# Photography thread.



## mirepoix

Interested in taking photos? Or simply looking at them? Is the techie side of it your bag? Cellphone shooter? Longtime film burner? Wet plate enthusiast? I thought a dedicated thread might be appropriate.

Please note it's not my intention to tread on the toes of any other thread (Hello, 'Beautiful Pictures' thread!) in this matter. And I hope there's little of the elitist '_My camera/lenses are better/more expensive than yours nyah nyah_' nonsense. I don't care if it's a high fashion shot with a digital Hassy or a Box Brownie snap of your cat - feel free to share. It's all good.


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## clara s

I am interested in taking photos

I once read this quote of Jay Maisel

try to go out empty and let your images fill you up

the next day I bought my Canon Powershot

it is a unique experience to see what you want to see through the lens

I also like to explore the meanings behind the work of great photographers

b & w photography is favourite to me


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## mirepoix

^^^ outside of work I shoot black and white almost exclusively.

Not a great shot, but this illustrates one of the reasons you should always carry some sort of camera, and also not just look at the potential of your surroundings, but also what the light is doing. I was outside the studio on a break and had a work camera with me. I looked up and across the street and noticed the semicircles, squares, rectangles - all the geometric shapes. Then I realised I had about two seconds to lift the camera and focus on the guy to catch that triangle of light pointing directly at his head.









That's a photo of a print and so much of the shadow detail is lost. But hopefully you get the point.

Yes, black and white is where it's at. But I miss Kodachrome...


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## mirepoix

clara s said:


> I also like to explore the meanings behind the work of great photographers


Maybe there's a photo you would like to post and we could discuss? If not one of your own, perhaps by a photographer you enjoy the work of?
And I know there are posters here who are interested in and have a knowledge of art. They're welcome to contribute too - you don't need to be a photographer to join in.


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## senza sordino

I like to take photos, it's my third profession, so to speak. 
My hometown, but not the view from my house.
View attachment 46793

A photo I entered into an online competition recently, I was an honourable mention. The Washington Monument.
View attachment 46794

A photo I took near my home one winter day at sunset.
View attachment 46795


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## PetrB

*Old Manhattan: 1 of 8*







28th Street Looking east from Second Avenue; April 4, 1931








A Hooverville in Brooklyn, ca. 1930-1932. The area is now Red Hook Park in Brooklyn.








Amid road construction, the Hudson Diner advertises''Tables for Ladies'' on November 20, 1929, on Marginal Street, looking east from 125th Street.








Coney Island looking east from Steeplechase Pier showing Sunday bathers, crowd on beach; July 30, 1922.








crowded street market under New York City Rail Road tracks, looking south on Park Avenue from 123rd Street in June of 1932.

*Old Manhattan: 2 of 8*








Grand Central Station








Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History, West 81st St, between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West








herd of sheep in the Sheep Meadow in Central Park, New York City, ca. 1900-1910








IRT Lexington Avenue Line - City Hall subway station (original); 1904.








Italian vegetable sidewalk stand, Bleeker Street near Church of Our Lady of Pompeii; August of 1937.

*Old Manhattan: 3 of 8*








Lower Manhattan skyline at night, from beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn; February of 1938.








Manhattan Bridge, under-construction, seen from the roof of Robert Gear Building, showing suspenders and saddles, on February 11, 1909








Meeker Avenue Bridge under construction, looking south at Brooklyn approach; June 29, 1939








Men cut ice from Kissena Lake in Queens, ca. 1860-1900

*Old Manhattan: 4 of 8*







Monday Morning In New York City, 1904 postcard








New York Fire Department demonstration of a steam pumper converted from horse-drawn to motor-driven, at 12th Avenue and 56th Street.








New York Police Department evidence photo, homicide scene. Jos Kellner, 404 East 54th Street, murdered in hallway, on January 7, 1916








newspaper boy and other''newsies'', on Delancey Street, on December 26, 1906

*Old Manhattan: 5 of 8*








night view of Midtown Manhattan, looking south from Madison Avenue and the 50's, ca. 1935-1941.








Ninth Avenue El trains 2 levels of tracks, 66th Street El station in background, in October of 1933. Photo taken on Columbus Avenue, nwest of Lincoln Square & 65th St








Painters suspended on cables of the the Brooklyn Bridge; October 7, 1914. (Eugene de Salignac








Powell House at 195th Street and 58th Avenue North, Queens, on May 20, 1941

*Old Manhattan: 6 of 8*








Queensboro Bridge - An experimental exposure; February 9, 1910.








Queensboro Bridge under construction, on August 8, 1907








Queensboro Bridge, showing reconstruction of tracks looking east, on November 22, 1929








Red Hook Swimming Pool, Clinton, Bay & Henry Streets, Brooklyn

*Old Manhattan: 7 of 8*








Shadows cast by the Brooklyn Bridge - from from a stable roof; May 6, 1918.








Sixth Ave. and 40th St - Man reads paper with headline, ''Nazi Army Now 75 Miles From Paris.'' May 18, 1940








Subway Road Comes up for air in Brooklyn -- in background, a view of Manhattan from subway elevated tracks, 8th Street, Brooklyn, New York, on March 21, 1938








superstructure - under-construction Manhattan Bridge - Washington St. New York; June 5, 1908

*Old Manhattan: 8 of 8*








Times Square. Times Building, Loew's Theatre, Hotel Astor, Gaiety Theatre other landmarks; January, 1938








view down an alley, as rows and rows of laundry hang from tenements ca. 1935-1941. Seen looking west from 70 Columbus Avenue or Amsterdam Avenue at 63nd Street








Williamsburg Bridge, looking west - congested traffic in Manhattan; January 29, 1923.

and one from 1965 ~







Statue of Liberty, New York harbor - aerial view; January 27, 1965


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## jurianbai

nice photos, I love photography and been taking photo for $$, well sort of. But my equipments are mostly beginner entry level.

mainstream city skyline view... :tiphat:


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## mirepoix

senza sordino said:


> I like to take photos, it's my third profession, so to speak.
> My hometown, but not the view from my house.
> View attachment 46793
> 
> A photo I entered into an online competition recently, I was an honourable mention. The Washington Monument.
> View attachment 46794
> 
> A photo I took near my home one winter day at sunset.
> View attachment 46795


Good stuff.
So, how did you find your way into having photography as one of your professions?


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## mirepoix

jurianbai said:


> nice photos, I love photography and been taking photo for $$, well sort of. But my equipments are mostly beginner entry level.
> 
> mainstream city skyline view... :tiphat:
> View attachment 46833


Looks like you're doing just fine with your beginner/entry level equipment.


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## senza sordino

mirepoix said:


> Good stuff.
> So, how did you find your way into having photography as one of your professions?


I didn't mean it literally, sorry. I only have one profession that earns money, my second profession is my hobby of music, my third profession, actually a hobby, is photography. I have had one photo used in a children's travel book, and a couple of photos used by websites. I haven't earned any money from photography, but I have earned lots of satisfaction.


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## mirepoix

No, my mistake - I should read things properly!
Your satisfaction is certainly a great measure of success. Sure, it's good to keep the client happy, but I know that shooting outside of work leads to my own fulfillment. Having said that, your shots being published shows you're doing alright for yourself, because the market is saturated and some people never get to see their work being used.


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## mirepoix

I remember getting my first camera. Well, my first SLR. I was about thirteen years old and I took a job delivering milk in the mornings before school. I'd get down to the depot at about 04:30 and then carry crates of milk bottles up three or four flights of stairs (bonus of this was that the protein from the 'free' milk and the exercise helped make my core and back strong from an early age) until about 08:30. I did that for about one year until I had enough money for my camera. I gladly quit the job and went into town to buy it...but found it had gone up in price! So, back to climbing stairs with milk...

Eventually I owned a camera and a 50mm lens. That was my only lens for more than a year. But I learned how to use it. I learned what it was capable of, and to this day I can make a 50mm lens do a decent impression of a wider lens. My next purchase was a flash and a PC cord. After that I got a longer lens and started shooting portraits for neighbours and family friends. The (little) money I earned mostly went on buying more film - Tri-x.

By 15 I had a Saturday job in a studio. I wasn't even an apprentice - I mostly swept the floors and stuff like that. I was paid in free studio time (during quiet periods) and all the Kodachrome I could eat. But I always had my camera with me and sometimes after they'd finished for the day the models would pose and let me shoot a few frames. Yay for being exposed to so many unfeasibly attractive women at that age! (Haha)

The next year I was full time and my camera died. It wasn't built for such heavy use and I'm surprised it lasted so long. But I still own and use a few lenses from back then. Come to think of it, I'm surprised I've lasted so long too.


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## Kieran

That's a photo I took a while back using my phone, into direct sunlight at 10am. It's kind of a gimmick of mine, but I like to see what unusual effects it can have. This time, it looks kind of foggy and later in the day...


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## PetrB

*More from my downloaded collection I; 1 of 10*








Bob Dylan in Taxi, from ''Rock Dreams'' Guy Peelaert








American Way; John Vachon 1940








Aula de Especialización ~ Motel








Aula de Especialización ~ Xiaoxi Liao-China

*More from my downloaded collection I; 2 of 10*








Beer hall, Mound Bayou, Mississippi; Russell Lee 1939

More from my downloaded collection I; 3 of 10








Big John's Place

*More from my downloaded collection I; 4 of 10*








Clarksville, Ark, Street Scene 1935 - Arthur Rothstein

* More from my downloaded collection I; 5 of 10
*







Cot House; John Vachon, Oklahoma City, Ok. 1942

*More from my downloaded collection I; 6 of 10
*







Daily and Sunday

*More from my downloaded collection I; 7 of 10
*







Dallas, Texas; downtown Night view 1942 Arthur Rothstein

*More from my downloaded collection I; 8 of 10
*







Dorothea Lange Georgia Road sign, 'Hambuglars'

*More from my downloaded collection I; 9 of 10
*







Dorothea Lange; Sign near Saint David, Arizona, 1937

*More from my downloaded collection I; 10 of 10
*
Fred Hertzog:







Asia Storefront








Garages on Alley








Pedestrian Bridge








Pink Door








Signage


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## mirepoix

Until a few years ago this was my most stolen photo. I've seen it used in adverts for dating websites and hair products and all manner of nonsense. Ridiculous, because it was an outtake and worth nothing.









Techie stuff: harsh lighting/hard edged shadows (suitable because it's a dude's face) courtesy of a bare flash fired at the studio wall, which acts like a huge reflector.


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## mirepoix

Walk into town. Pass the Necropolis. Take a photo. Suddenly feel all uncomfortable. Walk faster.


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## mirepoix

From the BBC. 'The nanny who took thousands of photos of daily life'

1950s street photography by Vivian Maier. Story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28123706 and website: http://www.vivianmaier.com/


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## clara s

mirepoix said:


> ^^^ outside of work I shoot black and white almost exclusively.
> 
> Not a great shot, but this illustrates one of the reasons you should always carry some sort of camera, and also not just look at the potential of your surroundings, but also what the light is doing. I was outside the studio on a break and had a work camera with me. I looked up and across the street and noticed the semicircles, squares, rectangles - all the geometric shapes. Then I realised I had about two seconds to lift the camera and focus on the guy to catch that triangle of light pointing directly at his head.
> 
> View attachment 46792
> 
> 
> That's a photo of a print and so much of the shadow detail is lost. But hopefully you get the point.
> 
> Yes, black and white is where it's at. But I miss Kodachrome...


you are good in your job

clean sharp lines

light and shadows in a game of domination

although you had no time, your subject was placed smartly

geometry in full development

what camera you used for the shot?


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## Taggart

mirepoix said:


> Walk into town. Pass the Necropolis. Take a photo. Suddenly feel all uncomfortable. Walk faster.


Given your fish supper tonight a nice version of your tale: My mother, as a young woman, was walking past another cemetery when she suddenly saw a white shape fluttering towards her. Almost ready to run, she steadied herself and realised that it was ... a fish supper wrapper blowing in the breeze.


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## mirepoix

clara s said:


> you are good in your job
> 
> clean sharp lines
> 
> light and shadows in a game of domination
> 
> although you had no time, your subject was placed smartly
> 
> geometry in full development
> 
> what camera you used for the shot?


Thanks your kind words and for taking time to consider the photo.

The camera was a full frame DSLR and would have been either a Nikon D3 or D700. The lens was my old manual focus 105mm Nikkor which I use for the vast majority of work with the models - and this shot is a good example of 'Just use whatever you have at the time'!


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## clara s

mirepoix said:


> Maybe there's a photo you would like to post and we could discuss? If not one of your own, perhaps by a photographer you enjoy the work of?
> And I know there are posters here who are interested in and have a knowledge of art. They're welcome to contribute too - you don't need to be a photographer to join in.











do you like Margaret Cameron?

19th century


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## clara s

mirepoix said:


> Thanks your kind words and for taking time to consider the photo.
> 
> The camera was a full frame DSLR and would have been either a Nikon D3 or D700. The lens was my old manual focus 105mm Nikkor which I use for the vast majority of work with the models - and this shot is a good example of 'Just use whatever you have at the time'!


I wanted it to be Nikon D3, because it's a great camera and my favourite


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## mirepoix

clara s said:


> View attachment 46920
> 
> 
> do you like Margaret Cameron?
> 
> 19th century


Yes, she shot the most intense portraits that sadly weren't appreciated in her lifetime. Still, she created an incredible body of work. 
Is she another of your particular favourites?


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## mirepoix

clara s said:


> I wanted it to be Nikon D3, because it's a great camera and my favourite


Yes, it's a good, reliable camera. It shares the same sensor as the D700 and so they perform the same. On every job I bring 2 x D3 and 1 x D700. Backups are required for everything.

But while the camera is important it's good to remember that no matter if it's the latest model or is from 100 years ago, a camera is still only a box that's designed to trap light. More important, is the lens. Most important, is you, because you can see.


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## cwarchc

[/URL]IMAG0038 by cwarchc, on Flickr[/IMG]
This is from the inside of Smoo Cave in Durness (Scottish Highlands) taken on my phone, as I wouldn't risk my "proper" camera in the damp,dripping air?


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## mirepoix

^^^^ you got the shot. But 'good camera' + plastic bag + hole in the bag with the lens sticking out with a rubber band to create a seal' is my chosen method.


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## cwarchc

Try another one
For some reason, some images will link, others won't

__
https://flic.kr/p/cqtn99


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## StlukesguildOhio

Petr... you took all those photos? You're older than I thought. :devil:


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## StlukesguildOhio

The last time I did a complete manual back-up of my hard drive I had over 150,000 images saved. Well over half of these are of paintings, sculpture, architecture, photography, posters, illustration, comic books... just about any visual art form you can think of. The rest are largely personal family photographs and tons of reference photos for my own work: nudes, landscapes, interior settings, patterns, color studies, anatomical studies (hands, feet, eyes, from every conceivable angle), clothing, hair styles, etc... I wouldn't know where to begin to select a favorite photograph or two.


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## PetrB

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Petr... you took all those photos? You're older than I thought. :devil:


It's all the cosmetic surgery + a tutor to keep me up on fairly current language usage that fools almost everyone.
With an ego like mine, great shots like that, you think if they were mine that I would not be making sure to remind the viewer and take the credit at every turn? Bwaaahahaaaa.


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## senza sordino

A couple of my favourite synchronous musical and photographic moments
In Florence outside the Uffizi gallery this busker was playing Bach's solo violin partita #2, the famous chaconne. The entire thing, and played well. 
View attachment 46966

I saw the Barber of Seville at the Sydney Opera house. 
View attachment 46967


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## mirepoix

^^^I like the first photo. Maybe look at the crop. But it's still a good shot.


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## Ingélou

We are only amateurs, but since Taggart got his digital camera, we've taken it on holidays etc, and I love how it enhances the experience, looking at views to take. It doesn't really matter whether the photos are any good afterwards! 

In the days of 'steam cameras', my father used to take colour slides of our family & some are quite good, in my ignorant opinion. This one is of my mother with Little Bro at bathtime - I think I'd call it 'Madonna and Child, 1959':









It's lucky if a person is in the right place at the right time. My eldest sister's husband worked for British Rail in the 50s & 60s, and being a train nut, took lots of b/w photos of old steam engines which are now often used in books on the subject. I will ask Taggart to upload a good example of his work.

Great thread, mirepoix! :tiphat:


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## mirepoix

^^^ thank you. I hope people feel comfortable contributing to it.

That's a good shot.
As far as "It doesn't really matter whether the photos are any good afterwards!"is concerned, as soon as someone releases the shutter at the very least they are creating a document. And that alone makes it both valid and worthwhile.


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## Taggart

Here is one of my brother-in-law's train photos from his book _Stationmaster's Reflections_:










Not perfect because I had to scan it from a book where it was sepia tinted so it's been descreened and slightly photoshopped, but I think you can get the idea.

Lovely thread. :tiphat:


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## mirepoix

^^^ thanks.

As with the shots posted by PetrB, I'm not sure that the railways photographers (and the bus and tram guys) could fully appreciate that at the time they weren't only shooting what interested them, but also documented ways of life and time and people. Can't put a price on that.


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## hpowders

Taggart said:


> Here is one of my brother-in-law's train photos from his book _Stationmaster's Reflections_:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not perfect because I had to scan it from a book where it was sepia tinted so it's been descreened and slightly photoshopped, but I think you can get the idea.
> 
> Lovely thread. :tiphat:


Brrrrrr.....I'm getting the chills just looking at that scene. Good one!


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## PetrB

mirepoix said:


> ^^^I like the first photo. Maybe look at the crop. But it's still a good shot.


I do too.








I also agree about minding the crop. The right can easily be taken care of after the fact:








But, like a shot with a dancer's feet cut off at the bottom of the frame, here, I very much miss and want to see _the full bowing arm of the violinist_ -- and to get that, more self-awareness when you take the shot.


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## PetrB

mirepoix said:


> ^^^ thanks.
> 
> As with the shots posted by PetrB, I'm not sure that the railways photographers (and the bus and tram guys) could fully appreciate that at the time they weren't only shooting what interested them, but also documented ways of life and time and people. Can't put a price on that.


Some of those vintage shots of Manhattan were done by photographers working on assignment taking pictures for documentary / archival purposes. Clearly, some of them were far beyond 'snap a shot of it for posterity,' and I think had a notion of both the import of the content and of what is artful in the criteria of photographs. Many of the others which are similar, the old-time run down in its own time grocery store front, etc. show that same sensibility and eye.

Subject matter was one motivation, but the fact they are imo artful black and white photos also has much to do with why I collected them.

The size of my collection of images on my hard drive is less than a kitten yet to be in the glimmer of the eyes of some Tomcat compared to the number of Images StlukesguildOhio has amassed!


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## PetrB

Taggart said:


> Here is one of my brother-in-law's train photos from his book _Stationmaster's Reflections_:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not perfect because I had to scan it from a book where it was sepia tinted so it's been descreened and slightly photoshopped, but I think you can get the idea.


NICE!
I am a complete sucker for those scenes shot with color film which are still very much black and white -- they're mainly winter scenes of course, but the range of color tonality -- yet 'basically' the black and white -- is kinda luscious.


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## hpowders

Taggart said:


> Here is one of my brother-in-law's train photos from his book _Stationmaster's Reflections_:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not perfect because I had to scan it from a book where it was sepia tinted so it's been descreened and slightly photoshopped, but I think you can get the idea.
> 
> Lovely thread. :tiphat:


There should be a law that when photographing winter scenes with snow, black and white is mandatory. Perfectly captures the bleakness. Color would have made it simply just another photograph. Nothing memorable. What a difference!


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## senza sordino

Thanks for the comments. I know all about the crop and chopping off the bowing arm elbow. The right side isn't clean either. Oh well. With a point and shoot it's more difficult to compose than a SLR. I do now have a SLR, but it can be rather bulky and it often takes over my trip.


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## mirepoix

senza sordino said:


> Thanks for the comments. I know all about the crop and chopping off the bowing arm elbow. The right side isn't clean either. Oh well. With a point and shoot it's more difficult to compose than a SLR. I do now have a SLR, but it can be rather bulky and it often takes over my trip.


Yes, I understand the point and shoot is a compromise. Perhaps unsolicited advice, but I've a couple of old viewfinder cameras I sometimes take out and at least one DSLR with a 97% viewfinder. When using those I compose as usual and then take one step back. That offers me room to edit. It means giving up real estate of what you capture, but as I say, it's a compromise.


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## mirepoix

A tear sheet. I don't recall what it was shot for.









_Keep your horizon straight!_ - yes. In this case the mitigating circumstances are that the doorway was far from level, and I had her lean as far as possible without appearing unnatural. As for the dark area under her eye - I've no idea. Must be a result of the printing process...

This was lit using three reflectors. My assistant held one, the MUA held another, and_ "Excuse me, dear onlooker with your cellphone out documenting what we're doing - mind holding this big shiny circle for a moment, please?"_

Lens - a 70-200 zoom at about 150 or thereabouts. And how things change, because when I started that was the short end of lenses for shots like this - check out late 1970s/early 1980s fashion shots to see models with flattened faces.


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## senza sordino

Some more photos before I leave. I'm don't normally take photos of people, I'm not really a people person. I can be a bit remote, not really connecting with photographic subjects. So I take photos of nature, landscapes and cityscapes.
View attachment 47010

A rainbow lorikeet in Queensland.
View attachment 47011

an egret in New South Wales
View attachment 47012

a Canada goose here in British Columbia just a few minutes walk from home


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## hpowders

PetrB said:


> It's all the cosmetic surgery + a tutor to keep me up on fairly current language usage that fools almost everyone.
> With an ego like mine, great shots like that, you think if they were mine that I would not be making sure to remind the viewer and take the credit at every turn? Bwaaahahaaaa.


Ha! Ha! PetrB keeps me in stitches!!! :lol::lol:


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## mirepoix

senza sordino said:


> Some more photos before I leave. I'm don't normally take photos of people, I'm not really a people person. I can be a bit remote, not really connecting with photographic subjects. So I take photos of nature, landscapes and cityscapes.
> 
> View attachment 47011


Some nice_ look space_ going on here.


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## norman bates

Is there a site or something to know the name of photographic effects, like drose, bokeh, lens flare etc?
For example I'd like to know if there's a name for the effect of this picture.










Admittedly it's not the best photo ever taken, but I really like the effect of the light in it.


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## clara s

mirepoix said:


> Yes, she shot the most intense portraits that sadly weren't appreciated in her lifetime. Still, she created an incredible body of work.
> Is she another of your particular favourites?


very distinct portraitist she was

among women, she is one of my favourite, together with Tina Modotti and Diane Arbus

who is your favourite?


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## clara s

mirepoix said:


> Yes, it's a good, reliable camera. It shares the same sensor as the D700 and so they perform the same. On every job I bring 2 x D3 and 1 x D700. Backups are required for everything.
> 
> But while the camera is important it's good to remember that no matter if it's the latest model or is from 100 years ago,* a camera is still only a box that's designed to trap light. More important, is the lens. Most important, is you, because you can see*.


very nice quote

I will remember it, when you will be very famous, or are you? hahaha


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## clara s

Ingélou said:


> We are only amateurs, but since Taggart got his digital camera, we've taken it on holidays etc, and I love how it enhances the experience, looking at views to take. It doesn't really matter whether the photos are any good afterwards!
> 
> In the days of 'steam cameras', my father used to take colour slides of our family & some are quite good, in my ignorant opinion. This one is of my mother with Little Bro at bathtime - I think I'd call it 'Madonna and Child, 1959':
> 
> View attachment 46969
> 
> 
> It's lucky if a person is in the right place at the right time. My eldest sister's husband worked for British Rail in the 50s & 60s, and being a train nut, took lots of b/w photos of old steam engines which are now often used in books on the subject. I will ask Taggart to upload a good example of his work.
> 
> Great thread, mirepoix! :tiphat:


this is wonderful photograph Ingelou

1959? colors are alive


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## mirepoix

norman bates said:


> Is there a site or something to know the name of photographic effects, like drose, bokeh, lens flare etc?
> For example I'd like to know if there's a name for the effect of this picture.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Admittedly it's not the best photo ever taken, but I really like the effect of the light in it.


I'm sorry, I don't really know many photography websites. It has been a while since I looked for any of them. Perhaps someone else can make a suggestion?
For the moment, you could have a browse through http://www.luminous-landscape.com/index.shtml - they seem to have articles or features on most things. They've one on bokeh here: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/sm-04-04-04.shtml 
You could search Flickr for a term such as 'contre-jour' or 'lens flare' and that would return a few examples and perhaps further links to other resources.


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## mirepoix

clara s said:


> very distinct portraitist she was
> 
> among women, she is one of my favourite, together with Tina Modotti and Diane Arbus
> 
> who is your favourite?


Yes, 'distinct' is an important (and fairly rare) attribute to possess. Yet, she had an additional quality, in that her work remained consistent over many years.

Note: the following links may contain some links that could be considered *NSFW/not safe for work.*

I don't really have favourites. However some photographers who I enjoy the work of include John Rawlings, Edward Steichen, Erwin Blumenfeld, Lillian Bassman, Irving Penn, and particularly Jeanloup Sieff - I can't say the latter was an influence on me, but it's probably his work I most think of when I consider the importance of setting standards for oneself.

E: and I should add that there are also cinematographers who I have admired greatly and learned from via watching their work on the big screen.


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## mirepoix

clara s said:


> very nice quote
> 
> I will remember it, when you will be very famous, or are you? hahaha


No, I'm not famous. I've just been doing what I do and loving it for a very long time.


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## mirepoix

Here's an idea for anyone who might be interested. When you leave home tomorrow to go to work, take a photo on your way there.
It could be a photo of anything or anyone. And you can use any type of camera at all, it's not important.
Obviously if you are retired or don't work, take a photo of whatever you see the next time you go out. Just one photo.

When you've done that post it here. Maybe say a few words about it and why you chose it as a subject?


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## cwarchc

mirepoix said:


> Here's an idea for anyone who might be interested. When you leave home tomorrow to go to work, take a photo on your way there.
> It could be a photo of anything or anyone. And you can use any type of camera at all, it's not important.
> Obviously if you are retired or don't work, take a photo of whatever you see the next time you go out. Just one photo.
> 
> When you've done that post it here. Maybe say a few words about it and why you chose it as a subject?


Like the idea.
I'll try to remember


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## mirepoix

This first photo isn't mine. And I can't find a credit for it - but thanks, anonymous photographer, because I'm using it to illustrate the logos on bus shelters around here. We use public transport whenever we can (and recycle, and reuse plastic bags, and knit cardigans for homeless kittens etc) and so we see these logos often. They're typical of the kind of corporate image employed in cities.









But if you look behind - especially on a sunny morning like this one - they're a little more interesting, not least when they're framed by the shadows of the shelter uprights and there's a texture added courtesy of a wall.









50mm manual focus Nikkor. SOOC (straight out of camera) apart from the crop. And shot while getting a funny look from an old lady waiting for the bus.


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## mirepoix

Tip when using manual focus lenses. I see a lot of people using such old lenses. So maybe this will be of use to someone.
After taking a photo and lowering your camera or removing the lens from the body, always leave the focus at infinity. That way if you're in a hurry and only have a second or so to get the shot (as in the black and white image I posted earlier in the thread) it means you only have one direction in which you need to turn the focus ring - there's no going in the wrong direction and then hunting back and forth. It's a worthwhile (and small) habit to adopt that'll increase your percentage of getting the shot. (And speaking of tips, ditch the jpgs and shoot RAW if you can - trust me on that one.)


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## Tristan

I've always loved taking photos. I have a Nikon P7800 prosumer camera, which is my main one, and a few others that I don't use as often.

I'm no artist and the photos I take are usually for my own enjoyment, often to document a place that I find beautiful (either from a vacation or just a place I like visiting, such as on a day trip). I also love to take macros of various plants and flowers and I edit them in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.

I took a B&W photography class in middle school and learned how to use a manual camera and develop film and photos by hand in a darkroom and all that. Although I don't do much photography like that anymore, I haven't forgotten the skill set I learned with that and I do sometimes apply it to the digital photos I take now.


