Jolt Country

That's really nice of you to say, Tdarcos. One example regarding how well pros work with the same equipment as us regular dudes - when we had the mannequin lit, our instructor took a photo that is off the charts incredible. The one I posted up above while good for me, paled in comparison. Same camera, same light, same settings, same everything and he just knew exactly what to do.

On a different topic, I have been watching videos on portrait photography. This one did a good job explaining the names and roles of lights used in such a thing:



The one thing I did like is that after buying a light the first video I clicked on says, "Buy four more." :)

I thought the red flower was amazing and the white and tan cat's look, slightly clouded by shadow, was one of "Oh god, more of this?" while the orange cat Reggie, more like "Well, are you going to get more snacks?"

Two things I wanted to do for the picture below. 1) See if Flicker allows hotlinking (they do if there's a link back to Flickr). 2) I wanted to take a photo where a beam of sunlight hit an area to see what would happen if I metered on the highlights. The result is this photo of Frobozz. Again, not posting it because I think it is the pinnacle of photography, but to show my progress throughout the months:

IMG_7596 by bluejays2017, on Flickr

... And apparently, Flickr puts the image name and link back on the right of the image, not below. All righty. Anyway, photo above taken with the EF50mm. Shutter was 1/320, aperture was f/1.6, ISO 400.

Something I tried over the weekend. First, a shot of an area ravaged by fire in western Colorado:

IMG_0038 by bluejays2017, on Flickr

Next up, same area but I screwed with the white balance:

IMG_0040 by bluejays2017, on Flickr

This interests me because the second photo, with the "incorrect" white balance setting, could go unedited into a future text game of mine.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:24 pm Something I tried over the weekend. First, a shot of an area ravaged by fire in western Colorado:

This is cool. Reminds me of the scenery in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series even though it's obviously far from Russia.

It does! And I meant to say that I changed the white balance on the camera, not in Photoshop. That last image is unedited from what the camera gave me.

Just one of Frobozz with the 50mm lens my brother got me. I didn't feel like setting up the Fiilex light, so I just used the glow of the monitor to light him. I don't like that the monitor is visible, if I could just make the cat do what I asked, I'd take it again.

IMG_1496 by bluejays2017, on Flickr

What I am trying to do with the Sigma lens is get good BOKEH. It's all about the bokeh for me, from now on.

IMG_1543 by bluejays2017, on Flickr

IMG_1564 by bluejays2017, on Flickr

If I went up a little from f/1.4, I bet I would have nailed the Rick and Morty one. Ah well, I shall try again tomorrow.

The late Dr. William Nolen, author of Making of a Surgeon, about his five-year residency at New York's Bellevue hospital, and the book A Surgeon's World, about his work in a group practice in Litchfield, MN, told how a good surgeon can use modern tools, and have excellent results, but if in an emergency you couldn't do the work with a sharpened lid from a tin can, you're not really a surgeon.

Expensive cameras will help even an amateur do better, but a real photographer should be able to do reasonable work with cheap consumer gear. Jonsey, your description of how your phoography teacher did amazing work compared to your own shows the benefits of training and experience.

Your pictures here would probably do your instructor proud. If I didn't say so before, some of these were so beautiful they hurt.

You're incredible supportive, Commander. Thanks. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate that.

My goals over the next month are:

1) Shoot everything in ISO 100. If there's not enough light, make some.
2) Get a picture of the full moon on April 29th.
3) Shoot with as much bokeh (the blurryness of distance objects) as I can as well, as it is interesting to me.

Here is a starter image for the bokeh:

IMG_1662 by bluejays2017, on Flickr

Yeah I didn't even know there was a name for that technique. It looks like you're getting it! The one of the figures on the desk almost looks "real" if you get what I mean.

I wish I was better at photography.. but then again 95% of the pictures I take with my phone camera are of arcade game stuff and 95% of the pictures I take on a Cannon camera are nudies of my girlfriend.

Heh. I remember bokeh being one of the prime performance killers in 3D rendering. And it still doesn't look as nice as the real thing.

It's amazing the amount of improvement you've made since taking that class, you are a very talented individual. That being said, bokeh is for hacks.

I don't care, I love it and it's the "focal" point of my being right now lololololhrwehrewrhwerhwerhwer

Billy Mays wrote: Mon Apr 23, 2018 10:54 am It's amazing the amount of improvement you've made since taking that class, you are a very talented individual. That being said, bokeh is for hacks.

I'm going to have to disagree here. Every technique used in photography or videography has its place given the circumstances. Done right, special effects can create a different "feeling" or "meaning" to the shot and the overall image.

Consider a picture of a tornado tearing through a house, then one where everything is blurry except for the gaping maw of the twister sucking the house into its gullet. The right effect in the right circumstances can make all the difference in the world.

Tdarcos wrote: Wed Apr 25, 2018 8:14 amConsider a picture of a tornado tearing through a house

Can we consider this one?

OK, let's do this, let's get going and shoot the moon.

The Moon by bluejays2017, on Flickr

Hopefully this is the first in a series, I know I can shoot it better and I know I can learn more. Took this shot with the telephoto lens from earlier in the thread. 1/60 f/8 if anyone cares. I used a trippod.