Weekly Assignment #101: Sun behind leaf

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Comments

  • baldmountainbaldmountain Registered Users Posts: 192 Major grins
    edited December 31, 2008
    Nikolai wrote:
    You did have too much time rolleyes1.gif and not a single shot directly matching the assignment with the sun directly behind the leaf? mwink.gif

    The nice thing about photography is it is a creative art open to interpretation. We may not have taken exactly the pictures you wanted, but there are some reasonable images in the thread.

    On the other hand you are trying to get us to understand the issues of taking a picture into the sun. We chose to work around that issue by using fill flash or framing the picture so the leaves are backlit without pointing the camera directly into the sun. There are other ways to work around the issue, like allowing the sky to be completely blown out so we get decent exposure on the leaves or maybe a cutout filter to tone down the sun and show the leave. I think we understand the issue and did a pretty good job of understanding what needs to be done to take a good image.

    Having said all that, I'd like to have a try at a backlit leave with the sun behind the leave and NO fill flash, but it is snowing at the moment. :cry
    geoff
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited December 31, 2008
    eL eSs Vee wrote:
    eek7.gif

    The word "directly" is in neither the assignment title nor the description. deal.gif

    To avoid lens flare, I did the same as most everyone else and placed the sun behind and slightly to one side. I did add some fill flash (and curves) to preserve detail in the shadows, but all three images are backlit by the sun, and each bunch of leaves contains at least one leaf is not backlit and shows direct reflection from the sun.

    As an example, please study the bottom leaf in my third post. You'll see three things: 1) backlighting on the lower right edge 2) direct reflection on top and 3) also on top, shadows on the camera side of the veins.

    So there. :D

    Hey, if it's not directly behind (i.e. blocked by the leaf), then technically it's not "behind", is more "on the side" ;-P
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited December 31, 2008
    The nice thing about photography is it is a creative art open to interpretation. We may not have taken exactly the pictures you wanted, but there are some reasonable images in the thread.

    On the other hand you are trying to get us to understand the issues of taking a picture into the sun. We chose to work around that issue by using fill flash or framing the picture so the leaves are backlit without pointing the camera directly into the sun. There are other ways to work around the issue, like allowing the sky to be completely blown out so we get decent exposure on the leaves or maybe a cutout filter to tone down the sun and show the leave. I think we understand the issue and did a pretty good job of understanding what needs to be done to take a good image.

    Having said all that, I'd like to have a try at a backlit leave with the sun behind the leave and NO fill flash, but it is snowing at the moment. :cry

    Creativity is surely good and is often encouraged. However, these are kinda school tasks. You, like a "school" in figure skating. You have to be able to do the straight, the backup, the "eight", etc. Only then you're allowed to enter the primary competition where your *art* can be judged - subjectively, as always with the art.
    So, yes, we're a bit on a specific/"do exactly as you were told"/anal side of things here. It's a Class, not DSS (although, sometimes they intersect, like right now lol3.gif :-), so your freedom of interpretation is greatly diminished here. ne_nau.gif

    And the snow should give you a great leg for the #103 mwink.gif
    Happy New Year! iloveyou.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • eL eSs VeeeL eSs Vee Registered Users Posts: 1,243 Major grins
    edited December 31, 2008
    Nikolai wrote:
    Hey, if it's not directly behind (i.e. blocked by the leaf), then technically it's not "behind", is more "on the side" ;-P

    But regardless of semantics, I did, indeed, get the leaves backlit - enough - to show their texture. mwink.gif

    Thank you very much for the assignments, Nikolai. You keep us thinking and improving our skills with them. And even if I fail at one, I still enjoyed doing it. thumb.gif

    You make learning fun, Nikolai. Here's to you! clap.gif

    Happy New Year! wings.gif
    Lee
    __________________

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    "If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
    "Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited December 31, 2008
    eL eSs Vee wrote:
    But regardless of semantics, I did, indeed, get the leaves backlit - enough - to show their texture. mwink.gif

    Thank you very much for the assignments, Nikolai. You keep us thinking and improving our skills with them. And even if I fail at one, I still enjoyed doing it. thumb.gif