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## mirepoix

^^^ good stuff.
Yes, you document what's important for you. And as you go along you learn more (either formally or informally) and then what you capture becomes even more your own vision. That's part of the simple beauty of it.


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## cwarchc

mirepoix said:


> Here's an idea for anyone who might be interested. When you leave home tomorrow to go to work, take a photo on your way there.
> It could be a photo of anything or anyone. And you can use any type of camera at all, it's not important.
> Obviously if you are retired or don't work, take a photo of whatever you see the next time you go out. Just one photo.
> 
> When you've done that post it here. Maybe say a few words about it and why you chose it as a subject?


I forgot to post this.
It was about halfway home on Friday, you have to watch for for these, as some of them have a death wish
Taken on my phone


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## mirepoix

^^^^ looks like no on else wants to play along. Ah well, thanks for taking part.

Perhaps I'll suggest another subject. Anyone brave/narcissistic enough for self-portraits?


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## clara s

mirepoix said:


> ^^^^ looks like no on else wants to play along. Ah well, thanks for taking part.
> 
> Perhaps I'll suggest another subject. Anyone brave/narcissistic enough for self-portraits?


I will play with a photograph

but i was not in all these days

I just saw the suggestions


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## mirepoix

Good.
There's no time limit. And anyone can post anything they want to.


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## clara s

due to the fact that I forgot to take a photograph today,
I post 2 pictures I have taken the past year on my way to work,
in 2 different countries

why I chose them huh?









in the first one, it was early in the morning, cold and I was sleepy

I was in the car looking indifferently the scenery

when I saw the tree and behind it the impressive building,
it looked like the stage of an open theatre where the play would start soon
And I thought I should photograph it
And I did it









this is again a photograph on my way to work

scary scene like a novel of Daphne du Maurier

but at the same time so attractive was the sea

ps by the way in this case, I was listening Mahler's lied von der erde


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## mirepoix

^^^^ good. And nice explanations about what you saw.
The second shot makes me wish for a wooden shack on the beach, where upon awakening in the morning instead of drawing back curtains I pull the natural covering of branches to the side, revealing the view and the day.


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## clara s

mirepoix said:


> ^^^^ good. And nice explanations about what you saw.
> The second shot makes me wish for a wooden shack on the beach, where upon awakening in the morning instead of drawing back curtains I pull the natural covering of branches to the side, revealing the view and the day.


very nice mirepoix

your wish will be fulfilled hahaha


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## mirepoix

Well, I've no plans to make the move to live in such a location, but I've learned that in life it's wise to 'never say never'.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your photos. If the weather is fine tomorrow I'll walk to the studio and perhaps on the way I'll see something to shoot and then post here.


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## mirepoix

On my way to work...
This was bravely growing out of the top of a wall beside a very busy road.
At the time I didn't notice how badly out of focus it was, but the lens was wide open and it was windy and the traffic was rushing by and and and...I missed the focus. Simple as that.









Camera: 50mm lens, resized in Lightroom, cropped in my Tablet.


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## Art Rock

View attachment 47611


This is the flipped image of a church in Muenster (Germany), reflected in a wet outside restaurant table.


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## mirepoix

^^^^ good stuff. Thanks for posting it.


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## Vaneyes

Photography is so easy now with digital.

I think back to the days when amateur photography was more involved. One was careful about the pictures one took, because developing costs were usually a consideration.

I miss the old Look, Life, and National Geographic magazines. They were the standard bearers for professional photography.

Just sayin'.


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## hpowders

I used to love those glossy, developed photos. Something pleasurable missing with digital.
More photos, yes. More pleasure, not so sure.


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## Taggart

Bit of yes and no here. I like a good analogue picture. But what I'm finding is that with digital I'm shooting a *lot* more. In the old days, you would try really hard to get a shot and then grumble when it wasn't _quite_ right when it came back from the developers. Now you can take a shot and see how it looks instantly. If you don't like it you try again and again and again oh and just one more for luck. Then when you get home, you can see how they look and then gently retouch until it comes out just right.

That's not to say that you don't worry about composition and exposure and framing and "telling a story" but it just gives you more freedom. On our last break, I took way over 150 shots where previously I would have taken maybe 20 or 24 - a basic roll of film. Out of those I got about 60 or so "good" shots. That's the *fun *of digital.


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## mirepoix

^^^^ yes, the flexibility and freedom that comes from working in the digital domain.
Years ago with exposure you would bracket the shot, but even then could be left with a lot of work. Nowadays a quick look at the histogram or simply the screen will help you out on the spot.
However I prefer film. I couldn't stand up and successfully debate the corner of film in a debate. But I still prefer it.


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## mirepoix

hpowders said:


> I used to love those glossy, developed photos. As with recorded music, I don't find digital techniques an improvement over what worked absolutely fine and in many cases, better.


'Glossy, developed photos' - while people can easily print out their digital images, most never do. And so the act of looking at each photo individually, taking the time to really look and perhaps comment before handing the photo over to the person sitting next to you to do the same, is gone.


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## Taggart

mirepoix said:


> 'Glossy, developed photos' - while people can easily print out their digital images, most never do. And so the act of looking at each photo individually, taking the time to really look and perhaps comment before handing the photo over to the person sitting next to you to do the same, is gone.


Instead it's become facebook or whatever and although people do comment the quality is nowhere near as good as the original ahot. Film has that tactile something even a sheet of contacts is better than the digital stuff.


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## mirepoix

Taggart said:


> Instead it's become facebook or whatever and although people do comment the quality is nowhere near as good as the original ahot. Film has that tactile something even a sheet of contacts is better than the digital stuff.


There are children born today who in the first couple of years of their life will have their existence documented and disseminated via photos more than most older people will have in their whole lifetime. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's part of the times. Life has changed. But I believe that in the process something has been lost. 
Time is important. Taking time to compose and expose a shot - invest even two or three seconds more through the viewfinder and who knows what will be revealed? And then there's the time involved in developing and printing the photos. Finally, time to hold the photo and look at it, pass it round, then put it away until it's time to_ "let's have a look at the old photos again."_
The role of the snapshot has changed. Most of what I've seen on Facebook is a plea for external validation. It's instant gratification delivered via someone clicking 'Like'. That's fine, as I said, times have changed. But something has been lost.

I'll willing to admit that for me, when it comes down to it shooting film is probably just a nostalgia trip and nothing more. I'm 49 years old. So I accept part of me will always live in the past. But I'm cool with that.


----------



## hpowders

mirepoix said:


> 'Glossy, developed photos' - while people can easily print out their digital images, most never do. And so the act of looking at each photo individually, taking the time to really look and perhaps comment before handing the photo over to the person sitting next to you to do the same, is gone.


Yeah. I'm hopelessly old school. Hundreds of unprinted digital photos on the computer that go straight to Facebook. I long for the old days, I guess, of being able to "see what develops". Also, printing photos with a good color printer ain't cheap.

I miss those days of fewer photos but with it, that excited anticipation of going to my favorite developer for the final results. Pay only for the photos you are satisfied with.

A bygone era.


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## hpowders

Mirepoix, I enjoy this thread even though I am a chronic "old school" whiner!

Thank you for posting it!


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## mirepoix

^^^^ you're welcome. And I could probably comfortably add a harmony to some whines.
Glad you're enjoying the thread, hope you continue to enjoy and contribute to it.


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## cwarchc

[/URL]jazz 2 by cwarchc, on Flickr[/IMG]

My eldest dog, enjoying himself on the beach


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## cwarchc

[/URL]skye boats 2 by cwarchc, on Flickr[/IMG]

2 abandoned boats at the side of the loch in Skye


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## mirepoix

cwarchc said:


> [/URL]jazz 2 by cwarchc, on Flickr[/IMG]
> 
> My eldest dog, enjoying himself on the beach


Looks like he has a fine life. Good stuff.


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## mirepoix

This is from last winter. It's not far from where we live and about halfway to the studio.









When you're familiar with the characteristics of the lenses you use you can often anticipate how they'll handle certain aspects of a scene. In this case I knew that with the lens being wide open the OOF (out of focus) areas in the background would appear as what's often described as 'busy' or 'nervous'. That's usually considered an undesirable trait, but I don't believe that every shot needs to have a background that looks like it has a silky smooth finish to it.

The other thing here is that the vignetting is courtesy of a combo of the lens being open and also that I'd removed the lens hood and used my hand instead.

50mm lens, black and white conversion via Light room.

(Title of this photo: _'Yay! Let's blow the highlights!'_)


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## clara s

mirepoix said:


> This is from last winter. It's not far from where we live and about halfway to the studio.
> 
> View attachment 47772
> 
> 
> When you're familiar with the characteristics of the lenses you use you can often anticipate how they'll handle certain aspects of a scene. In this case I knew that with the lens being wide open the OOF (out of focus) areas in the background would appear as what's often described as 'busy' or 'nervous'. That's usually considered an undesirable trait, but I don't believe that every shot needs to have a background that looks like it has a silky smooth finish to it.
> 
> The other thing here is that the vignetting is courtesy of a combo of the lens being open and also that I'd removed the lens hood and used my hand instead.
> 
> 50mm lens, black and white conversion via Light room.
> 
> (Title of this photo: _'Yay! Let's blow the highlights!'_)


you can be a very good teacher

crash course in photography for some exclusive members here hahaha

tell me, how the title was inspired?


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## mirepoix

^^^^ thank you.
I'm not sure teaching would be my forte. I suppose if I do have anything of value to impart it would be my experience, although I don't know how it is possible to teach that. But if you ever have any specific questions I would be glad to try to answer them.

The title is simply from the fact that I'd blown the highlights more than I first thought I had.


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## Taggart

mirepoix said:


> There are children born today who in the first couple of years of their life will have their existence documented and disseminated via photos more than most older people will have in their whole lifetime. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's part of the times. Life has changed. But I believe that in the process something has been lost.
> Time is important. Taking time to compose and expose a shot - invest even two or three seconds more through the viewfinder and who knows what will be revealed? And then there's the time involved in developing and printing the photos. Finally, time to hold the photo and look at it, pass it round, then put it away until it's time to_ "let's have a look at the old photos again."_
> The role of the snapshot has changed. Most of what I've seen on Facebook is a plea for external validation. It's instant gratification delivered via someone clicking 'Like'. That's fine, as I said, times have changed. But something has been lost.
> 
> I'll willing to admit that for me, when it comes down to it shooting film is probably just a nostalgia trip and nothing more. I'm 49 years old. So I accept part of me will always live in the past. But I'm cool with that.


Definitely! Growing up in the 1950s our family took very few pictures and most of them were almost contacts from 120 roll film (don't ask) but the fascinating thing was that children weren't posed to the 9's and some of the most memorable shots were the bloopers that were brought out at family gatherings as a way of saying remember when ... and pointing out how cousin X hasn't really changed since .... and wasn't it funny how ... Nowadays the emphasis seems to be on cute and you get very few really cruel pictures saved up to embarrass the relatives. Those seem to be saved for the teenage years and not within a family context.

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.


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## mirepoix

Taggart said:


> Definitely! Growing up in the 1950s our family took very few pictures and most of them were almost contacts from 120 roll film (don't ask) but the fascinating thing was that children weren't posed to the 9's and some of the most memorable shots were the bloopers that were brought out at family gatherings as a way of saying remember when ... and pointing out how cousin X hasn't really changed since .... and wasn't it funny how ... Nowadays the emphasis seems to be on cute and you get very few really cruel pictures saved up to embarrass the relatives. Those seem to be saved for the teenage years and not within a family context.
> 
> The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.


I can't find anything to disagree with in any of that.

My family didn't take many photos either. In fact, we didn't own a camera. It was commonplace that whenever going on a (rare) holiday you would borrow a camera from the neighbour along the street who owned one. But there are a couple of periods in the mid 60s from which I have many photos. My uncle was a professional too who lived in London shooting fashion, so during his infrequent visits he'd burn many rolls of film. And speaking of film...
...120? Contact sheets? I'll have you know I still shoot 120 on a regular basis! And remember 620? I sometimes respool 120 on to a 620 spool so I can have fun with things like this -









But 120, contact sheets, wax pencils etc - nowadays all exist within the virtual world of Lightroom/Photoshop. 
_
"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."_ - indeed.


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## mirepoix

Something that Taggart mentioned which I'd like to point out a different aspect of -

"Nowadays the emphasis seems to be on cute..."

I'm aware that when most people take a self portrait/selfie they're (rightly) unconcerned about if it's technically a good photo or not. That's fine. However when I look at some of those shots one of the things that I first notice is that often - and especially if it's a photo of a woman - that they're holding the camera too close to their face. That results in an effect that's like a milder version of looking at your reflection on the back of a spoon. 
The reason for that effect is due to the lens on most phones/Tablets being relatively wide, and when that's coupled with the lens being so close to the subject their face ends up slightly distorted.
Here's a series of shots by a photographer named Stephen Eastwood which illustrates the effect:









Nowadays most pro shooters doing the type of work I do are using a lens anywhere between about 105mm to maybe 135mm or so for headshots. My personal preference (for a model's face) is around about 180mm. Years ago we went even longer and started at 200mm, often going beyond that. But then you run into another problem. Your subject needs to have neat, even, delicate features because at that focal length the eyes, nose, lips etc can appear to have little depth and are reduced to almost a series of lines.

So, how do you take a flattering headshot? There are many parts to it. But as far as lenses are concerned, no matter if it's a camera phone or a DSLR you need to get the lens away from the face. Shoot head and shoulders or head to waist, then crop to a headshot.

(Yes I know there are some people who shoot great portraits with wide lenses. But I'm talking about your average headshot and also perhaps one of the reasons some people say "_I hate seeing myself in photos/I never look good in a photo"_)


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## Art Rock

I like to shoot abstracts. This is a shot of plastic green curtains, seen through the window.


Another green world by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


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## mirepoix

^^^^ thanks for posting.
If you've more to share I'd be happy to view them.


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## mirepoix

Regarding this post http://www.talkclassical.com/33205-photography-thread-post691959.html#post691959 - I've since been told about this website -









At least they'd the courtesy of providing a link to my old Flickr dumping ground that they stole it from... But the fact is that nowadays if you post photos on the Internet you run the risk of someone using them without paying you. And that's one of the reasons I don't leave photos online for a long time.
As an aside, I once received a threatening letter from Getty Images legal department warning me about copyright violation over a photo I'd posted on a blog. It took a lot of corresponding back and forth before they understood and accepted that the photo was one of mine in the first place...


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## Taggart

Notice how some sites are watermarking their images so that if you do pinch them it's very obvious?


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## mirepoix

^^^^ yes, I have. It really needs to be an overlay covering the entire image, and even with a shot that's not going to be used I'm not keen on doing it.
The main reason watermarks/logos are easy to remove is probably due to the 'Content Aware' fill that Photoshop has had in the last few versions. If you're unaware of it, watch a few seconds of this video from about 02:40 onwards. And this video shows an early version - it has improved greatly since then.






02:40 or thereabouts.


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## mirepoix

Here's another example of the difference the focal length/proximity of a lens can make to the same face.









That's maybe 20mm or so on the left and about a 135mm on the right.
I can't find a credit for the photographer.


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## Taggart

mirepoix said:


> yes, I have. It really needs to be an overlay covering the entire image, and even with a shot that's not going to be used I'm not keen on doing it.


I wasn't thinking about removing them but that's where steganography comes in. You add a digital watermark and then if somebody pinches your image you can identify the image.


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## mirepoix

^^^^ Now I understand. Yes, I know about that. I used Digimarc up until about the last year or so of my website. It:s good but has limits (Facebook, Flickr/Smugmug, flash galleries - it can't spider those properly) And when it does find and prove a photo is mine it's only half the battle - trying to be reimbursed is next to impossible. I tried everything from that, all the way down to limiting the image size (dimensions) for web, and the DPI for printing. So nowadays when I post something online that's important to me I always just remove it after a couple of weeks. 
But thanks for bringing the subject up. It's an important one and people should be aware of the options.


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## mirepoix

Lens hood off again and trying to consider the possibility of getting a model, the MUA and wardrobe and the lights up there for a shoot. Chance of success: 1℅









50mm manual focus, Lightroom, resized on my Tablet.


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## Art Rock

Another abstract. A close-up of one of the inside pillars of our city's main church.


Kampen church abstract by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


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## mirepoix

^^^^ you ever considered how some of your work might appear as part of a triptych? Or is that something that doesn't hold any interest for you?


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## Art Rock

Thanks, I have done triptychs, but I am not crazy about them:


Rusty triptych by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


Cantharelles triptych by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


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## mirepoix

^^^^you're welcome. 
Well, it was just an idea. The only other thing I'd say is that I don't know if you ever print your work, but a decent print can often add something to how people (and even the photographer!) views things.


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## Art Rock

Thanks, several of my photographs (in particular the abstract ones) I have printed and they are on display (and for sale) in our gallery (which mainly focuses on my wife's paintings).


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## mirepoix

^^^^ that's great. And I hope you keep posting in this thread!


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## mirepoix

When you don't get the shot.









See the man on the right who is standing still and looking down? He originally started much further on the right. He'd move forward a few paces and then stop and look down. Then forward a few paces again and stop and look down. And so on. I was on the other side of the road and when I noticed what he was doing I ran into the middle of the road - because if he moved forward and stopped just once more, it would look like the leg of the clock was going to kick him up the backside. Sadly, the number of bus drivers and taxi drivers who yelled at me "_Get out of the middle of the road, moron_" followed by a cop car who sounded their siren at me combined to encourage me to get off the road. And so I never got the shot. But I _saw_ it.

Lens - 35mm Nikkor-O. Camera - Nikon F4e


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## mirepoix

Following on from this post and the comment after it -

Title:_ 'Which side contains the negative space?'_ 
Self-portrait. I had a career as an amateur boxer. This was shot directly after coming home from sparring at the gym. I'm covering my eye because I'd a cut that was bleeding (there's blood visible under my fingernails) although by coincidence I'd planned to cover that eye anyway. The scars/multiple times broken nose are due to the boxing, although the scar below and slightly to the left of my bottom lip is courtesy of a broken bottle that was rammed into my lovely face when I was 17. How charming.









It was lit with a gridded beauty(!) dish (I grid almost everything) and I used the part of the light where it usually starts to transition. The lens was a series E 50mm.

And I'm the blue corner, weighing in at...









If I had to point out the faults with this shot I'd be here all day. But I'll stick to two. The first is that there are no catchlights in the eyes. And the second is the lack of fill. I usually have fill light coming from on axis - straight from the direction of the camera. When it's absent you see how even the most slender of people can end up with the beginnings of a double chin.

Lighting via a reflector held in one hand, and the lens on the camera in my other hand was a zoom that looks like it was somewhere around 110 or 120mm.
I'm only leaving these online a little while, so catch them while you can!


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## mirepoix

Almost there. Returning home from my run this morning, I shot this with my compact camera. The angle approximates the way I crawled up the stairs - it was a tough run...


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## Art Rock

Escheresque by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr

One of my favourites. By selecting an unusual angle, this high-rise building in Shanghai turns into something out of a fantasy world.


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## mirepoix

^^^^ good stuff.

And incidentally, you've cropped it to those curves in just the right place so that it'll make some people ponder how to view it.


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## mirepoix

Again, harking back to one of the stolen photos I posted. Part of the contact sheet. Spot where I lost concentration...


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## Ingélou

Two of Taggart's photos (which I like) from Harlow Carr Gardens near Harrogate, Yorkshire. Apologies if this has already been raised, but I would love to hear your input, mirepoix, on the photographing of textures and of flighty things. I wish he'd been able to get the butterfly from above.


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## mirepoix

^^^^ Butterfly - as above, get as close as you can and get one shot safely in the bag. Then extend arms in front of you, hold the camera above the butterfly, point the camera down at roughly where you think it is (forget the viewfinder and LCD) and 'machine gun' until the buffer fills. When it finishes writing to the card, repeat. When you get home crop to the best composition and tell everyone you meant it that way in the first place...

I'll say from the outset that photographing nature isn't my forte. However, as with any other genre of photography I enjoy looking at a well composed and correctly exposed image. So that should be how you approach such a shot; identity it and then make sure the camera is going to capture the light and shadows (and everything in between) the same way your eye does. Digital makes this cheap and so you can afford to experiment - shoot, look at the preview on the LCD, check the histogram, then adjust what needs to be adjusted.

Then again, you can take the opposite approach and exploit the opportunity to highlight or isolate an aspect of what you see. Perhaps an individual bloom (or a butterfly) is the object of your affection and so you can take steps to create an artificial arrangement. The methods range from using a shallow DOF/depth of field to blur the background and allow the subject to 'pop' out at the viewer, to introducing light where it doesn't naturally fall - amongst other bits and pieces I carry in my ever present camera bag is a folded piece of white cardboard which I use to bounce some light back and create fill light. A piece of card (along with perhaps a folded piece of tinfoil to cover it with) takes up next to no room. Along the same lines if you want to completely isolate a flower or leaf etc and you're very wealthy you can use two pieces of card! - one to act as the reflector and the other to temporarily place behind the object to act as a backdrop. For the truly exotic, use a black piece of card/paper on a sunny day and watch the subject leap out at you.

The other approach I would think of taking is to play with contrasts in textures and/or form. Tell a story - _oh my, it is a very windy day and I am clinging on for dear life! _









The flowing elegance of nature shot against the more rigid attributes of the man made (the line of concrete wall disrupted by a winding shoot or stalk) can enhance aspects of one or the other. Stand one place and a pattern occurs. Step to the side and you can see where it _begins_ to occur. Sometimes simply walking around a subject 90 or 180 degrees will present the composition you're looking for.

All these choices are there to be used. But it's like adding salt and pepper because sometimes it doesn't need it - you find the image you want to create is already presented, full and rounded and vital and has no need of being augmented by the interfering photographer.

Apart from that I'd suggest seeking out photos you've seen and enjoyed and then breaking them down until you understand exactly what it is about them that works. Warning: that can be a little like removing petals from a flower until all that remains is a sad and empty space. So don't get too close.

I've seen photos by another poster here (don't recall the username) who seems to specialise in working in nature/macro stuff. Perhaps if they see this they can offer you more practical advice. My thing is photographing people. I'm just a one trick pony - a hack. But an experienced enough hack that I earn my living from it. However the Internet is the biggest library in the world and contains info to inform and images to inspire. 
And finally (finally, finally...) no matter what you shoot or how you do it, do it honestly. And enjoy!


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## Ingélou

Thanks for your thoughtful reply, :tiphat: mirepoix - this is very interesting & helpful.


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## mirepoix

^^^^ Good. You're very welcome.


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## mirepoix

Light (and makeup) loves people.

On the left, shot yesterday (and scanned by taping the negative to the laptop screen and making it a positive via Photoshop) shows Madam bare of makeup and with a _custard pie of light _hitting her straight in the face. Not good. An aside: if discovered I will probably be hung/drawn/quartered for posting this. If so, it was nice knowing you all.
On the right, a feathered and gridded beauty dish (perhaps a little too feathered) adds some form and depth. Much more flattering. Incidentally, her eyes here - look long enough and she'll gaze right into you. This is when you capture the feel of 'the possibility'.


----------



## Art Rock

Portraits are not my forte. I only shoot my wife (with a camera). Here is a fairly recent shot, with postprocessing by my wife.

Chinese Rembrandt by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


----------



## mirepoix

^^^^^Nice shot. Appears you captured her in repose.


----------



## mirepoix

In the first post I mentioned any type of photography was welcome in the thread - including snapshots. So if you're inclined, post away!

I was born in the morning and this was taken the same afternoon. We didn't own a camera, but my uncle was a fashion photographer in London during the 1960s and he was up visiting family and this is his snapshot of me.


----------



## mirepoix

Girlfriend has gone to yoga and so I'm going to take a walk with this and a couple of rolls of Tri-X.









See the elastic/rubber band? - that's the 'cheapest insurance policy in the world' because no matter how careful you are one day the back of the camera will decide to open _all by itself_. And so even now, habit dictates that I use a band - because when you rely on getting the shot for putting food on the table you don't take chances, and such habits are difficult to lose.

Yes, that's a Betty Boop camera strap. She's my kinda gal.


----------



## mirepoix

For about 95% of my work I use only two lenses - a 24mm and a 105. I'd prefer to go longer, but nowadays agencies/art directors/photo editors/mental pygmies prefer the look of something like the 105mm. 
When it comes to what I have mounted on the camera I carry every day, it's usually a 50mm. I know my lenses so well that I can almost make a 50 look like a wide angle. But that's not what this post is about. You know those threads on photography forums that are all "ZOMG your camera has many bokies"? - here's how far I can push the 50









That's the view along the top of a stone wall. And no editing - it's straight out of camera. But some people have a problem with wide open fast lenses:

_ "I bought this new lens and wide open it's too soft. I tried many different copies and they're all the same. I want my money back!"_ - no. Very few lenses are optimised to be sharp when wide open. Also, if you use 'focus and recompose' you'll never be in focus. Finally, your depth of field is so shallow and if you don't have a steady hand (or even if you breathe at the wrong moment) your shot won't be in focus.

So, learn the characteristics of your lenses until you know them like the back of your hand. Or don't. See if I care. Huh.

_(Coming soon, a new rant: 'Why it's wrong to sneer at the humble 'kit lens') _


----------



## mirepoix

Always have a camera nearby.

This is from a couple of years ago. I'd been asked to shoot lingerie in a shop. It was some sort of themed event. One of the models was someone I'd worked with a number of times previously. When we finished a few bottles of wine were opened and we had a drink and chatted about the number of men who had been leering through the window while we worked. My model friend said to me _"If you weren't the photographer you would have been doing the same thing!"_ What an insult. I told her I was pure and so completely *indifferent to her body. A short time later she gestured that I should follow her to the changing room. I did. She handed me her glass and then opened her dressing gown and flashed me. Bare naked. I told her I felt strangely unmoved. She said_ 'I'll wear you down eventually... "_

When I was leaving I slowed down as I passed the shop and waved. She jumped into the window. I knew what was coming and grabbed the camera I always keep under the driver's seat. I shot four frames of her just as she flashed me again. Obviously I can't post the first exposure here, but she had it printed, framed, and it now hangs on her bedroom wall. She asked me to sign and inscribe the mat/mount. I wrote: _"This woman does nothing for me."_









(*if you're in any way involved in shooting fashion you'll find that nakedness is a regular occurrence and isn't a concern - no one bats an eyelid. Of course, I'm only human and so I'm aware of how attractive the girls are. But you do become a little blase about the whole thing.)


----------



## techniquest

I've always enjoyed photography, though I'm not very good at it. I can't afford all the wizardry of DSLR equipment, but I have a couple of reasonable point 'n' shoots (Olympus SZ11 & Nikon S9050) and a 2nd-hand bridge camera (Fuji HS10). I also have a cheap pocket camera that actually makes some nice shots (Samsung ST72).
Here are a couple of photos using the Nikon.


----------



## joen_cph

Not a perfect picture, but the late summer sky and mountain scenery at the camping a la ferme l´Aghja by the Vallica hamlet in the remote Tavignani valley on Corsica was particularly beautiful earlier this week; I just returned from an improvised bike tour of 8 days there.


----------



## mirepoix

techniquest said:


> I've always enjoyed photography, though I'm not very good at it.


Really? - those locomotive shots are well composed. Good stuff.


----------



## mirepoix

joen_cph said:


> View attachment 48928
> 
> 
> Not a perfect picture, but the late summer sky and mountain scenery at the camping a la ferme l´Aghja by the Vallica hamlet in the remote Tavignani valley on Corsica was particularly beautiful earlier this week; I just returned from an improvised bike tour of 8 days there.


That both looks and sounds great.


----------



## cwarchc

I work in an old converted mill







[/URL]door by cwarchc, on Flickr[/IMG]


----------



## Jos

View attachment 49778


This picture was taken with my new iPad air.
Just wanted to see how close I could get. Hmm, not very impressive, but for general snapshots I like the camera on this device.

