Washed out from overexposure?? Not according to the histogram, or my monitor...
The back needing straightening could be an issue, I dunno. It wasn't a B&W conversion, but a shot taken with camera set to monochrome. Thanks for the comments though.
I don't think it IS washed out - it just looks like it is. I can see some of the detail in the whit tips on my monitor, but not much. And even if the histogram doesn't show it clipping, in contrast with the rest of the image, when there is no shading in the whites it looks like it is washed out. And photos after all are more about looks than graphs
Yep, it's all about perception. Cheers for commenting. It looks fine on my monitor, but I don't have the brightness, contrast and saturation boosted to the max like many monitors do. Perhaps it's just the sharp contrast to the rest of the bird, which is pretty much black. In any case, it doesn't matter. We don't need to get caught up on this. There were many great shots in there. Thanks for taking the time to judge and make comments guys
and, I gotta say, I'm really liking #63 explorish; Body language, the lines in it are great...I can't spit out what exactly it is but...it is a very catchy photo.
Karrie, you made my day. Thank you.:sweet
and thanks for the feedback all. highly appreciated! especially since you're usually right .
cheers
The best thing about a photo is the journey that brought you to it.
Congrates to all who made it to the finals. Here is my complete list of critiques if your interested.
#70-pyry- feeling black~ Portraying anger or frustration well. Nice lighting. Just doesn't hit the
communication theme well enough.
Thank you for the feedback! I guess you're right about hitting the theme.
I have a setup shot of my lighting (it was funny enough to take one) - I had a single off camera flash hanging upside down from a roof cable guide with a mini-stand... The rest is mostly the table lighting.
#53-eoren1- Playing the crowd~ Exellent street photography! This one was one of the "ties" in my list of top 10. The only reason it did not make it in on my list was that the one I finally did choose as the 10th spoke louder at communication. Really stiff competition. Sorry.
Thanks JAG - greatly appreciate the critique. It was a very strong field and to be tied for 10th is not too shabby in my book.
Thanks for the detailed critiques on the entire field.
E
#68-MrsCue- Story time~ Very cute picture and done very well. It made one of my lists but
eventually had to cut. The final decision was that the dof could have included the book cover IMO.
Thanks Jag.
Canon EOS 40D, Canon EOS 350D, 50mm 1.8 MKII prime lens, 17-40mm f/4 L lens, 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS lens, 430 EX speedlite, Tungsten Continuous studio light, Pocket Wizards, Gary Fong Lightsphere, Stofen Omni bounce diffuser, 5in1 reflector
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Wasilla, AK
Posts: 306
</TD><TD class=alt1 id=td_post_916972><!-- icon and title -->Jag Critiques 2 Thru 86
<HR style="COLOR: #575757" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->#25-jeffreaux2- Dear John~ I think you did a great job for thinking outside the box and this does
well with the theme. This did get to my final cut list but I am going to be honest here...something
about the background is unsettling to me...not sure if its just the noise or the angle or the light
behind the girl...but I find myself seeing all that before coming down to the letter and rings
themselves.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
This image didn't quite live up to what I envisioned. I had two completely different ideas for the challenge and still think this was the best of the two ideas. I was in a complete rush though. I was working overtime all that weekend with hurricane preparedness, but came home to find my oldest daughter dressed nice and ready to visit friends. I told her my idea, we set it up, and shot 3 frames before she had to leave. The second flash unit was poorly positioned. If I had a chance to reshoot, I would have placed it at camera left instead of camera right to light her and the suitcase better....and of course would have taken the outdoor light into better consideration. Hurricane Gustov, however limited my priorities to things other than the challenge...so no reshoot was possible. Whether it made anyones list or not doesn't matter much to me unless I have learned something new...and I did here. It was a good exersize and a chance to think through some of the problems with the photograph. This is only my second photograph ever that utilized a multiple flash set up...and I was happy with the balance of the two flash units...if not the placement.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, and thanks to others also who included my image in your favorites.
This might be a topic worth starting in it's own thread because I'm sure it will have use for other people (and if so, it should perhaps be discussed in terms of post processing for DSS so that it is a thread that is relevant to this forum instead of Digital Darkroom Gear).
But, in relation to my system, I only use LCDs these days (stopped using CRTs a couple of years ago) and because of the wider gamut and brighter display of a desktop monitor, I do all my processing on a desktop. On the occasions when I use my laptop, I plug in a desktop screen whenever I can.
I use a Spyder2PRO for profiling my monitor and use consistent lighting conditions (I use daylight bulbs in the lights in my office at home and keep all the blinds closed so that the lighting is fairly similar from day to night, though there is some difference).
