BajaNomad - The making of a good photograph

The making of a good photograph

Cardon - 3-18-2006 at 02:57 PM

Here are a few thoughts on photography.

Its been said that a good photograph is made from 3 elements:

1. 25% is attributed to the camera

2. 25% is attributed to post processing( photoshop)

3. 50% is attributed to photographic eye

The Camera You don't need to have a digital SLR although it can certainly help. Most of todays
Point and Shoot(P&S) cameras can take excellent pictures. Here are two of my favorites that were taken with a little 2 megapixel point and shoot.

Close-ups too with the 2MP point and shoot

And this third one was taken with my digital SLR. It's really no better than what was taken with the P&S. I was able to grab this shot cuz I was able to focus real fast with the DSLR- something I probably couldn't do with my P&S.

Post Processing
I happen to use Photoshop but it is way overkill for most people. Fortunately there are lots of good programs for processing photos that cost under $100 or are free. For free get Picasa. For under $100 try Photoshop Elements 4 which I see at Compusa today for $49 or Corel PhotoPaint or ACDSee8.
Do a search and you can find trial versions to see which one you like best.

Whichever program you use just learn these simple adjustments.

Learn to: Color Correct(it's easy), straighten unlevel pics(it's fairly-easy), and sharpen(very easy). Most all digital pics,even those from expensive cameras, need to have these three things done to the pics.

Photographic Eye
This one takes some practice. Have a curiosity about the world around you. Notice the details of things around you. Here is a suggestion for improving you "photographic eye". Pick a color and spend the day looking around you to see everything that has red in it-things big and small- and take pictures of all those things. You'll be amazed at what there is out there. Or, instead of colors, look for anything that has a triangle in it. Maybe you could be standing in front of your car and you'd notice that the dead butterfly wing stuck on the car has a triangle shape in the wing-take a picture.

I think one of the most important things for Photographic Eye is to have a love of the things that you photograph. I think everyone here has a great love for the ole Baja so you've got that going right from the start!

I just got back from Baja and I took a lot of photos but I left a lot behind for you to take. Good Luck,Craig

bajajudy - 3-18-2006 at 03:36 PM

Craig
You had to pick the color red, did you

Still have none of that particular color on my computer.

Cardon - 3-18-2006 at 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajajudy
Craig
You had to pick the color red, did you

Still have none of that particular color on my computer.

Ken Bondy - 3-18-2006 at 05:42 PM

craig those are BEAUTIFUL photos, with good advice. The unusual pelican image is very possibly the best I have ever seen of that animal. All three of the images are in the category I like best, common subjects beautifully photographed. Great work, post more from your trip please.

++Ken++

Skipjack Joe - 3-20-2006 at 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cardon
I think one of the most important things for Photographic Eye is to have a love of the things that you photograph.

I agree with this statement very much.

I believe that one of the great satisfactions of photography is communicating your feelings about the subject to the viewer. I also believe that a viewer can see when an image has been taken without that love of the subject matter. You can't fake it very easily.

oladulce - 3-20-2006 at 02:05 PM

Card?n, thanks for the tip about using "sharpen" (in Photoshop elements).
I haven't figured out "unsharp mask" yet, but sharpen alone makes a big difference.

Photo-improvement tips are always welcome.

Oladulce

Skipjack Joe - 3-20-2006 at 04:07 PM

Oladulce,

The unsharp mask is more valuable than the sharpen filter. The mask allows you to set the threshold of sharpening you want, whereas the sharpen works on a preset threshold. The sharpen filter often creates a "halo" around the edges of the image you're sharpening which is very undesirable. That's especially noticeable with fishing rods.

The reason you may not be seeing the results of "unsharp" is because the threshold may be too small for the image you're working on. Blow up the image to 100% of it's size in pixels and then use the unsharp mask. Play around with the thresholds and see the results of your work.

If you're doing it for the web you should reduce your image to it's final size first and then do the sharpening, otherwize your sharpening will be lost during the reduction.

For printing it's different.