Cheers,
Jos


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## mirepoix

Jos, it's better than no camera. And the more you use it then the more you'll learn the limits and how far you can push it.


----------



## mirepoix

During my morning run last week I heard someone approaching behind me at pace. I'd just enough time to get the camera from my pocket, zone focused, and then lowered to the ground before he disappeared into the distance.








Olympus XA . Tri-X in HC-110. Negative photographed against a laptop screen and then made positive in Photoshop.


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## Art Rock

Shot this a few years ago while walking the dog in the local park.


Into the light by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


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## Taggart

mirepoix said:


> During my morning run last week I heard someone approaching behind me at pace. I'd just enough time to get the camera from my pocket, zone focused, and then lowered to the ground before he disappeared into the distance.
> 
> View attachment 50028
> 
> Olympus XA . Tri-X in HC-110. Negative photographed against a laptop screen and then made positive in Photoshop.


Nice photo. Trying to work out where the cart way is. I know a few up by the University but not in what looks like an out of town area.

Odd way to do it. I've got a Canon Pixma all in one printer which has scanning facilities for both negatives and slides. Great for those occasions when you know you've got an image but also know you've given the print away.

I presume there are even better ways of doing it.


----------



## mirepoix

Taggart said:


> Nice photo. Trying to work out where the cart way is. I know a few up by the University but not in what looks like an out of town area.
> 
> Odd way to do it. I've got a Canon Pixma all in one printer which has scanning facilities for both negatives and slides. Great for those occasions when you know you've got an image but also know you've given the print away.
> 
> I presume there are even better ways of doing it.


Thank you.
The location is near Possil Road, best illustrated by this photo of the cinema which once stood there - http://www.scottishcinemas.org.uk/glasgow/astoria.html - In the second photo at the bottom the road on the left is where I shot the photo. I like (the now scarce) cobbled streets and lanes. 
The guy running in front of me was just about to reach the tow path of the Forth and Clyde canal. I turn right there and it soon leads to Speirs Wharf, which then leaves me a fairly straight run eastwards along Alexandra Parade. Hope that makes sense.

Yes it's an odd way to scan, but the scanner is under the desk at the moment. Ah, apathy... As for scanning generally, at home I use a Epson *crawls under desk to get specific name/number* 4990, which unlike many modern scanners allows me to scan from 35mm, medium format, 5x4 and 8x10 - although I rarely shoot 5x4 and never 8x10. For quality it's probably on par with your Canon, and if so will do for most purposes. If I need better quality I send the neg/slide out to be drum scanned.


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## Taggart

Ah! nearly where I thought it might be - Hopehill Road. Don't know the bit up by the canal at all. Thanks.


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## mirepoix

Taggart said:


> Ah! nearly where I thought it might be - Hopehill Road. Don't know the bit up by the canal at all. Thanks.


You're welcome.
Hopehill Road - exactly. I couldn't remember the name of it.

Speirs Wharf is the section of the canal where the old warehouses are now nice flats. It's Craighall Rd on the other side of them. I'll take a photo of them the next time I run there and include a landmark. Have to say though I'm surprised you don't know it...


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## mirepoix

SOOC/Straight out of camera.









The original print of this is huge and hangs in an _oh so trendy_ restaurant in the city centre. At least that's what I'm told - I just take the photo, then the money, and say "Thanks".

Here's what it usually looks like.


----------



## LarryShone

A photograph I took in York of a busker then messed around with in Picsart
A lot of stuff always going on at York-love the place!


----------



## Jos

How much is that doggy in the window..?
Definitely not for sale !!!

Quick shot with the iPad.

View attachment 50129


Cheers,
Jos


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## Jos

Euh....? 

Would have thought those sophisticated Applemachines would correct something like this^^^

J


----------



## LarryShone

You got Auto rotate set to On?


----------



## cwarchc

[/URL]dam by cwarchc, on Flickr[/IMG]


----------



## cwarchc

[/URL]lamp by cwarchc, on Flickr[/IMG]


----------



## LarryShone

Haunted House shop in York


----------



## Ingélou

LarryShone said:


> A photograph I took in York of a busker then messed around with in Picsart
> A lot of stuff always going on at York-love the place!


York - centre of the known universe: I grew up there! 

I love these black & white photos. Dad took this on a snowy day in early 1957 - my big sister (aged nearly 14) holding my little sister (aged 18 months) in our back lane in York.


----------



## Marcel

It is not my cat but it is a beautiful picture of "500px.com"


----------



## Marcel

It seems the shadow of my cat Negrito, but it is her black daughter, Dafi.


----------



## joen_cph

Ingélou said:


> York - centre of the known universe: I grew up there!
> 
> I love these black & white photos. Dad took this on a snowy day in early 1957 - my big sister (aged nearly 14) holding my little sister (aged 18 months) in our back lane in York.


That photo is a gem!


----------



## clara s

from my this year's holidays


----------



## clara s

mirepoix said:


> SOOC/Straight out of camera.
> 
> View attachment 50063
> 
> 
> The original print of this is huge and hangs in an _oh so trendy_ restaurant in the city centre. At least that's what I'm told - I just take the photo, then the money, and say "Thanks".
> 
> Here's what it usually looks like.


very clever shot master mirepoix


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## mirepoix

^^^^Thank you kindly.


----------



## mirepoix

Ingélou said:


> York - centre of the known universe: I grew up there!
> 
> I love these black & white photos. Dad took this on a snowy day in early 1957 - my big sister (aged nearly 14) holding my little sister (aged 18 months) in our back lane in York.


Thanks for posting this. Good stuff.


----------



## aleazk

Some big moon I took with my cell phone.


----------



## LarryShone

An abandoned pub nearby


----------



## Taggart

LarryShone said:


> An abandoned pub nearby


At least it hasn't been converted to houses. Five pubs near us have suffered this fate in the last few years.


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## mirepoix

I think I wanted to see how this particular combo of lens/film/developer would work with such a subject. Doesn't excuse the poor composition, though...









Adox CMS 20 and Adotech developer.


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## LarryShone

Taggart said:


> At least it hasn't been converted to houses. Five pubs near us have suffered this fate in the last few years.


Im in favour of that option. We need more houses and better to build them on old pubs than green belt land!


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## Marcel

My family:


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## cwarchc

Another one from the old mill







[/URL]dc up 1 by cwarchc, on Flickr[/IMG]


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## cwarchc

[/URL]lamp by cwarchc, on Flickr[/IMG]


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## LarryShone

Beautiful Poplar tree surrounded by its suckers.


----------



## LarryShone

Boat on the river at York


----------



## mirepoix

This is a shop that specialises in made to measure _underthings for ladies_. My girlfriend shops there because frankly, she's an unusual shape. Anyway, I got bored listening to discussion about the minutae of lace and went outside. I may or may have not have cheated by moving the mannequin on the left while no one was looking. Also -
1) the shadows on the window frame - you can't legislate for those, but you can be there and _look_ and notice them. 
2) I like the placement of the print in the top left pane. It's almost a counterpoint to the other expressions.
3) the text on the mannequins reads 'Stranded' - which gave me the idea in the first place.

Techie: Nikon F4e, Nikkor 24mm, orange filter, good old Tri-X.


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## Jos

^^ "stranded"

View attachment 51414


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## mirepoix

^^^^ good catch.
I'd forgotten about that album. That's a photo by Karl Stoeker. Much of his output is NSFW/not safe for work - http://www.karlstoeckerphotos.com/bio.html but worth a view. I especially like his shot for the first album - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9e/Roxy_Music-Roxy_Music.jpg - not least because it obviously works well in that format, but also due to the nice way he avoided cropping limbs at the joints.


----------



## Jos

Haha, at my workplace they wouldn't even raise an eyebrow.

Been a bit of a Roxy music fan from early teens. Always liked their covers but never knew who did the photography. 
"For your pleasure" , the one with Amanda Lear (there's another blast from the past) is my favourite. 
Thnx for the info, I'll check out Stoekers work. I'm much interested in photography and have a nice collection of artbooks by photographers. And a signed original by Jon Naar !


----------



## Jos

View attachment 51418


This is my old neighborhood where I lived happily as a student. Modern times and the desire for constant improvement by our citycounsel dictated that these nice pre-war houses would no longer do. New, bigger, better, modern comfort and all that it would be (end of fogey-rant)

Then came the economic crisis..........:devil:


----------



## KenOC

A pic from my dad, 1931:


----------



## mirepoix

Jos said:


> Haha, at my workplace they wouldn't even raise an eyebrow.
> 
> Been a bit of a Roxy music fan from early teens. Always liked their covers but never knew who did the photography.
> "For your pleasure" , the one with Amanda Lear (there's another blast from the past) is my favourite.
> Thnx for the info, I'll check out Stoekers work. I'm much interested in photography and have a nice collection of artbooks by photographers. And a signed original by Jon Naar !


Yes, Amanda Lear - her CV/resume should simply read 'posed and modelled for almost everyone'.

I'm not hugely familiar with Jon Naar, but I'll have a look online.


----------



## mirepoix

KenOC said:


> A pic from my dad, 1931:


Good shot by your dad. Thanks for posting it.


----------



## mirepoix

I mentioned in another thread that today's an important day in my country. So much so that there's an almost unpleasant atmosphere. I won't say that trouble's brewing, but people are clearly on edge. And so on my way home from voting I picked this out because I felt it fitting in a way.









Nikon D3/D700, Nikkor 50mm, RAW/SOOC.

(Note: although it might not appear so but it's a colour photo - the sky and light were really that colour and I took advantage of them because I can. No filters.)


----------



## mirepoix

In reference to the 'Parties, parties...' thread.
My friend and I recently attended a party. He saw a girl he liked, but due to being a coward felt it impossible to approach her directly. Instead, he took this photo of her:








Meanwhile, I walked up to her and her friends_ "You all look great. You (the chick) look incredible. And I'm good at what I do. So right here, show me...*click*"._ It took me about five seconds and just the one exposure.








For what it's worth I shot it with this camera/lens/flash and a roll of Tri-X.








The moral of the story is -
1) Be truly confident.
2) Muster the few miniscule remnants that remain of the charm you once possessed.
3) Learn how to make an exposure.

e: I know I've a sweet girlfriend, but I'll never grow tired of photographing the ladies.


----------



## joen_cph

An old farm at harvest time on the Stevns peninsula, south from Copenhagen, during a biking+camping trip I did back in July there.









The Stevns Klint coastal cliffs were recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, due to geological layers illustrating developments since the extinction of the dinosaurs. There´s a medieval church balancing on the cliffs at Højerup village, which has some medieval exterior sculpture too, including this fellow.


----------



## mirepoix

^^^^ always interesting to see what people choose to document as they go about their way. Thanks for posting these.


----------



## Ingélou

My question to mirepoix - in the early twentieth century, people went in for 'studio portraits'. Below are studio photos of my father and mother (taken in the late 1930s, I'd guess):



















The formal poses - the hazy background - the best clothes & neat hair - are all so much part of their era, and a hangover from Victorian times, I'd think.
mirepoix - how was the hazy background achieved? And is there a modern equivalent of the studio portrait and how would it differ from the old type, if so?
Just out of interest...


----------



## mirepoix

There are many ways that kind of 'look' can be achieved. Some of it is format dependant (size and type and medium of capture) the design of lens used (the soft outside/sharp centre look of Petzval type lenses was still popular despite more modern Rapid Rectilinear/Double Gauss lenses being sharper across the whole circle) and a lack of the type of contrast compared to modern lenses. But I'm going to stick to how I'd have shot those in the 1930s.
_
"how was the hazy background achieved?"_ - in the photo of the lady some darkroom stuff has been going on, but usually a relatively wide lens aperture is the reason. The larger the aperture, the more shallow the depth of field. Example: focus on the eyes and you might find that from a distance of about 1 inch/3 cm in front of the eyes and the same distance behind them, that focus is lost and things gradually become softer. This continues until by the time you've reached the back of the head and everything is as you put it 'hazy'. But why have it hazy in the first place? Well, fashion for one thing. It was part of the look. However it was also down to the tools available at the time.

Back then film emulsions weren't as sensitive to light. So more light/longer exposure times were required. Chances are that in those 1930s shots the light was courtesy of continuous tungsten lamps, which are relatively weak. But you need the light, so you increase the exposure time (longer shutter speeds) but that then raises issues itself, such as your subject moving and blurring the image. So a nice big aperture allows more light into the lens, but in doing so brings the accompanying shallow depth of field/'hazy background'.

A shallow DOF isn't all bad though, because it's one method of isolating a subject or part of a subject and so manipulating the viewer into looking at what you want them to see, or what part of an image you want them to look at first.
_
"And is there a modern equivalent of the studio photo and how would it differ, if so?" _- I don't shoot portrait stuff, but generally speaking the biggest difference nowadays (apart from the change from film to digital) is that most pros use flash rather than continuous/hot/tungsten light. Flash is relatively more powerful and so you don't need the wide aperture, which in turn means more of the subject is in focus all the way from the back to the front. I'd say that's the biggest difference.
Another difference is that the Internet has told people that on a cropped sensor camera a 50mm lens becomes a portrait lens. No it doesn't - but I'm not opening that can of worms...

There are two other things about your photos I'd like to touch on, but I'll do it in a separate post because this one is long enough already.
And if anyone wants to add anything (any large format photographers lurking out there?) as ever, please feel free to do so.


----------



## mirepoix

The first photo - of the gentleman. I like the vignette. Back when I was young I'd create vignettes in the darkroom, by cutting a hole in a piece of card and while moving it a little in circular motions project the image from the negative through the hole on to the paper. I loved all that stuff. It was/is part of making a photo of me.

The second photo - of the lady. She's in a _2, 3, 3._
I could write for many days (slight exaggeration there) on aspects of her pose - even the art of posing the hand is worthy of a book - but it reminds me of something we used to do when posing models.

I look at that photo and I think of how in order to get that pose years ago I'd have said to the model "2, 3, 3".
If I wanted her to hold that pose but turn her head to her right, I'd call 1, 3, 3.
If I wanted her to then turn her hips to the centre but keep everything else the same, it would be 1, 3, 2.
There's a reason for the numbers. Imagine how quick it is call three numbers instead of saying "Okay, head facing right, torso straight towards me, hips to the left". You're shooting all day and limited by time. So having everyone in the groove and ticking away like clockwork was important.


----------



## Marcel

*Jorge Luis Borges & Eduardo Bioy Casares*


----------



## KenOC

Another picture from my Dad's old albums. He's in the picture, which was taken by a friend of his on Mt. Adams in 1931.


----------



## mirepoix

^^^^^ thanks for posting it.


----------



## KenOC

One of my own -- an old monk in a shoe store, upcountry Thailand, 1966.


----------



## TurnaboutVox

I wonder if mirepoix knows where this is? (He just might...)


----------



## TurnaboutVox

I do not really know how to use my camera - I will try to learn after I retire. But this (although a terribly 'conventional' shot) came out tolerably well. Taken on a recent walk.


----------



## mirepoix

TurnaboutVox said:


> I wonder if mirepoix knows where this is? (He just might...)


If it's where I think it is there's then...I'm not going to say - in case anyone else wishes to guess. But I believe there's a photo of it a few pages back in this thread.

e: I'm sure I know where it is. At least, I think I'm on the right tracks.


----------



## mirepoix

TurnaboutVox said:


> I do not really know how to use my camera - I will try to learn after I retire. But this (although a terribly 'conventional' shot) came out tolerably well. Taken on a recent walk.


Thanks for posting. And some unsolicited advice: when you get a shot you like, consider printing it (even a cheap inkjet) at a reasonable size. It's not with the intention of having it framed, it's more that if you look at it once in a while you'll begin to see it/aspects of it differently - for the cost of a print it'll educate you.
Otherwise, good stuff.


----------



## Art Rock

This recent shot of nearby roof tiles is making a bit of a splash at Flickr right now.


Kampen roofs by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


----------



## mirepoix

^^^^ thanks for posting it.


----------



## Art Rock

This picture of a column of the bridge near our home is turning out to be one of my hottest shots on Flickr this year.


Excelsior Kampen by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


----------



## SarahNorthman

Not much


----------



## mirepoix

Thanks for posting.


----------



## Dave Whitmore

A PHOTOGRAPHY THREAD!! How did I miss this? I used to love taking pics. I never went anywhere without a camera. I have two, both Canons. I haven't used them in ages. I miss the days when print films were all the rage. Now you can't seem to find print films anywhere. It's all digital now. I belonged to a studio in London years ago where you could hire a model, a studio, take your photos and develop them right afterwards. Those were fun times. One day I'll probably shell out for a digital camera. At the moment I generally take photos with my phone. It's not quite the same.








This is something I took a year or two ago.


----------



## KenOC

Having fun with a long lens -- a pelican.










Canon EOS300D (a six megapixel camera!), 500 mm, f9, 1/800 sec, ISO 400.


----------



## mirepoix

Dave Whitmore said:


> A PHOTOGRAPHY THREAD!! How did I miss this? I used to love taking pics. I never went anywhere without a camera. I have two, both Canons. I haven't used them in ages. I miss the days when print films were all the rage. Now you can't seem to find print films anywhere. It's all digital now. I belonged to a studio in London years ago where you could hire a model, a studio, take your photos and develop them right afterwards. Those were fun times. One day I'll probably shell out for a digital camera. At the moment I generally take photos with my phone. It's not quite the same.
> 
> View attachment 57332
> 
> This is something I took a year or two ago.


^^^^You should still be able to find both colour and black and white films in some shops. You can definitely buy them online. Certainly there's not the wide choice there once was - especially with colour reversal (slide) films - but there's still a few options.
Outside of work film is almost all I use. At the risk of opening a can of worms I think the argument for shooting film is similar to choosing vinyl over CDs. But I love film and usually once a week I'm developing a couple of rolls of Tri-X. 
Anyway, glad you found this thread. Feel free to share as many or as few photos as you want. And it's non judgemental and so your camera phone is welcome here.


----------



## Dave Whitmore

mirepoix said:


> ^^^^You should still be able to find both colour and black and white films in some shops. You can definitely buy them online. Certainly there's not the wide choice there once was - especially with colour reversal (slide) films - but there's still a few options.
> Outside of work film is almost all I use. At the risk of opening a can of worms I think the argument for shooting film is similar to choosing vinyl over CDs. But I love film and usually once a week I'm developing a couple of rolls of Tri-X.
> Anyway, glad you found this thread. Feel free to share as many or as few photos as you want. And it's non judgemental and so your camera phone is welcome here.


Thanks. And since there have been a few snow related pics on here and as it's the start of winter I thought i'd share some snow pics of my own...


----------



## mirepoix

I don't really have anything to post just now due to only being interested in shooting one subject outside of work. And even then I want to keep most of that for my own eyes.



Raid her print port while she's in the shower -


----------



## KenOC

Too much snow? From a decadent vacation in Cabo.

Cafe diablo coming up. (1/5 sec exposure!)









Sneak shot of a lounger at the pool.









In the pool at sunset.


----------



## ptr

KenOC said:


> TSneak shot of a lounger at the pool.


Did You speak to him/it? I'm positive that this must be the honourable hpowders! Just compare to his avatar! 

/ptr


----------



## LancsMan

Here is one of mine - I do take the odd snap myself - mainly not very good though.


----------



## KenOC

Dunno -- he makes me think of Jack Nicholson for sure!


----------



## KenOC

LancsMan said:


> View attachment 57346
> 
> 
> Here is one of mine - I do take the odd snap myself - mainly not very good though.


That's very nice. Did you make a print for the wall?


----------



## mirepoix

^^^yes, even if it's unlikely to be framed it's still good to print your work and look at it.


----------



## Musicforawhile

Mirepoix, I don't know a great deal about photography, but do you prefer a rangefinder camera to slr? I have seen some very cool photos taken with a rangefinder but I can't imagine using one. Also do you use film, and do you think there is an obvious difference between digital prints and film prints?


----------



## LancsMan

Mirepoix,
I really should print my pictures but rarely do so. I used to take a lot of photos, particularly when I used slide film - but my enthusiasm for photography seems to have waned since the era of digital photography has arrived. Somehow I'm never as impressed by my results on digital camera as I used to be with film.


----------



## Musicforawhile

LancsMan said:


> Mirepoix,
> I really should print my pictures but rarely do so. I used to take a lot of photos, particularly when I used slide film - but my enthusiasm for photography seems to have waned since the era of digital photography has arrived. Somehow I'm never as impressed by my results on digital camera as I used to be with film.


But you can easily buy a manual film camera on ebay.


----------



## KenOC

Sunrise (over Tahiti).


----------



## mirepoix

Musicforawhile said:


> Mirepoix, I don't know a great deal about photography, but do you prefer a rangefinder camera to slr? I have seen some very cool photos taken with a rangefinder but I can't imagine using one. Also do you use film, and do you think there is an obvious difference between digital prints and film prints?


I prefer an SLR. 
When taking everything in to account an SLR has always suited my needs better. 
Having said that, I love using a rangefinder and if my walkaround focal length (of lens) preference was a wide angle and I was a street shooter I'd use a rangefinder more often. And I know this sounds faintly ridiculous, but while lack of mirror movement, lack of noise, and that lovely bright viewfinder are all wonderful, it's the fact that I find using one to be almost 'quaint' is the greatest appeal.

If you can't imagine using a rangefinder then it would be cool for you to try one. Or even look on the auction sites for a Russian Fed or Zorki. They usually come with a 50mm and are relatively cheap. I've some nice rangefinders, but the one I use most is a Russian 'Mir' (it's like Zorki 4/Leica but without all the slow shutter speeds) that's inexpensive but does the job it was designed to perfectly and consistently.

So yes, I use film. I go through a couple of rolls of both 135 and 120 a week, almost all black and white which I develop at home. There's really no good reason for me to still be using it other than I love the ritual. I don't live in the past but (*adjusts monocle*) I write with a fountain pen and I'm about to buy a new turntable. I just enjoy slower and perhaps more considered ways of doing things. Life is usually so fast, you know?

Obvious difference between film/digital prints? That's a question which on a dedicated forum would inspire a long thread and probably much disagreement! However my answer is that for most people and for most of our _purposes_, there's no obvious difference.

Ah, and just a general point about SLRs/rangefinders/film/digital sensors - they're all blind. Only you can see and so it doesn't really matter what you use. Hasselblad? Leica? Camera phone? You're the one making the picture - they're only documenting it.


----------



## mirepoix

LancsMan said:


> Mirepoix,
> I really should print my pictures but rarely do so. I used to take a lot of photos, particularly when I used slide film - but my enthusiasm for photography seems to have waned since the era of digital photography has arrived. Somehow I'm never as impressed by my results on digital camera as I used to be with film.


I think I know what you mean. At work it's all digital for us and the whole workflow just seems so hands off and almost sterile. I don't want to say that working in the digital domain makes things easier, but I will say it makes things quicker. I feel there's something more honest about being a film photographer - although I'm willing to concede that's a BS statement and all I'm really talking about is nostalgia.
Yes, slide film - what a medium. Nothing like seeing a well exposed slide (well) projected, is there?


----------



## KenOC

An interesting issue! I used to do a lot of B&W developing and both B&W and color printing. I remember the color printing, especially, as an excruciating and expensive ordeal -- I usually used Cibachrome.

I have a pretty complete color darkroom, 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 dichroic head enlarger and so forth, that I can't even give away to schools. Anybody who wants to drive to my place can have it.

BTW I used to have a Leica IIIc rangefinder, bought cheap used in the days when they could be bought cheap. It took most excellent pictures.


----------



## mirepoix

^^^^ it's another world. But a nice one to visit.


----------



## KenOC

mirepoix said:


> ^^^^ it's another world. But a nice one to visit.


I admit that I still have an Exakta with some lenses and a Yashica 6x6 cm TLR... But purely for nostalgia, like my slide rules. My Rolleiflex 2.8 TLR was stolen.


----------



## mirepoix

Yashica TLRs are cool and useable - f/11 is a great leveller. 
That's a real pity about the Rollei. I've had a lot of Hassy stuff stolen over the years, but they were only considered work tools and so it was more of an inconvenience than anything else. But I've a couple of old Nikkors I wouldn't like to lose because they've been with me from the start, and it's possible to say they've paid for all I own and everywhere I've been. 
Yes, nostalgia is potent.


----------



## LancsMan

Here's an 'abstract' photo I snapped when passing this old barn with a rusty corrugated iron roof.


----------



## mirepoix

^^^^^ thanks for posting them.


----------



## mirepoix

Post edited. 15 characters etc.


----------



## scratchgolf

A few of my favorite photos. My son by the pool is my all-time favorite. I was under the water, holding his feet.


----------



## trazom

I have limited capability when it comes to photography, like I mentioned in another thread: but I was happy with some of the pictures I took when I went to Sequoia National Park back in 2008. It's a few hours north of where I live and it was during a family trip...


----------



## KenOC

A trip snapshot, showing just how big these fellas are...


----------



## trazom

The picture on the very left in my previous post, I forgot to mention, was the "General Sherman," tree which was the largest in the park; actually, the largest in the world by volume(rather than height). I got more I was going to add, but I guess I can't edit that post anymore. These were from the same park, the one with the birds didn't come out as great, but it was something different and I still like it.





















Where's mirepoix? Deep down, I really did want his approval!


----------



## clavichorder

Is the bird a flicker? Or a woodpecker? Beautiful. I know you are in California, but it looks a lot like Washington. Makes sense, really.


----------



## Giordano

I am "inspired" by another thread to share this one, taken decades ago while I was a student in Europe:


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

I call this one, "Dead groundhog outside School of Music"










At least... I think it was a groundhog... it only was there for a day...


----------



## clavichorder

^Kind o' Morbid


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

clavichorder said:


> ^Kind o' Morbid


What was most freaky about it was... how did it get there? I walk by that mulch thing everyday, it's right next to a main entrance into the building. It appeared over night. Rat poisoned? Dragged there by some creature? It was removed that evening.


----------



## trazom

clavichorder said:


> Is the bird a flicker? Or a woodpecker? Beautiful. I know you are in California, but it looks a lot like Washington. Makes sense, really.


They were woodpeckers. I took a picture of a black bear, but I can't find it; also, it was too far away to make an interesting photo. I also took some pictures of crystal cave also at the same park and I'll probably edit this later and post them if i can. I have a few cousins that live up in Washington, but I haven't gone since every time my parents visit them, they make it a point to see a football game. Much to my dad's disappointment, I've never been able to appreciate football or baseball.


----------



## KenOC

Moorea, my wife finds a shell...


----------



## LarryShone

Christmas lights reflecting on my new piano's keys


----------



## KenOC

I have been massively censored! The mods removed my picture of two scantily (!) clad girls in a boat off the cost of Moorea. Ain't they never seen a Greek statue? A Rubens? And I don't mean the sandwich! Just a vacation pic, folks.

Anyway, maybe they'll let a link pass.

https://sites.google.com/site/kenocstuff/Girls.jpg


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## KenOC

My wife practicing her yoga on a grey day.


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## Kibbles Croquettes

KenOC said:


> My wife practicing her yoga on a grey day.


Great picture. It seems so dynamic, although, if I know anything about yoga, it is a picture of a static pose.


----------



## KenOC

Kibbles Croquettes said:


> Great picture. It seems so dynamic, although, if I know anything about yoga, it is a picture of a static pose.


I'm told this is Trikonasana, or the Triangle pose. Benefits are said to include relief of gastritis and indigestion, improved flexibility of the spine, and strengthening of the ankles. Courtesy of B.K.S. Iyengar, who recently passed away at 95 years old.

Most of the Asanas are static, at least for as long as you can hold them!


----------



## Kibbles Croquettes

KenOC said:


> I'm told this is Trikonasana, or the Triangle pose. Benefits are said to include relief of gastritis and indigestion, improved flexibility of the spine, and strengthening of the ankles. Courtesy of B.K.S. Iyengar, who recently passed away at 95 years old.
> 
> Most of the Asanas are static, at least for as long as you can hold them!