I profile to 6500K and 2.2 gamma and let the Spyder do the rest.
I also keep the colours in my office as neutral as possible and move anything away from the screen that is brightly colored.
This setup works well for the prints I make at home, but I can't control how people view images over the internet, so I'm not as retentive about color when I prepare images for the web (though I did notice that in the last DSS, the colours looked very desaturated.....:D ).
Regards,
Peter
I did a little test, and viewed some photos on a few different Screens (Mine and Friends) and noticed that the viewing results varied. On my friends monitors the photos looked bright, when we checked the color options, it was found that their settings i.e. gamma was high, contrast was low, and the bright was high (bright being the biggest offender) .
Thanks for the reply Peter, much appreciated, I asked the question, as I was curious after reading some of the feedback.
You're only as good as your next photo....
One day, I started writing, not knowing that I had chained myself for life to a noble but merciless master. When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended solely for self-flagellation...I'm here alone in my dark madness, all by myself with my deck of cards --- and, of course, the whip God gave me." Truman Capote
I was gobsmacked by just about everything I saw. I'm fascinated by black and white and learned sooo much from all the different results people got!
But my very favorite was "Dear John". That one totally spoke to me as telling such a clear story, and I thought it was a really neat interpretation of the theme.
Congratulations to everybody who submitted - it is sooo educational for a n00b to be a "fly on the wall" for these competitions!
Thank you JAG for putting me in the voting round. With the competition that I was up against, I feel like this is a major accomplishment in itself. Thank you also to Linda and MrsCue for including me in your favorites. This challenge was tough.
#7-Llywellyn- The Love Letter~ A well executed photo in regards to lighting. I am not crazy about
the backdrop "ripple" being directly behind her. It might have gone over better if it was just fading
off to blackness to keep the mood this portrays. Nice thinking outside the box in regards to theme.
Thanks, JAG. I wished I had more room to move the curtain further back (I tried); I was in a very cramped space. This was an attempt to capture a Vermeer painting in camera, so I wanted to include the curtain for more "authenticity" instead of fading out to nothingness. I appreciate the feedback.
I was gobsmacked by just about everything I saw. I'm fascinated by black and white and learned sooo much from all the different results people got!
But my very favorite was "Dear John". That one totally spoke to me as telling such a clear story, and I thought it was a really neat interpretation of the theme.
Congratulations to everybody who submitted - it is sooo educational for a n00b to be a "fly on the wall" for these competitions!
"Dear John" was mine...thanks so much for your kind remarks.....
...and...
...get your "nOOb" butt off the wall and enter the next round!!!:D
If you are learning by watching, you will REALLY learn by participating. Don't even think of it as a contest, but rather an assignment...and see what you come up with. Feedback on your own photograph, plus the experience of working through it, will help you grow. There is really nothing to lose.
Congrates to all who made it to the finals. Here is my complete list of critiques if your interested. This was a very tough competition and picking 10 out of 86 was really tough! I am really glad to see we have lots of fresh people giving this a try and I hope you all learn alot by the critiques. Your all fabulous. Now I am going to read all the pre entry stuff!
PS...these critiques were written in notebook and the spacing looks really off...sorry but I am too tired to reformat all this at this time...so my appologies for the difficult read.
#38-womanwithacamera-Are you looking at me?~ Very intense scary look! I hope he isn't as mean
as he looks in this photo! The blurring just doesnt work for me with this picture.
I was just wondering how everyone's computer monitor's are calibrated, are they photographically correct monitors, what is the brightness setting, color graphics, etc? Has anyone used the spyder or a similar program to calibrate their monitors? just curious?
Congrats to the finalists. and KUDOS to all that entered!!
#85-SJK- Heads up~ Nice to see so many new people entering this competition. The competition is
stiff so you need to find the wow factor!
thanks, JAG. I'm glad to be here.... I had several ideas for this topic but it seemed every time I looked at the thread someone already did them... (probably better than I could have, too). I guess great minds think alike
"Dear John" was mine...thanks so much for your kind remarks.....
...and...
