Got a decent camera for Christmas, that takes pictures that aren't a blurry mess. Still mostly in the flower and kitty stage, so bear with me.
Those aren't kitties! Nice photos, though. Photography is a hobby I'd like to get more into but realistically I know I'd never give it the time it deserves. Threads like this allow me a little vicarious pleasure.
My daughter likes to dress up for no reason (she's 3). So, when I turn around with the camera phone pointed at her, she gets up nice and close. I could swim through those eyes...
Thanks. I wouldn't worry about not having enough time. Photography is one of those hobbies where once you learn the basics you won't forget them in a hurry. I kind of wish I had taken the plunge and bought the camera I was looking at many years ago, instead of waiting to last year. When I got a really cheap and nasty point and shoot, just as an excuse to get myself out of the house. The process of photography is really enjoyable and can take you to some really interesting places, even if you have zero natural talent like myself. I'd highly recommend anyone even remotely interested in photography pick up a cheap P&S and see where it leads.
That looks like a mighty fine camera. I have a Canon P&S myself -- a Powershot SD1100 and use it mostly to take silly photos for my blog. Maybe I'll graduate to a digital SLR some day. In the meantime, more pics, please.
The 550d (T2i) is great. I picked up the 1100d (T3) a few months ago and am loving it. As good as the included 18-55mm kit lens is, I picked up a 50mm/1.8 lens that's a ton of fun.
Sometimes the stars align and a camera phone photo comes out really nice. I rather like this one, taken this Christmas on my iPhone (with some cropping and editing using Camera+). The iPhone is no match for my Olympus E-420, but there are a lot of time when I have the iPhone, and don't have the DSLR.
I put a ND filter on my 50 Summilux to see how it behaved wide open. Here are the results: L1000459.jpg by Doug Freeman, on Flickr L1000464.jpg by Doug Freeman, on Flickr Wasting time with a 50 lux by Doug Freeman, on Flickr
My front yard is probably the most boring photography subject on the planet, but every so often I see a decent sunset over the rooftops across the street. I took a few shots of a recent one and stitched them together in Microsoft ICE, which did a great job as usual (the original of this is huge, as it's three images put together). That software is just amazing (and free):
Not a recent photo, but I noticed that Tony Northrup's How to Create Stunning Digital Photography is free in the Kindle store right now. If you have an iPad, other tablet, or are willing to read it on a PC it's worth getting.
A few shots from Kokusai street in Naha: Kokusai Dori by Doug Freeman, on Flickr Kokusai Dori by Doug Freeman, on Flickr Kokusai Dori by Doug Freeman, on Flickr
I got Photomatix, and having no bracketed shots to throw at it thought I'd test it out in a worst-case scenario. Normally you can put a RAW file in it and it will generate -2 and +2 exposures to work its magic on, but I opened a single JPEG file and applied tone mapping. I picked a shot that I was thoroughly disgusted with -- a flat, overexposed, washed-out JPEG that I shot from a moving car: After a few tweaks with Photomatix: Obviously I need to learn how to adjust it so halos don't appear, but I was pretty impressed by the amount of detail it was able to pop from a crappy JPEG. and by the more dramatic lighting. This one's gonna be fun to experiment with...
I much prefer the original to be honest and the exposure on the first photo doesn't look too bad. Some blown highlights in the clouds, but they aren't that distracting. That photo is an ideal candidate for cropping. Getting rid of most of the clouds would probably help a lot.
It would be a sad shot no matter what you did to it. I agree the HDR is way overdone, but as an experiment to see what the software could do when you threw it something it's not designed to excel at I thought it was interesting. I like how much more dramatic it made that little glow in the clouds on the left look, the amount of depth it gave other portions of the cloud, and the color it lent to the grass. In this photo it all adds up to a hot mess, but with more practice and the right shots I can see this coming in really handy. I look forward to trying it with RAW files, and bracketed images once I start taking those. EDIT: Here's a better example (and another single JPEG). This would be a pain in the butt to salvage using the tools I already had: Photomatix gave me this with minimal tweaking: It still has issues, but gives me a workable starting point to do something with this photo. I like how easy it was to bring up the underexposed portions without blowing out anything else or having to mess around with masks.
Actually woke up at 7 this morning to see about this whole "golden hour" concept. The light was actually beautiful down in the River Market, I should get up early on the weekends more often.
I just got back from a cruise and took surprisingly few decent photos. I didn't pack my DSLR because it's such a pain to lug around, so I concentrated on trying to get some decent panorama shots using my S95. Most of those failed spectacularly due to focus issues and the fact that for half the trip the lens was flaring dramatically due to a greasy fingerprint on the lens that I was too stupid to see. A lot of my pics ended up looking like they were taken with one of those Hipster cameras that have awful plastic lenses and leak light on purpose. Oh well. Of the ones that turned out, these are my favorites: This is a giant theater at the Xcaret resort in Mexico. No single picture could do it justice, but stitching four of them together using Microsoft ICE turned out pretty well. These are shots I took when we were getting ready to dock in Grand Cayman. I wish the sun had been lower, but taking two shots to get more sea and sky in each image worked out OK. This is one of my favorite failures. We had to take a ferry back to the ship and I thought getting this guy in the pic as it loomed over us would provide some perspective. It did, in that it made the cruise ship look like a tub toy.