Oh, great thing to know. I am actually too static for yoga, ie. I can't stretch my limbs enough. I guess "sitting on a chair, chatting on a forum" isn't a yoga pose/move/whatevertheyarecalled.


----------



## KenOC

Kibbles Croquettes said:


> Oh, great thing to know. I am actually too static for yoga, ie. I can't stretch my limbs enough. I guess "sitting on a chair, chatting on a forum" isn't a yoga pose/move/whatevertheyarecalled.


Internet asanas are only now being described. Each has a well-defined pose. They include:

- "Demolishing that idiot who disagrees with you on Mahler's 7th."
- "Defending against attack when you have actually made a small mistake."
- "Demonstrating superior knowledge that will knock everybody out of their shoes."
- "Querying about recordings so obscure nobody has heard of them."
- "Arguing about differences in sound quality so trivial that nobody cares."

There are many more, of course! This will be the work of generations.


----------



## LarryShone

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...


----------



## TurnaboutVox

^^^ Well, the piano came in handy!


----------



## LarryShone

Something different, a joiner photo a la Hockney, after a college assignment.


----------



## scratchgolf

Anyone who's ever played golf knows what this feels like.








And then there's those times when your best efforts just don't get it done. "Almost" only counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.


----------



## KenOC

Today is my father's birthday. He would have been 105 today. Since I am the keeper of the family photos, here he is in 1929, near where I grew up.


----------



## KenOC

A resurrection. Here's an egret strutting around at Bolsa Chica.


----------



## Art Rock

Concentric by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr

My most faved picture on Flickr in recent months. Not a personal favourite, but there you go.


----------



## Ingélou

It's lovely to see this thread again, though sad to know that the OP, Mirepoix, has left the site.
:tiphat: - Art Rock, you are a great photographer & I hope you and some of the others who photograph will in a manner of speaking 'take over' the thread as people we can ask advice from?

I do hope this thread keeps going, anyway.


----------



## Potiphera

My favourite Bluebell season ,


----------



## KenOC

So slow here...another birdie.


----------



## Art Rock

Haunted forest by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr

A few months ago, I was browsing my first Flickr uploads (8 years ago). One caught my eye, and with the advantage of additional experience, I flipped it upside down and cropped it a bit to get the above image, which I like very much.


----------



## Taggart

Great stuff Art Rock :tiphat: Nice to see this thread back again!


----------



## KenOC

Art Rock said:


> A few months ago, I was browsing my first Flickr uploads (8 years ago). One caught my eye, and with the advantage of additional experience, I flipped it upside down and cropped it a bit to get the above image, which I like very much.


That came out very well indeed! Congrats on a great picture.


----------



## KenOC

There must be other people with photos! Meanwhile, a common goldfinch.


----------



## techniquest

That doesn't look at all like a Goldfinch (ours in the UK are a completely different set of colours), but I assume this is a female American Goldfinch  
Lovely photo.
I'd be really interested to know what equipment you guys use.


----------



## KenOC

techniquest said:


> That doesn't look at all like a Goldfinch (ours in the UK are a completely different set of colours), but I assume this is a female American Goldfinch
> Lovely photo.
> I'd be really interested to know what equipment you guys use.


All three of the bird pics were taken with an old Canon EOS300D (six megapixel) and a Sigma EX 50-500 mm zoom lens. The goldfinch used a Canon flash as well, from maybe 30 feet (you can see the flash shadows under the tail). I think all three used a tripod.


----------



## Art Rock

It's that time of year in the Netherlands....


Tulip fields by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr


----------



## Art Rock

Equipment? Most of the time a simple Canon IXUS 115 HS, 12 Megapixels, handheld. Sometimes a mirror reflex, Canon EOS 400D Digital 10 Megapixels, handheld (with Sigma dc18200 lens).


----------



## KenOC

Art Rock said:


> It's that time of year in the Netherlands....


Ooh, dat's nice indeed!


----------



## Art Rock

The Red Sea by Art Rock (Hennie), on Flickr

Another one. We missed out on these for a few years in a row, for various reasons.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

One of many flowering trees by my music school:


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

Hodgepodge of flowers near my dorm:


----------



## TxllxT

A Communist chandelier in a St Petersburg Metro Station build in 1955 (Narvskaya). Intriguing to see such undergroundpalaces for the common people...


----------



## Art Rock

I don't think I posted this one before, it was a bit of a hit on Flickr:


Excelsior Kampen by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr


----------



## Art Rock

I like to experiment once in a while:


Tour de Kampen by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr

Digital merger of 7 photographs taken during the start of the local bicycle race.


----------



## Ingélou

Your bike race photo - that's such a striking concept and result, Art Rock - good enough to enter in an exhibition. :tiphat:


----------



## TxllxT

Close to our home (1km distance) one may discover (Dutch) wuthering heights. This panorama was made from Nokia smartphone pictures.


----------



## TxllxT

This 'Bollekamer' pano in the same area is made from 26 Nokia pics. On the right there are some white blown-outs to be noticed, but for the rest it is a miraculous device...


----------



## KenOC

Quite nice the way the Nokia does panos. Or more properly how the photographer does. Good stuff!


----------



## TxllxT

For those who want to give it for themselves a try: download the free program ICE from Microsoft
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/ice/
and make lots of overlapping pics with your smartphone. Enter these pics into 'ICE' and enjoy! The latest version of ICE has the possibility of Auto Complete, which is a great feature.


----------



## Art Rock

Abstracted street view by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr

This is the type of abstract shot that has become a bit of a specialization for me. It's actually a close-up of a street lid in a nearby street.


----------



## Taggart

We were up in York recently going through the Museum Gardens where we saw somebody feeding the squirrels. I got a couple of nice shots although not of them being fed. A study in grey:










One of the squirrels, after being fed, scampered up a tree to enjoy its meal:










Background totally gone - no depth of field because of the high zoom used.


----------



## TxllxT

Taggart said:


> We were up in York recently going through the Museum Gardens where we saw somebody feeding the squirrels. I got a couple of nice shots although not of them being fed. A study in grey:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> One of the squirrels, after being fed, scampered up a tree to enjoy its meal:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Background totally gone - no depth of field because of the high zoom used.


This is the American, isn't it? On our island no squirrels, no foxes, just rabbits & birds


----------



## Taggart

TxllxT said:


> This is the American, isn't it? On our island no squirrels, no foxes, just rabbits & birds


Yes. The native red is now very rare.


----------



## Albert7

Last afternoon as I was walking around the Gateway Mall, I saw this fascinating vehicle.










First political car paint job I ever seen in my life. Word.


----------



## Art Rock

Window decoration by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr

Shot through the shop window....


----------



## techniquest

Art Rock said:


> I like to experiment once in a while:
> 
> 
> Tour de Kampen by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr
> 
> Digital merger of 7 photographs taken during the start of the local bicycle race.


Is that 7 copies of the same photo, or 7 different photos? Astonishingly fascinating result


----------



## techniquest

Went out with the macro-lens for some fun photography.


----------



## Art Rock

techniquest said:


> Is that 7 copies of the same photo, or 7 different photos? Astonishingly fascinating result


7 different photos shot within a few seconds as the cyclist passed by.


----------



## techniquest

Snapped this photo of a Greenfinch while at an event on Saturday


----------



## techniquest

A sunny afternoon at St Pancras, London


----------



## Art Rock

Silhouette du soir by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr

An old favourite of mine.


----------



## KenOC

Interesting page on the Zeiss f0.7 lens that Kubrick used in _Barry Lyndon_. No. you can't buy it on Amazon! The _Barry Lyndon _clips are fascinating.

http://petapixel.com/2013/08/05/zei...two-of-the-largest-aperture-lenses-ever-made/


----------



## EdwardBast

Here is pic from my neighborhood - well, ten miles away:









This is me and the position from which the pic was taken:


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

I still enjoy taking pictures of nature in my community. Here's a latest photo of a bunny which was not afraid of me at all when I got this close.


----------



## Clayton

Last year I went to the Tower of London to see the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red display. An artwork of eight hundred and eighty-eight thousand, two hundred and forty-six ceramic poppies symbolizing each life lost during the Great War. Until that moment the Great War was just something that I had learned in history lessons. This was so moving, even though the wife was reluctant to go (I insisted on being there at first light), she was in tears when we saw this. I took one hundred and twenty-eight pictures in total but none come anywhere near conveying the impact of this piece (a double effect of my amateur photography but more so the scale, power and magnificence of this work)


----------



## Clayton

err... I don't know how to upload the pictures bigger


----------



## Taggart

See http://www.talkclassical.com/27431-posting-pics.html for details of how to use a url. Basically you have to use a hosting site for your pictures - Google + or flickr or even facebook and then link to them.


----------



## Clayton

Taggart said:


> See http://www.talkclassical.com/27431-posting-pics.html for details of how to use a url. Basically you have to use a hosting site for your pictures - Google + or flickr or even facebook and then link to them.


Thank you for the link. In the interest of keeping the thread interesting I shall desist from posting the remaining one hundred and twenty-three pictures of the memorial art exhibition.

I have the habit of carrying my camera every time I walk to the shops so be warned; there may be many pictures of Berko on the way (a lot of deer, canal boats and birds (with feathers))!


----------



## KenOC

An impressive aerial photo from this afternoon of a microburst over Wittmann, Arizona.


----------



## ptr

^^ WOW! Gods vacuum cleaner really don't like the US south west!









/ptr


----------



## LarryShone

Close up of my Tanglewood ukulele


----------



## Easy Goer

La Jument Lighthouse


----------



## jurianbai

It was a hazy afternoon and the sunset hunting considered failed...








but at least, got second to do this...








:tiphat:


----------



## Art Rock

View attachment 72470




Code:




Whirling by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr

One of my favourite shots of the year.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

Pacific sunset (taken by me)


----------



## Taggart

A study in light and darkness at Walsingham (Anglican Shrine)


----------



## techniquest

Gotherington station (now a private residence).


----------



## Harmonie

Hi, I guess I'm a little bit of a photographer. I came into it because I really wanted high-quality photos of woodwind instruments to use as desktop backgrounds. There's always been such a lack of that... Or at least what I want, anyway!

I'm excited because I'm getting a better camera (one for low-light shots), but here's some of what I've taken with old cameras:

























And, of course, the one I use for my avatar!









(And yes, the music used for the oboe picture, actually wasn't oboe music lol)


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

OOH! I like the first one with the whole woodwind quintet together.


----------



## TxllxT

Europe is at present simmering with high summer temperatures, therefore a few cool winter photos...


----------



## TxllxT

Even cooler with a fishing vessel passing in the sunset (4 February 2015)...


----------



## EdwardBast

Unedited pic of me in a blueberry field:


----------



## TxllxT

Our multi-mirrored ferry


----------



## TxllxT

I noticed that lots of places in the world do not know a real spring season. To get optimal tulip & narcis flowering you need sunshine + colder steady weather.


----------



## TxllxT

*Late Rembrandt Exposition 2015*










In april we visited the Late Rembrandt Exposition in the Rijksmuseum. This one (The Agony in the Garden 1657) I found the most moving.


----------



## TxllxT

Every time we 'do' the Rijksmuseum I'm touched by the inner quiet of these paintings. Notice the big slice of salmon on the plate, that attracts the interest of the cat.


----------



## TxllxT

Zaanse Schans. This area north of Amsterdam was the world's first industrialised region. 300 windmills were kept busy for sawing trees; every three months a new ship was build. This was the secret of the rapidly growing Dutch wealth.


----------



## joen_cph

A map of the most photographed places in the world.

Some of the surprises, IMO, include the density found in Central Asia, on Reunion, Iceland, and Java.









Europe in detail:


----------



## TxllxT

joen_cph said:


> A map of the most photographed places in the world.
> 
> Some of the surprises, IMO, include the density found in Central Asia, on Reunion, Iceland, and Java.
> 
> View attachment 75677
> 
> 
> Europe in detail:
> 
> View attachment 75678


I think these stats are based on the number of photos uploaded with geolocation (which means they are mostly Google+ & Panoramio), but most of the common facebook selfies (with the Eiffel tower or the Statue of Liberty in the back) are not taken in account here. Actually geolocated photos account for a very small percentage of all photos. On the other side lots of smartphones do have GPS, but they are mostly used for selfies & family fun. These photos may also end up in these stats, but they hardly show the place where the photo was taken. So summa summarum these stats tend to have a high content of noise/nonsense. For example why is Switzerland blazingly yellow? Are there everyday mountain-climbers busy with clicking shutters on each mountaintop?


----------



## joen_cph

I think you are right about the map´s immediate limits, if one thinks of it as registering only sheer "artful" photographs. Rather, it illustrates the areas´ popularity among tourists, and the degree of economic development and urbanization. 

However, if the statistical evidence of "fast" photography is high enough, it will probably also mirror the number of ordinary / "dedicated" photographs. 

As regards Switzerland, it has a major position in tourism ranking, being is visited by more than 40-45 mio tourists every year (whereas likewise tiny Denmark has only 8 mio, for example, both according to Wiki).


----------



## KenOC

My wife living it up on Moorea.


----------



## KenOC

Can't copy and paste because the material is copyrighted, but check this page for some really stunning landscape photos.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/favorite-photographers/tips-on-extraordinary-light-from-landscape-photographer-don-smith


----------



## KenOC

I'd be crying too if I had to haul around that much charcoal.


----------



## TxllxT

*Stroganov Palace, Hall of Mirrors, Nevsky Prospekt, Saint Petersburg*










A super fish eye made with the free Microsoft program ICE










A 'normal' 360° panorama (made with ICE) of the same hall.

This used to be one of the central places of musical culture in St Petersburg


----------



## Sloe

Saucage stroganoff:


----------



## KenOC




----------



## TxllxT

Saint Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt, Green Bridge over the Mojka river; on the left: Stroganov Palace.

One of the overpowering impressions of this city is the overall depth of colour. Everywhere it's true magic that meets the eye. Lately we dwelled on the Côte d'Azur in early october light, but still the colours seemed bleached & weak...


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

TxllxT said:


> Saint Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt, Green Bridge over the Mojka river; on the left: Stroganov Palace.
> 
> One of the overpowering impressions of this city is the overall depth of colour. Everywhere it's true magic that meets the eye. Lately we dwelled on the Côte d'Azur in early october light, but still the colours seemed bleached & weak...


I'm gonna keep whimpering over here... but at least the Russian musicology community knows about me there now! After this month!

A panorama I took at a lake in my city:


----------



## TxllxT

Pushkin Monument (1900) in Pushkin / Tsarskoje Selo (30km south of St Petersburg)


----------



## TxllxT

Arguably the most beautiful place on earth is the Catherine Park of Tsarskoye Selo (35 km south of St Petersburg) that surrounds the maximalist huge Catherine Palace. All one sees here has been imagined by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron in the 1780s. While walking around there I thought about the classical music of the 1780s: Mozart, Gluck, the times in which there reigned no spleen & ennui yet inside the people's minds. The light is mesmerizing deep and the leaves are as green as in earliest days of the Garden of Eden.


----------



## Ingélou

Fabulous photos! ^^^
You're making me long to go to St Petersburg - me, who's never been 'abroad' in my life. :lol:


----------



## TxllxT

*Catherine Palace, Tsarskoje Selo (St Petersburg)*










This panorama of the Catherine Palace (Tsarskoje Selo, St Petersburg) was made in a corner of the hanging garden that Charles Cameron created in the 1780s. Catherine the Great is to be associated with this baroque apex of opulence, that her court architect Rastrelli converted into tangible stone reality around 1757. In terms of music these are the heydays of Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759).










This panorama was made on the same spot, but shows the other side: these are all creations from the 1780s made by Charles Cameron. Charles Cameron was the court architect of Catherine II, who openly detested the baroque taste of her mother. Cameron introduced neoclassical refinedness that aspired to surpass the classical model of ancient Rome & Greece. Yes, in those days the nobility (assisted by architects & artists) were very confident that they could do better in their own times. I have to confess that I think they almost succeeded in realising this dream... In terms of music: Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-87) & Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91).


----------



## TxllxT

*Cameron Gallery, Catherine Palace, Tsarskoye Selo*




























In the 1780s Charles Cameron created a περίπατοι: a philosophical walk around, where Catherine II could enjoy the garden, the talk with her trustees and the vast collection of bustes. This gallery survived the Nazi's and WWII intact. The collection of bustes has a stupefying quality of sheer beauty. When we were walking there the lilacs were in full flowering.


----------



## TxllxT

The Catherine Palace, designed & built 1717-57 by the baroque Italian architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli. Completely destroyed by the Nazis during the Siege of Leningrad, but almost all has been painstakingly restored. Inside one may find the Amber Room, but my advice is (when you are short in spending your time) to wander into the park.










Notice how the Palace blue matches with the heavenly blue...


----------



## starthrower

Just had to post this great photo!


----------



## TxllxT

St Petersburg, View from the Hermitage on the Palace square


----------



## Abraham Lincoln

Still in love with this shot I took some months ago.


----------



## TxllxT

St Petersburg. This umbrella exposition went over all europe, but here... the light... the colours...!


----------



## TxllxT

St Petersburg, Moscow square. The biggest square of Saint Petersburg measures 13 ha. The colossal building in the back is the House of Soviets, which was finished in 1941, just a few months before the German invasion. During WWII it was used by the Red Army but afterwards it just stood empty. The same with the square: until 1968 all this lay there decaying in oblivion. In 1970 the metro was build and than the greatest of all Lenin statues (8 metres high) was erected. (Who knows the ideologues woke up because of the events in Czechoslovakia). In 2006 the water fountains were added. So when one wouldn't know the history, it might seem as if the Russians were crazy about communism all along. In real nobody cared much.
When we were walking here, we liked the atmosphere. Lots of schoolchildren sit & play at the fountains. The huge square is really impressive. Plus we had the opportunity to see Moscow (more or less all what Moscow can be proud of) in the south of St Petersburg!


----------



## TxllxT

*Saint Petersburg: Nevsky Prospekt, Anichkov Bridge*




























On the Anichkov Bridge there were four Horse Tamer Statues installed (by sculptor Baron Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg) in 1851. Fascinating for walking around.


----------



## TxllxT

*Horse Tamer Statue (1851) by Baron Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg*


----------



## TxllxT

*Saint Petersburg: Baron von Stieglitz Museum of Applied Arts - Neorenaissance*



















A very peculiar museum, still unrestored.


----------



## TxllxT

*Saint Petersburg: Baron von Stieglitz Museum of Applied Arts - Neorenaissance*




























A few more samples from this over-the-top crazy museum. Very Russian indeed!


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

Sitting by a frozen lake:








View from where I sat:


----------



## ArtMusic

My avatar right now is a very famous villain called Kylo Ren.


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

TxllxT said:


> St Petersburg, View from the Hermitage on the Palace square


Never been to mother Russia, unfortunately. I hope to go there some day, St. Petersburg is definitely on my 'to visit' list.


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Sitting by a frozen lake:
> View attachment 80963
> 
> 
> View from where I sat:
> View attachment 80964


Where is this, if I may ask?


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

TxllxT said:


> A few more samples from this over-the-top crazy museum. Very Russian indeed!


Wow, this is stunning! I have to go to St. Petersburg . This looks like the perfect decoration for a magnificient Rimsky-Korsakov opera - The Golden Cockerel comes to mind.


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I'm gonna keep whimpering over here... but at least the Russian musicology community knows about me there now! After this month!
> 
> A panorama I took at a lake in my city:
> 
> View attachment 76861


And how have you made yourself known?


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

TxllxT said:


> Pushkin Monument (1900) in Pushkin / Tsarskoje Selo (30km south of St Petersburg)


Ah, Pushkin. Eternal memory to him, what a Great. I just love his works.


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

TxllxT said:


> Arguably the most beautiful place on earth is the Catherine Park of Tsarskoye Selo (35 km south of St Petersburg) that surrounds the maximalist huge Catherine Palace. All one sees here has been imagined by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron in the 1780s. While walking around there I thought about the classical music of the 1780s: Mozart, Gluck, the times in which there reigned no spleen & ennui yet inside the people's minds. The light is mesmerizing deep and the leaves are as green as in earliest days of the Garden of Eden.


Forgot Haydn! Otherwise a great photo .


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

Ingélou said:


> Fabulous photos! ^^^
> You're making me long to go to St Petersburg - me, who's never been 'abroad' in my life. :lol:


Really? Why not? Ingélou, you seem to be the type of person who would love visiting different countries .


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

TxllxT said:


> I noticed that lots of places in the world do not know a real spring season. To get optimal tulip & narcis flowering you need sunshine + colder steady weather.


Wow, you're an excellent photographer - thank you for sharing!


----------



## Ingélou

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Really? Why not? Ingélou, you seem to be the type of person who would love visiting different countries .


I would in the sense that I'm very interested in different cultures and like looking round museums etc and meeting new people. But unfortunately I'm also a timid person who worries about the unknown, and in particular, I'm scared of flying! Also, for many years I had dogs that I couldn't bear to leave, and now I have an aged mother who needs my attention.

But I am hoping that I will manage to visit some interesting 'abroad' places one day!


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

jurianbai said:


> It was a hazy afternoon and the sunset hunting considered failed...
> View attachment 72378
> 
> 
> but at least, got second to do this...
> View attachment 72377
> 
> 
> :tiphat:


Wow, excellent photos!


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

Ingélou said:


> I would in the sense that I'm very interested in different cultures and like looking round museums etc and meeting new people. But unfortunately I'm also a timid person who worries about the unknown, and in particular, I'm scared of flying! Also, for many years I had dogs that I couldn't bear to leave, and now I have an aged mother who needs my attention.
> 
> But I am hoping that I will manage to visit some interesting 'abroad' places one day!


Aw, ok I see. I definitely hope that you'll get the chance, I'm sure you'll really like it! Plus, there's a canal going from England to France, if I'm not mistaken, so one doesn't have to fly anymore .


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> And how have you made yourself known?


Um, well, in October of last year (2015) there was a Symposium in St. Petersburg about Glazunov in honor of his 150th anniversary and well I uh submitted something *cough* just a little statement that was read to those musicians and musicologists who gathered... a postcard from the US, you may say.


----------



## TxllxT

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Wow, this is stunning! I have to go to St. Petersburg . This looks like the perfect decoration for a magnificient Rimsky-Korsakov opera - The Golden Cockerel comes to mind.


Actually this museum looks more like a storage of opera requisites than an exposition of 'the real thing'. In this academy they learnt all the decoration techniques, furniture carving etc. The scenery above was used for a love scene in the recent film 'Anna Karenina'.


----------



## TxllxT

Ingélou said:


> I would in the sense that I'm very interested in different cultures and like looking round museums etc and meeting new people. But unfortunately I'm also a timid person who worries about the unknown, and in particular, I'm scared of flying! Also, for many years I had dogs that I couldn't bear to leave, and now I have an aged mother who needs my attention.
> 
> But I am hoping that I will manage to visit some interesting 'abroad' places one day!


Ingélou, there must be an old romantic way to get to St Petersburg by trojka or by reindeer sledge. Of course you need a ship to sail out of England... Why do we need to fly?


----------



## aleazk

Lake Rotorua, in Rotorua, NZ:

















The Sky Tower in Auckland, NZ:


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

Huilunsoittaja said:


> Um, well, in October of last year (2015) there was a Symposium in St. Petersburg about Glazunov in honor of his 150th anniversary and well I uh submitted something *cough* just a little statement that was read to those musicians and musicologists who gathered... a postcard from the US, you may say.


Hehe, and so your letter was read out loud??  That's great. I'm glad that great music and culture still connects America and Europe to Russia - as long as there is such contact, war cannot ensue, imo.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Hehe, and so your letter was read out loud??  That's great. I'm glad that great music and culture still connects America and Europe to Russia - as long as there is such contact, war cannot ensue, imo.


It was translated by the Russian musicologist friend of mine, so I'm not sure what exactly she did, but she said my message was received very warmly by the people there. They were happy to hear from an American enthusiast of Russian music.


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

Huilunsoittaja said:


> It was translated by the Russian musicologist friend of mine, so I'm not sure what exactly she did, but she said my message was received very warmly by the people there. They were happy to hear from an American enthusiast of Russian music.


Yeah, American-Finnish, which makes it even more interesting . I think music can carry a message of peace and respect in these difficult times between Russia and the West.


----------



## TxllxT

*Saint Petersburg: Equestrian Statue of Czar Alexander III*




























One of the most curious & impressive equestrian statues ever is hidden inside the garden of Marble Palace. It represents Czar Alexander III and it was meant for the central square in Nevsky Prospekt, where it stood from 1909 until 1917. The sculptor Paolo Troubetskoy makes very clear, what he thought about this czar by making him look like a peasant sitting square on a working horse. Well, I love it!


----------



## TxllxT

*Saint Petersburg: Chesme Church 1777-80*



















This Chesme Church in the south of St Petersburg is probably the first Neogothic building in Europe: in 1777-80 by architect Johann Georg Veldten. Quite extraordinary for a country without any Gothic architecture.


----------



## HaydnBearstheClock

TxllxT said:


> This Chesme Church in the south of St Petersburg is probably the first Neogothic building in Europe: in 1777-80 by architect Johann Georg Veldten. Quite extraordinary for a country without any Gothic architecture.


Wow, St. Petersburg is amazing. Very happy to see workers keeping everything in beautiful shape too. I will have to visit this wonderful city. Thank you very much for sharing these photographs.


----------



## joen_cph

For the earliest neo-Gothic architecture, Horace Walpole´s Strawberry Hill (1750- ) and also Inveraray Castle (1750s - ) are among the candidates:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Hill_House
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inveraray_Castle


----------



## TxllxT

joen_cph said:


> For the earliest neo-Gothic architecture, Horace Walpole´s Strawberry Hill (1750- ) and also Inveraray Castle (1750s - ) are among the candidates:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Hill_House
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inveraray_Castle


Thanks for the links. In Tsarskoje Selo the oldest Neogothic building in Russia was erected in 1773: http://eng.tzar.ru/museums/palaces/catherine_park/landscape/admiralty

The buildings you mentioned were finished in 1780 & 1790, so St Petersburg was not at all far behind.


----------



## TxllxT

*Hermitage Museum - General Staff Building - Palace Square - St Petersburg*



















On one side of the Palace square one may find one of the largest museum ever: the Hermitage / Winter palace. Since 2014 however, on the opposite side of the Palace square a new department of the Hermitage has opened in the General Staff Building (1820 by Carlo Rossi). The inside court has received a kind of British Museum solution with being covered by a glass roof. This new museum has the permanent exposition of the Hermitage's 19th & 20th century art collections. It is really huge! Many of the French impressionist paintings are still quite unknown. The Hermitage museum one may visit now with one ticket for four buildings: 10 Euro.


----------



## KenOC

A LensCulture finalist this year. How I wish I could take a photo this fine!


----------



## TxllxT

*General Staff Building - Hermitage Museum - Carlo Rossi State Rooms*










In 2014 the General Staff Building was opened as a new department of the Hermitage Museum. Here we see one of the restored State Rooms, that used to be part of the Czar's ministries. Early 19th century Empire Architecture.


----------



## TxllxT

*General Staff Building - Hermitage Museum - Carlo Rossi State Rooms*



















Every room has its own marble colour and design. It's mind-boggling how many rich interiors are to be seem in the Hermitage Museum.


----------



## LarryShone

A night shot in my town from a few years ago.


----------



## TxllxT

*Winter Palace - Hermitage Museum - St Petersburg*










Grand Staircase of the Winter Palace 1837 Restored by Vasily Stasov










Concert Hall 1837 by Vasily Stasov










Concert Hall 1837 by Vasily Stasov


----------



## TxllxT

*The Malachite Room 1839 by Alexander Briullov*




























Never seen so many gilded decorations; quite fitting for "War and Peace", isn't it?


----------



## TxllxT

*Rooms of the Winterpalace, St.Petersburg*










Neogothic library of Czar Nicholas II 1895










Romantic view outside of the Winterpalace










The Neorococo Boudoir 1853

The Winterpalace has an uncountless number of State rooms, all having their own design. Walking through it (with a clear mind) takes at least three or four days.