    You make learning fun, Nikolai. Here's to you! clap.gif

    Happy New Year! wings.gif

    Hapyy New Year to you, Sir Lee! thumb.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • ChimperChimper Registered Users Posts: 9 Beginner grinner
    edited January 2, 2009
    Share shooting information?
    Nikolai - the assignments are perfect for a new "shooter" like me - they give me a structure and a focus to my efforts. However, I'm so new at this that any success I have often seems to have occurred quite by accident (I'm like the proverbial chimpanzee who MIGHT strike the opening chords of Beethoven's Fifth if I sat at the keyboard for a century). For that reason, I'd love to know how others reached the results they display -- like those spectacular back-lit leaf shots of Pathfinder's -- so I could try to duplicate their efforts. Any chance people would describe the photo essentials: camera/lens, shutter sp/aperture/ post-processing, etc. so others could learn a bit more?
    Nikolai wrote:
    You know what I'm talking about: that chilly crisp winter morning, low-hanging sun, one of the last leaves still grasping the dried up branch. At any rate, unless you're in a total desert or behind of one of the Polar Circles, you gotta have all three important ingredients: some sort of leaf to fill your frame with, an unobstructed sun to provide the back-lighting, and the camera to capture this whole thing.
    Fresh pictures only, moderate PP (b/w or duotone is OK), multiple entries OK if they are substantially different.
    Let's get some sun-back-lit leaves!
  • travelwaystravelways Registered Users Posts: 7,854 Major grins
    edited January 3, 2009
    House plant leaves
    Hi Nicolai,

    I'm very new to this (I just discovered this assignments few days ago) and to photography too.

    First I'd like to say: Happy New Year to you and everybody here in this forum.

    I didn't think I'll have an image for this assignment since, like other said, there are no more
    leaves left on the trees at this time at least here North.

    However, I just saw this morning a very nice light on a small house plant I have and thought
    to take a backlit photo of those leaves...

    How does is look - I forgot to put the flash on though rolleyes1.gif

    447859080_QSm5Y-L.jpg

    Thank you and all the best,
    Tatiana - Seeing the world through my camera
    TravelwaysPhotos.com ...... Facebook
    VegasGreatAttractions.com
    Travelways.com
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited January 3, 2009
    photo-bug wrote:
    Hi Nicolai,

    I'm very new to this (I just discovered this assignments few days ago) and to photography too.

    First I'd like to say: Happy New Year to you and everybody here in this forum.

    I didn't think I'll have an image for this assignment since, like other said, there are no more
    leaves left on the trees at this time at least here North.

    However, I just saw this morning a very nice light on a small house plant I have and thought
    to take a backlit photo of those leaves...

    How does is look - I forgot to put the flash on though rolleyes1.gif

    Thank you and all the best,
    Tatiana,
    thank you for your entrythumb.gif , welcome to the Class! clap.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • travelwaystravelways Registered Users Posts: 7,854 Major grins
    edited January 3, 2009
    Nikolai wrote:
    Tatiana,
    thank you for your entrythumb.gif , welcome to the Class! clap.gif


    Thank you Nicolai,

    I'm soooo happy to have discovered this :ivar
    Tatiana - Seeing the world through my camera
    TravelwaysPhotos.com ...... Facebook
    VegasGreatAttractions.com
    Travelways.com
  • baldmountainbaldmountain Registered Users Posts: 192 Major grins
    edited January 3, 2009
    I figured I'd submit at least one image to an assignment according the the instructions...

    447997827_GMPQB-L.jpg
    geoff
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited January 3, 2009
    I figured I'd submit at least one image to an assignment according the the instructions...
    Yay! Thank you! thumb.gifclap.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • jrnylstjrnylst Registered Users Posts: 69 Big grins
    edited January 5, 2009
    No green on the outside, but...
    Plenty of green on the inside. So I played.
    449448040_XjpX5-M.jpg

    449447763_wh6qp-M.jpg

    449448757_Yeqxt-M.jpg
    alias Snowcatcher, but still a jrnylst at heart
    http://snowcatcher.smugmug.com/
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2009
    jrnylst wrote:
    Plenty of green on the inside. So I played.

