so he had us set our cameras to monochrome. For those less familiar with photography a lot of cameras can shoot in both JPG (what the camera thinks are the best settings and compression for the photo) and RAW which is the unadulterated data but it can be manipulated more easily later. On my 26MP camera a large JPG is about 6MB and a RAW file is about 30MB. While the JPGs and what I was seeing would be in monochrome I could go back later and put the colour back in using the RAW files. Next thing is he made sure we knew about zebra-ing which is a function in modern camera which shows when parts of the photo are blowing out (typically white-ish areas which are looking overexposed). He then had us switch to manual. While a little harder at first it allows you to keep pretty consisting lighting over multiple shots. In the various auto modes the light values can jump around between shots depending on the aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings. He also introduced us to the Peak Focussing function which is a neat little trick mirrorless cameras have – in manual mode the section of photo in focus can be made to light up in colour. I used eye detection for this session. Essentially Peter taught us to find and paint with the light. You can’t see light but you can see shadows and use these to work out where the direct or reflected light is coming from. There were three models and he rotated them around at various locations (including an underpass and a park station) to explain the concepts. At times I was torn between following him and taking a few photos of the models at each of the stands. I learned ways of photographing I had not known of before and I also had a few epiphanies along the way. I’m not a professional photographer as such. I am self-taught. I was in the company of people that do it for a living so I was a little intimidated at first but then realised my way of connecting with and directing people to get the photo I wanted put me in good stead. It was when I had a particular model to myself or realised something wasn’t working for me so made small changes that I started getting the photos I really wanted. In the end I took about 1,700 photos of which I have to delete a lot of the early ones due to a struggle with focus and camera settings. It annoyed me at first but I reminded myself this was why I was doing this course. These are just 4 of the ones I took but they are to me the photos I want to be able to do far more consistently.

While not at a peak in my growth they do represent a pretty big milestone in that (to me at least) I am reaching the point when I can now reasonably expect to get an “OH WOW!” photo when I had out for a session.

Happy Birthday Derek

I love the photos and as a Canon user I will sit down and carefully work through the things you have mentioned.

Stretching ourselves to learn and improve in things we do is an important part of enjoyment and development and we should never stop - no matter our age!

Cheers
Rob

[Steve0]

My sandwich-stealing mate. Phone camera in its face. Zoom closer to see cracks in its beak. Window-banging damage?

Hume Weir Northern arm between Granya and Talmalmo, just about to drive into the fog.

This is a colour photo taken of the B&W sea after the Border fire. The smoke in the background is the Eden Chipmill.

Southern Cloud Crash Memorial lay-by, about 25km from Tintaldra, grass was spectacular following a drought that left paddocks bare.