----------



## Huilunsoittaja

I like the panoramas you do from different angles, like the ones were you get of the ceiling.


----------



## TxllxT

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I like the panoramas you do from different angles, like the ones were you get of the ceiling.


That was exactly the idea. In big palaces (beginning with Versailles) expensive walls of mirrors were installed in order 'to see and be seen'. Here the architectural repetition effect with mirroring was the novelty.


----------



## TxllxT

*Hermitage Winter Palace - State Rooms*










The Gold Drawing Room 1841 (in the West corner of the Palace Square)










Empress Maria Alexandrovna with a beautiful condescendingly proud little nose










Here her view down on the rabble, the scum in the Palace Square (in real nothing happened with the Winter Palace in 1917, because the Romanovs already lived elsewhere)


----------



## TxllxT

*Hermitage Winter Palace - The White Hall 1841 by Alexander Briullov*


----------



## EdwardBast

I bushwhacked to a gorge on a local river a few days ago. The natural ice sculptures on the rocks were like frozen hallucinations. This one I call "Goat God and Supplicant": (click to enlarge)









This one is "Organ Morgan's Nightmare":


----------



## TxllxT

*Winter Palace - Hermitage Museum - St Petersburg*


----------



## TxllxT

*Palace Het Loo, Apeldoorn, Holland*










This palace was built for King William & Queen Mary of England in 1694. It is the Dutch counterpart of Versailles. It remained royal private property until 1975.










The Royal Stables date from 1910.


----------



## TxllxT

*Palace Het Loo, Apeldoorn, Holland*










Panorama view of the grand staircase, where everything is painted illusion.


----------



## TxllxT

*Palace Het Loo, Apeldoorn, Holland*




























Illusion photography of illusion paintings


----------



## KenOC

Old clowns, at a retirement home.


----------



## TxllxT

*Photo experiments*




























Below there is a panorama that covers the whole sky (made from a series of wide angle photos). Just a merry-go-round try-out.


----------



## Harmonie

I took some photos of my brand new oboe!


----------



## TxllxT

*Lighthouse De Ven 1700, Enkhuizen, Holland*




























In 1700 this lighthouse was build along the route for sailing ships to get from Amsterdam to the North Sea and vice versa. The photo at the top is a super fisheye photo panorama wherein the whole sky is present.


----------



## Guest

Baton Rouge, July 2016.

View attachment 86443


Photograph by Jonathan Bachman.


----------



## Ingélou

^^^^^ People are already saying that it will become a classic photo.


----------



## Guest

Ingélou said:


> ^^^^^ People are already saying that it will become a classic photo.


I agree. It's powerful and communicative.


----------



## Pugg

dogen said:


> Baton Rouge, July 2016.
> 
> View attachment 86443
> 
> 
> Photograph by Jonathan Bachman.


For a minute I thought is was Mrs Obama .


----------



## TxllxT

Sometimes small scale dunes transform in front of your eyes into something similar to grand scale American canyons










Beach patterns that change every hour


----------



## znapschatz

From 1965, when I was active in the civil rights movement.

This is a slideshow edit of 30+ out of 250 photographs I made during a 4 week period in Alabama. Regrets, no sound, but usually I provide the narrative when showing them.

http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/znapschatz/slideshow/Selma march

My camera was a small folding Kodak Retina camera with a fixed 50mm lens. It turned out to be ideal for my purposes, and I was able to cadge enough film from the working press to do the photography. Basically, this was my first step into photojournalism.


----------



## cwarchc

znapschatz said:


> From 1965, when I was active in the civil rights movement.
> 
> This is a slideshow edit of 30+ out of 250 photographs I made during a 4 week period in Alabama. Regrets, no sound, but usually I provide the narrative when showing them.
> 
> http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/znapschatz/slideshow/Selma march
> 
> My camera was a small folding Kodak Retina camera with a fixed 50mm lens. It turned out to be ideal for my purposes, and I was able to cadge enough film from the working press to do the photography. Basically, this was my first step into photojournalism.


Fabulous set of images

Very powerful, even without the audio.

I recently watched the film about these events

Thanksfor posting them


----------



## znapschatz

Thanks for finding them! This thread seemed to have been abandoned. Oh, well...

If you are referring to the film, Selma, I also saw it. It was very accurate, I thought, in terms of setting the time and place. All of itlooked exactly as I remembered, not really a stretch since the actual locations were used. The cast members, of course, couldn't look much like who they portrayed, except for Common, who looked so much like James Bevel I was startled when first seeing him on screen. There were, however, some major revisions concerning how the federal government maneuvered behind the scenes. In the film, Lyndon Johnson is shown to have been hostile to the Selma campaign, but in historical fact, he supported it. 

Johnson needed international cover for the Vietnam war. There was a widespread belief in the international community that the US was hypocritical in its pronouncements of promoting freedom while practicing apartheid at home, especially in the southern states, an embarrassment for diplomacy. The Voting Rights Act, signature result of the Selma to Montgomery march, was already written, and Johnson needed a push so he could justify to the southern Democrats in Congress that they needed to come on board. He could point to the mass movement for civil rights to say: "See? We got to do this thing or we're in political trouble." Also, Johnson never ordered FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to send recordings to his family of M.L. King's doings. That was all on Hoover's initiative.

Glad you liked the pix. I hope others find their way to the site.


----------



## Ingélou

Thanks indeed for posting the pictures, znapschatz - they are very powerful. :tiphat:


----------



## cwarchc

znapschatz said:


> Thanks for finding them! This thread seemed to have been abandoned. Oh, well...
> 
> If you are referring to the film, Selma, I also saw it. It was very accurate, I thought, in terms of setting the time and place. All of itlooked exactly as I remembered, not really a stretch since the actual locations were used. The cast members, of course, couldn't look much like who they portrayed, except for Common, who looked so much like James Bevel I was startled when first seeing him on screen. There were, however, some major revisions concerning how the federal government maneuvered behind the scenes. In the film, Lyndon Johnson is shown to have been hostile to the Selma campaign, but in historical fact, he supported it.
> 
> Johnson needed international cover for the Vietnam war. There was a widespread belief in the international community that the US was hypocritical in its pronouncements of promoting freedom while practicing apartheid at home, especially in the southern states, an embarrassment for diplomacy. The Voting Rights Act, signature result of the Selma to Montgomery march, was already written, and Johnson needed a push so he could justify to the southern Democrats in Congress that they needed to come on board. He could point to the mass movement for civil rights to say: "See? We got to do this thing or we're in political trouble." Also, Johnson never ordered FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to send recordings to his family of M.L. King's doings. That was all on Hoover's initiative.
> 
> Glad you liked the pix. I hope others find their way to the site.


It was the "Selma" film

The "worst" thing is that it was in my lifetime.
And given the recent happenings, it doesn't look as though man has learnt how to live with man.

Thanks again for these, it's a period of history that has strong messages for everyone


----------



## znapschatz

I notice that all three viewers are Britons, so you may be interested to know there were several of your compatriots who participated in the Selma/Montgomery march. This was one of them, Dr. June Finer, a member of the medical staff who stayed on while the voting registration project was underway. This photo was made a week after the march. Great Britain is a good deal smaller than the US, so surely one of you must know her  .


----------



## TurnaboutVox

Westerwick, Shetland



St. Ninian's Isle, Shetland



Fulmars, Eshaness, Shetland


----------



## TurnaboutVox

Ring of Brodgar, Orkney



St. Magnus' Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney



Skara Brae, Mainland, Orkney



Stromness, Orkney



The Old Man of Hoy and the western cliffs of Hoy emerge from the mist...


----------



## znapschatz

TurnaboutVox said:


> Ring of Brodgar, Orkney
> 
> 
> 
> St. Magnus' Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney
> 
> 
> 
> Skara Brae, Mainland, Orkney
> 
> 
> 
> Stromness, Orkney
> 
> 
> 
> The Old Man of Hoy and the western cliffs of Hoy emerge from the mist...


Good photography, nice work with composition and atmospherics. My favorite is the Old Man of Hoy with its mists and monotone. Proposed caption for the Fulmar birds: "Enough promises. Bring back something nice, for a change."


----------



## TurnaboutVox

Thanks for giving some feedback, znapschatz. I would welcome criticism too as I am keen to learn. I am a most amateur photographer who really will not have time to learn to use my camera properly until I retire. My current method, with a digital bridge camera, is to point and shoot x100s and then pick the odd relative success. :lol:


----------



## znapschatz

TurnaboutVox said:


> Thanks for giving some feedback, znapschatz. I would welcome criticism too as I am keen to learn. I am a most amateur photographer who really will not have time to learn to use my camera properly until I retire. My current method, with a digital bridge camera, is to point and *shoot x100s and then pick the odd relative success. :lol:*


You would be astonished at the number of professional photographers who do just that  .

I believe that photos you posted were technically and compositionally quite fine. Here's the secret most photographers eventually discover: it's the easiest job in the world. That is, the picture taking part  . Making a living at it is the challenge  .


----------



## znapschatz

TurnaboutVox said:


> Thanks for giving some feedback, znapschatz. I would welcome criticism too as I am keen to learn. I am a most amateur photographer who really will not have time to learn to use my camera properly until I retire. My current method, with a digital bridge camera, is to point and shoot x100s and then pick the odd relative success. :lol:


Part deux: Here's another thought. Say you exposed 100 frames for every good one, but those you picked out for display here were, in my professional opinion, excellent pictures. Therefore, you obviously already have a good eye for the elements that comprise a well executed photograph. If that is evident in editing, then it will come to you as you edit with your eye on location.
I think you are talented. Don't worry about learning the camera. They are all so easy to operate and getting easier. Koko the gorilla takes fine pictures with hers, so can you with yours.


----------



## KenOC

My current wallpaper -- no I didn't take this!


----------



## Pugg

KenOC said:


> My current wallpaper -- no I didn't take this!


Good one, going to borrow it for wallpaper also.


----------



## TxllxT

*Alkmaar, Holland, Kuipersbrug*

North West of Amsterdam there is the cheese town of Alkmaar.


----------



## znapschatz

TxllxT said:


> North West of Amsterdam there is the cheese town of Alkmaar.


Looks like someone is having fun with his ultra-wide angle lens. Nicely done! :tiphat:


----------



## joen_cph

Soviet statuary as you´ve never seen it:

http://www.rferl.org/a/soviet-statues-underwater-off-crimea-peninsula/28023948.html


----------



## znapschatz

I used to carry my camera with me everywhere to photograph stuff that caught my eye, mostly people I'd come across doing things. These are snapshots from the turn of the 1990s, published in a monthly newspaper here in Columbus, with my handwritten captions. Some references, both visual and in the captions, comment on local issues of the time, but I hope are translatable to other venues.

Thanks for looking.

http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/znapschatz/slideshow/C-Scapes/C-scapes 2


----------



## KenOC

A Thai farmer, ethnically Lao, in upcountry Thailand ca 1967.


----------



## KenOC

Thai girl, 1967.


----------



## TxllxT

Amsterdam, Central Station, Newly opened (July 2016) IJ-side


----------



## TxllxT

*Amsterdam - Brouwersgracht crossing Prinsengracht*


----------



## Vaneyes

KenOC said:


> My current wallpaper -- no I didn't take this!


Me neither.


----------



## KenOC

Lake Elsinore, California.


----------



## KenOC

Strolling in San Diego in January.


----------



## Flamme

I take lots of pics of nature in various weather conditions, seasons...This is from todays bike ride, into the fields, across the river...Interesting spindrift clouds...


----------



## KenOC

Holy Cross Chapel, aka "Red Rock Church," outside Sedona, Arizona.


----------



## Pugg

TxllxT said:


> Amsterdam, Central Station, Newly opened (July 2016) IJ-side


Now we need Rotterdam Central station.


----------



## TxllxT

Texel Ferries travelling to & fro through the desert  the huge sandbeach on the south of the isle of Texel)


----------



## KenOC

My dad and a friend being foolhardy in 1932. Taken by Curtis Ijames.


----------



## KenOC

The picture above brings back some of my own memories. The fellow on the left is Ray Atkeson, who became a quite famous nature and landscape photographer in the Northwest. One of his photos records the Indians fishing for salmon from rickety platforms over the Celilo Falls on the Columbia River.

"The falls were the sixth-largest by volume in the world and were among the largest in North America… For 15,000 years, native peoples gathered at Wyam to fish and exchange goods. They built wooden platforms out over the water and caught salmon with dipnets and long spears on poles as the fish swam up through the rapids and jumped over the falls. Historically, an estimated fifteen to twenty million salmon passed through the falls every year, making it one of the greatest fishing sites in North America." (Wiki)

But the Bonneville Dam didn't quench the Northwest's thirst for energy, and the Dalles Dam was built, forever inundating Celilo Falls -- I remember that well from 1957. The river's huge salmon runs have since largely disappeared. Here's a picture Ray took before the falls disappeared.


----------



## helenora

KenOC said:


> The picture above brings back some of my own memories. The fellow on the left is Ray Atkeson, who became a quite famous nature and landscape photographer in the Northwest. One of his photos records the Indians fishing for salmon from rickety platforms over the Celilo Falls on the Columbia River.
> 
> "The falls were the sixth-largest by volume in the world and were among the largest in North America… For 15,000 years, native peoples gathered at Wyam to fish and exchange goods. They built wooden platforms out over the water and caught salmon with dipnets and long spears on poles as the fish swam up through the rapids and jumped over the falls. Historically, an estimated fifteen to twenty million salmon passed through the falls every year, making it one of the greatest fishing sites in North America." (Wiki)
> 
> But the Bonneville Dam didn't quench the Northwest's thirst for energy, and the Dalles Dam was built, forever inundating Celilo Falls (I remember that well from 1957). The river's huge salmon runs have since largely disappeared. Here's a picture Ray took before the falls disappeared.


amazing photos above. thank you.
I've found his site, black and white photography is very beautiful


----------



## KenOC

Hi helenora. I have several very nice Ray Atkeson photos, found in my father's photo albums, that have never seen the light of day. I wrote his family about them but they had no interest, evidently thinking they had no commercial value. Kind of sad. He was quite a talented photographer.


----------



## helenora

KenOC said:


> Hi helenora. I have several very nice Ray Atkeson photos, found in my father's photo albums, that have never seen the light of day. I wrote his family about them but they had no interest, evidently thinking they had no commercial value. Kind of sad. He was quite a talented photographer.


yes, definitely talented. I assumed you or /and your family might have been acquainted with him.


----------



## KenOC

My father was -- they were members of the same mountain climbing club. I may have met him once or twice. In later years he suffered from a total loss of peripheral vision and had to watch TV through binoculars turned around backwards, I was told. Life is quite cruel sometimes.


----------



## TxllxT

Tomorrow we'll be travelling to the mainland for the first time with the new ferry Texelstroom. They say it resembles a cruiseship... so luxurious.


----------



## Art Rock

Bambi by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr

Not my usual stuff, but maybe this will appeal more....


----------



## helenora

Russia 1964 by Thomas Hammond
What a discovery! still horses in 1964, nice pic


----------



## Art Rock

Centripetal 2017-027 by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr

This is more typical for my style.


----------



## Art Rock

Jews alley by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr


----------



## helenora

Goya "Dog" from Pinturas negras









and a picture of a dog from the Middle East taken this year


----------



## KenOC

Listening today to Jennifer Higdon's _All Things Majestic_, a four-movement suite inspired by the Grand Teton Mountains and park. Made me think of a motorcycle trip we made through there on our way to Yellowstone. Here's my wife, Grand Tetons in the background.


----------



## EdwardBast

A three mile walk out my back door, through the forest, and a climb of 1,200 feet leads to the top of a local mountain. It's what I do to stay in shape. Some of the fresh green of spring still persists. Here is a view from the top a few days ago:


----------



## KenOC

My wife has started raising Monarch butterflies. She attracts them with milkweed plants, and now we got a net indoor enclosure to watch the caterpillars form their chrysalises and hatch into butterflies.

She released her first indoor Monarch yesterday and got two more big boys from her outdoor plants. In a few days, they'll be butterflies too. Here they are.


----------



## KenOC

Now there is an app that turns your iPhone into a cheap disposable camera. Really! The app, called "Gudak", is in vivid Kodak yellow and lets you capture that "Gudak moment."

You can take only 24 pictures, complete with random color casts and light leaks. No troublesome preview or delete functions! When you've shot your 24, you send the "film" to the processing lab, which fortunately is inside your iPhone. You'll get your pictures back in three days. I don't know if there is a "lost in the mail" function.

A clever exploitation of nostalgia for something nobody is nostalgic about. Certainly one of the most useless things I've ever seen, and a steal at 99 cents.


----------



## Art Rock

One of my favourite shots of the year, and my 78th in total to reach Flickr Explore, the 500 most interesting photographs of the day (out of millions uploaded daily worldwide).


Vichy patterns by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr


----------



## Nocture In Blue

Some pictures from my trip to Germany & Austria this summer...


----------



## Blancrocher

One of the most amusing photography projects I've come across:

https://www.boredpanda.com/people-m...=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=mishka


----------



## KenOC

Winners just announced of the 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year. The galleries are up, and some of the shots are fantastic.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/nature-photographer-of-the-year-2017/gallery/winners-all/1


----------



## Art Rock

I've had lack of inspiration this year so far, but I like this one:


Frozen rooftops by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr


----------



## KenOC

"The winners of this year's Sony World Photography Awards Open competition have been revealed, with Britain's Nick Dolding's portrait of Emile being voted the best in the Portraiture category."










More: http://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-43472907


----------



## Phil loves classical

Niagara-on-the-Lake


----------



## KenOC

A memorable candid shot, made under very difficult circumstances. This sort of thing is where the real pros show their stuff. Shooting it is described in this article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/01/insider/jim-mattis-photograph.html


----------



## Art Rock

Firefall by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr

My favourite shot of the year so far.


----------



## KenOC

Na Pali Coast, Kauai, processed with a Van Gogh filter.


----------



## KenOC

Nice Kauai valley - testing IMGUR since Postimage.org is disabled.


----------



## KenOC

Re-post of #431 above, Na Pali coast.


----------



## KenOC

My DSLR is obsolete! I was at a beach birthday party yesterday with my son and friends north of Malibu, a chilly and windy affair. After the sun set, we all gathered around a campfire. A friend of my son's was taking pictures of people with his iPhone. I wondered why he wasn't using flash, since it was quite dark. My camera wouldn't even have found focus, and the pictures would have been very noisy.

Here's the picture of me that he e-mailed, right out of the camera. I edited out the bags under my eyes, nothing else. Astonishing! Note also the out-of-focus background, an effect that could never result with such a tiny sensor and short focal length. This was done by "computational photography," achieved by using two taking lenses. Thus the world turns.

Bear in mind this was taken in the dark!


----------



## ramiot

Photos that I have taken and consider successful.

_IMG3092c by Robert Amiot, sur Flickr

Colibri à gorge rubis. by Robert Amiot, sur Flickr

_IMG4522 by Robert Amiot, sur Flickr

_IMG4672_3_4_5_6_tonemapped by Robert Amiot, sur Flickr

Pygargue à tête blanche by Robert Amiot, sur Flickr


----------



## laurie

^^^^

These are great, the birds especially ... that eagle is fierce!


----------



## laurie

I really like this one, the lighting & colors give it a retro, 1960's snapshot feel to me.
And, it's my very favorite subject matter ~ my grandkids, of course!


----------



## David Phillips

This is a snap from autumn of last year which reminds me of library shots used for classical album covers of the 1950s/60s.


----------



## TurnaboutVox

Spurred on by the disappearance of all my earlier photographs in this thread in the 'Great Photobucket Debacle', here are some more recent ones. Fire away...










Gorse and Slate spoil at Blaenau Ffestiniog, north Wales










Quay, Aberporth, Cardigan Bay, mid-Wales










A grand old lady - Warrington Central railway station on the Cheshire Lines Committee line from Liverpool to Manchester, north-west England


----------



## TurnaboutVox

*A Quadriptych from Derry / Londonderry, Northern Ireland, UK (2017)*

I wanted to create an image that showed the city 'as it revealed itself' to Mrs Vox and I on our walk from the Victorian Guildhall around the city walls, built in 1613-1618 as a defence against the indigenous population for the settlers from England and Scotland, rather than the city wall or the Victorian Guild Hall, which are the city's traditional tourist attractions.









*
The Bogside*

The first photograph, taken from the heights of the wall, shows the Republican Bogside area, a traditional base of support for the IRA during the troubles. Even today, you will see a Republic of Ireland flag and a European Union flag flying (left). This was after the EU referendum in the UK.









*
The Waterside*

This picture shows a slogan painted on a brick wall in the Loyalist Bogside. The lamp-post to the left is coloured red, white and blue, that is, it shows support for the Union flag of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I found the slogan with its message of fear and defiance quite troubling. I wondered if the man and his daughter in the bottom left-hand corner were looking on in shock, as we were, or perhaps in satisfaction and approval?

There is (still) a 30 foot chain-link fence across the roads which would otherwise connect the Bogside with the Waterside, which again was profoundly disturbing for us.









*
The Walled City*

This is a wealthy settler's home within the walled city. Its opulence tells its own story. I found myself wondering if the two men (bottom left) might have come from the two communities.









*
The Peace Bridge, 2011*

The final picture shows the 235m Peace Bridge across the River Foyle, built in 2011 and jointly funded by the UK and the EU. It is a 'symbolic handshake' between the two communities (but it doesn't physically join them). The buildings on the far side of the bridge are a formidable symbol themselves of older times, an 18th century (former) army barracks and parade ground.

The photograph shows the people of Derry / Londonderry using the bridge, as we later also did.


----------



## KenOC

"Marcio Cabral submitted a once-in-a-lifetime shot of an anteater, captured in the Brazilian plains, eating termites deep in the concrete mud mound. For his work, Cabral won the 2017 British Natural History Museum photography award for _Animals in their Environment_."

However, several viewers then pointed out that the giant anteater looks a lot like the stuffed one in photos in the museum at the Park where the picture was taken. An investigation was launched. As a result, Cabral's award has been withdrawn and he has been disqualified from all future contests.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/04...ied-because-it-features-stuffed-anteater.html


----------



## KenOC

Another: David John Slater set up a trail camera in 2011. Along came an Indonesian crested macaque (now called Naruto) who snapped some fine pictures of himself. Slater used the photos in a book.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued Slater and self-publishing company Blurb on Naruto's behalf in 2015, claiming that Naruto, not Slater, owned the copyright on the photos. This has been knocking around the courts for a long time, believe it or not.

Final conclusion: Monkeys cannot own US copyrights. But Naruto takes a fine photo!


----------



## David Phillips

'Black-eyed suzies' at Quex Park, Kent, taken last summer.


----------



## Phil loves classical

Took this shot yesterday morning at Grand Teton.









And this from Yellowstone


----------



## KenOC

Another view of the Tetons from 2003, using a now ancient 3 MP digital camera. On the way to Yellowstone.


----------



## David Phillips

Vertical shot of a Spanish Fir taken in Quex Park, Kent a couple of weeks ago.


----------



## sharkeysnight

Oh! Photography is one of my main interests. I'd like to do something at least semi-professional with it someday, perhaps theatrical photography, which would combine a bunch of my interests into one unwieldy superinterest, but in the meantime:


----------



## KenOC

My wife, with her gleaming chariot of steel, at the Overlook on Ortega Highway.










Looking down from the Overlook on Lake Elsinore.


----------



## David Phillips

Another snap which might look OK on a classical album sleeve if the 1950s ever come back.


----------



## David Phillips

'Straw duck', Crowhurst Park, Sussex, May, 2018


----------



## goatygoatygoatgoat

Phil loves classical said:


> Niagara-on-the-Lake
> 
> View attachment 102441


Hey, isn't that the gazebo used in The Dead Zone (1983)?


----------



## goatygoatygoatgoat

I'm just a half-assed photographer, but occasionally things come out right. These were all taken around my house:

View attachment 104962
View attachment 104961
View attachment 104964
View attachment 104965
View attachment 104963


----------



## goatygoatygoatgoat

I know this isn't a great photo or anything - it's not in super-crisp focus and not very interesting - but does anybody have a "front lawn" like this? This is from this winter, directly in front of my house:

View attachment 105050


----------



## David Phillips

Reculver Towers, Herne Bay, Kent.


----------



## Phil loves classical

goatygoatygoatgoat said:


> Hey, isn't that the gazebo used in The Dead Zone (1983)?


Hey ya! I looked into it and read it was made for that movie, and later became a town landmark.


----------



## goatygoatygoatgoat

Phil loves classical said:


> Hey ya! I looked into it and read it was made for that movie, and later became a town landmark.


I thought I recognized it. I've even been in that gazebo a few times in the 80's, but at the time, didn't know The Dead Zone was filmed there.

I still remember that winter of 82-83 - damn cold. You can tell how cold it was by how crunchy the snow is when they're in the gazebo.


----------



## goatygoatygoatgoat

I'd like an opinion on this photo:

View attachment 105887


Aside from imperfect focus (which is tricky with a moving subject, cheap camera and low light) what do you think?


----------



## Phil loves classical

Nice bokeh effect. Not sure of the composition though.


----------



## Art Rock

The composition is very good imo. Normally, the subject should not be in the centre (use rule of thirds or even better golden ratio), but with a symmetric composition and the critter looking straight at us, this is one of the exceptions. What makes the composition stand out is that the critter's eyes and nose are almost exactly on the two diagonals.


----------



## joen_cph

Apparently in Modesto, California. 
Good idea, IMO ...

Photography-wise, very difficult to make a perfect composition etc. in this case ...


----------



## goatygoatygoatgoat

Thanks for the advice. That's what I was looking for. I'll check out the golden ratio. I knew I needed work on composition.

I usually put these guys in the centre.

View attachment 105909


----------



## goatygoatygoatgoat

What about this guy? Is this no good because he's in the centre?

View attachment 105910


----------



## joen_cph

I think there´s a fine effect composition-wise, pointing to his balancing act.

edit: there´s also a whirling/spiralling effect


----------



## Art Rock

No good is a big word, but indeed, this would be a bit better with the animal off-center. Nice bokeh though, and the (I guess) bicycle steering wheel is a good leading line in the composition.

EDIT: the shot in post 461 has a better composition. Had the critter been just a bit more to the right and down (5-10% or so), it would have been on a golden ratio main focal point.


----------



## joen_cph

Lots of famous and influential paintings in the history of art use frontal symmetries as an expression or effect, so it´s difficult to establish any real rules.


----------



## LezLee

goatygoatygoatgoat said:


> I know this isn't a great photo or anything - it's not in super-crisp focus and not very interesting - but does anybody have a "front lawn" like this? This is from this winter, directly in front of my house:
> 
> View attachment 105050


I got this message:
vBulletin Message
Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

In fact I got the same message for all goaty's other attachments too.


----------



## joen_cph

A quick photo opportunity, from a few weeks ago, on a beach on the Isle of Skye ...


----------



## joen_cph

It was on this, rocky beach.


----------



## znapschatz

Since July 1, 2018, I have been subjected to a brain hemorrhage, just released from hospital yesterday, good as new (I think). Just previously, I had been awarded a medal by Comfest as Honored Artist for the Humanities, then the following day, laid low by the hemorrhage, an odd award from an ungrateful fate. But I'm all better now, ready to rejoin the party (I think.). Cheers!


----------



## KenOC

znapschatz said:


> Since July 1, 2018, I have been subjected to a brain hemorrhage, just released from hospital yesterday, good as new (I think). Just previously, I had been awarded a medal by Comfest as Honored Artist for the Humanities, then the following day, laid low by the hemorrhage, an odd award from an ungrateful fate. But I'm all better now, ready to rejoin the party (I think.). Cheers!


Wow! Is that like a stroke? Glad to hear you recovered, and just FYI what you wrote makes perfect sense and the words aren't spelled backwards or anything. :lol:

And BTW, sincere congratulations on your medal!


----------



## David Phillips

The Walpole Bay Hotel, Margate, Kent. A nice place to drink on a summer evening.


