fnaqzna

I got a Nikon D50 last month and I've been playing with it almost daily. Mostly HDR and still life or macro stuff.

AbigailAlfano

Congrats on your new camera! Your photos are G R E A T!
I shoot with a Canon Rebel XT and have been having a blast. We just moved during the holidays and I am ashamed to say it has been sitting on the shelf, untouched for the past couple of months. Your shots have inspired me...I'm going on a shoot!
I really like your photos. Do you have a website where you post them? You may want to try pbase.com It's a cool place to look at photos and to get feedback on your own.
Please post more!
Abigail

fnaqzna

Thanks! I've been posting on flickr. It's really becoming a time sink for me. I can get lost browsing the work of others.

Good luck with your photos... I look forward to seeing them.

AbigailAlfano

If you have time, check out www.pbase.com/sam_and_abigail
My husband does post way more than me. But I do have some on there.
How do I find you on flickr?

fnaqzna

Right here:
http://flickr.com/photos/dotdoubledot/


edit... you have some fantastic shots on pbase... right now, I'm looking through the Italy shots. Beautiful stuff.

AbigailAlfano

Italy is a photographer's heaven. We were in Cinque Terre. ( Five little villages on the coast). If you ever get a chance to go, take TWO BIG flash cards. LOL
I will check out your photos this evening after I work out. Thank you again for inspiring me.
Abigail

JumpinJesus

Hey fnaqzna,

How do you like the D50? Interesting night shot on the street. It looks like you had headlights on behind you when you made the exposure. Also, the SUV in the desert looks like a great commercial shot.

What are you using for your HDR? Are you doing them manually or using a program?

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fnaqzna

Hey JJ...

So far, I'm really enjoying the D50. It's been decades since I played with an SLR and even then it wasn't one with so many options. Remembering to check things like white balance has been frustrating, but I'm slowly developing a mental checklist before I start shooting.

Right now, I have one gripe with the D50. The top LCD panel is not backlit so it's sometimes difficult to verify what I have set on the camera when I'm shooting at night.

On that street shot, it looks like headlights, but there aren't any there.

For HDR, I've been playing with PhotoMatix. I'm almost totally ignorant though. If I chance upon a good image, it's nothing more than beginner's luck.

AbigailAlfano

Hi,
I'm looking at your photos on flickr. Really nice. I'm liking the chimes and the flag. Now, not only have you inspired me to get my camera out, ......now....I know I need to go wash my Xterra!
Abigail

fnaqzna

Wash? That's why I have yellow... I wash it about four times a year (whether it needs it or not).

AbigailAlfano

So, tell me about HDR. Is this a feature on your Nikon, or is it software that you are editing with on your computer?
oh..and my Xterra is blue...and dusty..and muddy. The inside..well...it may be worse than the outside. LOL

serlindsipity

You seem to have a good grip on lighting knowledge, or at least you are very good at using available light to your advantage, and its looks really really good.

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fnaqzna

HDR is "high dynamic range" and it's not a Nikon thing.

Basically, you take a photo and then bracket it with two or more underexposed and overexposed shots. Then, using software (either PhotoShop CS2 or PhotoMatix) you merge the images together. What you get is shadow areas that aren't so shadowed and bright areas that aren't saturated.

More examples are here.

I wish I had a "good grip."

I tell ya... I have an idea what I want but I usually have to shoot a lot to actually get there.

fnaqzna

Here's a couple more:

fnaqzna

cadre

Yay for Nikons! I use an N80 and a D70. My D70 though is old so it's basically the equivilant of the D50 now. Nikons are great cameras, they also have some of my favorite lenses.

You have awesome work, I look forward to see more as you learn all the fun stuff you can do with the D50.

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fnaqzna

fnaqzna

cJoe

Very good Pictures. I like the Railroad posts. Gives a sense of loneliness. Really I like all the desert pictures.

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motdakasha

Basic rundown of what HDRI is and how to make it in Photoshop:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/hdr.shtml

In Depth and explanation of how to use Photomatix (and explanation as to why it's better than Photoshop):
http://www.naturescapes.net/072006/rh0706_1.htm

fnaqzna, I think you should look into purchasing at least one Neutral Density filter. It will really make your colors pop for all of the landscape shots you've been doing. If you have other cameras, you may consider a square/rectangle drop in filter system because then you won't have to buy multiple threaded rounds of the same filter for different cameras.

