"Balls"

lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
edited November 2, 2009 in Street and Documentary
The title is two-fold--One because well it's part of the photo and two because I think I have to have a nice pair to post a photo taken with a Lensbaby into this forum:D .

This is one of my new favorite photographs, but I'm ready for the CC.

699619732_frSsR-XL.jpg
Liz A.
_________

Comments

  • Wil DavisWil Davis Registered Users Posts: 1,692 Major grins
    edited November 1, 2009
    Oh dear…


    …looks like a mistake :cry


    …so, where's the focus?


    I just don't get it… headscratch.gif

    - Wil
    "…………………" - Marcel Marceau
  • tortillatorturetortillatorture Registered Users Posts: 194 Major grins
    edited November 1, 2009
    wil, you are looking crazy today! =)
    liz, you got the balls! i think the lensbabyshot looks cool,
    i would love that litle extra sharpness on the face, but i like it.. but i like the oof's so...
  • Wil DavisWil Davis Registered Users Posts: 1,692 Major grins
    edited November 1, 2009
    tortillatorture wrote:
    wil, you are looking crazy today! =)
    …snip

    Well spotted indeed!

    …and before someone else mentions it, yes, that it actually a picture of me sans make-up (I always remove it for Halloween rolleyes1.gif )

    - Wil
    "…………………" - Marcel Marceau
  • bdcolenbdcolen Registered Users Posts: 3,804 Major grins
    edited November 1, 2009
    lizzard_nyc wrote:
    The title is two-fold--One because well it's part of the photo and two because I think I have to have a nice pair to post a photo taken with a Lensbaby into this forum:D .

    This is one of my new favorite photographs, but I'm ready for the CC.

    Sorry, Liz - I'm all for playing with Lens Babies - but this just looks like something that might have been interesting but the Coke bottle-bottom you shot it through doesn't let me know that. What's fun about Lens Babies, is that they allow you to stick a turn a digi or 35 mm camera into a view camera with tilts and shifts - with SOMETHING!! in selective focus...rolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gif
    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
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited November 1, 2009
    Wil Davis wrote:
    Oh dear…


    …looks like a mistake :cry


    …so, where's the focus?


    I just don't get it… headscratch.gif

    - Wil

    Will,
    Like the new Avatar.
    I kinda knew this was coming. :)
    Liz A.
    _________
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited November 1, 2009
    tortillatorture wrote:
    wil, you are looking crazy today! =)
    liz, you got the balls! i think the lensbabyshot looks cool,
    i would love that litle extra sharpness on the face, but i like it.. but i like the oof's so...

    Ha! I knew I was in trouble when you said you liked it:) Don't mean anything bad, I just know how much you like OOF photography.

    I'm glad you like it:D .
    Liz A.
    _________
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited November 1, 2009
    bdcolen wrote:
    Sorry, Liz - I'm all for playing with Lens Babies - but this just looks like something that might have been interesting but the Coke bottle-bottom you shot it through doesn't let me know that. What's fun about Lens Babies, is that they allow you to stick a turn a digi or 35 mm camera into a view camera with tilts and shifts - with SOMETHING!! in selective focus...rolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gif


    You are so damn picky:D --I kid---yes the trick with lensbabies is to get a sweet spot, even if it is small and I missed it.
    I almost almost had something in focus--I could taste it, it was so close, but I missed. I like the photo so much and I wanted it to work. Next time!
    Liz A.
    _________
  • baldmountainbaldmountain Registered Users Posts: 192 Major grins
    edited November 2, 2009
    lizzard_nyc wrote:
    This is one of my new favorite photographs.

    Ooooooo, I'm so angry. This is a great picture. Step back a bit, crop out the hula skirt and candy corn from the right side and look at the woman's face.

    There are so many horrible snapshots on this forum that I wince as a click on each link. Pictures of peoples backs, pictures with so many reflections in windows we can't tell what the subject is, pictures that evoke nothing! Here we have someone who experiments and captures something that is lost today. Look again at this woman. She is elegant. How long do you think it took to get ready to go out? Today people throw on jeans and a sweatshirt and head out. I bet this woman would be embarrassed to go out in what most people consider everyday wear. Even at her age, and fighting arthritis, she took the time to choose her outfit, pick matching jewelry, do her hair, find a proper hat, etc.

    People get WAY too caught up in the technical aspects of an image and miss the best parts...
    geoff
  • ruttrutt Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
    edited November 2, 2009
    There is a lot to like in this shot: strong diagonal composition, interesting expression on an interesting subject, funny juxtaposition. But I'm with B.D., you want to learn to use the lensbaby to get interesting selective focus, otherwise it looks like you just missed.

    Baldmountain, one of the things I'm liking about this forum is blunt honest critique. I think B.D.'s critique was very constructive; he didn't say to lose the lensbaby, he set a goal for learning to use it more effectively.