...get your "nOOb" butt off the wall and enter the next round!!!:D
If you are learning by watching, you will REALLY learn by participating. Don't even think of it as a contest, but rather an assignment...and see what you come up with. Feedback on your own photograph, plus the experience of working through it, will help you grow. There is really nothing to lose.
yup, dear john was very well executed! and great entry!
also, i agree with Jeff, get entering and you will find yourself in a new world.....
i have many shots that would have never been done if it was not for DSS & LPS......so get of that wall!:ivar
btw,
A Big "Thank You" to all those who selected my shot in their favs!! and too our wonderful judges this round... Emiliy & Joyce!!!! and thanks for the C&C
...get your "nOOb" butt off the wall and enter the next round!!!:D
If you are learning by watching, you will REALLY learn by participating. Don't even think of it as a contest, but rather an assignment...and see what you come up with. Feedback on your own photograph, plus the experience of working through it, will help you grow. There is really nothing to lose.
HA! I got closer this time by allllmmmossst giving it a try (my problem being: loads of ideas, an ok-if-not-yet-brilliant eye and ZERO technique, so it's that last element I'm trying to remedy by hangin' around these here parts!); I had an idea to set up a teaparty with my daughter and her dolls all dressed up in picture hats, but we ran out of time (plus I was intimidated by the spectacular standard! I admit it!! lol)
Anyway, thank YOU for the encouragement - I appreciate it!
69-achambers- Noteworthy~ Yes this is noteworthy! It was in my final cut list. The final decision was that there was no one to recieve the note...so the communication was cut short.
First thanks to all that put me in their list.
JAG, thanks for the compliment of making your final cuts. Unfortunately on the day when I could finally* get into the room to take the shot I didn't have a second model available to recieve. I had to go 'one handed'. I did play around with the idea of the passer getting caught but it never had the punch of this shot.
*This is the concept that I had from the first day of this challenge. It took until Thursday of the second week to finally get into the classroom to take the pictures, and I only had about 20 minutes to shoot. Fortunately I was able to shoot this because my second concept, a telegraph key, turned out to be impossible to find (and I have several contacts in museums).
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
HA! I got closer this time by allllmmmossst giving it a try (my problem being: loads of ideas, an ok-if-not-yet-brilliant eye and ZERO technique, so it's that last element I'm trying to remedy by hangin' around these here parts!); I had an idea to set up a teaparty with my daughter and her dolls all dressed up in picture hats, but we ran out of time (plus I was intimidated by the spectacular standard! I admit it!! lol)
Anyway, thank YOU for the encouragement - I appreciate it!
Playing is a lot more fun than watching.:D We promise to be gentle(ish).
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
my problem being: loads of ideas, an ok-if-not-yet-brilliant eye and ZERO technique
Try the ideas, use the eye, and the technique will come.
If you try your ideas and post threads like this, people will help you. This is a great community, people here will help you develop even if it hurts their chance of winning.
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
#44-richters- The stare that moves ewe~ I really liked the look of the dog and this image did make it into one of my lists...but I cut it because of the very slight blur in the eyes. It looks like you might of tried to sharpen in post processing. A faster shutter speed would have helped.
Hi Joyce,
Thanks for commenting and for including Miss Clara in one of your lists.
The softness you saw may have been the result of my having removed noise from the photo. I'll have to pay more attention to that in the future. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
You had some tough decisions to make, for sure. There were many, many fine photos in this round. When I watched them being posted all I could think was that you and Emily are going to be bowled over by these. And I'm sure you were!
Thanks Greensquared and JAG, all the DGrin crew and all the entrants and commentators, for a great challenge!
I am tickled pink that "Master..." has been selected for voting!
A little snippet from Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon -
The origins of myrrh and frankincense are traced to the Arabian Peninsula. According to Herodotus (5th century BC): "Arabia is the only country which produces frankincense, myrrh, cassia and cinnamon...the trees bearing the frankincense are guarded by winged serpents of small size and various colors." Diodorus Siculus writes, in the second half of the first century BC, that "all of Arabia exudes a most delicate fragrance; even the seamen passing by Arabia can smell the strong fragrance that gives health and vigor."
Well, cruise any mall here and you will have the same experience as the sailors of old! And Waleed has some of those winged serpents in his shop, I swear!
The Quran encourages Muslims to perfume themselves when they pray. Rooms and clothes closets in homes are perfumed with fragrant smoke. Traditionally, guests were similarly wafted. When Saudis dress up for an occasion, they wear the best perfume they can afford. To be with the crowd on an important occasion is to have your nose delighted by rainbows of scents.
Of course we all know how much can be communicated through the nose. None of the senses is left out of the communication armory!
I was just wondering how everyone's computer monitor's are calibrated, are they photographically correct monitors, what is the brightness setting, color graphics, etc? Has anyone used the spyder or a similar program to calibrate their monitors? just curious?
Congrats to the finalists. and KUDOS to all that entered!!