An example of works that use NDs and ND grads is a person named pestilence on deviantart. Check out his stuff (and read the info which describes all the filters and EXIF data) http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/48246990/

__________________
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Just Google It.
BA Psychology & Photography
(I'm not going psychoanalyze you nor will I let you cry on my shoulder. Have a nice day.)

fnaqzna

fnaqzna

Playing around with the Orton effect:

fnaqzna

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotdoub...7594581256214/

bobby

vintage race cars,,,,wow!..............where and when? xoxoxoo

..what's the orton effect?

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fnaqzna

Where: Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California.
When: Friday, March 9.

The Orton Effect explained



Orton effect on race cars:

BEFORE:


AFTER:

ChasingAmy

Great photos man. Keep up the great shooting!

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fnaqzna

Thanks CA. Appreciate it.

fnaqzna

shakran

Um, what? Are you suggesting features leak out of the camera as it gets older?

There are some REALLY nice shots in here fnaqzna. I'm impressed!

ngdawg

I like that Orton Effect. I simplified the instructions for Photoshop-merely made one copy, increased the brightness and contrast to about 25% each, then reduced the opacity to about 50%. I then gaussianed the original to 15.9 and merged. I might be doing this quite often! It gives a dreamy effect without being blurred.

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fnaqzna

This is the technique I've been using:

1. Open any image you wish to try the technique on. Make a duplicate of the image (Image>Duplicate). Close the original image.

2. Lighten the image as follows: Image>Apply Image… then in the dialog box that comes up change the bending mode to “Screen” and the Opacity to 100%. This will give you an appropriately overexposed image.

3. Duplicate this overexposed image (Image>Duplicate).

4. Blur this second image (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur… and in the dialog box use a Radius setting of 15 to 50 pixels – the higher the pixel setting the blurrier the photo and the more ‘painterly’ the image… but you can go too far!). Experiment with different settings, for my tastes and for the size of my digital files (50-100 megabytes) a radius of about 25 pixels works perfect.

5. Now select the move tool from the Photoshop tool bar (or just press “v” on your keyboard for quicker access to the move tool). Hold down the “shift” key and use your mouse to drag and drop the blurry image onto the sharp one (don’t let go of the shift key until after you release the mouse button or the images won’t be in perfect alignment).

6. Bring up the layers palette in Photoshop (F7 is the keyboard shortcut). Under the word “Layers” in the layers palette will be a menu box of blending modes. Change the blending mode from “normal” to “multiply”.

7. Now “flatten’ the two layers by pressing “CTRL+E” or by clicking on the sideways triangle in the layers palette to select ‘flatten image’.

Thank you!

ngdawg

You must have PS CS2 or another Adobe application...none of those are in PS7, Image. Some are in Layers, but blending options is only by right-clicking any layer in the palette with PS7.
It's a great effect on my florals though! The colors pop more.

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Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.

fnaqzna

I'm using PS6.

fnaqzna

zxello

Wow fnaqzna, you really inspire me, the second picture in the thread (the one of the street at night) is ABSOLOUTELY amazing. I was just awe struck when I saw it, the difference in the colors, the vivid night sky in the background, wow. I really wish I could be that good. Wow...

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fnaqzna

Thanks zxello... I have to admit that street shot was a complete foul up on my part. I was playing with HDR, but I screwed up the bracketing with the new camera.

No skill there at all. All luck. When done correctly, a week or so later, I got this:



Here's a new one... playing with Photoshop for a "comic book" type image.

fnaqzna

A friend of mine was nice enough to loan me his 105mm.

I need to practice more, but I could have fun with this lens.

deportes

great pics, lots of talent.

DarkTemplar

these are some of the most amazing shots i've seen, kudos. you also seem to travel alot, very interesting subjects, i'm quite jealous..haha.

fnaqzna

Thanks deporte & DT... can't say I travel all that much... just went on a western caribbean cruise in February and then work sent me to Quebec City for a few days.

The rest are all within driving distance of home.

Here's the best of the macros I got last week: