Photo - comments please

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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:31 pm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ZadokthePriest/20080529001051.jpg

Mod edit - come on mate, you should know better, 600 pixels width maximum for images, please, image changed to link to prevent blowout - SP

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:34 pm

Dionysius wrote:

Photo - comments please

Yup, it's a photo. Laughing

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:40 pm

It's nice.... the house draws you through the picture, interesting sort of tunnel effect.
If I had to be mega critical at all, the stone in the right of shot could be, composition wise, either a little further away or a bit closer. But as I say, that's being mega critical... not knowing what lens you used, it's hard to say.... a nice wide angle lens would have been a great choice.
Overall it's definately a very nice composition. It also looks like a beautiful place, wherever it is. You get a feel of serenity and calm from the shot.
I'd also like to see the same shot in different lighting conditions, I think stronger and weaker light would really have a big effect here.

What equipment were you using? More importantly, which lens?

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:47 pm

As said above, nice pic. I think the dark background of the leaves has meant that the house is slightly over-exposed and washed-out.

You may be able to tweak that in Photoshop/Gimp, if you haven't lost the detail. I find you can fix underexposure as the detail is still there, but dark. On the other hand, once you've got white, you've got white.

Just my $0.02

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:51 pm

@KD - wow, thanks for telling me Laughing

@Mugatu - It's a Nikon Coolpix P5100 on the Dawn photo setting - other than that, buggered if I know.

I took at 6 AM a mile or so from where I live.

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:02 pm

^^ In that case, you got excellent results.

My wife, the keener photographer of us (and the one with the better set up!) echoed what I said, and also what Old No.7 said about the house being slightly over exposed. To be honest, we're talking levels of critique aimed at SLR users, so ignore us! With a wider angle lens, standing closer to blur the rocks more, and having more control over the white balance and exposure on the house, you'd have done better... but you'd have needed a grand's worth of kit.

With that particular camera, it's a very nice shot. Well done. Very Happy

Trophy Videos · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:04 pm

The rock has a profile of a man, and to his right, a tufted bird. Spooky. Smile

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:19 pm

Very nice photo. This is where your zoom lens and tripod comes in handy. The vignetting is a little extreme.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vignetting
So one solution would be to take a few steps back, zoom, open the aperature to wide open to reduce depth of field, and move to the left or to the right to get the rock cropping you are after. Bracket exposures to get the saturation that you are after. The zoom increases the size of the house in your frame and increases the possiblity of camera shake, which is why you want a tripod. One more thing--I would have set off a smoke bomb or three behind the rocks. Wink

If the tunnel effect is what you were after, a more artistic approach is to not center it. If you left everything else the same, two or three steps to the left would have given you less rocks, more hump of a hill and the hole to the left of center. Balances the shot. Don't get me wrong, its still a keeper of a photo.

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11856 Location: UK

@ Dionysius, you sound like you don't know much about cameras, me neither, I joined this photography forum the other day, you should get lots of advice on there, you can also post your photos for people to critique them and offer advice on camera settings/modes etc:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 8:23 pm

@SP - Cheers for that forum!

I used to be a very keen photographer. I used to have a good idea of what I wanted and how to achieve it if I kept it very simple. Any of the more technical stuff I picked up, I have forgotten.

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 8:31 pm

Dionysius: nice composition, but I agree that I'd crop off the right half of the rock. I like the house at it is.

Something like this (hope you don't mind my editing your pic!):

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 06 Feb 2008 Posts: 720

I am no expert but to me this is a good photo, it is well focused with good lighting and shows lots of detail, the main subject is the house but it is excellently framed.

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 9:47 pm

Cheers for the comments. Here's another version of the photo, taken at the same time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/ZadokthePriest/20080529001054.jpg

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 11:17 pm

Mes think it's good and spooky! Smile

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 11:38 pm

After having established that, yes, it is a photo, I have to add that it's rather dark and has a strong blue cast.

Here's a not so spooky, brighter version with somewhat less blue cast:

edited version of the pic (clicky)

My mommy always said: "edit your digi pics with Photoshop, Kleindoofy." Wink

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 3:35 am

Sadly, I've been doing pitchures since the 1960s.. yes, even paid sometimes..

The frame is overpowering, too large.. the house too small..

Otherwise, it's perfect.. Very Happy

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 10:16 am

@KD That makes it look better ... Something Ansel Adams could have done, although he would have set the zone for the villa (?) more for 4 or 5 rather than 7 to 8 as I suppose.
Anyway - nice photo living on the contrast.
I've to do my job ATM, maybe i could try to show what I mean later or tomorrow.

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 5:56 pm

Il Dottore, you're giving your age away Very Happy

Zone System; that takes me back.

Dumb question: does it apply to colour images?

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 1:20 am

^^^ Yes. Google Search results.

Edited to add:

Photography enthusiasts might appreciate this forum: Unique Exposures.
A friendly group of people with a diverse range of photographic interests.

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 8:56 am

One forum I recommended to SP in his photo thread - http://photo.net/

Thanks for the opinions