Peace
Donna
I have a 22" LCD monitor and it is calibrated using 'Color Eyes'. I edited tons of photos before on a 19" uncalibrated monitor. After getting a high-res 22" monitor, and calibrating it, I literally had to go back and re-edit nearly ALL of my photos. I was able to see things that I had not been able to see on my 19". Now, I want an even larger screen, but can't afford to re-edit all my images again
I have a 22" LCD monitor and it is calibrated using 'Color Eyes'. I edited tons of photos before on a 19" uncalibrated monitor. After getting a high-res 22" monitor, and calibrating it, I literally had to go back and re-edit nearly ALL of my photos. I was able to see things that I had not been able to see on my 19". Now, I want an even larger screen, but can't afford to re-edit all my images again
Thank you so much for your replies. Like you my Flattop is calibrated and is photographically correct. It is an Intel Graphics Media Accelerated (something) High Res, 32bit color, 60hz.. Both my screens here, and in my office are color calibrated. I also enjoy the larger viewing screens...one being a 22 inch and the other 20 inch. I LOVE It!!
Peace, and this has been a very exciting round.
Donna
You're only as good as your next photo....
One day, I started writing, not knowing that I had chained myself for life to a noble but merciless master. When God hands you a gift, he also hands you a whip; and the whip is intended solely for self-flagellation...I'm here alone in my dark madness, all by myself with my deck of cards --- and, of course, the whip God gave me." Truman Capote
Comments
I don't think it IS washed out - it just looks like it is. I can see some of the detail in the whit tips on my monitor, but not much. And even if the histogram doesn't show it clipping, in contrast with the rest of the image, when there is no shading in the whites it looks like it is washed out. And photos after all are more about looks than graphs
Just a thought.
Brad Sharp http://sharpfotos.com
http://www.michaelhelbigphotography.com
http://www.thewildpig.blogspot.com
and thanks for the feedback all. highly appreciated! especially since you're usually right
cheers
Thank you for the feedback! I guess you're right about hitting the theme.
I have a setup shot of my lighting (it was funny enough to take one) - I had a single off camera flash hanging upside down from a roof cable guide with a mini-stand... The rest is mostly the table lighting.
http://pyryekholm.kuvat.fi/
I'm not worthy! But I'm on cloud nine nonetheless! Thank you, JAG.
I'm going to have to jump into a pit of fighting rhinos more often, methinks! (j/k)
Thank so much for your honest critque, lots to learn and this part certainly helps.
Peace g
Thanks JAG - greatly appreciate the critique. It was a very strong field and to be tied for 10th is not too shabby in my book.
Thanks for the detailed critiques on the entire field.
E
My site | Non-MHD Landscapes |Google+ | Twitter | Facebook | Smugmug photos
Thanks Jag.
This image didn't quite live up to what I envisioned. I had two completely different ideas for the challenge and still think this was the best of the two ideas. I was in a complete rush though. I was working overtime all that weekend with hurricane preparedness, but came home to find my oldest daughter dressed nice and ready to visit friends. I told her my idea, we set it up, and shot 3 frames before she had to leave. The second flash unit was poorly positioned. If I had a chance to reshoot, I would have placed it at camera left instead of camera right to light her and the suitcase better....and of course would have taken the outdoor light into better consideration. Hurricane Gustov, however limited my priorities to things other than the challenge...so no reshoot was possible. Whether it made anyones list or not doesn't matter much to me unless I have learned something new...and I did here. It was a good exersize and a chance to think through some of the problems with the photograph. This is only my second photograph ever that utilized a multiple flash set up...and I was happy with the balance of the two flash units...if not the placement.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, and thanks to others also who included my image in your favorites.
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
I did a little test, and viewed some photos on a few different Screens (Mine and Friends) and noticed that the viewing results varied. On my friends monitors the photos looked bright, when we checked the color options, it was found that their settings i.e. gamma was high, contrast was low, and the bright was high (bright being the biggest offender)
Thanks for the reply Peter, much appreciated, I asked the question, as I was curious after reading some of the feedback.
But my very favorite was "Dear John". That one totally spoke to me as telling such a clear story, and I thought it was a really neat interpretation of the theme.
Congratulations to everybody who submitted - it is sooo educational for a n00b to be a "fly on the wall" for these competitions!
Thanks for including mine in your top ten.
http://annasphotos.smugmug.com
Thanks Peter for including mine in your top 10.
http://annasphotos.smugmug.com
— Kevin
My Site, My Book
Thanks, JAG. I wished I had more room to move the curtain further back (I tried); I was in a very cramped space. This was an attempt to capture a Vermeer painting in camera, so I wanted to include the curtain for more "authenticity" instead of fading out to nothingness.
