So, I was out observing and shooting last night. It was going to be a really good night for the aurora. And it was. We had some really great dark skies and then we saw some activity happening on the horizon. Unfortunately, I didn't catch much of it as I set up my camera too late before it had died down, only to start back up after I had put everything away. Everyone now, doh! I had been helping my Dad set up his equipment while the aurora was flaring up. Interestingly, minutes before the aurora would show up, we had these coyotes howling like mad and would go on for like 5 minutes at a time. Happened again right before the aurora reappeared. None of my aurora shots were really worth posting, but I had happened to take a shot of my dad's equipment, which is now my favourite shot of the night. I had taken the picture at a lower F-stop than I would have liked, making everything darker. But in retrospect, I think that only gave the picture more of an artistic flair. The darkness shown in the sky is more like we were seeing it. The shot as a whole to me represents the serenity of the experience, out in a beautiful sky and just gazing while nature surrounds us. And what you see bathed in red is my Dad's equipment, something he built himself to house not one telescope, but two telescopes and a set of binoculars. A parallelogram of sorts. Camera: Canon 7D F/5 ISO: 3200 15 Sec.
That really is a cool shot. It's funny how often our favorite shots are the ones that are least planned.
Yeah, it really is. I have another favourite shot that was accidental. It was one where I was shooting the night sky, and it was near enough to a road and a nearby vehicle came along and illuminated the trees beside us that were in the shot. I thought for sure it would have been ruined, because when you're doing astrophotography, you really don't want any white light, anywhere. What ended up happening though was that it was more like a highlight, with the body of the trees creating a nice contrast between the dark sky. A cool shot as I also captured the Andromeda galaxy in it.
Great shot, Owain Taggart! Quite true ... I was out today with just my iPhone, heading to the local farm and snapped this shot: I daresay it turned out okay.
Bumping this thread to see who is still active! The seasons are changing and I was wondering if people take as many photographs in winter. How do you deal with snow, what are the best ways to take advantage of bleaker weather, etc.? Also my sister-in-law has a birthday in December and I wanted to get her a birthday present relating to photography. She bought a camera earlier this year and has really been enjoying it. I'm not looking to get her fancy camera gear, just something small that might encourage her. One idea I had was to get some sort of album and print our some of the photos she's already taken so that she can show them off at home more easily. I want her to know that I'm proud of her! I was also thinking of a book or something to inspire her. I would get her the Humans of New York book but someone recently gifted it to my dad so it would be a little weird. Any other ideas?
I've been quite active with photography - although, I've been spending more time going through my back catalog and organizing it in order to build a website dedicated to my work in Manhattan. As for the changing seasons, I love the autumn because the air is usually very clear and images end up being very sharp (as opposed to the haze and humidity of summer). Likewise, winter can be a great time to shoot - if you can adapt to the conditions. I went out and bought myself a pair of thin, Under Armour gloves that, for the most part, keep my hands warm and flexible enough to work the shutter, focus, zoom, etc. Otherwise, I find winter shooting has to be done in relatively short bursts. I dress in layers and shoot until I'm too cold (usually until my fingers won't move), and that's about it. I also really like shooting during a snowfall, but it's best to keep the camera and lens covered (I've used a plastic bag and rubber band, but there are better solutions) and keep the shoot short. The biggest thing to consider is the condensation on (and inside) the camera when you come back inside to the warm air after being out in the cold. (FWIW, here are some of my "Trees in Winter" shots). As for gift ideas, the Humans of New York book is good ... but is that the kind of photography she likes? I saw a National Geographic photog book all about light that was pretty amazing.
Yep, still active! In fact, Winter to an astronomer is the best time of the year. It gets colder, yes, but it also gets dark sooner and there's lots of good viewing and astrophotography to be had, so I'm sure you haven't seen the last of me here On Halloween Weekend, a couple of friends and I went out at night to shoot. We were hoping to catch some aurora or even a bit of stars. It ended up being cloudy for most of the evening, though it did clear up a bit just in time for us to shoot a bit before it closed back up. Still, the clouds didn't stop us, as I learned that clouds can be quite atmospheric. Here's one from that evening:
So, it seems I'm taking an interest in Lightroom. I've always been a guy who likes it as natural as possible and tend to do as little editing as possible. But yesterday, I was at a friends house and we revisited some of my older pictures and I really saw the benefit in Lightroom in terms of maximizing the potential. The differences between the before and after were amazing. This for example: This is the original image, and looking at it, you can see it's a fairly good shot in itself: But then magic happens, and even more stars come out to play: The one thing I'm not terribly crazy about is the sharpening of the trees, but perhaps that's something I can fix with masking? Still, it's a great improvement and that lone example makes me excited for what the future holds.
