The Perfect Agapanthus?

Hi all, I drove Carla mad over Christmas trying to find and shoot the perfect agapanthus. I'm chuffed with this shot. Neil

Quick and Dirty tutorial to layers and masks in PS

I was asked today to put together a basic guide to using layers and masks in PS. I've written a the "Quick and Dirty Layers and Masks Tutorial" which can be downloaded from this address: http://www.limephoto.co.za/Tutorials/layers.pdf. Let me know if you like the tutorial, or if you would like to comment on it. For some of you it may be old hat, but for others it might be useful before venturing towards the more advanced tutorials offered (I mention in the tutorial where to go for more guides). If you like the tutorial let me know and I can start to create more quick and dirty guides.

E

Eclipse Tips?

So yesterday was eclipse day, well partial. I had a bash and would struggle to agree that I was successful. Has anyone done any eclipse photography and had any success?
Here is some of what I did and what concerns I had whilst doing it.


My fist concern was burning holes in the cameras CCD in the way that lasers sometimes do. However, working through it logically (not always the best way I will agree!) I decided that it wasn't a problem, as I, like many of us have taken images directly into the sun, backlighting objects etc etc without hassle. If anything, there should be less light during an eclipse.

I was also concerned about going blind. So I used some coloured theatre light filter paper to 'see' and to focus. I shot manually and bracketed heavily.

I also tried shooting through a red cokin filter (red 'cos it was all I had) with the intention of using photoshop to do a colour replacement, perhaps a de saturation.

By combining the above (bracketing and colour replacement) I hoped to merge a few images, HDR maybe. Didn't work too well.

Most importantly I didn't (don't!) have a long lens, or any fancy equipment so needed to try something that steered away from the usual orb and shadow filling the frame. Again I was hoping to blend (or double expose) a few frames. Thinking about it I realised it would be near impossible to achieve a visible foreground type image, as, in order to see the eclipse you need to under expose dramatically, thus rendering the foreground black and nonexistent (dah!) So I opted for a clean foreground that would work as a (faint) silhouette. As there was some cloud early on in the eclipse I used the opportunity to incorporate the haze as a natural 'filter' and ended up with the image I have posted here. By any standards it is not the most interesting of images and is annoyingly moon-like. Anyway, any input or experiences would be welcomed.
Here are the tech details: f/22 at 1/250th. Lens - 17 to 40mm at 40mm (Don't even think about saying that the sun should be bigger!) P/shop: mask on the building to lighten it a bit and a saturation of the blues for the sky.
Paul.

the old and the newbie1

Ok so I know this is off topic but I wanted to do this for a while. I really like Ansel Adams stuff and thought I would compare his original shot of half dome in Yosemite National Park and a shot I took from the same spot in Yosemite. I took this photo about 6 years ago and it was taken on fuji valvia I think..and then scanned..I tried to get the contrast between his black and white shots with taking my shot in autumn when the colours are out in full force. Any crits are welcome..

Cloning question?

Following along in the slightly 'darker' theme of the past few posts. not quite as sombre as Paul's shots, but a question that he aslo asked about cloning things out. Does the fence on the left side of the image bother anyone? Yes, I can clone it out... but I definitely saw it when I took the image and couldn't avoid including it in this particular composition.

The image is blend of two exposures to handle the shadows and the highlights. The rain was approaching fast and the light was pretty dim, requiring a 1.25th sec exposure at f9 (shot with a 10mp cam).

Cheers

E

Ooops

Damn, obviously too many chocolate box images in my processed folder! But seriously, what do you guys think of this? It was horrible when I was there, seedy and derelict. Not sure I really captured it though?

Neil.

This will not stand I tell you !

Right in response to the insulting chocolate box slur I am posting this image!

A trend perhaps, but no theme yet!

Again, not sure how this would fit into one of our themes, but all is not lost. I picked up on a trend towards bird photography a while back (ok.... so I don't have the fastest response time amongst the group!) I also picked up on a little spat that might have been emerging.... Something to do with birds in flight, subjects that don't move etc etc. So I thought I would pop this up in an effort towards peace, a bid to satisfy both parties if you like. Yes, it is a bird, yes it was in flight... at least up until it hit the windscreen of a fast moving car/truck, and yes, it isn't moving (well, maybe just a little in the wind) So it might be a little morbid ( but I find myself drawn in this direction more than I would like to admit), but it should be a nice contrast to my previous image which hinted, perhaps towards a more 'gleeful-skip-off-into-the-wilderness-blowing-dandylions-as-we-go' type thing! Or not?
Details I hear you ask? It is/was a Grass Owl (Tyto capensis). f22 at 1/125th with fill in flash. I would have liked to have shot a little quicker as I suspect the image is not quite as sharp as it could hve been. Again, minimal editing... levels and spot healing ahhhhgain! And a slight perspective crop to get rid of annoying vertical wiring on the left of the frame. Comments would be cool. Especially with regard to market :)
Paul.

Okay... So this may not have too much to do with a book I am reading, with water, light or any other of our previous themes. I just like it so thought I would chuck it up for shredding. Any input would be appreciated. Let me kick off ... Does anyone else get annoyed by the phone line at bottom left of the frame? Ooooo... that p/shop stamp is screaming to be used! Technical details: f22 at 1/250th, fill in flash from camera mounted flash at full power, but angled upwards and bounced off the internal diffuser (No Jackie, and no Jackie's Dad to hold additional flashes and deflectors :). By using fill flash and by working closely I was able to under expose the back ground, giving detail in the clouds. There was very little p/shopping: a tweak of the levels and a WHOLE bunch of spot healing! Damn that dust of the devils loins!
Paul

My best sale

In response to Emil's post last year of his best sale, I have posted this shot. It was sold RM on Alamy with the following use:

Country: Europe
Usage: Direct Mail/Brochures
Media: Catalog
Industry: Cars/Commercial Vehicles
Sub-Industry: Car companies
Print run: up to 500,000
Placement: Front Cover
Image Size: 1/4 page
Start: Thursday, October 30, 2008
End: Sunday, October 30, 2011

After commission I made R15,500.

While I did wait for the clouds to enter the sky to add some interest, it is essentially a snap, but one which I knew to take because I am slowly learning what is and what is not commerically viable.

Neil.

Light

Late as usual, and also trying to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Here's my entry into Last month's theme, light. These are two of my photography students in St Lucia. I had them pose for me while I painted them with my LED headlamp. this is always a fun shoot for the students who have often not had the chance to shoot long exposures at night. I posted an earlier shoot of a lightening storm last year that was on a similar excursion.

I hope January and the rest of 2009 is looking up for everyone. Neil...you owe an image of a certain road in the Free State as per our deal last year ;)

Cheers

E

The one that got away

Sigh...sometimes you just miss the shot. This happened the other day while in Pongola photographing a favourite spot of mine for water birds. I'd be ecstatic if the focus were on the eye and beak of the jacana, but daly it's on the wingtips and legs... the one that got away.

(oh and tech details are 80-200 zoom at the maximum extension on a D700. The image was cropped to about half frame)

E