Out of Focus & Off Topic MkIII...

sebphoto

sdevine89 wrote: »

I don't have one specific topic in mind. I've worked through all the beginner/introductory stuff. I got my first DSLR a year ago and now shoot consistently on M mode. So I just want to keep on learning now that I think I have all the basics of exposure etc down.

You can see my work here to get an idea of what I shoot https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephendevine/

Looks like you shot pretty everything No, don't get me wrong.
Maybe it's time for experiments and creative part. Do you have a tripod?
Are you interested in HDR photography, long exposure, infrared photography, tilt-shift, smoke, macro..

pick one topic

sdevine89

sebphoto wrote: »

Looks like you shot pretty everything No, don't get me wrong.
Maybe it's time for experiments and creative part. Do you have a tripod?
Are you interested in HDR photography, long exposure, infrared photography, tilt-shift, smoke, macro..

pick one topic

Excellent cheers.

aidanic

May have already been posted...

http://www.internationallandscapephotographer.com/Top101.php

magicbastarder

i'm finding it hard to find many i like in there.

eoglyn

out of those, the few by Mark Seawell jumped out of me as being work i'd like to see more of and would like to have a large print of, there are one or two more but Landscape photography can be very samey after a while.

OldGoat

I liked Christian Fletcher, not for the quality of his photographs but for his name. It could only have been better if his landscapes were shots of Pitcairn Island.

CabanSail

Lots of ick in there. Some are OK, but many are not what I would call Landscape Photography, like the Jetty shot by Peter Lik. It's a man made structure.

eoglyn

CabanSail wrote: »

Lots of ick in there. Some are OK, but many are not what I would call Landscape Photography, like the Jetty shot by Peter Lik. It's a man made structure.

Woah, slow down there.

Humans are part of the landscape as are the stuff we make. Would you exclude someone who had taken a wide vista of an irish landscape with field systems, boreens, forestry plantations all included? None of that is natural. In fact, i struggle to think of any landscape in Ireland you would be able to take shot without something man made getting in the frame, all of the mountain ranges have been deforested, have worn trails or have been partitioned by stone walls. The only ones i can think would qualify would be some seascapes, some of the back part of the islands, but in those instances you can only really access them by artificial means.

clintondaly

Landscape-all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.

CabanSail

I am not saying that nothing man made should be allowed, but the subject should be the landscape. In the image I refer to above the subject is clearly the jetty and it's not incidental in the landscape but dominant in the image.

Would I be able to submit a studio portrait as the studio is located within the landscape?

AnCatDubh

In fairness, some nice work imho and fantastic scenes in there but with this and the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers Awards thread there is a continuing tendency that is evident in the photography world to make up for in this case what mother nature may not be providing with processing (perhaps overprocess in some eyes). I know it's another days argument and that it is fine too if it's what floats your boat but I am personally coming to a point of thinking that sometimes photographs just take time to 'happen'.

magicbastarder

CabanSail wrote: »

Would I be able to submit a studio portrait as the studio is located within the landscape?

no, firstly because the subject (as is photographed in the studio) is not a permanent part of the landscape. the jetty is.

DaireQuinlan

CabanSail wrote: »

I am not saying that nothing man made should be allowed, but the subject should be the landscape. In the image I refer to above the subject is clearly the jetty and it's not incidental in the landscape but dominant in the image.

Would I be able to submit a studio portrait as the studio is located within the landscape?

And to think people gave out to me for entitling these the way I did

OldGoat

magicbastarder wrote: »

no, firstly because the subject (as is photographed in the studio) is not a permanent part of the landscape. the jetty is.

...hence a photograph containing the studio building itself with the model standing outside it would be acceptable as a landscape shot.

Photography is an uncomfortable mix of art and science. They make for uneasy bedfollows. The lexicon is never defined well enough for the techies and is seen as too too constraining by the aesthetics amongst us.

Just wait until the discussion moves on to environmental portraiture.

magicbastarder

OldGoat wrote: »

Just wait until the discussion moves on to environmental portraiture.

one uses a feather, the other uses the entire biosphere?

eoglyn

CabanSail wrote: »

I am not saying that nothing man made should be allowed, but the subject should be the landscape. In the image I refer to above the subject is clearly the jetty and it's not incidental in the landscape but dominant in the image.

after i rashly commented i thought of this point, and i know where you are coming from.

