NOTEBOOK - A New Challenge

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  • heatherfeatherheatherfeather Registered Users Posts: 2,738 Major grins
    edited August 12, 2009
    Flyinggina wrote:
    ****** http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">****** name="ProgId" content="Word.Document">****** name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11">****** name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><LINK rel=File-List href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><STYLE> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </STYLE> A woman of middle age wearing an orange-red raincoat, a red rain hat, and black high heels holds a cherry red umbrella over her head in the pouring rain. She is crossing an intersection of a commerical street lined with brownstones and another street at right angles to it. We see her in the foreground of the photograph in a three-quarters view with her face almost fully visible. Her expression is alert. In the picture, the rain shows as soft gray streaks.
    <?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p>
    The woman seems to be moving from the upper right to the lower left corner of the frame. She is crossing kitty corner through the intersection, and the photograph catches her just as she has left the cross walk that is straight in front of the viewer and moved kitty-corner directly into the middle of the commercial street.
    <o:p></o:p>
    The umbrella is held in her right hand, one foot is well in front of the other, her body is leaning forward and her left hand is raised, with her palm making a stop motion to something outside the frame of the photograph that is apparently off to her left.
    <o:p></o:p>
    There are faint red reflections from her coat and umbrella on the wet street.
    <o:p></o:p>
    Straight ahead, we see a tree-lined sidewalk that seems to converge with the left hand side of the street in the far distance. The arched boughs of the trees that line the street are a soft, green in the diffuse light of the heavy overcast. They appear to provide cover for a distant single pedestrian, carrying a black umbrella, and walking away from the viewer.
    <o:p></o:p>
    In the middle distance, to the right of the lady in the red raincoat and on the corner across the street from our viewpoint, is a local convenience store. Although we are at 90 degrees to the store, we can see that produce is being displayed in baskets out front in an area enclosed by a wrought iron fence and protected by a permanent roof. We cannot see into the store, but it looks like someone has opened the door and may soon be emerging. On the side of the store facing us are large advertising signs in the windows covering what appear to be windows. The words are written in bright red. Although there are two parking spaces in front of the windows, they are not occupied.
    <o:p></o:p>
    At the right edge of the frame, we can see what looks like the back of a parked delivery truck. It is white, with red trim. Just beyond the frame, we can see what looks like the entrance to an alley and a brick building beyond.
    <o:p></o:p>
    There are no moving vehicles in the picture. Except for the lady in red and the person with the black umbrella, there are no people in the picture.
    <o:p></o:p>
    Although the photograph is taken with a Canon 40D, using a relatively wide angle lens (24-30 mm) at f 8, there is a soft, pastel feel to it because of the rain. Only the woman in red, who is in the foreground, really seems to be in sharp focus. The photograph is slightly grainier than many might like in a color photograph, but the thick cloud cover and the rain made the scene darker than it appeared to the naked eye, so ISO 800 was used. Also, I cloned out the edge of my own red umbrella showing at the very top of the photo.



    Virginia






    <o:p></o:p>
    <o:p></o:p>

    Oooh, I love photos in the rain. I especially loved how you included the faint reflection in the pavement. Nice description! It sure is quicker to process photos you take in your mind, huh. (No actual cloning, ha ha!)
  • heatherfeatherheatherfeather Registered Users Posts: 2,738 Major grins
    edited August 12, 2009
    bdcolen wrote:
    You need a waterproof P&S to have with you all the time - Olympus Stylus maybe?