----------



## Phil loves classical

In Alaska currently. Saw a caribou yesterday. Looking for a grizzly


----------



## TxllxT

Last month we visited the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam, where Baruch de Spinoza used to be a member before he was excommunicated. A panoramic fisheye photo.


----------



## KenOC

Phil loves classical said:


> In Alaska currently. Saw a caribou yesterday. Looking for a grizzly
> 
> View attachment 106893


Make sure you've got a LONG lens!


----------



## KenOC

Also, don't do this.


----------



## Phil loves classical

Gave up on the Grizzly hunt. I saw some whales.


----------



## Art Rock

Love of my life by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr


----------



## David Phillips

I've no idea when - or why - peacocks were first introduced to country house gardens. This one, spotted at Quex House in Kent, wanders around the grounds and, although quite tame, hautily ignores visitors. I never believed peacocks could fly until I saw one launch itself from a first floor balcony. Their piercing cries can be heard for miles. Odd creatures.


----------



## DaveM

A wonderful sky scene taken in the neighborhood:


----------



## jegreenwood

A long lens for this one as well.


----------



## jegreenwood

And my avatar in full glory.


----------



## jegreenwood

View attachment 108240


Gorillas in the pond.


----------



## senza sordino

I took this photo ten years ago. It's beside a lake near my home. A Canada goose keeping her gosling warm.


----------



## KenOC

Nice! ….……………………………….


----------



## Carol Rein

Wagner Musikinstitut


----------



## jegreenwood

Cruising around Antarctica.


----------



## jegreenwood

And who should I find?


----------



## jegreenwood

Not Safe For Work


----------



## Guest

Is this purely a photography thread by professionals, or are some pictures take straight off the internet? 

I ask because I was thinking of started an Amateur Photography thread.


----------



## Art Rock

It's a weird mixture at the moment. It would be good to have a thread purely dedicated to shots taken by ourselves (amateur, semi-pro, or professionals).


----------



## senza sordino

poco a poco said:


> Is this purely a photography thread by professionals, or are some pictures take straight off the internet?
> 
> I ask because I was thinking of started an Amateur Photography thread.


I can only speak for myself. These are photos I've taken myself. I'm an amateur. I have taken a couple of classes on photography and read several how to books. I like to take photos when I travel. I use budget equipment, but not bottom budget equipment. I know how to use all of the camera settings. And I think about composition.

Here's a photo I took in Queensland, Australia in 2007. Rainbow lorikeets. Very colourful and very noisy.


----------



## Guest

Senza Sordino, that is a gorgeous photo, nature has given creatures the most beautiful colours. 
Did you enter it in a photo competition?


----------



## senza sordino

poco a poco said:


> Senza Sordino, that is a gorgeous photo, nature has given creatures the most beautiful colours.
> Did you enter it in a photo competition?


I have never entered a formal competition, only an online forum competition on a photography website. I no longer participate in that forum. Though I keep my photos on that photography website. I won't share that website here as I use my real name. I'll post a few more photos from time to time here as I already have done.


----------



## senza sordino

A four photo panorama I stitched together on the computer. My hometown during the 2010 Olympics


----------



## David Phillips

Two snaps from the gardens of Quex Park, Kent, taken this summer.


----------



## jegreenwood

poco a poco said:


> Is this purely a photography thread by professionals, or are some pictures take straight off the internet?
> 
> I ask because I was thinking of started an Amateur Photography thread.


All my photos are from trips I have taken. I am an amateur (with a large telephoto lens).


----------



## jegreenwood

Checking out every direction.


----------



## jegreenwood

Mother and child?


----------



## jegreenwood

Taken at dawn on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.


----------



## Guest

jegreenwood said:


> View attachment 108845
> 
> 
> Taken at dawn on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.


Wish I could have done that walk! It must be spectacular.


----------



## Guest

Photo I took today with the sun rays on my plant. I didn't even know the sun rays would show up.


----------



## Dorsetmike

I love roses, one of my favourite places to see them is at Mottisfont Abbey near Romsey which has the national collection of old roses some varieties can be traced back to 15thC.

















For a few more roses the link has some of the garden I had up to moving here over 3 years ago, I had about 50 rose plants, the new owners ripped out all bar 3 or 4! Also some from Mottisfont.

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/107343264059948197611/album/AF1QipN-jUPTyvnn6Us0uWxdBZmIiktFUFESknSSy5Rr


----------



## Guest

I Can see my piccy up there Mike, is it visible to you too? 

I love roses too , but they are hard to keep.


----------



## Dorsetmike

No pic, all I see is a small blue rectangle, if you want to upload from your computer click "from Computer" then "Basic uploader" in the bottom right corner of the add image window then browse to your file and click to upload, alternatively select Advanced then "Manage Attachments". It's more or less the same as on MIMF.


----------



## Dorsetmike

I see it now, looks like a penstemon.


----------



## Dorsetmike

Some amazing and amusing photos (not mine though)

https://www.comedywildlifephoto.com/gallery/2018_finalists.php


----------



## senza sordino

Photos I took in July 2011 in Jasper National Park.

A black bear. 









An elk, this guy wasn't very far away. 10 m to 20 m. 









A grey wolf. This was a rare sight as they're aren't many there. This was is wearing a radio collar 









All taken with my Canon rebel. The first and last taken with the 70 to 300 zoom, but the second is taken with the 35 to 55 mm lens. He really was close. While they only eat plants, it was rather scary to be that close. I didn't intend on being that close, these elk often walk right through town. Jasper is a terrific place, and a bit less tourism than its southern neighbour Banff so there is more wildlife.


----------



## Dorsetmike

Some folk dancing, captions are team names. I enjoy taking photos and videos of the colour and movement; we have 3 folk festivals in the area each year, I've been doing it for about 15 years, soon need some more terabytes of disc space!








Spank the planks








Morena








Haddenham Hoofers








Tappalachian


----------



## joen_cph

Nice to see them obviously having fun ...


----------



## joen_cph

From a mountain village in France, the Roya Valley, this summer ...


----------



## Phil loves classical

Got back from a trip to New England.


----------



## KenOC

Here's my great grandfather with his goat train on the streets of Portland OR in 1898. He shortly sailed with his goats to Alaska, where he intended using them to haul freight between cities. Not sure how that worked out!


----------



## KenOC

Some nice photos here from the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-45870218


----------



## Art Rock

Penetration by Hennie Schaper, on Flickr

Today this recent shot of mine was selected as one of the 100 best of the day world-wide on Flickr. It is going to be my most successful picture in the 11 1/2 years I've been on that photo sharing platform. And fortunately it is also a personal favourite of mine.


----------



## Dorsetmike

A few from Bournemouth Air show, good view from the cliff top.


----------



## KenOC

At a parade in upcountry Thailand, 1968.


----------



## KenOC

Thailand 1968 again, a local farmer upcountry.


----------



## KenOC

Tea seller (I think) at a temple in Taipei, 1970.


----------



## David Phillips

St.Margaret's Bay, near Dover.


----------



## Guest

The rising of the sun this morning.


----------



## Dorsetmike

Ooops, no image just a little blue rectangle.


----------



## Guest

Dorsetmike said:


> Ooops, no image just a little blue rectangle.


Thanks Mike, will try again.


----------



## Phil loves classical

From the Ozarks. And Santa Elena Canyon from Big
Bend


----------



## senza sordino

Three photos I took in Australia eleven years ago.

Telephoto lens from the Botanical Garden in Sydney. The Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. I saw The Barber of Seville at the Opera House on that trip.









Camping in the Northern Territory. Fire Writing. A time lapsed photo. 15 second exposure and camera on a tripod.









Western Australia. I was taking a photo of the sunset, and someone walked in front of me to take a photo. I thought this was more interesting than just a photo of the sun.


----------



## KenOC

senza sordino said:


> Three photos I took in Australia eleven years ago...


I like that first pic especially. Good catch!


----------



## David Phillips

Dover harbour, Kent. Looks like a B/W shot but you can just spot the green traffic light at the harbour entrance - it was a very grey day!


----------



## joen_cph

Some stunning ones that won the Siena Photo Awards, via this link
http://www.beautyofplanet.com/20-am...prestigious-siena-international-photo-awards/


----------



## joen_cph

_Sunset on Mars_ (2015):


----------



## Dorsetmike

A crab spider awaiting prey









Same spider with prey









they wait in a flower for bees, hover flies etc that come for pollen, they can change colour to match the flower they hide in fairly closely.


----------



## Dorsetmike

Nostalgia trip, 1930s Austin 7s


----------



## joen_cph

Some cozy cars there ....


----------



## Dorsetmike

Now that's what I call a train set!









Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway; 15" gauge locos are about one third scale


----------



## Pat Fairlea

Velvet Swimming crab (_Necora puber_), common around British coasts and famously aggressive. Look at those mad red eyes and the stance that says "Come on then, have a go if you dare!".


----------



## Art Rock

I've quit Flickr and started a new blog (link) for my photography. Aiming for one new post per day, with lots of pictures from our recent Shanghai trip to choose from the coming weeks. This is the roof of a new shopping mall, LuOne - a nice play on words as it is situated near our Shanghai home in the former LuWan district.


----------



## Dorsetmike

Start 'em young


----------



## Dorsetmike

Bit of nostalgia for aircraft fans (click for larger image)


----------



## David Phillips

Dorsetmike said:


> Bit of nostalgia for aircraft fans (click for larger image)
> 
> View attachment 110522


This Cat is a beauty!


----------



## joen_cph

................................................................................


----------



## Art Rock

Nanjing Usnisa palace. A detail of the roof of the entrance building - a stunning abstractions full of twists and turns. One of my favourite shots of our China trip.


----------



## Dorsetmike

The link below is to shots from an air show, solo and formation displays, and some historic aircraft; I've tried linking individual shots but only get a small image, the larger images can still be seen (click on the image) on the site (it's an old site that's been archived by Google) They were taken from a cliff top position hence some shots from above.

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/107343264059948197611/album/AF1QipMLOArEZbLA6mHgO8uhCZRBkMZifgT-9FQRWRv0

(I could download them and resize then post here, but that takes up gallery space)


----------



## David Phillips

Dorsetmike said:


> The link below is to shots from an air show, solo and formation displays, and some historic aircraft; I've tried linking individual shots but only get a small image, the larger images can still be seen (click on the image) on the site (it's an old site that's been archived by Google) They were taken from a cliff top position hence some shots from above.
> 
> https://get.google.com/albumarchive/107343264059948197611/album/AF1QipMLOArEZbLA6mHgO8uhCZRBkMZifgT-9FQRWRv0
> 
> (I could download them and resize then post here, but that takes up gallery space)


Superb! Love the wing-walkers!


----------



## David Phillips

Snow or blossom?


----------



## Dorsetmike

Another visit to the Mike's Archive this time a visit to Brownsea Island nature reserve in the middle of Poole Harbour, mostly water birds, click on an image for larger image, when in larger view use left/right arrows to page through.

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/107343264059948197611/album/AF1QipPPUZnx768zGCCW_oioMqeic9dhsbDupk3rs9P5

Poole harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the world (largest is in Canada IIRC) coastline is about 95 miles . It has five islands of which Brownsea is the largest. One of only two places in the south of England to have wild red squirrels, the Isle of Wight is the other. The island also saw the very first Boy Scout camp in 1907.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.7014301,-1.9724189,7387m/data=!3m1!1e3


----------



## joen_cph

........................................................................


----------



## KenOC

joen_cph said:


> View attachment 111473
> .


Love that pic! Those who thought Cheney was a malign influence on Bush hadn't met Bolton! :lol:

A relation to Ramsay?


----------



## joen_cph

Also, there's the aspect of confused people surrounding #45 trying to decipher what will happen next ...


----------



## joen_cph

From Brooklyn Bridge, yesterday.

Compositional balance could be better, but the general atmosphere is there.


----------



## Phil loves classical

Took this this morning in Japan


----------



## joen_cph

That's a rather early Sakura cherry blossoming in mid-Japan, or ?


----------



## Phil loves classical

They are pear blossoms. Cherry blossoms come later in Spring


----------



## Dorsetmike

Urban sunset


----------



## KenOC

Bryce Canyon in Utah is a must-see place if you're in the Southwest US. It's not far from the Grand Canyon. Here's a commercial pic -- those spires, prevalent throughout Utah, are called hoodoos:










The wife and I visted there some years back on a long motorcycle trip through Yellowstone. Here we are at an overlook at Bryce Canyon - a nice lady ranger snapped the pic.


----------



## Jacck

I took this photo in the Usambara mountains in Tanzania. There were a lot of chameleons there everywhere. They are cool creatures


----------



## Jacck

today's trip - snowdrop calamity





















while the spring in the valleys is already in full blossom, up in the hills there is still some snow melting and a lot of snowdrops. The first two images are about 1000m above sea level, the third image showing wild iris was taken 600m lower


----------



## Jacck

I took this photo today at a place called the Moravian Tuscany (because it resembles a similar region in Italy). Look at some professional photos, it is a very photogenic region
https://www.amazingczechia.com/destinations/moravian-tuscany/


----------



## Jacck

an ancient beech forest in the Chřiby mountains. A picture I took 2 days ago. I editied the colors in Photoshop to make it more interesting. I love beech forests


----------



## Jacck

the lowland forests here are full of wild garlic this time of the year. I took these pictures today


----------



## Potiphera




----------



## Potiphera

....................


----------



## KenOC

Just now my wife took a picture of this butterfly, the first of its type we've seen this year. It's a Mourning Cloak, called a Camberwell Beauty in the UK. She saw it on our upstairs deck and luckily had her phone with her.

Wiki says this butterfly is often among the first to be seen in the spring, which sounds right since today is May 1. It's also the state insect of Montana!


----------



## Potiphera

That is so gorgeous a photo KenOC. I have never spotted a Camberwell Beauty in the UK.


----------



## Jacck

some photos I took this weekend at the Jeseníky mountains in the norther part of Moravia. We also climed the highest peak of the mountains - Praděd - with 1500m. Czech Republic has only small mountains, nothing like the Alps, but they are beautiful nevertheless


----------



## Jacck

some pictures I took today near Znojmo. The river is Dyje/Thaya and runs at the border between Czech Republic and Austria. The "lizard" is a fire salamander. It is poisonous.


----------



## joen_cph

I really like the old town of Znojmo, great views from the upper area and the rotunda down in the river valley. Stayed there for several days a couple of winters ago. Did a hike in the hills above the frozen river too; the surface was used for skiing by locals.


----------



## Jacck

joen_cph said:


> I really like the old town of Znojmo, great views from the upper area and the rotunda down in the river valley. Stayed there for several days a couple of winters ago. Did a hike in the hills above the frozen river too; the surface was used for skiing by locals.


I really like the city too. I went there to high school, and my family from farthers side comes from there. It is a nice historical town, and there is a national park (NP Podyjí) basically bordering the city - the pictures come from there. The town has a perfect size for me, I hate the crowds in big cities such as Prague, Vienna and Brno (which I all know quite well) also has many pleasant pubs :tiphat:


----------



## Jacck

I took this photo while going in a car (I stopped of course). The country is full of these yellow stinky horror (oilseed rape) and everybody hates it. It is used for biofuels, but it is pretty sinister. A lot of herbicides and pesticides must be used to protect it and it consumes a lot of water. This thing is probably responsible for the rapid decline in insects populations and it also sterilizes and kills the soil. The EU gives a lot of subsidies to the farmers growing this yellow horror and I think it is very bad. It damages the country and creates a lot of corruption.


----------



## Jacck

photos I took at Pálava today. Pálava is the westernmost outcropping of the Carpathian mountains. The oldest known ceramic piece of art in the world was found here - The Venus of Dolní Věstonice. There are many vineyards aroung the mountain. 
the whole region is quite photogenic


----------



## Phil loves classical

Took this yesterday at Great Sand Dunes









Off breeding season for this bighorn near Pagosa Springs in Colorado, the female didn't seem interested


----------



## KenOC

Lots of Jacaranda trees around here, and they're in bloom. My wife took this picture this morning while she was out walking the dogs.


----------



## KenOC

My wife seems to be celebrating Spring today! She just snapped this from the back deck.


----------



## Dan Ante

KenOC said:


> My wife seems to be celebrating Spring today! She just snapped this from the back deck.


They look like the Monarch Butterfly we get them each year they lay their eggs and depart when the eggs hatch the caterpillars strip the leaves off the bush and morf into Chrysalis.


----------



## KenOC

Yes, that's a Monarch. Plant some milkweek plants and they will come and lay their eggs.


----------



## KenOC

Steve Biro caught this picture of a bald eagle, apparently upset at having its picture taken.


----------



## Dan Ante

KenOC said:


> Steve Biro caught this picture of a bald eagle, apparently upset at having its picture taken.


Jeezzzz thats more scary that our mods


----------



## Art Rock

KenOC said:


> Steve Biro caught this picture of a bald eagle, apparently upset at having its picture taken.


As a (amateur) photographer, this pisses me off. The site that you took this from has cropped the original photograph, which can be seen here:

https://mymodernmet.com/bald-eagle-reflection-photo/

This type of cropping is never OK unless the photographer gives his blessing, and in this case, why would he/she?


----------



## KenOC

Art Rock said:


> As a (amateur) photographer, this pisses me off. The site that you took this from has cropped the original photograph, which can be seen here:
> 
> https://mymodernmet.com/bald-eagle-reflection-photo/
> 
> This type of cropping is never OK unless the photographer gives his blessing, and in this case, why would he/she?


From this BBC story, it seems the photographer is quite happy with the crop!

Photographer 'overwhelmed' by response to bald eagle picture


----------



## Taggart

BBC publishes the full picture and doesn't mention the crop.


----------



## KenOC

Taggart said:


> BBC publishes the full picture and doesn't mention the crop.


BBC interviewed the photographer -- most of the story I linked to consists of his comments on the photo. I have to assume that the photo as published there has his full approval. In such a case, I don't think cropping needs to be mentioned, any more than sharpening, changing color balance or saturation, or any of a hundred other things photographers do to their photos routinely.


----------



## Art Rock

KenOC said:


> From this BBC story, it seems the photographer is quite happy with the crop!
> 
> Photographer 'overwhelmed' by response to bald eagle picture


The interview you link to has the uncropped photograph as illustration, and cropping is not mentioned. The photograph in post 573 is cropped. This is a big deal, as cropping distorts the composition.


----------



## Dan Ante

Art Rock said:


> The interview you link to has the uncropped photograph as illustration, and cropping is not mentioned. The photograph in post 573 is cropped. This is a big deal, as cropping distorts the composition.


But this is not a photograph competition Art Rock, you have to compromise just a little bit


----------



## Jacck

some photos I took in Morocco in 2008
http://marokko.sanprana-yoga.nl/#!album-4-29
they are uploaded on a dutch server, because we joined with a dutch guy there and I shared the photos with him afterwards and he uploaded them to this site. 
this is me standing at the Dacia car that we rented to move over the country
http://marokko.sanprana-yoga.nl/#!album-4-476


----------



## Dan Ante

Jacck said:


> this is me standing at the Dacia car that we rented to move over the country
> http://marokko.sanprana-yoga.nl/#!album-4-476


Is that a kidnap victim in the back seat that you are trying to cover up.


----------



## Jacck

Dan Ante said:


> Is that a kidnap victim in the back seat that you are trying to cover up.


no, the kidnap victim is in the trunk, that is just a drying towel


----------



## Jacck

a photo I took yesterday


----------



## Jacck

The Basilica of Ascension of Virgin Mary in Velehrad (South Moravia) that I visited today. I was really impressive, almost as big and impressive as the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. I also took a picture of the organ for the classical music lovers.


----------



## KenOC

"A photo of fishing village Upernavik on an island in west Greenland has won photographer Weimin Chu the grand prize in this year's National Geographic Travel Photo Contest."


----------



## Jacck

some pictures of the Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk that I took today at Ždár nad Sázavou






















you can watch some video to get a better view


----------



## Jacck

some bug sex I took on the way there







and some butterflies














and some horses


----------



## KenOC

Here's a nice picture of some Kansas weather by Australian photographer Dale Sharpe. Dale passed away a couple of days ago in a roadside traffic accident in Kansas. He was 36.


----------



## Art Rock

Picture by myself (copyrighted).


----------



## Dorsetmike

Looks likea few slipped discs there


----------



## atsizat

KenOC said:


> "A photo of fishing village Upernavik on an island in west Greenland has won photographer Weimin Chu the grand prize in this year's National Geographic Travel Photo Contest."


What's the elevation?


----------



## Jacck

atsizat said:


> What's the elevation?


3m above sea level, as you can see from the picture of the fishing village :lol:


----------



## atsizat

Jacck said:


> 3m above sea level, as you can see from the picture of the fishing village :lol:


Ah, sorry. My bad 

Edit:

But it could be a lake or something, though.


----------



## Jacck

some developing horse-chestnut leafs that I photographed


----------



## Jacck

some pictures of forest I took today (at Moravian Karst region north of Brno). Photographing forest is IMHO one of the hardest things to do. It is extremely difficult to capture the feeling of massive open space and tall trees on camera. The reason is that the 3D perspective offered by binocular vision is lost, and most cameras cannot really capture the the size of the trees. On a sunny day, there is also huge contrast between the bright sunlit spots and the shade of the forest. Best weather for photographing forest is fog, and early morning and late evening. To photograph on a sunny day at midday is a real challenge.


----------



## Jacck

the current heatwave of Europe ripens our barley, so we can make beer


----------



## Jacck

same photo as yesterday postprocessed using my newly acquired Adobe Lightroom. The program is really good. It took me only a minute or so to improve on the photo. It might be a little oversaturated, but who cares...


----------



## Jacck

Nepal on the Annapurna circuit, the higher route to Manang. The mountains are the Annapurnas, some of the highest mountains in the world. The climb from the river to the village on the left was very tough, it is some 700m vertical drop from cca 3000 to 3700m above sea, and at these altitudes there is reduced oxygen and almost everyone fights milder symptoms of altitude sickness. 
the Manang valley


----------



## Jacck

pictures taken from the top of Mount Triglav in the Julian Alps in Slovenia. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote Night On Mount Triglav. I wonder whether he was there. The photos are not that great, because they are 15 years old and taken on an ancient digital compact Nikon Coolpix


----------



## Jacck

a picture from a recent bike trip


----------



## joen_cph

The lush Carribean?









No, Morfjord in Lofoten, Norway, above the Arctic Circle, a couple of days ago. 
A quick mobile phone photo.


----------



## Jacck

^^^beautiful place. I was there 25 years ago. One day I would like to go there again and do this trek
https://www.rando-lofoten.net/en/the-long-crossing-from-north-to-south-on-the-lofoten-islands


----------



## Merl

A picture from yesterday's lovely trip to Cadiz. A beautiful city.


----------



## joen_cph

Saupstad, Lofoten, Norway - this evening. One of the most spectacular sights I've seen here.
Mobile phone picture.


----------



## Guest

Morning walk before work.


----------



## KenOC

Some fascinating images from the 2019 Drone Awards. The link is to a DPR article with a 14-image slideshow.

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/5...tm_medium=marquee&utm_campaign=traffic_source


----------



## starthrower

Baron Scarpia said:


> Morning walk before work.
> 
> View attachment 121391


Where is this, if I may ask?


----------



## Guest

starthrower said:


> Where is this, if I may ask?


San Luis Obispo, California.


----------



## starthrower

Baron Scarpia said:


> San Luis Obispo, California.


Looks like a place I might like to live. Whenever I see photos of an arid or semi-arid climate I long to escape the sticky humidity of the northeast.


----------



## Guest

starthrower said:


> Looks like a place I might like to live. Whenever I see photos of an arid or semi-arid climate I long to escape the sticky humidity of the northeast.


I don't remember particularly hot sticky summers when I lived in the finger lakes region.


----------



## KenOC

starthrower said:


> Looks like a place I might like to live. Whenever I see photos of an arid or semi-arid climate I long to escape the sticky humidity of the northeast.


From San Luis Obispo north through Morro Bay, San Simeon, Big Sur, and into Carmel and Monterey -- a beautiful area all the way! And a Mediterranean climate, humidity is rarely an issue.


----------



## Guest

KenOC said:


> From San Luis Obispo north through Morro Bay, San Simeon, Big Sur, and into Carmel and Monterey -- a beautiful area all the way! And a Mediterranean climate, humidity is rarely an issue.


Include Paso Robles if you like wine and can take the heat (without humidity).


----------



## KenOC

A beautiful selection of macro images from the International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) *13th Macro Art Photo Project*.


----------



## Jacck

some caterpillar I photographed this June. I have no idea what butterfly it produces


----------



## Jacck

a dog and cat we had some 15 years ago. Both are already dead.


----------



## Art Rock

Three recent abstractions of 3D art pieces:


----------



## Jacck

Stag beetle, the biggest European beetle. They are quite rare nowadays, because they live in old fallen wood, and nowadays most trees are harvested for wood and they have no more habitats.


----------



## KenOC

Not my pic, but worth seeing. The entire plane of our galaxy in one photo, actually a composite of two photos: One taken in Lebanon and the other exactly 6 months later in Chile. Here's a link to the *NASA page* with a fuller description.


----------



## KenOC

A rather horrifying image:










"Those aren't some strange arrangement of antennae on a beetle but the fruiting bodies of a "zombie fungus" that has taken control of the insect. Its conquest complete, the fungus is about to spread its spores to the wind to find new victims to consume."

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49615571


----------



## Phil loves classical

On one of my road trips, this time closer to the US west coast.
This is Crater Lake in Oregon. A lake in a dormant volcano

. Oops sorry the right image won't load. I still see my old Grand Teton pic


----------



## KenOC

Crater Lake, in Oregon, was formed by the collapse of Mt. Mazama 7,700 years ago (supposedly remembered in Indian legend). It is the deepest lake in the United States and a great visit if you're around those parts.


----------



## Phil loves classical

KenOC said:


> Crater Lake, in Oregon, was formed by the collapse of Mt. Mazama 7,700 years ago (supposedly remembered in Indian legend). It is the deepest lake in the United States and a great visit if you're around those parts.


Finished my west coast trip. There was zero wind when I was there at Crater Lake and never saw a reflection on the lake.









Was also at Mount Rainier. Lucky to catch this pic before the clouds completely obscured the mountain.









Big Sur









Lastly Imperial Sand Dunes, southeast of LA.


----------



## KenOC

Winner, Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. "This Himalayan marmot was not long out of hibernation when it was surprised by a mother Tibetan fox with three hungry cubs to feed. With lightning-fast reactions, Yongqing captured the attack - the power of the predator baring her teeth, the terror of her prey, the intensity of life and death written on their faces.

"As one of the highest-altitude-dwelling mammals, the Himalayan marmot relies on its thick fur for survival through the extreme cold. In the heart of winter it spends more than six months in an exceptionally deep burrow with the rest of its colony. Marmots usually do not resurface until spring, an opportunity not to be missed by hungry predators." Other winning photos *here*.


----------



## CnC Bartok

^^^ I must admit I am not too keen on seeing the "after" picture.....


----------



## Jacck

Autumn here. All pictures taken this weekend at Pálava


----------



## CnC Bartok

Thoroughly poignant and beautiful.

Yes, we're in Budapest.

Immensely proud that my daughter is currently writing to Pokemon to have this location removed from their list of "gyms", places where you fight Pokemons, so I am told....


----------



## joen_cph

Nice weather indeed you're having ... like on the photos above.


----------



## CnC Bartok

Still nice weather here in Budapest. Some photos from today, the first one being really a bucket list visit.









Poignantly about 15 feet away:









Cantata Profana:


----------



## Jacck

fall is paradise for photography. Pictures taken in the park at Lednice


----------



## Jacck

Lednice castle


----------



## Jacck

more autumn


----------



## Jacck

cat with heterochromia iridum


----------



## Jacck

some more autumn. It is almost over, the trees are now almost defoliated


----------



## Ingélou

^^^^^
Lovely photos, Jacck. :tiphat:


----------



## KenOC

My son took this photo a few days ago in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I thought it was kind of striking. Smartphone!