    I'd much rather get this kind of critique than disingenuous praise ("What a beautiful baby!"), an empty thumbs-down ("doesn't work for me"), or nothing. We are raising the bar on submissions to this forum, struggling to define what it's about, and trying to form a community. One thing I'd really like to see here is critique given and taken honestly and constructively.
    If not now, when?
  • michswissmichswiss Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 2,235 Major grins
    edited November 2, 2009
    This is a fun shot. There's energy, a beautiful subject, reasonably good composition and if this was taken in an earlier age, a wonderful image. But the focus is too far off. Still enjoyable though. I've read a bit about the lensbaby, but from this example what's the difference as compared to working a really tight DOF?
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited November 2, 2009
    baldmountain wrote:
    Ooooooo, I'm so angry. This is a great picture. Step back a bit, crop out the hula skirt and candy corn from the right side and look at the woman's face.

    There are so many horrible snapshots on this forum that I wince as a click on each link. Pictures of peoples backs, pictures with so many reflections in windows we can't tell what the subject is, pictures that evoke nothing! Here we have someone who experiments and captures something that is lost today. Look again at this woman. She is elegant. How long do you think it took to get ready to go out? Today people throw on jeans and a sweatshirt and head out. I bet this woman would be embarrassed to go out in what most people consider everyday wear. Even at her age, and fighting arthritis, she took the time to choose her outfit, pick matching jewelry, do her hair, find a proper hat, etc.

    People get WAY too caught up in the technical aspects of an image and miss the best parts...

    I appreciate your post. You got what I loved about this photo--it's the lady and the way she carried herself and her outfit complete with gloves! and her face, hat cane --AAAAGHHHHHH and I missed the shot:cry . I fired three times--once when she stopped to look at the display of candies in the window I totally missed it--the second time this man who I wanted to decapitate walked right infront of the shot--and this one (almost had it)--and is it just me, but I just love that she is right under the "Balls" sign.

    Thanks for commenting.
    Liz A.
    _________
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited November 2, 2009
    rutt wrote:
    There is a lot to like in this shot: strong diagonal composition, interesting expression on an interesting subject, funny juxtaposition. But I'm with B.D., you want to learn to use the lensbaby to get interesting selective focus, otherwise it looks like you just missed.

    Baldmountain, one of the things I'm liking about this forum is blunt honest critique. I think B.D.'s critique was very constructive; he didn't say to lose the lensbaby, he set a goal for learning to use it more effectively.

    I'd much rather get this kind of critique than disingenuous praise ("What a beautiful baby!"), an empty thumbs-down ("doesn't work for me"), or nothing. We are raising the bar on submissions to this forum, struggling to define what it's about, and trying to form a community. One thing I'd really like to see here is critique given and taken honestly and constructively.

    Still learning to shoot with the darned thing--it's not easy, but it's a whole lot of fun and very rewarding when you nail it--also incredibly frustrating when you don't.

    I had just gotten kicked out of the candy store for taking pictures so I was sitting outside fuming when I saw her making her way down the sidewalk infront of that colorful building (Dylan's candy shop)- and I just knew it, I felt it, I had a perfect street shot! I just needed to get it--I tried so hard!!!!It's making me want to curse expletives til tomorrow--so close...

    Thanks for looking and commenting.
    Liz A.
    _________
  • bdcolenbdcolen Registered Users Posts: 3,804 Major grins
    edited November 2, 2009
    lizzard_nyc wrote:
    Still learning to shoot with the darned thing--it's not easy, but it's a whole lot of fun and very rewarding when you nail it--also incredibly frustrating when you don't.

    I had just gotten kicked out of the candy store for taking pictures so I was sitting outside fuming when I saw her making her way down the sidewalk infront of that colorful building (Dylan's candy shop)- and I just knew it, I felt it, I had a perfect street shot! I just needed to get it--I tried so hard!!!!It's making me want to curse expletives til tomorrow--so close...

    Thanks for looking and commenting.

    Of course, if one wanted to....One might suggest that....nah....never mind.....rolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gifrolleyes1.gif
    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
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited November 2, 2009
    michswiss wrote:
    This is a fun shot. There's energy, a beautiful subject, reasonably good composition and if this was taken in an earlier age, a wonderful image. But the focus is too far off. Still enjoyable though. I've read a bit about the lensbaby, but from this example what's the difference as compared to working a really tight DOF?

    The thing with a lensbaby is there are different types--in my opinion the "Composer" is the best one--you just turn the dial until you capture one part of the frame completely in focus and the rest blurrs--it locks the image in place.

    Unfortunately I went the cheaper route and got the Muse--This focuses via an accordion ring attached to the lens--you squeeze the ring toward you until you get what you want in focus-the problem is the second you move slightly it moves the focusing ring and you get nothing in focus (which is what happened here). There is no way to lock the image in focus--so sometimes when you press the shutter it moves the focus--any movement at all can cause the entire image to be out of focus. I've gotten a few "nailed" shots--but mostly not so much--I'm working on it. I very much like this lens--it's much faster than my kit lenses (which is all I have) it's wonderful in low light conditions, and the sweet spot although elusive, is so sweet it hurts my teeth--just gotta keep shooting with it.

    Now you know about the lensbaby.

    I'm glad you like the shot.
    Liz A.
    _________
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