Picture of the Day (Dial-up internet users enter at own risk!)

[RDB]

Gerald on Trip West at the Canyon

 

[geoand]

When in Hawaii

We all should try a little

but I am a chicken so will take photo instead.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Dave in Hanapepe

After a day of showing my brother and SIL around the south shore of Kaua'i, we ended up in Hanapepe for the art festival as the sun was setting. We went over the swinging bridge and, as usual, I was way behind every one else because I was always stopping to take pictures.

While the ladies went on to the galleries, my brother waited for me out by the main road. As I was catching up to him, I saw him standing in a shadowed area next to a ti plant, but with sun slanting through an opening and illuminating him and the ti plant.

 

[swift]

Getting little brother to stay still for a picture.

 

[geoand]

Another sunset from the "A" beach

This is from the same beach as Steve's sunset.

 

[RDB]

Grand Grand Canyon seen from South Rim

Every minute changes as the sun goes down and strikingly different in early morn. We caught this on Oct 6 at 5:55.

We were up early to see the canyon in different light. This was taken prior to sunup on 7 Oct at 6:14.

This one, 42 minutes later at 6:56.

 

[cindi]

That grand canyon sequence was really cool.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Sittin' on the Dock - Grand Case

A couple of local boys sitting on the dock on a summer afternoon in Grand Case, Ste. Martin.

 

[swift]

Looking for a Prince

 

[Kingwayne]

Looking up the Hudson river from New York

 

[RDB]

Thanks Cindi

That grand canyon sequence was really cool.

I hope others who view them will want to stay the night and see sunset and sunrise. Definately changes with various lighting conditions.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Kohala Sea Cliffs

from the Polulu Trail, Big Island. I probably took about 30 shots total in this area, starting at the parking area at the end of the road, contrinuing from various vantages as we went about 2/3 of the way down the trail to the beach.

We were dodging rain showers, and set out on the trail when it looked as if there might be a short break in the weather. Just before we turned around and headed back to the parking lot, the sun poked out briefly through a hole in the clouds. Where the full sunlight hit the ocean the water picked a bit of a glow that I was able to capture.

 

[taffy19]

I love all these pictures here.

Steve, I love your pictures too. Do you edit or manipulate them a little bit? Some look almost like paintings to me. I am curious.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Steve, I love your pictures too. Do you edit or manipulate them a little bit? Some look almost like paintings to me. I am curious.

See this thread.

 

[RDB]

Manipulation, enhancement...

I refer to it as "Making something out of nothing."

Many photos taken are not at their best, from the camera. They most often can be improved upon by editing prior to presentation.

It takes much time and effort to make mountains stand out from a washed-out sky. Or make cloud formations viewable in a plain whitish sky. Coloration can be added, hues changed. Lighting of rocks, trees or peoples faces for example can make, otherwise disinteresting photos, something of beauty.

I know I want my photos to show others the beauty that I took in. Many hour are spent cropping, straightening (or tilting), coloring, etc. I don't take the time in the field to setup and compose properly. I hand-shoot on the run and make the most out of it on the computer in the comforts of home.

My hats off to those that take perfect pictures.

 

[swift]

We met up with some TUG'ers in our neck of the woods and took their children to Armstong Woods. The Govenator is sadly trying to close this park

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I refer to it as "Making something out of nothing."

Many photos taken are not at their best, from the camera. They most often can be improved upon by editing prior to presentation.

I don't think of it as making something out of nothing. I regard it as completing the photo. A painter first creates the basic framework and structure of the image; then develops the final painting on that base. Same thing with photos; the base image returned by the camera is the framework for producing the final image you want to create.

I'm with you Robert. Most of the time I want to shoot. I have a very difficult time seeing in my mind how compositional elements fit together; I have to physically see it. Around the house I don't do well imagining what a room would really look like if it were a different color, for example. I can see the color, decide whether or not I like the color in isolation. But when I try to put the color in the room I have a very hard time seeing how the color would work with other colors in the room. I can't envision how different pieces of furniture would coordinate or clash. In the yard, I have a hard time planning gardenscapes because I can't see how the colors, textures, shapes, etc. will all fit together.

