xkcd

by **lucrezaborgia** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:12 pm UTC

My sister gave this to me for my birthday. She took this in San Diego and I'm so happy with it that I've got to share it with everyone!

Untitled by LadiesWhoKill, on Flickr

My sister has a lot of great photos so check her out!

This photo is the one she has to constantly bitch about because no one ever credits her for it:

baby skunk by LadiesWhoKill, on Flickr

by **EvilDuckie** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:09 am UTC

Awww... that skunk is too cute.

by **EvilDuckie** » Mon Jan 23, 2012 1:48 pm UTC

Another cyclocross event yesterday:

Margriet Kloppenburg by hans905, on Flickr

Helen Wyman by hans905, on Flickr

Part of the track was very muddy (parts of the area around the track as well, 3 cheers for wellies!) which makes for an extra brutal race.

by **podbaydoor** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:38 pm UTC

Capitol morning by Lazaefayre, on Flickr

by **F117Landers** » Tue Jan 24, 2012 11:22 pm UTC

These photos are astounding.

@EvilDuckie: The emotion of the riders is captured so eloquently in your photos (and I'm a fan of B&W)

@adho: What kind of videocam do you use? It has a good quality (better than my Countour HD it seems)

@Lucrezaborgia: (Awesome name btw) I agree with EvilDuckie, that skunk is pretty cute.

@podbaydoor: That's a Capital photo of the Capitol!

Edit: Finally back from my trip, trying to get back to photography. A recent snowfall spurred me to pick up the camera again.

Spoiler:

by **EvilDuckie** » Wed Jan 25, 2012 1:16 pm UTC

@F117Landers: Yeah, you can tell they're not enjoying themselves. Mind you, it's a brutal sport, I have a deep respect for people doing cyclocross. Walking around, or even finding stable footing, in some of the more muddy patches of the field was difficult enough already. They had to ride their bikes and had to deal with winds that were so strong that I had decided against riding my bike that day (nearly got blown off my bike the day before, and on the day of the race the wind was stronger)

@Podbaydoor: Nice! Clouds and sun make the most amazing scenes sometimes, but usually when I either don't have a camera with me, or no opportunity to snap a photo. You captured this one very well.

by **Sungura** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:12 am UTC

Playing with levitation....Sadly I had shitty lighting for it, will retry someday with a better setup for better results =)

Website · by **The EGE** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 1:43 am UTC

Is there some photographic trickery here, or are you actually backflipping that high?

by **Sungura** » Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:33 am UTC

Trickery. I wish I could flip that high!

by **adho** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:09 am UTC

@F117Landers
It's a heavily edited screenshot from my GoPro HD. It wasn't actually at the highest res either.

@Sungura
Those are beautiful. Impressive trickery too.

by **Webzter** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:50 pm UTC

I'm having a heck of a time getting back into taking pictures. I don't know why, not a lack of inspiration or lack of pretty things to shoot... just not feeling it

Here's one from a couple summers ago.

Spoiler:

And from many moons ago. Unfortunately, my telephoto then was a dog of a lens...

Spoiler:

by **Sungura** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 5:39 am UTC

I found a great photography group here and this past Sunday two members ran a free HDR class. I've never done much with it in part because for cave photos I've had better luck stitching images manually (perhaps if I used a SIT method it would work, but for flashes, it's not really easy to do HDR and easier to do it all manually later), and up until now the HDR's I have seen are so overprocessed (in my opinion) and I'm not a fan of the heavy grunge look.

One of the teachers does more of the artsy look, the other does realistic looks. I never realized HDR could be used to make things look real, as in, our eyes naturally adjust when we look at different areas of light/dark in the same "frame" but cameras dont. One can use HDR to just account for that so it was an eye opener, and we did go down to an old train yard to do some shoots to practice with the second half of the class. Some of my results:

HDR #1: Old building by tracks by Sunguramy, on Flickr

Depot by Sunguramy, on Flickr

by **markjason** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:11 pm UTC

A lot of collection here.

by **Alaska Girl** » Mon Mar 05, 2012 10:42 pm UTC

@lucrezaborgia: I agree, your sister's work is very good. I've seen the skunk picture before (uncredited!) and it is adorable. Easily the cutest skunk pic I've ever seen.
@EvilDuckie: That B+W shot is intense! Very strong. And the mud sure does look bad...
@podbaydoor: I really like that picture. Without any visible trappings of the modern age, this could be a picture of the Capitol Building on any foggy morning since it was built.
@F117Landers: You sure don't see that everyday!
@Sungura: Neat idea, and I like the pose. The spots on the floor (petals? glitter?) are a nice touch as well.
@Webzter: Nice detail on the flower picture, and the photo of the fire is just stunning! Quite the inferno.
@Sungara again: That's really neat information about using HDR to make photos more "Real" Thanks for sharing! I like the vivid colors of your shots in this post. The last one is my favorite - the angled tracks along the bottom are perfect.