Pompano - 3-20-2006 at 05:29 PM

A hundredth of a second here, a hundredth of a second there - even if you put them end to end they only add up to maybe one, two or three seconds snatched from eternity."
- Robert Doisneau ( from his book " Three Seconds from Eternity" )

oladulce - 3-20-2006 at 07:38 PM

I'll keep playing with the Unsharp mask Skipjack.

And I would have tried to sharpen before I reduced, so another good tip.

Why do you take all those photos?

Pompano - 3-20-2006 at 11:14 PM

I think we like the attempt to hold the moment, to turn that fleeting sight into something permanent. A way of being creative and of being part of the world that you can take home and share the excitement. Photography is a good hobby - Therapeutic you might say. It?s all about remembering moments. As corny as that sounds, it?s true.

My regrets are not taking too many pictures, it's missing those wonderful, rare, exquisite visual moments that you want to see again... beyond your memory. Something for the records. It?s like a diary. Most of us are naturally curious and are always looking at the world?s details (I really should pay more attention while driving) and we like to keep a record of things.

Photos are something we can all do...but some with greater skill than others...with imagination and use of tools. With me, I now use a digital camera after using film cameras for 55 years or so. I always had a camera...like most everyone. Having been involved in fishing most of my life... I think of using a digital camera to capture images as a ?catch and release? thing. Also being somewhat anal, as someone close to me points out with regularity, I enjoy documenting the places I've been and the people I've known.

Don't you like the way scenes look frozen in black and white? B&W seems to transform ordinary, boring things into the surreal...and to stop those moments at a time and mood dictated only by us is very satisfying.

Me, I come and go with my camera ability....too busy fishing I suppose! There's much more to creating a beautiful picture than pointing and shooting, and learning about all of that has been a very pleasing experience. The expert advice of our Nomad photographers is priceless.

Because listening to music, watching TV & films, reading books, etc. is just consumption of other people's creative output, I like to 'do my own thing' with paint brush and camera. I have gotten better with the brush than the camera...but hope springs eternal.

We all are doing these things just for the enjoyment...and it gives us an excuse to look like we know what we are doing when we?re just standing there staring at something.

Allen Ginsburg once said this...I think..(might have been Pogo)....?Writing poetry is like putting quotation marks around bits of life?. The camera puts quotation marks around that moment in time when you took the shot.. I'm a hoarder. I like to hold on to what I see...but maybe sometimes I should keep my eyes on the road.

I dedicate this post to the memory of an old camera buff and very good friend....Killer Caine. "Relentless Productions" Video expert and a true Baja fan. He's killing them out there somewhere right now.

elgatoloco - 3-21-2006 at 10:20 AM

Cardon- Great thread. We just purchased a Canon Rebel EXT digital. Will be using lots of the tips here.

How did you get that awesome shot of the pelican? Was it in your lap?

We previously had two 35mm SLR and would come back from trips with tons of shots, most of which ended up in the round file. Hope that we waste less photo paper now. I bought a 2mb card for the new camera and can get 532 shots at the highest setting. Got an extra battery so I can edit (read delete) the photos frequently and only keep the keepers. We shall see.

Pompano - excellent job on why we do it.

Skipjack Joe - 3-21-2006 at 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by elgatoloco
How did you get that awesome shot of the pelican? Was it in your lap?

He cropped this image with photoshop?

http://baja.smugmug.com/gallery/1274122/9/60056557

[Edited on 3-21-2006 by Skipjack Joe]

[Edited on 3-21-2006 by Skipjack Joe]

Natalie Ann - 3-21-2006 at 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Quote:

Originally posted by elgatoloco
How did you get that awesome shot of the pelican? Was it in your lap?

He cropped this image with photoshop?

Cropped a bit - perhaps, but not so much as you might think. This image is as shot - no cropping, resized for web with photoshop.

[Edited on 3-21-2006 by Natalie Ann]

Cardon - 3-22-2006 at 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by elgatoloco
Cardon- Great thread. We just purchased a Canon Rebel EXT digital. Will be using lots of the tips here.

How did you get that awesome shot of the pelican? Was it in your lap?

Not in my lap but close. The trick to getting good sea bird shots is to go to where the fishing boats come in , usually between 1pm and 4pm. Here is a shot I took of someone else getting some good shots in the Loreto Marina.

good photos

academicanarchist - 3-29-2006 at 01:35 AM

Composition of the photograph is important, as is editing after. I use several different programs to edit a photo, including photoshop elements.