----------



## Jacck

some atmospheric icing. This usually happens only a couple of times during the winter. It happened twice this year


----------



## perempe

I saw a solar park with sheeps from the bus a couple of weeks ago. I think this is a good photo idead.


----------



## KenOC

BBC has winners from the *Underwater Photographer of the Year* contest. Here's the overall 1st place:


----------



## Disco

Great pictures!!


----------



## KenOC

*Drone photo contest winners*. Some of these are really good!










Be sure to watch the Hong Kong drone video on the same page!


----------



## Jacck

spring is here


----------



## Dorsetmike

A frequent visitor to the bird bath

View attachment 133856


----------



## KenOC

This evening I showed my old Olympus Pen EE-3 to a young lady who lived nearby. She looked puzzled and said, "Where's the screen?"


----------



## Jacck

some dandelions :angel:


----------



## Jacck

sometimes you get lucky with the weather. The dramatic clouds are great for any landscape photography


----------



## Jacck

a duck with her ducklings feeding on green slime


----------



## KenOC

_The Mind's Eye_ 2020 awards from *Photo.com*. There are some pretty impressive photos in this set. Here's one, titled simply _Florida_.


----------



## Flamme

Sum pix from my spring garden...Such a beautiful b(l)oom...


----------



## Jacck

you already have Roses in Serbia? We don't yet, but it is a little bit more north here


----------



## Flamme

A month or so...We ''inherited'' those roses freom the previous owner of the house but we moved them around garden...They are not only shining yellow but they smell heavenly, such a rich, deep scent...Often I cut 1 and put it in a vase on m,y desk and when I go back from the city just dive into it 2 clear myself...


----------



## Jacck

more landscapes


----------



## Jacck




----------



## Jacck

night sky photos of a Czech photographer
https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/zahrani...cni_hm1/foto/JB835285_Lyrids_Horalek_1221.jpg
the images were selected by NASA a couple of times as their "image of the day"


----------



## Flamme

Some pix of myself...W new haircut...W and w/o a beard.


----------



## Jacck

the city of Znojmo. One of my favorite cities in Czech Republic


----------



## jegreenwood

Anyone here able to provide advice on a new camera. I have an 8 year old Lumix bridge camera. Top of the line back then, but I think it's time to update for a polar bear safari in November - if I am prepared to get on a plane then. I think I want to move to a mirrorless. Body and lens under $1,500. It would be nice to get a lens with some telephoto capability. My Lumix had 25x.


----------



## KenOC

jegreenwood said:


> Anyone here able to provide advice on a new camera. I have an 8 year old Lumix bridge camera. Top of the line back then, but I think it's time to update for a polar bear safari in November - if I am prepared to get on a plane then. I think I want to move to a mirrorless. Body and lens under $1,500. It would be nice to get a lens with some telephoto capability. My Lumix had 25x.


Polar bears, mirrorless, under $1,500? As a famous man once said, "We need a bigger boat." You want to keep a goodly distance away! A decent 400mm lens alone will bust your budget.

I'd seriously consider another bridge camera, possibly a Nikon P950 or P1000. Buy a good parka with what you save. And it'll be a lot lighter.


----------



## jegreenwood

KenOC said:


> Polar bears, mirrorless, under $1,500? As a famous man once said, "We need a bigger boat." You want to keep a goodly distance away! A decent 400mm lens alone will bust your budget.
> 
> I'd seriously consider another bridge camera, possibly a Nikon P950 or P1000. Buy a good parka with what you save. And it'll be a lot lighter.


Looks like we can get pretty close. I'm thinking of bringing my Lumix as well.

https://www.churchillwild.com/wild-things-gallery/photo-gallery/great-ice-bear-adventure/


----------



## Jacck

If you already have any set of lenses, then it would be wise to buy a camera compatible with those lenses. The lenses are more expensive than the camera. I am using Nikon D3300 and I have 3 lenses. If I wanted to upgrade, I would buy something like this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YX8FX9Q
the problem is that it uses a 55mm lens mount and my lenses would not be compatible with it. But a really good camera (fullframe) is only needed for challenging photography like night photography (where you need a high quality chip).


----------



## jegreenwood

Jacck said:


> If you already have any set of lenses, then it would be wise to buy a camera compatible with those lenses. The lenses are more expensive than the camera. I am using Nikon D3300 and I have 3 lenses. If I wanted to upgrade, I would buy something like this
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YX8FX9Q
> the problem is that it uses a 55mm lens mount and my lenses would not be compatible with it. But a really good camera (fullframe) is only needed for challenging photography like night photography (where you need a high quality chip).


I haven't owned a camera with interchangeable lenses since my Nikon film camera bought over 25 years ago and sold since. As for night photography, in addition to polar bears in the day, we should be able to see (and photograph) the Aurora Borealis at night. I do understand that I'm not going to get a 25x zoom at the price I want to pay (and I wouldn't want to deal with a lens that big), but we will be hiking among them, so at times we should be getting fairly close. You can see that if you check the linked page.


----------



## Jacck

jegreenwood said:


> I haven't owned a camera with interchangeable lenses since my Nikon film camera bought over 25 years ago and sold since. As for night photography, in addition to polar bears in the day, we should be able to see (and photograph) the Aurora Borealis at night. I do understand that I'm not going to get a 25x zoom at the price I want to pay (and I wouldn't want to deal with a lens that big), but we will be hiking among them, so at times we should be getting fairly close. You can see that if you check the linked page.


the Nikon Z50 is a decent camera, that comes with 2 lenses - 16-50mm, 50-250mm. 16mm is wide-angle and 250 mm is telephoto lens. It covers all the basic needs except for macro photography. It is a bargain for $1,196 (because of those two lenses). That should be absolutely enough for the bears. For the aurora, it would be also wise to buy a tripod. If you have low light, you need bigger exposition times and you cannot hold it in your hand, the images would be blurry. But beware, that if you buy Nikon, you will likely be stuck with Nikon in the future. So you might explore what Canon or the other manufacturers offer before deciding.


----------



## KenOC

That's a great price for a Z50 2-lens kit. Since it's a cropped sensor, that 250mm zoom will get you 400mm equivalent. Here's a pretty *favorable review* of the Z50 from DPR.

The only danger is that Nikon may get out of the camera business, which is being hollowed out by smartphones on one side, the virus on another, and Canon on the third (3 sides?) And Canon's upcoming R5 is likely to obliterate Nikon's higher end offerings.

Probably won't happen, but Nikon is posting warnings: "Nikon Corporation has issued a *statement to investors* warning the company 'expects to post extraordinary losses' for its 2020 fiscal year (FY2020) that ended on March 31, 2020, and has subsequently made a revision to the financial forecast ahead of the upcoming release of the results on May 28."


----------



## Jacck

there is also one thing you need to be aware of with these better cameras. They do not process your images and you need to do postprocessing manually. That is why sometimes the "raw" output of a DLSR can actually look worse than a picture taken by a cheaper camera. The cheaper cameras have various software that automatically processes the images. But the raw images give you more options afterwards. An example, a picture of a stupa I took two years ago in Nepal
















the colors are a little crazy, it definitely needs more work.

you also need some software to do this. Adobe Lightroom is one option
Also, it took me a couple of years to figure out that I need to shoot photos in the RAW format and not jpeg. I can make a big difference in the postprocessing.

best buy the camera now and go practicing before novermber


----------



## jegreenwood

That Z50 looks like a bargain.

Edit - ordered it. I'll be out of the city for several days in early June. I should get to check it out then.


----------



## Jacck

images I took today

















One of the things I enjoy photographing the most is the forest. It is surprisingly difficult to photograph, as you can find out yourself if you try to make interesting forest photos
https://www.clickandlearnphotography.com/latest/forest-photography-tips-ultimate-guide/


----------



## Jacck

What next for photography in the age of Instagram?
https://www.theguardian.com/artandd...hy-in-the-age-of-instagram-essay-sean-o-hagan
maybe something similar happened with music


----------



## Flamme

Some of the pix from my life in last couple of days...


----------



## Jacck

Olympus quits camera business after 84 years
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53165293


----------



## Flamme

Today I finally mowed my lawn and found some beautiful lavander flowers under all the ''weed''! I found them by scent. Almost like they wanted to show themselves when I removed all the rubbish that covered them...So many things pop out in the garden I didnt know about or forgot...My mum gave so much love and work to them I feel she is still present in that soil and giving them life and beauty...Im a mere amateur compared to her...


----------



## Guest

Snapped while social distancing...


----------



## Oldhoosierdude

Not sure why I have ignored this thread. I've been the amateur photographer since high school. I'm the guy people ask to take portraits and weddings for them when they can't or won't pay the pros. IF I agree, I never charge. I do it because I want to.

Forever I used Canon 35mm then DSLR SLR's. Then about 5 years back I bought a Panasonic Fz200 with a Leica lens. It did everything I wanted it to do and I sold everything else. I don't miss the Canon DSLR at all.

Anyone else switch to the "Bridge" cameras?


----------



## Joe B

Taken from my porch using the 'zoom' feature on my digital camera. I had the feeling of being "observed" so I started looking around, spotted the deer, and went and grabbed my camera. We have ledge that runs in front of the property and in the back of the property. Where this deer is lying down is like a little notch in the ledge filled with leaves. They evidently must feel quite safe there, as they continue to use it from time to time.


----------



## Guest

Oldhoosierdude said:


> Not sure why I have ignored this thread. I've been the amateur photographer since high school. I'm the guy people ask to take portraits and weddings for them when they can't or won't pay the pros. IF I agree, I never charge. I do it because I want to.
> 
> Forever I used Canon 35mm then DSLR SLR's. Then about 5 years back I bought a Panasonic Fz200 with a Leica lens. It did everything I wanted it to do and I sold everything else. I don't miss the Canon DSLR at all.
> 
> Anyone else switch to the "Bridge" cameras?


I also used Canon SLR's, a 35 mm F1. Then years of using digital point-and-shoot and finally returning to an SLR, a 20D, a 77D.

I was going to poo-poo that thing, but then I looked it up. Impressive! A temptation.

I see the Fz200 is no longer available, apparently replaced by the Fz1000.


----------



## Art Rock

Sold prints of these two photographs today in the gallery. As an amateur photographer, that brought a smile to my face.


----------



## Guest

Baron Scarpia said:


> I also used Canon SLR's, a 35 mm F1. Then years of using digital point-and-shoot and finally returning to an SLR, a 20D, a 77D.
> 
> I was going to poo-poo that thing, but then I looked it up. Impressive! A temptation.
> 
> I see the Fz200 is no longer available, apparently replaced by the Fz1000.


I had the notion of getting a mirrorless camera, and I ended up with a new lens for my SLR.










I have a APS-C format camera, so that is roughly equivalent to 28mm-200mm on a full format (35mm film) sensor. My general purpose lens is a 17mm-55mm f2.8 zoom and I alway felt limited by the fact that it didn't go far enough into the telephoto range. (I have a separate 70mm-200mm zoom.) Maybe I'll sell the old lens or maybe I'll just keep it for when I want a wider aperture.

Something like the Fz200 would satisfy my requirements for 98% of pictures, but I get a thrill from using some of my oddball lenses, like my 100 mm macro, ultra wide 10-22mm zoom, the super-sharp 70-200 mm L series lens, and my 24 mm fixed focal length "pancake" lens.


----------



## Oldhoosierdude

Baron Scarpia said:


> I also used Canon SLR's, a 35 mm F1. Then years of using digital point-and-shoot and finally returning to an SLR, a 20D, a 77D.
> 
> I was going to poo-poo that thing, but then I looked it up. Impressive! A temptation.
> 
> I see the Fz200 is no longer available, apparently replaced by the Fz1000.


It was replaced by fz300. About the same with touch screen and wireless. You can still find new or open box fz200 different places. Go ahead try one. I purchased it for times I didn't want to get put all that slr equipment or carry around a big camera to take a picture. Thought I would use it for family stuff. Found I was using it all the time and sold the other gear. Supplement it with a flash and you never look back.

I keep it on iso 400 or 800 regularly. I can use 1600 in some circumstances.

I did by a Canon sx60 for my wife. Supposed to be superior to the panasonic fz200. It's not. Has more features but the Leica lens on the panasonic beats the Canon hands down. Anyway wife put 1k on the Canon and it sat in a closet for a few years. I just put it on ebay.


----------



## joen_cph

Oldhoosierdude said:


> It was replaced by fz300. About the same with touch screen and wireless. You can still find new or open box fz200 different places. Go ahead try one. I purchased it for times I didn't want to get put all that slr equipment or carry around a big camera to take a picture. Thought I would use it for family stuff. Found I was using it all the time and sold the other gear. Supplement it with a flash and you never look back.
> 
> I keep it on iso 400 or 800 regularly. I can use 1600 in some circumstances.
> 
> *I did buy a Canon sx60 for my wife. Supposed to be superior to the panasonic fz200. It's not.* Has more features but the Leica lens on the panasonic beats the Canon hands down. Anyway wife put 1k on the Canon and it sat in a closet for a few years. I just put it on ebay.


 Funny you say that, because I got the Canon SX60 due to the generally good features and allegedly impressive zoom options (65x optical + massive digital zooming as a plus), but have come to the same conclusion. A Panasonic I previously owned had a much better lens and picture quality. Also, the Canon zoom is hindered by a lack of a stable picture for longer distances. Overall, it has been a bit of a disappointment.


----------



## Oldhoosierdude

joen_cph said:


> Funny you say that, because I got the Canon SX60 due to the generally good features and allegedly impressive zoom options (65x optical + massive digital zooming as a plus), but have come to the same conclusion. A Panasonic I previously owned had a much better lens and picture quality. Also, the Canon zoom is hindered by a lack of a stable picture for longer distances. Overall, it has been a bit of a disappointment.


I did use the sx60 recently to make sure everything worked before putting it on the fleabay. I took some wedding pictures for a relative. Got some keepers but prefer my Panasonic by a long shot.


----------



## Luchesi

My S20 Ultra glowingly-touted camera system by Samsung is a huge disappointment.

This review says they've fixed it (or improved it within the limits of the physical limits) but I don't see it's any better with the persisting focus problems. My older phone is far better.


----------



## Phil loves classical

Baron Scarpia said:


> I had the notion of getting a mirrorless camera, and I ended up with a new lens for my SLR.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have a APS-C format camera, so that is roughly equivalent to 28mm-200mm on a full format (35mm film) sensor. My general purpose lens is a 17mm-55mm f2.8 zoom and I alway felt limited by the fact that it didn't go far enough into the telephoto range. (I have a separate 70mm-200mm zoom.) Maybe I'll sell the old lens or maybe I'll just keep it for when I want a wider aperture.
> 
> Something like the Fz200 would satisfy my requirements for 98% of pictures, but I get a thrill from using some of my oddball lenses, like my 100 mm macro, ultra wide 10-22mm zoom, the super-sharp 70-200 mm L series lens, and my 24 mm fixed focal length "pancake" lens.


I also have an APS-C, except mine is mirrorless. Bought 3 different lenses, all Canon EF-S series. They do the job I want it for. If I was to upgrade anything, it would be to a full-frame, rather than more on lenses. I think I got just about all I could out of my Sony A6000.

The problem I could see with that big of a zoom as 18mm-135mm is distortion and vignetting. I have 3 different, tighter zoom ranges and could already see some vignetting and less clarity around the edges in some focal lengths.


----------



## Jacck

European ground squirrel - a quite endangered species









Black Lake in the Bohemian Forest


----------



## Dorsetmike

From my archives


----------



## Red Terror

KenOC said:


> A rather horrifying image:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Those aren't some strange arrangement of antennae on a beetle but the fruiting bodies of a "zombie fungus" that has taken control of the insect. Its conquest complete, the fungus is about to spread its spores to the wind to find new victims to consume."
> 
> https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49615571


It looks like my mother-in-law.


----------



## Guest

Phil loves classical said:


> The problem I could see with that big of a zoom as 18mm-135mm is distortion and vignetting. I have 3 different, tighter zoom ranges and could already see some vignetting and less clarity around the edges in some focal lengths.


I've been extremely pleased with the 18-135 mm lens f3.5-5.6, edge-to-edge sharpness is remarkable and it brings out bright colors. The lens I was using before, the 17-55 mm f2.8, was disappointing when used for landscape photograph since it didn't have the level of edge-to-edge sharpness I wanted, particularly at the wide-angle end. I think this might be attributable to compromises necessary to maintain the large f2.8 aperture over the full zoom range.


----------



## Guest

Oldhoosierdude said:


> It was replaced by fz300. About the same with touch screen and wireless. You can still find new or open box fz200 different places. Go ahead try one. I purchased it for times I didn't want to get put all that slr equipment or carry around a big camera to take a picture. Thought I would use it for family stuff. Found I was using it all the time and sold the other gear. Supplement it with a flash and you never look back.


I did find an fz200 on eBay in the ~$100 range in excellent condition and sprung for it. It is a fun camera to use, particularly when carrying around a bigger camera would be inconvenient. But I find the image quality is very good but doesn't quite measure up to the very best. The Leica lens is indeed impressive, for such a wide zoom range, but I think it is telling that the camera has a rather low resolution sensor. And since it is a fixed lens camera and they know no other lens will be mounted, they can bake aberration correction for that specific lens into the firmware.

And perhaps I am a luddite, but I get a visceral pleasure from looking through the lens with the purely optical viewfinder of an SLR. Brings me back to the "good old days" of film cameras when you had to compose a photo carefully since film was expensive and you wouldn't get to see the result for days or weeks.


----------



## jegreenwood

Oldhoosierdude said:


> Not sure why I have ignored this thread. I've been the amateur photographer since high school. I'm the guy people ask to take portraits and weddings for them when they can't or won't pay the pros. IF I agree, I never charge. I do it because I want to.
> 
> Forever I used Canon 35mm then DSLR SLR's. Then about 5 years back I bought a Panasonic Fz200 with a Leica lens. It did everything I wanted it to do and I sold everything else. I don't miss the Canon DSLR at all.
> 
> Anyone else switch to the "Bridge" cameras?


My avatar is a photo taken with my Fz200. I bought it back in 2012 to take on safari. Since then, it's been to 6 continents (including Antarctica, but oddly, not Asia). You can find a few more of my favorite shots in this thread, circa September 25, 2018. My gorilla shot seems to have vanished, however.

Finally, this year, camera envy struck, and I purchased a Nikon Z50, discussed a few pages ago. But I'm keeping the Panasonic too.


----------



## Oldhoosierdude

Baron Scarpia said:


> Brings me back to the "good old days" of film cameras when you had to compose a photo carefully since film was expensive and you wouldn't get to see the result for days or weeks.


I know what you mean. I had to be careful before clicking the shutter. Now With digital and thousands of shots available and the ability to fix most things later, I still find myself conserving. Not a bad thing. Composition and lighting are still essential for a great shot.


----------



## Oldhoosierdude

jegreenwood said:


> My avatar is a photo taken with my Fz200. I bought it back in 2012 to take on safari. Since then, it's been to 6 continents (including Antarctica, but oddly, not Asia). You can find a few more of my favorite shots in this thread, circa September 25, 2018. My gorilla shot seems to have vanished, however.
> 
> Finally, this year, camera envy struck, and I purchased a Nikon Z50, discussed a few pages ago. But I'm keeping the Panasonic too.


I almost did the upgrade thing and traded in the fz200 for a newer model. But I get such good results now that I didn't pull the trigger. My shutter count isn't that high (you can check it). Just bought a new flash when the other one broke. Made my own rapid strap for it.

Think I'll hold on a few more years.


----------



## Guest

Enough about cameras. Here's a photo taken with the Fz200.









We don't have dramatic views here, but we do have dense forest. The most important thing is to remember to look up.


----------



## Guest

Here is another in a similar vein. This one with the Canon 77D and 18-135 lens.









Foliage viewed from below, lit from above, particularly by a setting sun, can bring to mind stained glass windows in a cathedral.


----------



## jegreenwood

Baron Scarpia said:


> Here is another in a similar vein. This one with the Canon 77D and 18-135 lens.
> 
> View attachment 141159
> 
> 
> Foliage viewed from below, lit from above, particularly by a setting sun, can bring to mind stained glass windows in a cathedral.


This one is spectacular.


----------



## Jacck

some mummies from Klatovy. Jesuits order had a church there, and build crypts and catacombs under the church, where they burried their members and some rich noble sponsors of theirs. The climate in the crypts ensured that they were mummified.


----------



## Jacck

they also had an exhibition of historical musical instruments at the beginning of the catacombs, but I took just this one picture


----------



## Guest

Another in the same vein, this one just taken with an iPhone


----------



## Jacck

this is the summit of Großer Arber, a mountain at the border between Czechia and Germany









this is the view towards the German side.


----------



## Dorsetmike

Look Mum, no hands!


----------



## Jacck

photo I took today. Autumn is just beginning. One of my favorite times of the year, especially if the weather is good and we get Indian summer


----------



## Dorsetmike

Now that's the ultimate trainset! The Romney Hythe and Dymchurch railway in Kent UK, opened in 1926 and still running a passenger service, locos are 15" gauge aproximately 1/3 full size.

https://www.rhdr.org.uk/


----------



## Dan Ante

Dorsetmike said:


> View attachment 144187
> 
> 
> Now that's the ultimate trainset! The Romney Hythe and Dymchurch railway in Kent UK, opened in 1926 and still running a passenger service, locos are 15" gauge aproximately 1/3 full size.
> 
> https://www.rhdr.org.uk/










*
Some have to work, taking on water scale 12 inches to a foot. 3ft 6inch gauge.*


----------



## KenOC

Winners of the 2020 _Wildlife Photographer of the Year_ competition:


----------



## Dan Ante

*And the runner up is*


----------



## KenOC

Check out the winners of the 1st annual Aerial Photography Awards.


----------



## Jacck

and if you wanted some SARS-CoV-2 images for your desktop background
https://www.flickr.com/photos/niaid/albums/72157712914621487


----------



## Jacck

photo I took today


----------



## TxllxT

Jacck said:


> photo I took today


Lovely region of Moravia, close to Vienna.


----------



## Jacck

Vranov Dam and Vranov castle I visited today. Unfortunately, the weather was not ideal for photos (it was cloudy)


----------



## Flamme

This, today...


----------



## Jacck

images from today.


----------



## Flamme

Take a pic of those 'shrooms, if you can


----------



## Jacck

Flamme said:


> Take a pic of those 'shrooms, if you can


shrooms are outmoded. Now you have to lick toads to be "in"
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/science-features/tripping-over-psychoactive-toads
seriously, I recently read an article, how some students of a certain university in my country licked toads to get high.


----------



## Flamme

I know about that, Im old school cool...


----------



## Jacck

all you wanted to know about lenses


----------



## Flamme

https://streamable.com/0iiaqw






https://streamable.com/5quldo Today after work on our quay...The wind was soo strong it almost took on om gloves off and knocked me of my bike...


----------



## Jacck

some photos I took today

I call this one The Dance of the Ents









and the Twisted Ent









and here some Blair Witch Woods


----------



## KenOC

An Ansel Adams print has just sold at auction for almost a million dollars - a record for Adams's prints. The view is of the Grand Tetons and the Snake River. Adams took the photo in 1942 under a commission from the Department of the Interior.


----------



## Jacck

Anselm Adams is great. But these prices are driven upwards by snobs who have too much money and invest into arts.


----------



## Jacck

World Landscape Photographer 2020
https://www.worldlandscapephotographer.com/award-winning-images

the first place is from Neil Burnell
https://www.neilburnell.com/gallery#/mysticalone/


----------



## KenOC

Jacck said:


> ...the first place is from Neil Burnell
> https://www.neilburnell.com/gallery#/mysticalone/


Beautiful stuff. Now we know where @Jacck got his inspiration!


----------



## Flamme




----------



## Jacck

Ansel Adams Vs Amateur Snapshots Prank


----------



## pianozach

Jacck said:


> World Landscape Photographer 2020
> https://www.worldlandscapephotographer.com/award-winning-images
> 
> the first place is from Neil Burnell
> https://www.neilburnell.com/gallery#/mysticalone/


All of those photos are beautiful.


----------



## Dan Ante

*To hell with global warming.*


----------



## Jacck

A photo I took yesterday. This is the first time I made a photo like this. You need a tripod and exposition time in seconds


----------



## Phil loves classical

^ You must have a full-frame. What model is it? I took this with my crop sensor camera which has a night scene selection. I had to hold my breath right when I took the photo, and took a lot of tries to avoid blurring. Never invested in a tripod. Still glary though.


----------



## Jacck

^ I don't have a full-frame. I have an entry level Nikon D3300 from 2014 (a basic DLSR for beginners/amateurs). I was thinking about buying a new camera, a mirrorless full-frame one. But then I read that camera is not really that important and instead of constantly buying new photography gear (it can be an expensive addiction), it is best to fully master what you have, and that it is better to invest into new lenses than into a camera body.

For the Eiffel tower. It is difficult to take the picture without a tripod. If you are shooting it without a tripod, you need to set a high ISO and possibly slightly underexpose it, but there will be a lot of noise in the picture. You can hold in your hand expositions like 1/30 s, anything slower will likely not be sharp. For a picture like that, I would set ISO to 800 (or 1600), set shutter speed to 1/30 and let the camera compute the aperture

but it is much better to shoot it with a tripod. You can use ISO 100, you can control the overexposure by lowering the aperture, but the exposition time would be in seconds. This is a picture I took on the same day as the previous one








ISO 200, f/13, exposition time 30s. 
It is not really a great picture, just a random shot, because I am also still learning


----------



## TxllxT

Jacck said:


> ^ I don't have a full-frame. I have an entry level Nikon D3300 from 2014 (a basic DLSR for beginners/amateurs). I was thinking about buying a new camera, a mirrorless full-frame one. But then I read that camera is not really that important and instead of constantly buying new photography gear (it can be an expensive addiction), it is best to fully master what you have, and that it is better to invest into new lenses than into a camera body.
> 
> For the Eiffel tower. It is difficult to take the picture without a tripod. If you are shooting it without a tripod, you need to set a high ISO and possibly slightly underexpose it, but there will be a lot of noise in the picture. You can hold in your hand expositions like 1/30 s, anything slower will likely not be sharp. For a picture like that, I would set ISO to 800 (or 1600), set shutter speed to 1/30 and let the camera compute the aperture
> 
> but it is much better to shoot it with a tripod. You can use ISO 100, you can control the overexposure by lowering the aperture, but the exposition time would be in seconds. This is a picture I took on the same day as the previous one
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ISO 200, f/13, exposition time 30s.
> It is not really a great picture, just a random shot, because I am also still learning


For real dark night pictures I use mostly a lamppost to cling on to. My Sony A7rii has 'steadyshot' in the camera body, which really works with photos like above, but in extreme dark a local readymade 'tripod' suffices.


----------



## Jacck

TxllxT said:


> For real dark night pictures I use mostly a lamppost to cling on to. My Sony A7rii has 'steadyshot' in the camera body, which really works with photos like above, but in extreme dark a local readymade 'tripod' suffices.


I have been shooting many years without a tripod, so I know that it is possible. If it is dark, you can shoot in the shutter speed priority mode and set a shutter speed that you can hold in your hand while using high ISO. But if you start taking photography a little more seriously, you will ultimately come to a point where you realize that you are limited without a tripod and that you can't take the best pictures without it. There is not need for a tripod during daylight, but it is essential for landscape photography during sunsets, sunrises, to create the smoothed out water and waterfalls, the light trails, to photograph fireworks, lightnings, stars etc. So basically all the more sexy types of photography require a tripod.


----------



## Jacck

a water power plant picture I took today.

and some water









neiter of those pictures could be taken without a tripod, at least not on my camera. If you have a high-end camera and a luminous lens, you might try, but I doubt it.


