Inspiration for the day

A quote from photographer Thomas Hawk:

"The best photographs in the world have yet to be taken."

Check out his top 10 tips for dSLR owners.


(Found this via the DPS Blog).

Halloween Photo Tips

DPS has a nice bunch of tips for getting the best of the spooky Halloween photos this year:

Halloween Photography Tips

Go forth and have a scary good time!

Goose: Before and After

Let me tell ya... the people at the DPS forums are fantastic! Here's the entire thread on my critique and post-processing of a cat named Goose.

I posted that pic of Goose from the other day for critique on DPS. I knew it could be improved in post-processing, but had no clue what to do next. They gave me some tips, and - holy cow! Goose is one handsome devil :)

Goose - BEFORE:


Goose - AFTER:


Much improved, no?? I think so!!

The greatest part is, I had no clue how to do the things they had suggested, so I had to look it all up... I learned a ton just from messing with this one picture of Goose!

Here's what I did:
First, I worked on the blur on the background. I never knew you could feather a selection - so I feathered it at 30px around the top of his head and body to prevent that unnatural line I was getting before. I did a lens blur, and pretty much maxed out all of the blur values. I also de-saturated that area and darkened it a bit.

Next, I learned how to use the quick mask tool to make a selection out of the inside of his eyes, and then I just increased the brightness there (which amazingly brought out the green in his eyes! I was shocked - I had no idea that could be done!)

Then, I upped the yellows and reds in the whole picture to warm up Goose's browns a bit. I was really unsure here - I'm not sure if there's some magic formula as to how much yellow/red one should have in a photo, but I went for as warm as I could without making it look fake. (Did I go too far?)

Finally, I used the unsharp mask on his facial area. I think I ended up with a radius of 2 and about 40%. Honestly I have no idea what exactly this tool does. I do know that when I went too far with it, his fur started to look like sticks :) So I went far enough to make his fur a bit more defined but stopped when it started looking weird.

Oh - and I cropped the left side down to his paw. I like the tighter crop, now that I see it :)

A cat named Goose

I posted this for critique at DPS: A cat named Goose

Yes, his name is Goose. I have a cat named Goose. (It makes more sense when I explain that the other two are named Merlin and Maverick).

Anyhooo I really like this shot of him, but I have a few critiques of my own and would love your feedback. (I know, you must all get tired of pet shots, and I can't even begin to compare with shots like Kitty Toes from KagoGrl - that shot was awesome!) But, I'm learning :)

First, I like that I got the focus on his eyes (or eye area, since his eyes are all sleepy-closed) so that his nose is a bit out of focus and the rest of his body is a bit out of focus.

I don't like the background. I wish the mess on my shelves was a bit more blurred. I tried to do a lens blur in Photoshop, but I really need to learn more about post-production, because I couldn't get the lens blur to look natural. It made a very fake looking line along the cat's head.

I wish Goose hadn't laid on his whiskers such that his right-hand whiskers were tucked under his face. I probably could try cloning his left whiskers and putting some on the right, but I think that's a bit beyond my PS skill level at this point!

I don't mind his ears being cut off. I don't think it hurts my ability to know what the photo is of, and I don't think that seeing his full ears would necessarily add anything.

What else could I do to improve this shot? It's straight from the camera, uncropped. I shot it without looking through the viewfinder, as that is MY arm he's laying on! (I do wish I had a nice tan or something, haha).

Thanks!

Composition: Uphill

I was out in the back yard goofing around with my camera today, and happened to catch a couple sets of golfers carrying their bags along the course. I was immediately inclined to take a picture, since most golfers around here opt for the golf carts.

I like the composition of both, but I wish I could have gotten golfer #1 into composition #2. I like the shot of the hills better in the second photo, but prefer the lone golfer. He also looks a bit more like he's working hard to hoof it up that hill, which was what I was going for in the "story" I was trying to tell.

I've posted the second photo to DPS for critique. It's the first photo I've posted there for critique, and I'm a little nervous as to what they'll say. There are some fantastically talented photographers over there, and I'm just little ol' me. I look forward to getting some suggestions, though (even if it makes me cry! LOL j/k)

Upgrading the Canon Kit Lens

Here's some more food for thought on the topic of upgrading the Canon 18-55mm kit lens. CameraLabs.com has put together a nice video comparing 3 different Canon lenses, summarized nicely by DPS.