"Dear John" was mine...thanks so much for your kind remarks.....
...and...
...get your "nOOb" butt off the wall and enter the next round!!!:D
If you are learning by watching, you will REALLY learn by participating. Don't even think of it as a contest, but rather an assignment...and see what you come up with. Feedback on your own photograph, plus the experience of working through it, will help you grow. There is really nothing to lose.
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
Thank you very much for your feedback.
http://annasphotos.smugmug.com
I use a Pantone Huey USB device.
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
thanks, JAG. I'm glad to be here.... I had several ideas for this topic but it seemed every time I looked at the thread someone already did them... (probably better than I could have, too). I guess great minds think alike
yup, dear john was very well executed! and great entry!
also, i agree with Jeff, get entering and you will find yourself in a new world.....
i have many shots that would have never been done if it was not for DSS & LPS......so get of that wall!:ivar
btw,
A Big "Thank You" to all those who selected my shot in their favs!! and too our wonderful judges this round... Emiliy & Joyce!!!! and thanks for the C&C
HA! I got closer this time by allllmmmossst giving it a try (my problem being: loads of ideas, an ok-if-not-yet-brilliant eye and ZERO technique, so it's that last element I'm trying to remedy by hangin' around these here parts!); I had an idea to set up a teaparty with my daughter and her dolls all dressed up in picture hats, but we ran out of time (plus I was intimidated by the spectacular standard! I admit it!! lol)
Anyway, thank YOU for the encouragement - I appreciate it!
First thanks to all that put me in their list.
JAG, thanks for the compliment of making your final cuts. Unfortunately on the day when I could finally* get into the room to take the shot I didn't have a second model available to recieve. I had to go 'one handed'. I did play around with the idea of the passer getting caught but it never had the punch of this shot.
*This is the concept that I had from the first day of this challenge. It took until Thursday of the second week to finally get into the classroom to take the pictures, and I only had about 20 minutes to shoot. Fortunately I was able to shoot this because my second concept, a telegraph key, turned out to be impossible to find
www.achambersphoto.com
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
Playing is a lot more fun than watching.:D We promise to be gentle(ish).
www.achambersphoto.com
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
Try the ideas, use the eye, and the technique will come.
If you try your ideas and post threads like this, people will help you.
www.achambersphoto.com
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
Hi Joyce,
Thanks for commenting and for including Miss Clara in one of your lists.
You had some tough decisions to make, for sure. There were many, many fine photos in this round. When I watched them being posted all I could think was that you and Emily are going to be bowled over by these. And I'm sure you were!
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
I am tickled pink that "Master..." has been selected for voting!
A little snippet from Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon -
The origins of myrrh and frankincense are traced to the Arabian Peninsula. According to Herodotus (5th century BC): "Arabia is the only country which produces frankincense, myrrh, cassia and cinnamon...the trees bearing the frankincense are guarded by winged serpents of small size and various colors." Diodorus Siculus writes, in the second half of the first century BC, that "all of Arabia exudes a most delicate fragrance; even the seamen passing by Arabia can smell the strong fragrance that gives health and vigor."
Well, cruise any mall here and you will have the same experience as the sailors of old! And Waleed has some of those winged serpents in his shop, I swear!
The Quran encourages Muslims to perfume themselves when they pray. Rooms and clothes closets in homes are perfumed with fragrant smoke. Traditionally, guests were similarly wafted. When Saudis dress up for an occasion, they wear the best perfume they can afford. To be with the crowd on an important occasion is to have your nose delighted by rainbows of scents.
Of course we all know how much can be communicated through the nose. None of the senses is left out of the communication armory!
Best to all.
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
I have a 22" LCD monitor and it is calibrated using 'Color Eyes'. I edited tons of photos before on a 19" uncalibrated monitor. After getting a high-res 22" monitor, and calibrating it, I literally had to go back and re-edit nearly ALL of my photos. I was able to see things that I had not been able to see on my 19". Now, I want an even larger screen, but can't afford to re-edit all my images again
Brad Sharp http://sharpfotos.com
Thank you so much for your replies. Like you my Flattop is calibrated and is photographically correct. It is an Intel Graphics Media Accelerated (something) High Res, 32bit color, 60hz.. Both my screens here, and in my office are color calibrated. I also enjoy the larger viewing screens...one being a 22 inch and the other 20 inch. I LOVE It!!
Peace, and this has been a very exciting round.
Donna
Well, I got brave enough to post some "work in progress" in People ... baby steps 'n all that...