Any photographers in here?

[rjmhotrod]

Shot at Meadowlark Gardens yesterday:

Beautiful shot. Been thinking about picking up the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens. I gotta start working some photography jobs to justify buying this stuff. I've been offered a few jobs recently (as an assistant), so I might just be heading that way, especially as summer is coming up.

 

[NVP5White]

Beautiful shot. Been thinking about picking up the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens. I gotta start working some photography jobs to justify buying this stuff. I've been offered a few jobs recently (as an assistant), so I might just be heading that way, especially as summer is coming up.

Any macro lens you buy will instantly be the sharpest lens you own. Be sure the 100mm is right, though. The Canon 60mm turns into a 96mm equivalent with the 1.6x multiplication factor of the XT/XTi. Maybe you want the working room for macro but a 160mm lens is not a flexible for shooting non-macro subjects as a 96mm is. 96mm is just about a perfect portrait length and the f/2.8 will provide good separation, too.

 

[rjmhotrod]

Here's something to prove that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. My parents were in town this past week. Snapped this one of dad and my daughter. Taken with the kit lens and the 430EX flash (bounced off the ceiling at a 45degree angle). Playing around with Photoshop to try to create a frame of sorts. Tried to burn the edges using 300 pixel with 0% hardness. Not sure I'm digging it, but I've seen others do this with great effect. Gotta keep trying I guess.

 

[NVP5White]

The effect is called vignetting and its a by product of inferior lens design. For most of photographic history photographers have attempted to remove vignetting from images. This changed most notably, however, when photographers started using the Russian Lomo brand camera because of its unique and very strong vignette. The effect can add a layer of visual sophistication to an image, especially when viewed on screen.

I achieve this effect by selecting and area around the border of the image about where I want the vignette to become noticeable using the lasso tool.

Next right-click in the center of the selection and choose 'feather'. Select a radius of between 75 and 250 depending on the overall resolution of the image. I typically select 150 for my 6MP D50 images.

Right-click [again] in the center of the image and select 'select inverse'

Right click on the border area which is now selected and select 'layer via copy'

On the layers pallet select the new layer and change the blending method to 'multiply'

Finally, fade the opacity of the layer using the slider in the layers pallet to make the effect look natural.

CTRL+ALT+E to merge all visible layers

Viola

 

[rjmhotrod]

The effect is called vignetting and its a by product of inferior lens design. For most of photographic history photographers have attempted to remove vignetting from images. This changed most notably, however, when photographers started using the Russian Lomo brand camera because of its unique and very strong vignette. The effect can add a layer of visual sophistication to an image, especially when viewed on screen.

I achieve this effect by selecting and area around the border of the image about where I want the vignette to become noticeable using the lasso tool.

Next right-click in the center of the selection and choose 'feather'. Select a radius of between 75 and 250 depending on the overall resolution of the image. I typically select 150 for my 6MP D50 images.

Right-click [again] in the center of the image and select 'select inverse'

Right click on the border area which is now selected and select 'layer via copy'

On the layers pallet select the new layer and change the blending method to 'multiply'

Finally, fade the opacity of the layer using the slider in the layers pallet to make the effect look natural.

CTRL+ALT+E to merge all visible layers

Viola

Thanks for the how-to. Somehow, I just knew you would know how to do this (the correct way).

 

[Kansei]

<3 my lomo cameras

 

[NVP5White]

Lomos are neat in so far as they create an image that one does not otherwise see without the camera or using any other camera. But knowing this, one can create similar but different effects by playing with certain parameters. For instance, in some Lomo shots it looks like hue and saturation are effected. Its possible to effect these parameters in Photoshop. So I encourage everyone to layer a vignette and then play with blending modes. Stack two or more blended layers to create subtle a nuanced effects not otherwise available.

 

[rjmhotrod]

So here's a redo of the previous pic using NVP5White's method. Thanks. I like this much better. The vignette is not quite dark enough for the effect I'm looking for (in my mind), but the smoothness of the gradual fading is MUCH nicer.

 

[Omar MSP]

me visiting atlantic city today

 

[altspace]

The dark layer is a good effect, just not evenly distributed. It's spotty in many areas.

 

[Omar MSP]

yea i know, then again it was a 5 min chop. i would have made the word Plaza more red and made the shadow's around the building evenly but i just slapped on a few layers and saved it.

 

[altspace]

 

[nate0123]

a few pictures I took today

this one from my table at lunch, happened to have my camera

and, the other three were from me walking around this evening trying to find a cool shot for the "nightlife" theme

still undecided if I want to submit any of these

 

[winty87]

Cool shot, also interesting to see that you smoke the cloves.

 

[NVP5White]

still undecided if I want to submit any of these

This one is pretty intersting. The others have some composition issues. One thing I try and do when I shoot at night is to find a place where I can get a good mix of lighting: cars, high-pressure sodium (HPS), neon signs, traffic lights, etc. The night time world can be a bit too orangy if you restrict your lighting to just HPS.

 

[altspace]

Cool shot, also interesting to see that you smoke the cloves.

Thanks. Combination of random items produced artwork. There's a theme behind it.

 

[nate0123]

This one is pretty intersting. The others have some composition issues. One thing I try and do when I shoot at night is to find a place where I can get a good mix of lighting: cars, high-pressure sodium (HPS), neon signs, traffic lights, etc. The night time world can be a bit too orangy if you restrict your lighting to just HPS.

Thanks for the feedback. I was largely just experimenting with my new tripod. Seeing how things would turn out. Never had one before

 

[FunkyBuddha]

This one is pretty intersting. The others have some composition issues. One thing I try and do when I shoot at night is to find a place where I can get a good mix of lighting: cars, high-pressure sodium (HPS), neon signs, traffic lights, etc. The night time world can be a bit too orangy if you restrict your lighting to just HPS.

I like the mixture of motion and stillness in that shot. I'd submit this one.

 

[altspace]

^I agree.

 

[FunkyBuddha]

Question..what kind of lens wouldyou guys use for glamour/fashion/portrait photography? I was thinking using my kit 17-55 lens but other people suggest using my 70-300, but i find it having such a narrow field of view. I know the DOF would be shallower.