Assignment: Transport

DPS Assignment: Transport



Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Assignment: Music

DPS Assignment: Music




Exposure: 0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 27 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Shutter Priority Mode

I cropped the photo and healed out a few of the scratches on my ipod cover in Photoshop. Everything I tried re: tone in Lightroom made the image look too light to me (I wanted it to be dark, with the screen as the highlight and the rest of the ipod barely visible). So I just left the balance/brightness/etc as is. Suggestions welcome! I'm very new to photography, and though I know how to use PS for web design, I'm 100% new to photographic post-production! :)

Assignment: Life and Death

DPS Assignment: Life and Death

Confederate Cemetery at Oakwood, Raleigh, NC



Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 31 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV

Assignment: Beach

DPS Assignment: Beach

Not sure this qualifies, as I took it 3 years ago with my Canon Powershot A70 point-n-shoot camera, before I knew a darn thing about photography! (Not that I know much now, with a whole 2 weeks under my belt!) :p

This was taken on Waikiki Beach in Maui, Hawaii. They have the most gorgeous sunsets there!

When I took the picture, I thought of editing out the guy sitting on the beach (since I don't know who he is), but I've since decided that I like him there :)



I have no camera settings to post, since this was probably taken on Auto mode with a point-n-shoot.

Assignment: Pink

DPS Assigment: Pink!

Took this in a friend's garden in Michigan, the first week I had my camera.



Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Lens Type: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Assignment: Get Down and Dirty

DPS Assignment: Get Down and Dirty

Taken at the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. I was actually working on an assignment out of a book I'm reading to shoot rocks in their environment (though these rocks are in a bit of a man-placed environment!)



Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Assignment: Fill the Frame

DPS Assignment: Fill the Frame

Taken last week - the window of a door at the Chapel at Duke University in North Carolina.



ISO 400, 55mm, f/9, 1/50 sec

Assignment: Backyard Birds

DPS Assignment: Backyard Birds

This is the reason I bought my camera two weeks ago and finally decided to get more serious about photography - to take pictures of the birds in my back yard!!

I've only been able to spend one afternoon out on my deck bird-watching, and that was the very first day I had my camera (I'd never used any sort of SLR camera before), but with that said, here are a couple of the shots I liked!

Male house finch:


Grackle in flight:


You lookin' at ME??? (Male grackle)


A mollern, maybe? Through my bedroom screen, unfortunately - but I wanted to catch the reflection while I had the chance!

Assignment: Pets

I found this web site called Digital Photography School. It's a discussion forum for people to discuss photography and post pictures and whatnot. They have "assignments" where you can share your shots and get feedback. Since I have some photographers here on my LJ as well, I'll post what I post there to here, too. Feedback welcome!

Assignment: Pets
http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/showthread.php?t=102

I have 3 cats. After reading the assignment and the "how to photograph pets" tutorial, I grabbed my camera and thought, "Who will be my first victim?" My black cat happened to be in the room with me, but I silently groaned, as he is so NOT photogenic. I don't think I have a single good picture of him, from the hundreds I've tried snapping over the years. He's skittish and doesn't do the typical "cat poses" that most cats lavish all over the cameras.

Nonetheless, I got down on the floor with him and figured I'd give it a go. He thought I was down there to pet him, of course, so I placated him for a while trying to get him to sit or lay down still. Then I noticed a DVD case on the floor next to him.

In order for this picture to make any sense, I must explain - my 3 cats are named Maverick, Goose, and Merlin. (This is Maverick). :)



I was in low-ish light so I used shutter priority mode at 1/20 (I was hoping to hand-hold the camera as I don't yet have a tripod). I didn't have much time, as Mav gets antsy sitting still, so I used auto-focus and tried as best I could to get the auto focus on his eyes. (I think it ended up more like on his forehead). I'm still trying to figure out how to manually set the focus points on my Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I know it can be done - I just haven't gotten around to figuring it out.

I lightened the exposure a couple notches in Lightroom (just downloaded the demo - considering buying it. I have Photoshop CS3, which I use for web development [my day job], but it seems like overkill for 90% of what I tend to want to adjust in my photos). Any advice on Lightroom? Worth the purchase?

Anyhow I'll stop babbling now and get to work on another assignment!