[Edited on 3-29-2006 by academicanarchist]

time of year

academicanarchist - 3-29-2006 at 01:39 AM

Getting a good background sky is important as well. I particularly like taking shots late fall, winter, early spring, with great blue sky in the background.

[Edited on 3-29-2006 by academicanarchist]

early spring

academicanarchist - 3-29-2006 at 01:42 AM

This shot, for example, was taken in early March last year.

editing is also a tool to make a photo more expressive...

Pompano - 3-29-2006 at 07:12 AM

This is a helpful thread for camera buffs. I am discovering new tools on my computer photo programs.

Viola! I know how to 'crop' now....as this photo of a 26' panga boat shows. That panga is certainly a long boat..but editing enchances that aspect.

Okay, so it's not rocket science...but like Confucius so often said.."A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." Now I can clean up all 17,510 of my old Baja photos and show them to you again..and again..and again

...a photo's subjects and backgrond can set a mood..

Pompano - 3-29-2006 at 07:34 AM

Does this photo make you feel a little cold, lonely, and remote? You should..because this place definetely IS!

(Hyder..the southernmost town of Alaska. You have to really 'want' to get there.)

Cold....Height....Hunger...Survival

Pompano - 3-29-2006 at 07:48 AM

....high cold mountains....harsh survival in the Artic.....Baja it ain't.

Does this photo make you... cold.?..feel like you are very high in the mountains?...want to throw a spear at that mammoth?

plenty cold enough already

eetdrt88 - 3-29-2006 at 08:46 AM

without your pictures of alaska and icy mountains with wooly mammoths :lol:

how about some pics of the bay on a nice warm day

Cardon - 3-29-2006 at 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano
This is a helpful thread for camera buffs. I am discovering new tools on my computer photo programs.

Now I can clean up all 17,510 of my old Baja photos and show them to you again..and again..and again

I wouldn't mind seeing 16,873 of those pics but I don't have time to look at all 17,510. :lol:

Paula - 3-29-2006 at 09:22 AM

[bold]Pompano[/bold]

Judging by what I've seen so far I'm sure I would like to see all 17,500.

Could you print me up copies of the whole collection and send them on down to Loreto for Don and I to peruse at our liesure?
:lol:

Skipjack Joe - 3-30-2006 at 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano
(Hyder..the southernmost town of Alaska. You have to really 'want' to get there.)

God, I love that picture of Hyder, Pompano. Have you ever been to Hope? It's on the Kenai peninsula. It looks just like that. The road going in to town (what, 12 buildings?) looks just like that. And I want to go back there so much right now.

Funny thing about pictures. You either connect with them or you don't.

Cropping and Death Valley

Skipjack Joe - 3-30-2006 at 10:42 AM

This picture was taken a few months ago on a glorious day in Panamint Valley. It was glorious but somehow I couldn't show the glory. Here is what I saw out of the window of my truck. A very mediocre picture with the road in the foreground and telephone lines above. But I knew there was some good stuff there and I planned on cropping it back home.

Skipjack Joe - 3-30-2006 at 10:45 AM

I wanted a long, narrow frame to show the majesty of the storm. I wanted that to emphasize the sweeping landscape. So I made the following adjustments with photoshop. The clouds need more work but you get the idea.

A couple of more notes here.

1. If you zoom in on the original you get a closeup of the area of interest but you lose the broad feeling which I liked so much. So, a zoom was not the solution.

2. They tell you that if you are shooting for the web you don't need more than 4megapixel camera. This one was shot with 7.2. I couldn't have cropped a small area of the image and blown it up like that and still have detail like that without the extra megapixels. So, as far as I'm concerned, the more pixels the better in a camera.

[Edited on 3-30-2006 by Skipjack Joe]

[Edited on 3-30-2006 by Skipjack Joe]

Repeating shapes

Skipjack Joe - 3-30-2006 at 04:13 PM

An image design consisting of shapes in a repeating manner can be pleasing to the eye. Here's a desert scene consisting of overlaying ridges caused by erosion. It has a sense of peace.