----------



## Jacck

today I photographed some Mikulov at night. There is a hill above the city, which is called Holy Hill, because since 1600's there is a via crucis, ie some 12 chapels with some Christian religious statues. And there was a full moon too today. So I tried to take some pictures


----------



## TxllxT

Jacck said:


> today I photographed some Mikulov at night. There is a hill above the city, which is called Holy Hill, because since 1600's there is a via crucis, ie some 12 chapels with some Christian religious statues. And there was a full moon too today. So I tried to take some pictures


We've been on this Svatý kopeček many times, but not at night & not in the winter. Great photography!


----------



## Jacck

Winter is bleak. I wish we had some snow. When I was a child, we had almost always snow at winter. Nowadays it is really rare and if it comes it melts very fast. Likely the damn global warming. Even the mountains dont have enough snow now. I was thinking about doing this photography workshop
https://www.michalbalada.com/fotograficke-kurzy-a-workshopy/workshop-zimni-krkonose-143.html
but there is definitely not that much snow on the mountains now


----------



## Luchesi

the good old days


----------



## Jacck

we hiked a mountain to celebrate the Saint Sylvester's Day. All the pubs and hotels are closed anyway. And I was finally lucky with the inversion




























nice ending to an otherwise ****** year (on several levels)


----------



## Luchesi

Jacck said:


> we hiked a mountain to celebrate the Saint Sylvester's Day. All the pubs and hotels are closed anyway. And I was finally lucky with the inversion
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> nice ending to an otherwise ****** year (on several levels)


That's a great shot catching the sun on the shoulder, reminiscent of our galaxy's position in that famous image of Stickman formed by our neighboring galactic clusters.


----------



## Jacck

these evil birds attacked me today on the street. Fortunately I managed to take a picture before I was able to run off to safety


----------



## Dan Ante

Jacck said:


> these evil birds attacked me today on the street. Fortunately I managed to take a picture before I was able to run off to safety


Was Hitchcock watching ...........................................


----------



## Malx

Dan Ante said:


> Was Hitchcock watching ...........................................


Directing from above!


----------



## Jacck

2 photographers I like on 500px

https://500px.com/p/rarindra?view=photos

https://500px.com/p/martinpodt?view=photos


----------



## Dan Ante

Malx said:


> Directing from above!


On the 2nd pic I seem to recognise the birds are they the Umagooly birds?


----------



## Jacck

I have used a technique called HDR to photograph a sunset today. Basically, you take several expositions of the same scene, for example -1EV, 0, +1EV, and then combine the 3 images into one using software (Lightroom, Photoshop etc). If you try to photograph sunset normally, usually the foreground is underexposed and the sky is overexposed. Modern high-end cameras that have high dynamic rage can compensate for it and you can increase shadows in postprocessing, but the HDR technique is likely still better.


----------



## Jacck

pictures I took today in a region called Moravian Tuscany. It is quite famous place among photographers


----------



## KenOC

Really like, especially the first photo!


----------



## Jacck

a little morbin entertainment - photographing a cemetery at night  Actually, I ordered a pizza in a nearby restaurant and had to wait some 30 minutes before they made it, so I went to a nearby cemetery to photograph


----------



## Phil loves classical

Jacck said:


> I have used a technique called HDR to photograph a sunset today. Basically, you take several expositions of the same scene, for example -1EV, 0, +1EV, and then combine the 3 images into one using software (Lightroom, Photoshop etc). If you try to photograph sunset normally, usually the foreground is underexposed and the sky is overexposed. Modern high-end cameras that have high dynamic rage can compensate for it and you can increase shadows in postprocessing, but the HDR technique is likely still better.


My camera has one feature that takes 3 shots in rapid succession and does that internally.

Here is one with that feature.









Was at Death Valley earlier last month. Took these pics. I did plant the camera on the ground to set higher exposure time, and lower ISO.


----------



## Iota

Jacck said:


> pictures I took today in a region called Moravian Tuscany. It is quite famous place among photographers


Great photos! The top one in particular has an arresting dreamlike quality.

Liked the earlier ones of the birds very much too.


----------



## Jacck

Phil loves classical said:


> My camera has one feature that takes 3 shots in rapid succession and does that internally.
> Here is one with that feature.
> Was at Death Valley earlier last month. Took these pics. I did plant the camera on the ground to set higher exposure time, and lower ISO.


Most DSLRs (above entry level) have a feature called exposure bracketing which takes the 3 shots automatically. Unfortunately not mine, so I have to take the 3 expositions manually and then combine them using software. It is useful for scenes with high contrast such as sunsets. The reason why it is necessary to do this is that cameras have a low dynamic range compared to human eye, though they are getting better and better and the high-end cameras have good dynamic range. It is also always better to shoot into raw format, because it captures a much better dynamic range and then you can hightlight the shadows in postprocessing. Nice pictures of the Death Valley. If you have a good camera, you could probably shoot this from hand if you set higher ISO (like 1600). I bought a new tripod with a remote release and an intervalometer a couple of weeks ago for $350 which means that it is more expensive than my camera body. Now I will be able to take star trail pictures and produce time-lapse videos 










a photo I took at night. Exposure 60 secs. There is moon and the Orion constellation. You can see that the stars are no longer points, but small trails, and the clouds form these streaks. There is nothing interesting on the picture, I am still having fun learning the techniques.


----------



## Rogerx

Jan Lisiecki is a Polish-Canadian classical pianist
on instagaram


----------



## Luchesi

Jacck said:


> Most DSLRs (above entry level) have a feature called exposure bracketing which takes the 3 shots automatically. Unfortunately not mine, so I have to take the 3 expositions manually and then combine them using software. It is useful for scenes with high contrast such as sunsets. The reason why it is necessary to do this is that cameras have a low dynamic range compared to human eye, though they are getting better and better and the high-end cameras have good dynamic range. It is also always better to shoot into raw format, because it captures a much better dynamic range and then you can hightlight the shadows in postprocessing. Nice pictures of the Death Valley. If you have a good camera, you could probably shoot this from hand if you set higher ISO (like 1600). I bought a new tripod with a remote release and an intervalometer a couple of weeks ago for $350 which means that it is more expensive than my camera body. Now I will be able to take star trail pictures and produce time-lapse videos
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> a photo I took at night. Exposure 60 secs. There is moon and *the Orion constellation*. You can see that the stars are no longer points, but small trails, and the clouds form these streaks. There is nothing interesting on the picture, I am still having fun learning the techniques.


Yes, I can see the 3 Wise Men and the Christ child.


----------



## Art Rock

I've gone through a period without much inspiration for my abstract photography, but this one taken recently pleased me.


----------



## Jacck

spring is knocking on the door


----------



## Dorsetmike

Here also


----------



## NoCoPilot

Jacck said:


> 2 photographers I like on 500px
> 
> https://500px.com/p/rarindra?view=photos
> 
> https://500px.com/p/martinpodt?view=photos


Wow. Just... wow. The Martin Podt photographs are reminiscent of Randall Hodges, a guy local to me. I have a 5ft x 3½ft blowup of this in my music room:








https://www.randalljhodges.com/


----------



## KenOC

*Winners of the 10th Annual Mobile Photography Awards*

All pics are from mobile phones. Amazing!


----------



## adriesba

Some signs of spring here too!

For one of my classes this past Friday, we went outside to look at some skunk cabbage plants. These are tough plants! The one below is poking through ice! \/










The plants produce their own heat. The temperatures inside the blooms varied, but the warmest one we measured was about 23°C (73°F) inside.

Here are a couple pictures of one that had some noticeable leaf growth. I don't think it had quite so much ice around it.


----------



## Ingélou

I remember there were skunk cabbages on the lake at Virginia Water - in the late 1980s we used to walk round the lake every weekend with our first Airedale and had to fight to keep Tyke out of the mud at the skunk cabbage patch. They smell *rank*!


----------



## TxllxT

I'm busy with redeveloping RAW photos from 2010. In those days I owned a Sony a900 DSLR camera with the 28-135 Minolta 'handshake' lens, but I didn't have the right RAW developing program (the lens was not supported).










The highest German mountain 'Zugspitze' from the Austrian Tirol side. (April 2010)










The same 'Zugspitze' (2962 m) from the German side.

The Minolta 28-135 mm lens has big problems with flare, but is famous for its colours. The RAW program I use is DxO Photolab 4.2.


----------



## TxllxT

*Loggia dei Lanza - Roof terrace - View on Florence Duomo & Palazzo Vecchio*










In april 2010 we got a free ticket to visit the Uffizzi gallery, because an American school made this nice gesture to all tourists in Florence. From the Uffizzi Gallery you can reach the Loggia dei Lanza roof terrace. Meanwhile thunderclouds were packing above the city.


----------



## TxllxT

*Barcelona - Sagrada Familia - Passion Facade*










This photo from October 2009 used to suffer from lighting problems which are common to making photos in Mediterranean light circumstances (often resulting in giving the photo a greyish slur). The Minolta lens shows flare blots but is excellent in rendering the warm October light from the South.


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## TxllxT

*Loggia dei Lanza - Backbench panorama*


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## TxllxT

*The Bargello & Volognana Tower 1256-1332*










One of the photographic challenges in Florence is picturing the Bargello palace (now a museum).


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## NoCoPilot

Northern lights over the Iceland volcano


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## TxllxT

*Florence - Giardino Bardelli*




























Probably the best 'A Room with a View' atmosphere can be found in Florence in the month of April in the garden of Bardelli, which indeed offers breathtaking views over the city.


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## TxllxT

*Dante Statue - This year is the 700 year celebration of the poet's death (14-09-1321)*


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## TxllxT

*Giardino Bardini*


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## TxllxT

*Palazzo Vecchio - Cappella del Priori (1514)*

In April 2010 we visited Florence. In those days I had just bought the Sony a900 DSLR camera, which is great in outdoor circumstances, but quite limited (max ISO 800) to work with indoors without a flash. So when we entered the Palazzo Vecchio, the a900 was put to the test. Happily Sony has its anti-shaking inside the body. One of the most beautiful places in the Palazzo Vecchio is the Cappella del Priori (1514).










The Chapel's vaulted ceiling










The frescoes (1514) are from Ridolfo Ghirlandaio. This is the birthplace of the Renaissance.


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## TxllxT

*Il Duomo (Florence) & Lago di Garda*


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## Jacck

or if you want a bigger image, you can click here
https://postimg.cc/TL84DLLV


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist

Jacck said:


> or if you want a bigger image, you can click here
> https://postimg.cc/TL84DLLV


That's absolutely beautiful Jaack. Where / what is it?


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## Malx

BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist said:


> That's absolutely beautiful Jaack. Where / what is it?


+1..............


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## Jacck

BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist said:


> That's absolutely beautiful Jaack. Where / what is it?


this particular image was taken at White Carpathians, which is a westernmost outcropping of the Carpathian mountains (where Dracula lives). But the forests here at this time of the year are full of these flowers (snowdrops). Now they are flowering in the lowlands, and in a month they will flower higher up in the hills (1000m)


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## TxllxT

*The Column of Napoleon & The Grande Armée - Bologne sur Mer*



















In the past Bologne sur Mer functioned as the gateway to Europe for pre-Brexiteers. Napoleon however had plans to make the French harbour town the gateway for invading England. For this purpose he gathered the grande armée. To celebrate the indubitable victory in advance a 50m high column was erected (1804-1823) with Napoleon's face turned towards the enemy.

Ten years ago we visited the location near the Channel / la Manche (June 2010), while thunderclouds were gathering above Napoleon's head. Later on I read on the internet that this column has got struck by lightning already several times. For making photos this tensioned atmosphere is excellent. It seems as if Napoleon is having a private look into heaven...


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## pianozach

So . . . why is there a monument to Napoleon?


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## TxllxT

pianozach said:


> So . . . why is there a monument to Napoleon?


They (the grande armée) started with building the column in 1804 as part of the planned invasion campaign against the UK, continued when Napoleon in 1805 left Boulogne sur Mer and after Napoleon's removal to St. Helens the monument was finished in 1823 when a part of France was in a nostalgia mood for the dictator. After all, what to do with a half-finished monument?










'Un Palais Impérial' where Napoléon stayed in 1803-05 during his invasion campaign against Great Britain. The strange name of the location shows something of the French hate-love relation with their 'Absolute Geist on horseback' (this is how Hegel hallowed Napoleon's entrance into Jena, the university town where the philosopher was lecturing).


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## TxllxT

*The Basilica of Boulogne sur Mer (1875)*



















The basilica of Boulogne sur Mer is built on the ruins of a church, that fell victim to the whims of the French Revolution. The builder-priest claims to have had a vision of the present church, which is a classy example of French elegance & spirituality. The Corinthian column architecture is splendid in its balance of light weight.


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## Taggart

Please keep politics for the groups.

A number of political posts have been removed.


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## TxllxT

*Perhaps the oldest holiday destination: Étretat (Normandy)*










When the railways got constructed in Europe in the 2nd half of the 19th century people were able to plan and execute daytrips & holidays. The bourgeoisie from Paris went to the sea coast of Normandy with its white cliffs and unbelievably strong daylight. Claude Monet, the impressionist painter, painted the 'Mannesport' cliff of Étretat several times.



















For photography in RAW is getting the colour of the sky & the sea right a real challenge. Often I notice that cameras and RAW programs are rendering the colours in a too cool grade, resulting in a lessened magic of the sun & sea light.


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## TxllxT

*Les Falaises - The White Cliffs of Normandy*



















Varengeville-sur-Mer










Yport


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## Jacck

swan series I shot today









https://postimg.cc/ct1q1m2m









https://postimg.cc/rdtry6r8


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## TxllxT

*Rouen - The Gothic heritage city*










Rouen (capital of Normandy) has the biggest heritage of late Gothic architecture. Unlike Paris the inner centre was not torn down at the end of the 19th century, so if you want to taste & see Paris at the time of 'Les Miserables', go to Rouen. Above an example of worldly flamboyant Gothic: The Palais de Justice (1550, restored 2009).










Inside the Rouen cathedral there is a line-up of the original Gothic statues, that for centuries stood in the front façade, high above the street bustle. The facial good-humouredness is striking. Compare this with the statues of the south façade, which where renewed in the 19th century: their facial expression is (sadly) grim & stoic.


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## pianozach

TxllxT said:


>


I'll bet that is spectacular when the sun hits it.


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## WNvXXT

Almost 30 minutes after sunrise - looking east.


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## Art Rock

TxllxT said:


> Rouen (capital of Normandy)...


We lived there August 2002 - December 2004. Thanks for the memories.


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## Jacck

some sunset kitsch


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## NoCoPilot

I loves me some kitsch, when its that pretty! The second one especially... wow.


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## TxllxT

*Beauvais Cathedral*

The highest cathedral of France was built in Beauvais, 67 km north of Paris










Nowadays we have got used to the Notre Dame cathedral of Paris being enveloped in scaffolding to prevent it from collapsing. The cathedral of Beauvais however never reached the stage of being without scaffolding. In 1575 they finished with constructing. The central crossing is made of wood (a provisional solution)










When you want to make photos from the rose windows in the south & north transepts, the wooden lattice supports (which are already +70 years old themselves) have to be evaded.


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## TxllxT

*Forbidden fruit*










The cathedral of Amiens was finished in 1288 after 66 years of building. Here one can see the story of Adam & Eve with the forbidden fruit, which in those days was not imagined to be an apple but grapes from a vine.


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## pianozach

TxllxT said:


> The cathedral of Amiens was finished in 1288 after 66 years of building. Here one can see the story of Adam & Eve with the forbidden fruit, which in those days was not imagined to be an apple but grapes from a vine.


The Bible has been twisted this way and that for so very long, it's difficult to take without a grain of salt.

As to which fruit may have been the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, possibilities include apple, grape, pomegranate, fig, carob, etrog or citron, pear, and mushrooms. The pseudepigraphic Book of Enoch describes the tree of knowledge: "It was like a species of the Tamarind tree, bearing fruit which resembled grapes extremely fine; and its fragrance extended to a considerable distance. I exclaimed, How beautiful is this tree, and how delightful is its appearance!" (1 Enoch 31:4).

In Islamic tradition, the fruit is commonly either identified with wheat or with grapevine. Maybe the grapes had fermented.

But in Western Europe it was decided it was an apple.

I like the *mushroom* thing . . . y'know, psychotropics and all.


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## WNvXXT




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## TxllxT

pianozach said:


> The Bible has been twisted this way and that for so very long, it's difficult to take without a grain of salt.
> 
> As to which fruit may have been the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, possibilities include apple, grape, pomegranate, fig, carob, etrog or citron, pear, and mushrooms. The pseudepigraphic Book of Enoch describes the tree of knowledge: "It was like a species of the Tamarind tree, bearing fruit which resembled grapes extremely fine; and its fragrance extended to a considerable distance. I exclaimed, How beautiful is this tree, and how delightful is its appearance!" (1 Enoch 31:4).
> 
> In Islamic tradition, the fruit is commonly either identified with wheat or with grapevine. Maybe the grapes had fermented.
> 
> But in Western Europe it was decided it was an apple.
> 
> I like the *mushroom* thing . . . y'know, psychotropics and all.


Robert Graves maintains that the Delphi oracle was a mind blowing mushroom thing. For the reference to fermenting grapes there is the story of Noah after the Ark: Noah went drunk & fell asleep and possibly the same (at least the sleep) happened to Adam just before Eve was created. The first chapters of Genesis happen to be quite young and have been added in a late stage to the Biblical whole. So it is possible that hints to the ancient Gilgamesh epos (and to Greek mythology) have been made by the composers/editors.
On the photo the top shows the creation of Eve out of the sleeping Adam. What fascinates me is Eve being created and lo, from the very beginning she is in a talking mood (with the Lord). The sculptor shows the Lord in a mix of awe and surprise...


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## Dorsetmike

@WNvXXT; your rose above reminds me of one I had to leave when I moved 6 years ago, Ards rover a rambling climber
















My father's father had many roses, this particular one has more or less become a family tradition, when one of us moved house a cutting or budding went with us, my eldest son has continued this. Unfortunately a rampant climber will not survive in a patio planter at a retirement flat.


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## Red Terror

*Smoking Gal*

I saw this homeless woman walking around with a few of her belongings and asked if I could photograph her. She agreed.

I hate posed photos so I continued conversing with her as I shot away.


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## Art Rock

Wonderful shots, Red!


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## Red Terror

Art Rock said:


> Wonderful shots, Red!


Thanks, Art!
**********


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## Jacck

OLD AND NEW. In case anyone does not recognize it, those are plums. They are used for several purposes here such as making plum pie, or plum jam, but most importantly, they are used to make slivovitz.


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## TxllxT

Yesterday the King's birthday was celebrated with 17 degrees & lots of sunshine. I made photos with my Nokia 808 Pureview (from 2012) in my birthplace, the town of Harderwijk. Here three zoom photos were stitched into one panorama (with the free ICE program of Microsoft). The result is a kind of frozen movie, with three young women plunging into the cold water and a moment later jumping on the floating U. In the background one can see the medieval town walls.


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## Red Terror

_*Click on photo to enlarge._

Gear: *Nikon D700*

Took this shot in my town on a Sunday morning.


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## ToneDeaf&Senile

I was interested in photography (as a photo taker) for quite a few years. That was decades ago. Thing is, I stank at it. Didn't realize it at the time. Looking over my old albums now is embarrassing. Each album might contain two or three decent images, nothing outstanding. Certainly nothing I'd feel comfortable displaying in public. On the other hand, I still enjoy seeing good photography.

Nowadays I don't own a single photo taking device. Haven't for decades. Well, discounting an old SLR 'film' camera rusting in a closet. It was consider a high quality camera in its day. But film cameras are dead, with no resell value except maybe to specialized collectors?

Despite lack of practice, I think I could now take an infinitely better photo than I did back when I pursued it as an active hobby. Why? Over my three decades as a PC gamer I've gotten halfway decent at capturing screen images. Good composition, lighting, etc. Stuff that I had no feel for back in the day. Not that the bulk of my captures are masterpieces. But at least they're not embarrassing. (Then again, what will I think about them 20 years from now, assuming I'll be around then, which is unlikely.)


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## pianozach

ToneDeaf&Senile said:


> I was interested in photography (as a photo taker) for quite a few years. That was decades ago. Thing is, I stank at it. Didn't realize it at the time. Looking over my old albums now is embarrassing. Each album might contain two or three decent images, nothing outstanding. Certainly nothing I'd feel comfortable displaying in public. On the other hand, I still enjoy seeing good photography.
> 
> Nowadays I don't own a single photo taking device. Haven't for decades. Well, discounting an old SLR 'film' camera rusting in a closet. It was consider a high quality camera in its day. But film cameras are dead, with no resell value except maybe to specialized collectors?
> 
> Despite lack of practice, I think I could now take an infinitely better photo than I did back when I pursued it as an active hobby. Why? Over my three decades as a PC gamer I've gotten halfway decent at capturing screen images. Good composition, lighting, etc. Stuff that I had no feel for back in the day. Not that the bulk of my captures are masterpieces. But at least they're not embarrassing. (Then again, what will I think about them 20 years from now, assuming I'll be around then, which is unlikely.)


I used to be a pretty good amateur photographer, but my camera didn't really make the transition to the new batteries. I never bothered to take it in to have it recalibrated.

But then my apartment building exploded.

The short story: Complex with 6 or 7 three-story buildings with four apartments per floor. I lived on the end of one on the 2nd floor. My neighbor two doors down on the same floor evidently unscrewed the natural gas line to his stove/oven, the apartment filled with gas, and KA-BLOOIE!!!!! My apartment was the only one in the building to escape major damage. 3/4 of the building exploded/burned down. It was now a stack of three apartments. The upstairs neighbor's roof caught on fire and ruined most stuff in the apartment. The downstairs neighbor's apartment became a moldy mess due to all the water that flooded from the fire department.

The neighbor was blown OUT of his apartment onto the parking structure with 3rd degree burns. He died three days later.

Firefighters didn't really know what they were dealing with, so they kicked in the doors to all 70+ apartments. Honestly, this was 8 or 9 months after 9/11, so their first instincts were to treat it as a terrorist attack. THEN they thought it might have been an exploding Meth Lab. But then they found what was left of the stove and gas line, and neither had their threads stripped.

The next day they let one person per apartment into their apartments (if they had one left) for 5 minutes. The next day they let in 2 people per apartment for 10 minutes, and the 3rd day they let in as many as you wanted, but only for 15 minutes. Then they discovered that all of the doors that had been kicked in contained asbestos, so the entire complex was quarantined and all of the residents had no access to their apartments or belongings for several months.

Every apartment was looted during that time as security was not adequate.

By the time we could reclaim our belongings most of the residents discovered that TVs, computers, jewelry, and anything else that was valuable or even semivaluable had been taken.

So it was with my entire camera bag, with the outdated camera and a full lot of accessories. (They also stole LPs and CDs). Since our apartment was damaged, we had actually removed an awful lot of our stuff prior to the lockdown, while our neighbors with apartments that were undamaged (except for broken windows and kicked in doors) lost a great deal of items, as they expected to be back in their apartments within a week.

Our cat survived but had to be oxygen-tented for three days. Prior to his vet visit I took her with me to the Red Cross shelter. She sat on my lap and played to the news camera crews even though she smelled like a wet ashtray.


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## Red Terror

_*Click on photo to enlarge._

Camera: *Fujifilm X-T2*

A homeless woman. Her tears aren't visible but she was crying as she told me about her son's suicide.


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## Jacck

tree in a field (photographed 2 days ago)


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## TxllxT

*Museum Bredius, The Hague - Anonymous portrait of a Lady*










One of the most raving paintings in the museum Bredius (close to the Mauritshuis) is IMO this anonymous portrait of a lady, of which the museum has made the educated guess that it was made in Flanders c. 1620. She carries a little book with the legible name of Petrarca on the first line. The rest is unknown. Perhaps there is someone on TC who can raise the tip of the veil a little bit more. Who is she? Who is the painter?


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## joen_cph

That's truly a wonderful painting indeed, and it turns out that there are quite a lot of portraits of upper class women reading Petrarca from those days, underlining an intellectual dimension of their lives, among other things. The museum itself doesn't know what painter it should attribute the work to, so guessing one would be hard. Obviously, a very accomplished master of the day.


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## Dorsetmike

First roses of summer here, slightly bruised by recent strong winds


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## TxllxT

Dorsetmike said:


> First roses of summer here, slightly bruised by recent strong winds
> 
> View attachment 155689
> 
> 
> View attachment 155690


In Holland the rhododendrons are coming in full blossom


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## Dorsetmike

For those in UK who like roses, I can recommend a visit to Mottisfont Abbey (National trust) where you will find the National old rose collection, 3 connected walled gardens with hundreds of roses and other plants. Motisfont is near Romsey in Hampshire, not far from Southhampton and Winchester. 
Most of the old roses only bloom in June, currently advance booking is required due to Covid, entrance is free for NT members, Non members £15.


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## Dorsetmike

A few more from Mottisfont


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## TxllxT

*Strasbourg Cathedral - South Transept (c. 1230)*



















Among all the the French cathedrals we have seen Strasbourg Cathedral is outstanding in its sculpturesque impressiveness. Each Gothic cathedral uses the south transept for portraying the last judgment. The Old Testament judgment of King Solomon with two women is being compared with the New Testament imagination of two men, the Father and the Son, on the last of days. Very delicate the heart tearing sorrow of the woman with the dead child is being countered by the bodily & facial stoicism of the woman with the living child.


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## TxllxT

Never saw so much fun with lions, bats and other animals. In 1230 there seemed to exist no dread at all and the 'dark age' imagination really is refuted by these medieval statues.


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## TxllxT

One of the biggest photographic challenges on the Dutch isle of Texel is the nature reserve 'De Slufter', where the North Sea has free access in & out through a tidal estuary. The air is extremely clean, making visible crepuscular sun rays. On the central photo a field of salicornia is shown, which is a salt resistant vegetable that turns red because of the sea salt. At some time during the year this nature reserve is turning so reddish, that one cannot believe one's eyes...


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## Vronsky

At 1066m altitude.


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## Red Terror

Taggart said:


> Bit of yes and no here. I like a good analogue picture. But what I'm finding is that with digital I'm shooting a *lot* more. In the old days, you would try really hard to get a shot and then grumble when it wasn't _quite_ right when it came back from the developers. Now you can take a shot and see how it looks instantly. If you don't like it you try again and again and again oh and just one more for luck. Then when you get home, you can see how they look and then gently retouch until it comes out just right.
> 
> That's not to say that you don't worry about composition and exposure and framing and "telling a story" but it just gives you more freedom. On our last break, I took way over 150 shots where previously I would have taken maybe 20 or 24 - a basic roll of film. Out of those I got about 60 or so "good" shots. That's the *fun *of digital.


I prefer analogue image quality to digital, but one cannot deny the convenience afforded by the digital medium. One can purchase a capable digital camera (second-hand) and lens (plus basic accessories) for about $2500-$3000 and continue using the same set-up for a good number years. Analogue cameras can often be had for a cheaper price (unless it's Leica) but the ongoing cost of film and development ends up exceeding that of the former by a wide margin. And even if one has access to a dark room, chemicals and photo paper must be purchased and countless hours devoted to photo-development. Analogue photography is exceedingly expensive and time consuming, and this is precisely why many great photographers have made the switch to the digital medium—it provides an opportunity to work faster, cheaper, and smarter.


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## Chilham

The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.

Certainly, not much has fallen in the foothills of the Pyrenees this year, as when the reservoir is full, only the tip of the spire can be seen.


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## NoCoPilot

Seattle has had some amazing sunrises and sunsets this year, what with the wildfires putting all that smoke up in the upper atmosphere. Not so good for lungs. Great for photographers.


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## composingmusic

Just saw this thread – great to see other peoples' photos! I do have a reasonably good camera, and I enjoy taking photos of things. Here's a few to start with:


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## composingmusic

To add a few more:


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## NoCoPilot

Verrrrrry nice.


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## Red Terror

I am a novice street photographer. Here's a sample...


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## composingmusic

Here's a few photos from northern Finland. These were taken with the same DSLR camera I was using for the other photos, with a wide-angle lens and tripod. All of these are multiple exposure HDRs with a variety of exposures to try and really capture the light.


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