    My dad had one when we went during the last evening tide the special season was open... and the light was glorious as the sun went down around 10:30pm. Though I never used it since none of my pockets zipped up, and we were in a canoe. I made him take photos of certain things- being my usual bossy self, I guess. I'll have to bug him for the files. mwink.gif
  • bdcolenbdcolen Registered Users Posts: 3,804 Major grins
    edited August 13, 2009
    Flyinggina wrote:
    ****** http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">****** name="ProgId" content="Word.Document">****** name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11">****** name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> A woman of middle age wearing an orange-red raincoat, a red rain hat, and black high heels holds a cherry red umbrella over her head in the pouring rain. She is crossing an intersection of a commerical street lined with brownstones and another street at right angles to it. We see her in the foreground of the photograph in a three-quarters view with her face almost fully visible. Her expression is alert. In the picture, the rain shows as soft gray streaks.
    <o:p> </o:p>
    The woman seems to be moving from the upper right to the lower left corner of the frame. She is crossing kitty corner through the intersection, and the photograph catches her just as she has left the cross walk that is straight in front of the viewer and moved kitty-corner directly into the middle of the commercial street.
    <o:p> </o:p>
    The umbrella is held in her right hand, one foot is well in front of the other, her body is leaning forward and her left hand is raised, with her palm making a stop motion to something outside the frame of the photograph that is apparently off to her left.
    <o:p> </o:p>
    There are faint red reflections from her coat and umbrella on the wet street.
    <o:p> </o:p>
    Straight ahead, we see a tree-lined sidewalk that seems to converge with the left hand side of the street in the far distance. The arched boughs of the trees that line the street are a soft, green in the diffuse light of the heavy overcast. They appear to provide cover for a distant single pedestrian, carrying a black umbrella, and walking away from the viewer.
    <o:p> </o:p>
    In the middle distance, to the right of the lady in the red raincoat and on the corner across the street from our viewpoint, is a local convenience store. Although we are at 90 degrees to the store, we can see that produce is being displayed in baskets out front in an area enclosed by a wrought iron fence and protected by a permanent roof. We cannot see into the store, but it looks like someone has opened the door and may soon be emerging. On the side of the store facing us are large advertising signs in the windows covering what appear to be windows. The words are written in bright red. Although there are two parking spaces in front of the windows, they are not occupied.
    <o:p> </o:p>
    At the right edge of the frame, we can see what looks like the back of a parked delivery truck. It is white, with red trim. Just beyond the frame, we can see what looks like the entrance to an alley and a brick building beyond.
    <o:p> </o:p>
    There are no moving vehicles in the picture. Except for the lady in red and the person with the black umbrella, there are no people in the picture.
    <o:p> </o:p>
    Although the photograph is taken with a Canon 40D, using a relatively wide angle lens (24-30 mm) at f 8, there is a soft, pastel feel to it because of the rain. Only the woman in red, who is in the foreground, really seems to be in sharp focus. The photograph is slightly grainier than many might like in a color photograph, but the thick cloud cover and the rain made the scene darker than it appeared to the naked eye, so ISO 800 was used. Also, I cloned out the edge of my own red umbrella showing at the very top of the photo.



    Virginia






    <o:p> </o:p>
    <o:p> </o:p>


    Perfect, Virginia! <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/clap.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" > <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/clap.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" > Well, almost perfect - next time be aware of where your own umbrella is and don't shoot it. <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/rolleyes1.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >
    bd@bdcolenphoto.com
    "He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan

    "The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
  • bdcolenbdcolen Registered Users Posts: 3,804 Major grins
    edited August 13, 2009
    The Best Photo I Never Took
    C Line platform outbound, MBTA Park Street station, Boston.

    Standing in front of me are about eight young teenage girls, all wearing winter coats. They are gathered tightly together, turned inward toward one another, gaily chatting. Commuters are passing in front of and behind them. In the background we the ceramic tableau of the Boston T system.

    I frame center the group in my 35 mm frame lines, leaving enough air on either side so that we see the platform on either side of the group, and enough space above to set a sense of the ceramic decoration. I shoot at f2 and a 30th as a train pulls in behind them and commuters rush past them - the commuters and train are blurred, the girls are mostly frozen - and we can clearly see the joy on their faces, and can read the words Happy Birthday on the rhinestone tiaras perched on top of each and every one of their heads.

    :ivar
    bd@bdcolenphoto.com
    "He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan

    "The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
  • JimWJimW Registered Users Posts: 333 Major grins
    edited August 13, 2009
    This is my first post in a while. Sorry I’m late, but this is so worthwhile I wanted to participate. I’ve been doing a version of this exercise on my own for a few months. I always have my camera, but sometimes I leave it in my bag until I’ve made my notes. Here goes:

    We’re at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, in the Greek Sculpture Court. It’s mid-morning and I’m watching a man wearing jeans and a blue sweater make a drawing of a Greek statue. He is sitting on a folding chair that he has placed in front of the statue. The man keeps holding his pencil vertically out in front of his face, gauging the lines of the statue.

