"Unexpected" picture thread

[JaYbIrD1969]

It's interesting to me where peoples' sensitivities and image priorities lie. I agree hot spots can be inordinately distracting, and harsh lighting can negatively impact an image.

For me, doing many acro macros, I feel I often need to let the bright acro tips blow in order to have sufficient exposure to make out any detail in the rest of the image. To expose so as to not blow out the tips would, imho, result in an image which would have reasonably exposed acro tips floating in dark space. Cool from an abstract perspective but feels fundamentally underexposed to me. I don't really want to be tweaking each acro tip manually during post.

I've also read about shadow obsessed photographers who recommend over exposing a stop or two as when they dial that back during post, they achieve greater shadow detail than if they underexposed the image and pumped that up.

Thanks for sharing your concerns and techniques Jay.

Reef aquarium photography is one of THE most challenging subjects Ive ever encountered in photography, where many of my basic techniques don't apply! LOL. I cant agree with you more about exposing coral. Artificial reef lighting presents so many challenges and I humbly bow to you guys who take such amazing coral shots! Unfortunately, I sold off my tank several years ago when my photography skills were a lot less than they are now. I wish I had the access to a tank to explore the challenges now!

I have a very close friend that is a professional wildlife photographer. He took me under his wing and we went on hundreds of shoots together. It was really fun and educational to be shooting the exact same subject at the exact same moment and learning why the images looked different (Other than equipment quality differences). He likes the underexposed method for some situations and its where I learned it. My eye and my computer screen likes a darker image so it has become my shooting standard.

I photograph a lot of highly figured, exotic wood in a lightbox for my business. You just cannot capture the deep holographic appearance in the wood grains with an even exposure. Many of my shots for these products are as mush as 5 stops under!

 

[Reef Bass]

I hear you about reef photography being an unusual niche in the photography world.

Your experience with your wildlife photo buddy sounds terrific. Having the same subject and then comparing approaches, techniques and results would be a wonderful way to learn.

I can imagine greater exposure not having a beneficial impact on wood grain. I expect very even lighting (versus exposure) would be critical there as well.

 

[JaYbIrD1969]

I can imagine greater exposure not having a beneficial impact on wood grain. I expect very even lighting (versus exposure) would be critical there as well.

Here is an example. It is impossible to capture its true character because the grain actually moves like a 3-D image as you change your angle of vision.
My light box has 3 different light sources (not including flash) and most woods I have to experiment with different light combos to get the grain to POP. Some look best under so little light, I am shooting them at over 1 second SS and that's still stopped way down. The camera is calling for even slower.



Boy, the turn this thread has taken is rather "Unexpected" hehe!

 

[Misled]

Jay, and everyone else, that's why I wanted to do this over the summer. It makes you think about what others see, and keeps you shooting.

Man that Df body brings back some memories!!! This still sits on my desk.

 

[xtm]

This is good, we're actually talking about PHOTOGRAPHY, not just some snapshots of fish in the tank. I love it. I hope more people participate

Jesse - Is that an FE or FM? Very nice.. it's sitting there begging for a Velvia 50 I have a silver FE and I still shoot film once in a while. A lot of places here have stopped processing film (let alone slide film) so I end up sending them out of state and that takes forever to get the slides back.

 

[Misled]

It's an FE. I used to send out to Ohio to get developing, but it's been years. The battery in the camera has long been removed. I need to get a couple and check it out. I don't even know if it still works.

 

[NTP66]

I have a habit of underexposing ALL my shots.

I'm in the same boat (albeit, much less advanced when it comes to photography, which is new to me). If I can't correct it in LR or PS, then the shot was garbage from the start.

I've done a fair amount of research on Photoshop and bringing back detail in massively over and underexposed photos, which has saved a number of photos that I took on a recent vacation, but I'm still getting the hang of things with my camera and gear. I mainly shoot in either aperture or shutter priority, but have been using manual more and more since I'm finally at the point where I trust myself and the meter.

I will say this - I envy those who get to do this sort of thing for a living. It's just a hobby for me, but it's incredibly rewarding.

 

[Reef Bass]

Beautiful box Jay! Is that a dragon fly nymph?

I have an FM hiding in one of the boxes from my move. My first slr.

If I can't correct it in LR or PS, then the shot was garbage from the start.

Along the lines of "unexpected": when a shot comes out of the camera not needing some love!