Took the new 75-300 lens out this morning to get some practice in. I think I'm going to be fond of it - the only drawback is that good lord the autofocus is fickle. The last one was actually my first attempt at bracketing exposures and using the Merge-To-HDR processing option. I think I like the effect.
There's a goose in one of your photos! Um, what are the others? The last one is a close-up of lead types for typesetting, right?
First one is one of the high-water marks under a bridge that spans the Missouri. The next one is further along down the riverside jogging trail, some of the old concrete abutment castoffs that were probably left there when one of the bridges or piers was removed or renovated. Then there's that goddamn goose - right after I took that photo I backed up, wasn't watching where I was going, and went right into the river. Then yeah, typesetting letters that were out at a big flea market in the City Market.
Since I'm starting a tour of Asia, some shots from Seoul markets: L1000936 by Doug Freeman, on Flickr L1000932 by Doug Freeman, on Flickr L1000884 by Doug Freeman, on Flickr L1000877 by Doug Freeman, on Flickr
Nice shots, Doug. The only one I'm not fond of is the second one, as all the lines strongly converge to draw your eye towards the unfocused area. I prefer to see something at the end of the tunnel in shots like that (the first one is a good example).
I'm just getting back in to taking photographs. I took a lot in our trips throughout the Midwest but fell out of it after moving back to Dallas - I blame this place being not too inspiring. I only have a Canon 720 right now; looking to buy a DSLR and am thinking about a GH-2 for its dual capability as a film-maker's camera. I rather enjoy taking photographs, especially show photos (don't worry, I'm not that asshole with a flash), it's calming in a way that nearly every other creative endeavor isn't to me. I'm enjoying looking at all the photos in this thread, especially the extensive use shallow focus - makes me jealous! Anyway, taken on the same day. I'm none too pleased that the bridge ended up being center focus of the first photograph, but the second photograph was flippantly taken as we were dropping off the van for service and I'm rather happy that the the 'Econoline' emblem as well as the lines of the van draw your focus to the high speed, high contrast, out of focus car that just happened to be caught speeding by in the photograph. But... I'm happy I took my camera out when it hadn't seen the light of day for probably a year and a half. :) Edit: Is it cool if I cheat and add one more? Not recent, but I love it. :)
Thank you. The second shot was just an exposure test that I didn't bother to focus. It can be hard to shoot manual in a market like that one, and I don't trust the meter on the M9 in some situations. I did end up liking the feel of the picture, though. I do agree with what you are saying, but I still shoot like that on purpose once in a while. L1000954 by Doug Freeman, on Flickr Some of that habit may have to do with how much I like the way the 50 Summilux draws things. Untitled by Doug Freeman, on Flickr
Yeah, to your credit, a shot taken with a 50 Summilux is often one where you want to say, "hey, eyeballs, look over here at this schweeeet bokeh!" :)
oh Bladida, the first one is sooooo UK, all it misses is a cost cutters and a chav XD Nice photos tho, where's the last one from?
Thanks, the first one is actually Belgium XP (I made it from a moving train). And the last one is from the dunes close to where I live.
damn, should have been able to tell by the fact that some of the houses have newish paint on them, that woul'd probably have been considered uncouth in the uk ;) I really like that last one, have been living in a city for way way to long. Cant remember the last time I was out in a place that was all fields :3
Wow, the UK sounds like a great place ;p. If I told you to go to the countryside more often, it would be hypocritical because I hardly ever go myself. I mean, it won't move anytime soon. Edit: This photo is better than the one I originally put up.
Some of you might recall that I recently bought a new DSLR and in that thread I promised that I'd post some pics from my trip to Scotland. Hope you'll forgive the picture spamming, couldn't decide which ones to post! All Hail to the Clan Macleod! Tried to play around a bit with the shutter speed whilst shooting water...
I took about 1000 fotos over 2 weeks on a road trip and had an awesome time! Glad I bought the camera and still need to practise being a bit more creative with my shots. That articulated screen of the 600D was quite useful in a couple of situations, so don't regret spending a few bucks more for the 600D as opposed to the 550D.
Lovely, Cormac! I'm gearing up for a big trip that will involve a ton of international travel and walking around and I don't think I want to lug around my D7000. Stupid, I know, but are those smaller mirrorless cameras reasonable alternatives? I'm guessing the sensors are a lot smaller, and I might as well take the big boy, but if I can get comparable images to the D7000 from something I could hang around my neck I might shell out for one.