    The sketch I made in my notes shows the picture as a square. The left third shows the statue. The right third shows some smaller sculptures in a glass case in the background. The middle third shows the drawing man and a doorway open into another Greek gallery, with the sunlight streaming in from the big windows facing Fifth Avenue. The sunlight splashes through the doorway onto the floor beneath his feet. The sun also hits his eyeglasses and highlights them.

    The man is oblivious to the people flowing through the gallery. When I first noticed him, there was no sunlight streaming into the room yet. I stopped across the room to make my notes and think about the image. Then the clouds must have moved because suddenly the light streamed in. I put my notepad away and got out my camera.

    So, I’d have to say I “took” the photo because the light showed up. Prior to that, what intrigued me was the contrast between this drawing man all alone and far away in a sea of twelve thousand visitors per day.

    I admit I often don’t even think about the technical stuff until I’m composing through the viewfinder. Find the composition. Find a good exposure while deciding on focus issues. Don't overexpose. Shoot.

    B.D. – Good exercise and thanks for tip on Tina M. I spent some time enjoying her galleries. Wonderful images Tina. When I looked at your great capture called “Open Wide”, my mouth opened too. :D

    Jim

    I don't want the cheese, I just want to get out of the trap.


    http://www.jimwhitakerphotography.com/
  • bdcolenbdcolen Registered Users Posts: 3,804 Major grins
    edited August 13, 2009
    JimW wrote:
    This is my first post in a while. Sorry I’m late, but this is so worthwhile I wanted to participate. I’ve been doing a version of this exercise on my own for a few months. I always have my camera, but sometimes I leave it in my bag until I’ve made my notes. Here goes:

    We’re at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, in the Greek Sculpture Court. It’s mid-morning and I’m watching a man wearing jeans and a blue sweater make a drawing of a Greek statue. He is sitting on a folding chair that he has placed in front of the statue. The man keeps holding his pencil vertically out in front of his face, gauging the lines of the statue.

    The sketch I made in my notes shows the picture as a square. The left third shows the statue. The right third shows some smaller sculptures in a glass case in the background. The middle third shows the drawing man and a doorway open into another Greek gallery, with the sunlight streaming in from the big windows facing Fifth Avenue. The sunlight splashes through the doorway onto the floor beneath his feet. The sun also hits his eyeglasses and highlights them.

    The man is oblivious to the people flowing through the gallery. When I first noticed him, there was no sunlight streaming into the room yet. I stopped across the room to make my notes and think about the image. Then the clouds must have moved because suddenly the light streamed in. I put my notepad away and got out my camera.

    So, I’d have to say I “took” the photo because the light showed up. Prior to that, what intrigued me was the contrast between this drawing man all alone and far away in a sea of twelve thousand visitors per day.

    I admit I often don’t even think about the technical stuff until I’m composing through the viewfinder. Find the composition. Find a good exposure while deciding on focus issues. Don't overexpose. Shoot.

    B.D. – Good exercise and thanks for tip on Tina M. I spent some time enjoying her galleries. Wonderful images Tina. When I looked at your great capture called “Open Wide”, my mouth opened too. :D

    Jim

    Way to go, Jim! You really got the exercise.
    bd@bdcolenphoto.com
    "He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan

    "The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
  • FlyingginaFlyinggina Registered Users Posts: 2,639 Major grins
    edited August 14, 2009
    Thanx for your comments, B.D.

    I rarely take my camera out in the rain when I am alone as it is not waterproof.

    When I do, balancing the umbrella and holding the camera sometimes doesn't work as well as I would like.

    I figured I would have had the problem on the day in question, even though I had an umbrella but not a camera.

    I do wish I had taken the picture, though. I would have had to get it just right to make it what I saw, but if I had .....

    Virginia

    PS - Seeing, framing and taking a photograph is much faster and much, much better than spending the time to write all of the details that your eye sees and your brain processes in an instant.
    _______________________________________________
    "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know." Diane Arbus

    Email
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,893 moderator
    edited August 16, 2009
    JimW wrote:
    This is my first post in a while.

    Jim

    wave.gif Good to see you here again, Jim.
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