    Thank you, nice entries! thumb.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • jrnylstjrnylst Registered Users Posts: 69 Big grins
    edited January 6, 2009
    Thank you, Nikolai!
    alias Snowcatcher, but still a jrnylst at heart
    http://snowcatcher.smugmug.com/
  • Dooginfif20Dooginfif20 Registered Users Posts: 845 Major grins
    edited January 8, 2009
    Heres mine!

    DSC_0077-1.jpg
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2009
    Heres mine!
    Nice image thumb.gif , but I didn't mean plural :-) mwink.gif The point was to get the leaf's fine structure to show up... ne_nau.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • Dooginfif20Dooginfif20 Registered Users Posts: 845 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2009
    Well I figured since there are zero leaves here that I would find one that I had already shot and this is one I had! I will try to get a better one when the leaves return!
  • eL eSs VeeeL eSs Vee Registered Users Posts: 1,243 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2009
    This time, I followed the instructions.

    BacklitLeafDSC_1889.jpg

    Ya knew I wouldn't give up, right Nikolai? :D
    Lee
    __________________

    My SmugMug Gallery
    My Facebook

    "If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
    "Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2009
    eL eSs Vee wrote:
    This time, I followed the instructions.
    Ya knew I wouldn't give up, right Nikolai? :D
    Yessssss! thumb.gif
    Thank you!
    And the doubt never crossed my mind! mwink.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • eL eSs VeeeL eSs Vee Registered Users Posts: 1,243 Major grins
    edited January 12, 2009
    Nikolai wrote:
    Yessssss! thumb.gif
    Thank you!
    And the doubt never crossed my mind! mwink.gif

    YAYYHH!! clap.gif

    On to the next assignment . . .
    Lee
    __________________

    My SmugMug Gallery
    My Facebook

    "If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
    "Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
  • spb13spb13 Registered Users Posts: 133 Major grins
    edited April 18, 2009
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited April 19, 2009
    spb13 wrote:
    leaf
    Very interesting!thumb.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • sapphire73sapphire73 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 1,942 moderator
    edited April 26, 2009
    The spring leaves are still rather small in the Philly area, but this one may work for this assignment. If so, which background do you prefer? Thank you for your helpful input.

    I look forward to coming back to this idea in the autumn. Some lovely photographs in this thread!

    521398621_rXTXf-M.jpg



    521398699_nDCr2-M.jpg
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited April 26, 2009
    sapphire73 wrote:
    The spring leaves are still rather small in the Philly area, but this one may work for this assignment. If so, which background do you prefer? Thank you for your helpful input.

    I look forward to coming back to this idea in the autumn. Some lovely photographs in this thread!

    I like the first one a lot! thumb.gif great entry (albeit a bit soft)

    In the future, please try to limit your entries to one picture (unless they are totally different). Being your own worst ctitique helps in many ways...
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • sapphire73sapphire73 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 1,942 moderator
    edited April 26, 2009
    Nikolai wrote:
    I like the first one a lot! thumb.gif great entry (albeit a bit soft)

    In the future, please try to limit your entries to one picture (unless they are totally different). Being your own worst ctitique helps in many ways...

    Will do. Thanks.
  • catspawcatspaw Registered Users Posts: 1,292 Major grins
    edited May 28, 2009
    yay! Finally able to do this one properly :)

    548865755_kwxD8-L.jpg
    //Leah
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited May 28, 2009
    catspaw wrote:
    yay! Finally able to do this one properly :)
    Thank you! thumb.gif
    Slightly overexposed, don't you think? headscratch.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • catspawcatspaw Registered Users Posts: 1,292 Major grins
    edited May 28, 2009
    Nikolai wrote:
    Thank you! thumb.gif
    Slightly overexposed, don't you think? headscratch.gif

    actually, sun was right behind, trying to get a flare but it was too soft in the evening. so it's not so much overexposure as the fact that the background is ...the sun.

    hey, I tried.
    //Leah
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