I'm sorry I missed this earlier! It's a fantastic shot! As for Lightroom, which version are you using? I've found it to be an incredibly useful creative tool - it's really helped improve a lot of my photos. Keep tinkering and experimenting with it, you'll soon find a workflow that ... well ... works for you. One issue that do have, though, is the one you're experiencing here ... namely the way the sharpening and clarity are handled around irregular edges, especially leaves (I have the same problem with green leaves on an overcast sky that I'm trying to bring a lot of detail out of). One thing you might try though, is to take a look at the Noise Reduction (Luminance and Color) sliders under the Detail panel (I mention them because it looks like you've got some color noise in the second photo). You will lose a little detail, but you can also achieve some deeper, cleaner blacks - and it should also smooth some of the leaves around the edges. For example, this was taken at an ISO of 3200: ETA: Here is the same image without any Noise Reduction: Spoiler: No Noise Reduction
Actually, I don't have it yet, but plan on getting it very soon. We were tinkering with 4.0, I believe, but I'll be getting the latest version. And we did play with noise reduction and settled on that because anything more just removed too much character from the image. It's a tradeoff that's even more apparent in astrophotography when there are lots of stars and dark skies. Something I'll definitely will be experimenting with though. The image was shot at 4000 iso, which is a little high for this type of thing, which might account for much of the noise. If I had to do it again, I'd probably go for 3200 and then I'd be able to edit in deeper blacks without it looking so noisy. Anyhow, noise is often a pitfall of astrophotography. It's a constant line to be balanced.
Noise v. sharpness is definitely a constant balance. I guess that, lately, my tastes have drifted more toward favoring less noise rather than increased sharpness and detail. YMMV, of course. To change the subject a bit - from detail to composition, I'd like some feedback. I've been going through some older photos to add GPS data (and update the processing from LR4 to LR5) and was hit with this conundrum: I can't decide which version of this photo I like best. It was originally shot in portrait (2nd photo), and I like how the columns add a sense of depth and scale. On the other hand, the landscape crop (1st photo) really reinforces the "Hello SoHo" focal point, while still keeping (some) of the sense of scale. Leaving aside the b&w v. color presentations, are there any thoughts on which is the better composition?
I like the bottom one more, has better symmetry. For the top pic, the street lamp seams the subject matter and not the building.
They're both good, but yeah, the second one has better framing. I like that you see more of the building, and it seems to tell more of a story.
The second. It actually draws your eye to the SoHo banner, whereas in the first one, you don't really know where to look.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone! It's interesting how strong inertia can be when it comes to these things. Even though it's a small sample, it's pretty clear that the consensus is that the uncropped portrait version of the image is the better of the two - and when I looked at it the other day, I had a similar thought. But I'd spent over a year with the cropped landscape version (it shows up occasionally on my screensaver), so because of its familiarity it wasn't easy to just jettison it. Thanks again! BTW, a bit of trivia that I uncovered while thinking about this image: It is of one of the cast-iron facades in the SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District. The buildings pictured (138-144 Greene Street) were completed in 1871 & 1886.
Alright folks, I need some more curating assistance with the following two photo ideas. For the first one, I'm leaning toward the portrait shot, but the second I really am completely undecided. Any feedback would be most welcome!
I tend to prefer the respective first ones to the second pictures. While the sunset in pic 1b is nicer, the handrailed rooftop in the bottom right corner is too distracting for my taste. In picture 2b, I very much like the clouds as they form a nice contrast to the vertical lines. However, it's precisely the domination of vertical lines, this amassment of towers, that makes photo 2a even more attractive to me. It draws your eyes upward, making all these towers a sort of a "stairway to heaven". btw, all four would make awesome jigsaw puzzles =)