 

[snorvich]

I must admit to enjoying the discussion at least as much if not more than the actual pictures.

 

[NTP66]

Along the lines of "unexpected": when a shot comes out of the camera not needing some love!

lol, I'm still working my way towards that. One of my biggest issues is that I have a habit of taking photos in less than ideal situations, like when the sun is full blast causing more than just ugly shadows.

 

[toothybugs]

Here is an example. It is impossible to capture its true character because the grain actually moves like a 3-D image as you change your angle of vision.
My light box has 3 different light sources (not including flash) and most woods I have to experiment with different light combos to get the grain to POP. Some look best under so little light, I am shooting them at over 1 second SS and that's still stopped way down. The camera is calling for even slower.



Boy, the turn this thread has taken is rather "Unexpected" hehe!

Dang it, I KNEW that was you Jay! Yet another forum we run in to each other on

 

[JaYbIrD1969]

Beautiful box Jay! Is that a dragon fly nymph?
!

Thanks! Stonefly nymph!

Dang it, I KNEW that was you Jay! Yet another forum we run in to each other on

Haha! Revealist thy identity!!

 

[Cujo13]

lol, I'm still working my way towards that. One of my biggest issues is that I have a habit of taking photos in less than ideal situations, like when the sun is full blast causing more than just ugly shadows.

Fill your pain. In nature photography a few hours at sunrise and a few hours at sunset. Except in winter, lower sun equals longer shooting days. But it gets cold.

Northern Pintail 7D, iso:200, f/4, 1/3200, 500mm lens handheld.
Tern 7D, iso:200, f/5.6, 1/2500, 100-400 lens at 400mm

I prefer the 7D over my 5DIII for nature because of the crop value...get a little closer.

I gotta figure out how to post here without having it an attachment.

 

[NTP66]

Very nice. Most of my "nature" photography is done at the various zoos and aquariums that we visit, with the minor exception of the few species of birds I see in my backyard. I told my wide that I wanted to head out to the west Maui rainforest at sunrise when we where there this past winter, and the look she gave me was enough to change that to "sometime in the afternoon", lol.

As for posting photos, if you sign up and use Flickr (free), they give you the forum code to copy and paste directly into here so that pictures show up like everyone else's.

 

[Cujo13]

Very nice. Most of my "nature" photography is done at the various zoos and aquariums that we visit, with the minor exception of the few species of birds I see in my backyard. I told my wide that I wanted to head out to the west Maui rainforest at sunrise when we where there this past winter, and the look she gave me was enough to change that to "sometime in the afternoon", lol.

As for posting photos, if you sign up and use Flickr (free), they give you the forum code to copy and paste directly into here so that pictures show up like everyone else's.

Thank you.

 

[xtm]

Wonder if we can setup a poll after the entries have been posted and have everyone vote on the entries. Is that possible? I think that would make the "contest" more dynamic since everyone gets involved and will have a chance to vote and critique. Everytime a new entry is posted, the OP edits the poll and adds the new entry.

 

[xtm]

I should've entered this. Unexpected landing right next to the mall!

 

[Misled]

Everytime a new entry is posted, the OP edits the poll and adds the new entry.

That would require Moderation. That's the reason I set it up the way I did. I do like having a discussion after the entries have been posted, and kind of wanted that from the beginning. One of the other rules was photos had to be taken during the week prior to posting. This requires more thought. Just looking back through old pics is easy.

Think about it though. If we want to change things up, I'm still game. I've just been having fun with it. If enough people get involved, maybe we can take this beyond just the summer.

 

[NTP66]

I, for one, would like to see this continue full-time.

 

[Reef Bass]

If we want to change things up, I'm still game. I've just been having fun with it.

More than once I've imagined Jesse cackling with glee as his "contest" has gained traction and discussion has ensued. Not pretty...

I find the "must be a fresh pic" rule both annoying and a good thing. It would be easier to repurpose / redeploy an old image than to shoot something fresh. However, having to contemplate the theme, determine a subject, shoot and then process it is an important part of the exercise. And I'd speculate it levels the playing field a tad too. It's not about whipping out the greatest pic one has ever been lucky enough to capture over and over, but "what can you do with...".

The variety of themes has been interesting for me. I am somewhat surprised by how large an impact on my desire to shoot the topic has. Some I find compelling and want to shoot, and others not so much to not at all. Anyone else experience that?