Here's one I took of my family's goats this past spring:

Spoiler:

Two summers ago (?) I took this of my sisters playing:

Spoiler:

by **Sungura** » Tue Mar 06, 2012 6:44 pm UTC

Ooooh I love the one of your sisters playing! It looks like out of a fairytale! =) And the colours are so lovely!

I went on a cave trip the other weekend and it was a pit entrance with a lot of natural light so I decided to do HDR. I forgot my tripod at home but did the best I could without. The other challenge was even with a wide angle no way would it fit into a frame so between the panoramic creation with HDR for each frame it took about 30-40 shots...handheld...with a camera that doesn't autobracket :shock:

I think I managed to make it work, and maybe I'm biased but it's the best shot I've seen of this heavily photographed by cave photographer locations. I've never seen an HDR of it so the entrances are always very blown out and then close to the camera dark.

From a trip almost a year ago there, to this same place, and more typical of the shots taken at this location:

Stephen's Gap026 by Sunguramy, on Flickr
Location from other photographers:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58737255@N03/5411401805/
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/caving/476676781/

The one I did the other week:

HDR - Stevens Gap - John on rope by Sunguramy, on Flickr

Then I wanted to play with a very different angle, this is still a panoramic but didnt do as much hdr work with it, was more like 20 photos.

Stephens Gap 06 by Sunguramy, on Flickr

Website · by **The EGE** » Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:18 am UTC

Fantastic shots as usual. Here's a few of my newer HDR images, which are still in the unnaturally-colored range although I'm improving. Several are linked to the full versions which I've uploaded to Commons.

Waban station at night. The glare from the station lights was incredible, so I'm amazed how much detail I still got in the gravel and the trees.

Dartmouth Street pedestrian underpass, attempt at a realistic version:

Castle at the Smithsonian:

by **F117Landers** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:29 am UTC

HDR images always seem just a tad too off for me, but always interesting to look at.

Also, what's up with everyone referring to themselves as "HULK" within the past month or so?

Website · by **The EGE** » Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:25 pm UTC

F117Landers wrote:HDR images always seem just a tad too off for me, but always interesting to look at.

Also, what's up with everyone referring to themselves as "HULK" within the past month or so?

Mod Madness.

Saw the Dropkick Murphies last night. I liked this shot I got of Ken Casey:

by **F117Landers** » Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:04 am UTC

Anyone in Japan going to see the Cherry Blossoms this year?

Oh, and I took a few pics while in Tokyo this weekend.

Spoiler:

by **EvilDuckie** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 5:31 am UTC

I was in Vancouver 2 weeks ago and shot this photo from the Harbor Center lookout tower.

Standing in the spotlight by hans905, on Flickr

I waited for a bit to see if he'd stand right in the middle of the light, but alas, when he did there were other people crossing the beam and that made the whole scene less interesting imho.

by **MotorToad** » Wed May 16, 2012 8:23 pm UTC

How am I just finding this thread? Oh, because the fora are far too great these days for me to keep up with. A lot of the work I've seen in this thread is tremendously good; too much for me to single out this late in the thread.

Anyway, I'm just now getting into some decent photography (at least in my mind), got an XT last January for $200 with three shitty lenses... sold it for $250 and got a 30D and the basic kit IS, 18-55 & 55-250. So far the number of really good pics I've taken is about five, but I'm learning. I'm really wanting to find a 35 +/- prime lens on the cheap, I've messed around with a 50 and it's just too long on the crop sensor for what I want to do with a prime.

Les Edites:

Link wrote:Canon EOS 450D with EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM and EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM. Yes, it cost me a small fortune (considering I'm entirely an amateur), but it's a damn brilliant set.

That is exactly the combo I want to move to when I can afford it. Except that when I can afford that I'll be able to afford a 5D Mk I and I'll need even more expensive glass.

Every time I read about the 17-85 half of it is praising it as the best cheap lens ever and half is complaining about magenta fringing when wide open. Have you had any difficulties concerning that?

I had a chance to shoot a friend's 75-300 USM and it seems to be exactly the same pillow-soft glass as the 75-300 that came with my XT (that I threw out, wasn't worth trying to sell). I'm pretty surprised Canon bothered to even paint USM on the side of that lens, much less try to put a better focus motor in it. I haven't had a chance at the 70-300 but everything I've seen about it has been positive.

by **MotorToad** » Sun May 20, 2012 11:45 pm UTC

Reposting to post some of my efforts. I'm still using (the ever-increasingly infuriating) Picasa for hosting so they're a bit smaller than I'd like to post, but meh.

I'm not a drifting fan by any means, but there was an event at the vintage motorcycle races and I shot a couple frames and I'm really happy with this one. I like the reflection on the door (mostly) in focus but everything else has some motion blur to it.

Speaking of blur...

More tricycle racing

Splursh!

by **Carnildo** » Mon May 21, 2012 5:00 am UTC

Cloudy with a chance of eclipse:

by **F117Landers** » Mon May 21, 2012 6:56 am UTC

Carnildo wrote:Cloudy with a chance of eclipse

Spooky.