To see if they defined what a landscape was i had a nose around their rules, they haven't defined it. however i did see that as well as the two main awards of photographer and photograph of the year, they have the following awards:
T h e L o n e T r e e A w a r d
T h e F u z z y W a t e r A w a r d
T h e J e t t y A w a r d
T h e S u n s e t A w a r d
T h e H O T L o c a t i o n A w a r d - I c e l a n d

Jetty is in there, but tbh, i was surprised. I think it reflects poorly on any artistic accreditation. Basically it is saying 'here are the tropes, we know you can't think of anything more imaginative, go find us the prettiest.'

Does it strike anyone else as really odd?

magicbastarder

eoglyn wrote: »

they have the following awards:
T h e L o n e T r e e A w a r d
T h e F u z z y W a t e r A w a r d
T h e J e t t y A w a r d
T h e S u n s e t A w a r d
T h e H O T L o c a t i o n A w a r d - I c e l a n d

i genuinely thought you were taking the piss out of them when you posted this, but it checks out.
that's utterly farcical.

eoglyn

magicbastarder wrote: »

i genuinely thought you were taking the piss out of them when you posted this, but it checks out.
that's utterly farcical.

ah, it wouldn't be like me to take the piss.

good, i'm glad i'm not the only one who thought it was ridiculous

CabanSail

Next year my aim will be to win the "Camphor Laurel Tree at 3.17pm - Australia" Award

The Black Oil

Hey. I've not posted here in a few years. Where's a good place to start? Perhaps Cameras & Accessories re possible upgrades (ancient SLR at the moment), etc.

sebphoto

The Black Oil wrote: »

Hey. I've not posted here in a few years. Where's a good place to start? Perhaps Cameras & Accessories re possible upgrades (ancient SLR at the moment), etc.

What you are looking for exactly?

The Black Oil

A tripod and whether it's worth upgrading from a Nikon D50.

Amateur here, obviously.

sebphoto

The Black Oil wrote: »

A tripod and whether it's worth upgrading from a Nikon D50.

Amateur here, obviously.

It's always good idea to have good support (tripod, monopod, whatever you prefer).

How about this - first get decent lenses and then maybe think about body building (i mean upgrading)

What's your style by the way?

Tiriel

The Black Oil wrote: »

A tripod and whether it's worth upgrading from a Nikon D50.

Amateur here, obviously.

Best thing to do is get out shooting! If you're in Dublin a few of us are heading out on Saturday, feel free to join us Event is in the Photographic Events subforum

The Black Oil

Yeah, I saw that thread. Keen to learn about sunrise/sunset shots and staying the feck away from auto. :pac: On P for now.

Tripod is older than me and so on the stiff/zimmery side, so am looking to replace.

sebphoto

The Black Oil wrote: »

Yeah, I saw that thread. Keen to learn about sunrise/sunset shots and staying the feck away from auto. :pac: On P for now.

Tripod is older than me and so on the stiff/zimmery side, so am looking to replace.

Heavier tripods tends to be more stable and keep your expensive gear safe :-)
If you're looking for something fancy - go for carbon fibre (pick manufacturer, there are plenty models). Still all depends what lenses, filters and patience you have to learn how to take excellent shot ;-)

The Black Oil

sebphoto wrote: »

How about this - first get decent lenses and then maybe think about body building (i mean upgrading)

Lenses are fairly interoperable, then? The grooves and such haven't changed much over the years and old ones will still fit newer models? Maybe I'm reading you wrong. At the moment, I've the 18-55 that came with the D50 and I later bought a 70-300mm one.

Re tripods, have heard that about carbon fibre.

magicbastarder

carbon fibre is good for portability. don't worry about that unless you really start to get a lot of use out of a tripod.

sebphoto

The Black Oil wrote: »

Lenses are fairly interoperable, then? The grooves and such haven't changed much over the years and old ones will still fit newer models? Maybe I'm reading you wrong. At the moment, I've the 18-55 that came with the D50 and I later bought a 70-300mm one.

Re tripods, have heard that about carbon fibre.

You can use any Nikon F mount lens with your D50, so if I were you then I would upgrade to fast lenses (i.e. f/2.8 or faster). I would start with 50mm f/1.8, and as a tele I would pick Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8D. This way you'll get way better kit and you'd be happy camper

Regarding carbon fibre tripods - basically if you think that you'll carry your tripod often then I think you should consider carbon fibre as such tripods are lightweight and durable in the same time.

All depends from your requirements and .. budget

The Black Oil

Ah, I was thinking the other way around, based on your earlier post. Not much point using old lenses on a new body (if updating just that), I suppose. Stability is the aim of the game with tripods - don't have a detachable ball head thing on the current one and WD40 mightn't be enough to clear it up a bit, who knows. Took this whilst using it and wouldn't take much to challenge its legs, methinks. For now, I need to simply RTFM. :cool: