Photography

[baseballboy828]

I thought it would be neat to make a thread where everyone could post their one or two favorite shots. Let's see what you guys can come up with! My first shot is just one of a flower in my back yard. The second is one of Old Faithful (geyser) from last year's trip to Wyoming.

[nicks]

That flower is pretty excellent! Looks like something you might see in the standard wallpapers in 10.5

I'm definitely a photo junkie too.
I take a crapton of shots - mostly of my kids/family - and tend to get all artsy fartsy from time to time...
I'm hooked on flickr too.

here are a few of mine:

[philbowell]

Really like your first shot Nicks, very nice. I got quite into photography when I was studying my art a-level and during my foundation art course before I went to uni. I don't think I have any of the shots I took then on my Mac, but I will try dig some up off the the parents PeeCee later.

[baseballboy828]

The second shot is very good. Very warm light. Very nice.

[Yuiichi]

I sort of became an amateur photographer over the summer. I took pictures all in B&W, using changes in the Exposure to create the desired effect. I liked the natural look of my photos, so I didn't do anything in Photoshop (although I, too, am fluent in it).

Here are some of my favourites:





All of these were taken in the immediate vicinity around my house. If I go too much further away (in my own neighbourhood), I start getting really weird looks. Oh well.

[MarkFleser]

I wish I had a decent camera (i.e. DSLR) so I could take some better pictures. And I also need to learn some good techniques.

[baseballboy828]

I am planning on going to Israel this summer. I am going to try to scrape up enough for a dSLR. The tough part is the lenses. I already have a tripod, monopod, and a nice bag. My Powershot S2 IS costs 1/5 of what the cost for 3-4 decent lenses is (about $1200).

Yuiichi, I have a suggestion for you. The tree in the second shot has a lot of potential for a nice B&W shot. Go out in the morning just as the sun is rising, or at night as the sun is setting, but so there is enough light to see easily. Put the camera on a tripod. The picture of the tree you have now suffers from a very common problem. The leaves are blown out by the hard light coming from overhead. This problem could be avoided on an overcast day, but at the beginning of sunset, you could achieve a beam of light coming through the tree, depending on the position of the tree. Don't worry about the weird looks people might give you. I was in Yellowstone national park this summer. Well, being still in High School, I got some weird looks as I with my tripod and bulky camera, while everyone else was carrying around the tiniest cameras available on the market. Just ignore everyone around you.

[philbowell]

Originally Posted by baseballboy828

Just ignore everyone around you.

Thats the key to everything. When I was on my art foundation course we had to go out into town and draw people as well as photograph anything we found of interest. In a situation like that you have to just do it and not worry about what other people think. I now am not bothered about doing stuff, I just do it, particularly when you come to taking photos and making sketches etc.

[baseballboy828]

Also, here are some other things that people can post on this thread.

• Favorite Photography Book(s)
• Favorite Accessories (Bags, etc.)
• Your camera(s)
• Your lens(es) (if you have an slr)
• Anything else you can think of.

[nicks]

I wouldn't let the lack of a dSLR hold you back. I had that frame of mind before I got mine, and yet one of the most popular photos I have on flickr is one I shot with my pocket Pentax. It's all about shooting what you see. Don't let the lack of a high end camera hold you back from taking a photo. Wish I'd had this insight before...

That being said, there are of course many options that open up to you with a dSLR. But in the end, it's just another tool to capture an image with.

Definitely don't let others dictate what you try. Let them look I say. Yeah, it may be uncomfortable at times, but that's the price of taking a unique photo. OF NOTE - if you're photographing strangers, you may want to explain your intentions...maybe after the fact to preserve the real life moment you wanted to capture. You never know, you may meet some cool people and gain some followers of your photography along the way!