Had a lot of cloud cover here as well:

Spoiler:

by **adho** » Mon May 21, 2012 1:31 pm UTC

MotorToad wrote:Reposting to post some of my efforts. I'm still using (the ever-increasingly infuriating) Picasa for hosting so they're a bit smaller than I'd like to post, but meh.

These are really good shots!
Change the number after the s (i.e. 512, 720 etc.) to 0 in the address to get the original uploaded image. A trick you shouldn't have to use...

by **Sungura** » Mon May 21, 2012 6:11 pm UTC

Loving the eclipse photos...it wasn't visible here =(

Care to comment on the settings used?

by **MotorToad** » Mon May 21, 2012 8:21 pm UTC

adho wrote:These are really good shots!
Change the number after the s (i.e. 512, 720 etc.) to 0 in the address to get the original uploaded image. A trick you shouldn't have to use...

Many thanks. I agree, it's something I shouldn't need to know. When I first started using Picasa I really liked it, but google has featured it up to near uselessness. There was another pic I was going to share but it was too dark to see the object clearly (an osprey that was on my neighbor's old TV antenna and staring straight at me). So I edited it in picasa, got it to where I want it, but the photo on the web didn't change. Well, hell, go to edit it again and the edited version comes up in the editor. Nice. I can't find the edited version.

Ahhh... bumped them up so some detail shows. Feels better.

by **Carnildo** » Tue May 22, 2012 5:21 am UTC

Sungura wrote:Care to comment on the settings used?

ISO 200, f/32, 1/4000 second, and a whole lot of luck. The sun was too bright for me to aim through the viewfinder, but not bright enough to aim by minimizing the shadow of the lens, so I looked at the viewfinder from off-axis, waved the camera in the general direction of the sun, and clicked the shutter when the viewfinder looked brightest.

by **MotorToad** » Tue May 22, 2012 8:01 pm UTC

I guess F/32 explains the fuzziness? I tried to get a couple of shots of the reflection (we had 90% coverage) but mostly I just took shots of the weird shadows. None of which looked like they got the effect like I wanted, still need to sort through them.

by **Carnildo** » Wed May 23, 2012 3:34 am UTC

MotorToad wrote:I guess F/32 explains the fuzziness? I tried to get a couple of shots of the reflection (we had 90% coverage) but mostly I just took shots of the weird shadows. None of which looked like they got the effect like I wanted, still need to sort through them.

The fuzziness of the sun is because I'm shooting through clouds. The fuzziness of the leaves is because they're only about fifteen feet away, and even at f/32, the near end of the focal zone for a 200mm lens with 1.5x teleconverter is about 300 feet out. (The apparent scale is misleading here: the well-defined leaf just below the Sun is about a quarter-inch across.)

by **MotorToad** » Wed May 23, 2012 4:37 pm UTC

Okay, I was thinking diffraction from the small aperture.

by **EvilDuckie** » Fri May 25, 2012 10:39 am UTC

Love those eclipse photos. We're due for a partial one in March 2015 over here.

by **EvilDuckie** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:47 pm UTC

More cycling photos from a few days ago:

The pack by hans905, on Flickr
Very pleased with this one to be honest, except for the fact the front wheel of the front bike is cut off. With the speed they're going at it's not always easy to get the right composition *and* the proper parts in focus)

A breakaway by hans905, on Flickr

Cycling race by hans905, on Flickr

by **MotorToad** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:32 am UTC

I just got sent a link to a vintage photo site that's really bending my brain.

1864: A Union soldier in Atlanta. O_O

I'm willing to bet that's one soldier that loves his job.

Spoiled for hugastity. I've no idea how this shutter speed is posible in 1910.

Spoiler:

The building in the lower left is still there, it's a (rather shabby) museum.

Spoiler:

by **Sungura** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:02 am UTC

Transit of Venus

Transit of Venus by Sunguramy, on Flickr

by **MotorToad** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:59 pm UTC

Wow, those are genuinely the best I've seen. They look a lot more real-life than the telescope pictures I've seen. Are these two exposures? They remind me of that phrase "do not look at Sun with remaining eye."

Oddly, there's a spot on my screen that just. won't. come. off.

by **Sungura** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:58 pm UTC

Thanks, I didn't shoot them through a telescope. I didn't think I'd be able to get shots but I found my stack of filters I've never used and just mashed together as many as I could to dim the light to the lens with them and with every setting possible. The darker ones are not multiexposure, the one with the rainbow is because there was no way to capture the sunrainbow with the transit.

by **EvilDuckie** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:36 pm UTC

Sweet! I like the first one the best. I missed it unfortunately, due to it being right at sunrise over here (and I overslept...) and the sky being completely overcast. Too bad, I really would have wanted to see this.

by **adho** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 2:20 am UTC

Sungura wrote:Excellent transit of Venus pictures

Those are brilliant! My father spent a whole lot of time setting his telescope up so he could take pictures, only to have it rain the whole day. Win some, lose some I guess.

I took this for a competition, I kind of like it. Stacked a whole lot of poor quality photos to reduce the noise.

Website · by **The EGE** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 4:43 pm UTC

I like the look of the road - all streaks, except for the one parked car.

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