So time spent trying to do that when I'm holding a camera is also unproductive. But when I'm working with the image I can see immediately what I'm doing. One hour spent working with images on the screen is far more productive for me than one hour spent tweaking camera settings in the field.

That doesn't mean I ignore compositional elements in the field. I try to be aware of them and if I can see them as I'm setting up I'll take advantage. Also, where I do have time to wait - as when I'm doing a sunset picture and waiting for the sun to go down - I do take more time to plan things out.

But mostly what happens is that I see a scene that I like - most often it has to with the way something is illuminated - and I grab the camera and shoot. I pan back, figuring I can always crop to get the composition. With lighting even a mundane subject can be attractive.

The photo below of the Wo On Store in Halawa on the Big Island is an example. This picture is totally about the way the light was filtering through and catching the storefront and surrounding vegetation; without the lighting this is just a mundane picture of a nondescript older building with some bungled remodeling and a parked car. We were driving into Halawa in the afternoon, and I saw the building. I quickly pulled off to the side of the road (as DW was rolling her eyes and developing that "This is getting annoying!!!" look in her body language), grabbed the camera and shot off about four pictures. It wasn't until later that I learned the building actually had some historical significance. But the photo isn't made because of what the building is - the photo is made by the lighting.

 

[swift]

I quickly pulled off to the side of the road (as DW was rolling her eyes and developing that "This is getting annoying!!!" look in her body language),

Your poor DW. As much as I love taking pictures as you were saying in your other post that you took 30 pictures between the parking lot and the end of the road I was thinking of your poor DW. She must have a ton of patients. My DH would have gone off and left me in the dust of anoyance.

 

[geoand]

The road through Polychrome Pass Denali National Park 9/07

 

[RDB]

With permission from Kingwayne, modifications were made to his river shot, just to show abit of what editing can do. These took only a few minutes.

A few changes were made to bring out the trees on the hillside and the bank, far in the distance. Still the same photo.

I added some color and modified the light and shadows. It was overly done to make the changes pronounced.

Robert

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Your poor DW. As much as I love taking pictures as you were saying in your other post that you took 30 pictures between the parking lot and the end of the road I was thinking of your poor DW. She must have a ton of patients. My DH would have gone off and left me in the dust of anoyance.

As my skills have improved over the last couple of years she's become more tolerant. The photo I took of her and DD, which I posted earlier in this thread, helped a lot. That one earned me points beaucoup.

Her larger frustration now is that it takes me awhile to get images handled and printed after our trips.

 

[boyblue]

Some like it hot

We like it cold

Near Witefish Montana 2005

Got it!

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

West Maui from 20-Mile Beach - Moloka'i

Some like it hot. DW loves a warm tropical beach.

***************

Re discussions of the role of adjusting and manipulating images. For comparison, here is the unedited image I started with. A good photo shop program is the digital photographers friend. I've done it enough now that I can make the adjustments shown in this photo in about five to ten minutes. I wasn't that fast to start with, but as I've gained experience there are some standard adjustments that I can make pretty quickly.

Occasionally I do get into something more elaborate that takes more time. The picture of my daughter at the waterfall many pages back, for example, is also a combination of three pictures. So it took me some time to align the images, and get the exposure settings to match on the overlays. That was the first time I attempted something such as that, so it took me longer because I was learning as I went on that one. The new version of Paint Shop Pro (which just arrived two days ago) will now handle that task automatically. Sweet!!!!

 

[RichM]

Yesterday at the Ostrich Farm in Buellton, CA:

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[SueDonJ]

This whole thread is so interesting! I don't know which ones I like more - the beautiful scenery shots or the ones of people enjoying the scenery. Thanks to everyone for the directions - I'm off to figure out how to do this.

Susan