I still feel like, even with the awesome cam, I’m in a ‘point and shoot’ mode. I know that I need to be more diligent about things like F-stops, lighting, ISO speeds and the like…but I’m not there yet. And last night, as the sun was setting on Hoover Dam, I didn’t feel I had enough time to be TOO concerned with that aspect (I know…not a good move for someone who wants to be serious about shooting photos, but I was on a time crunch here).
I went back to using Photoshop Elements to clean these up. I have an older version (and may upgrade soon), but it’s going to get me closer to a Photoshop workflow that I’m gonna probably adopt soon.
Anyway, back to the pictures. Here are a few of the 100+ pictures that I shot last night as the sun was setting over Hoover Dam and Reservoir. I think this fall when the leaves turn, I’ll plan on a sunrise shoot, too.
This is the only one in the batch I corrected with LightBox. I think that going back to Photoshop (even if its just Elements for now) is going to be a worthwhile endeavor in the long run (but LightBox is definitely good in a pinch).
I can remember my dad taking me fishing at the spillway of the dam. I guess that’s why I like this shot (and a few others) of someone fishing. I was also going for a silhouette thang, too.
I am getting closer to the moon shot I want, I know I’m gonna need a larger telephoto to really get it (or wait until the moon is closer in the sky), but I still like the way these came out.
As Darrin puts it, I like messing with the focus-thing (depth of field and all that fun stuff). These two shots are high on my list of favorites.
As is this one. the shot of the man fishing. I really like the way this one turned out.
I like the shot below because it’s almost like a ‘real’ marina on some coastal town…not a damn in land-locked Westerville.
I don’t think the couple knew they were posing. I would have liked to have taken a direct shot of them, a little closer, but I think that I was already weirding them out by walking around taking pictures at the dam.
This one doesn’t even look like Ohio, but I really like the way the colors came out on it. 
The colors really cooperated with me…not really much PS-tweaking at all was needed. The one below is another one of my faves (and my current desktop)
This shot (because of the blur) is really more of a rough draft of what I want. I want to get the reflection and make it almost impossible to tell where the real and the reflection really is. Definitely a tri-pod shot the next time.
And now we come to the last of the posted batch. This one is actually my favorite of the night. After spending an hour walking up and down the damn shooting pictures, I come back to my car, put the gear in the back seat and get ready to leave. As I’m looking out the windshield, it frames this tree perfectly.I was actually stunned. I sat there and debated for like 5 minutes whether to get out and take the shot or if I had taken enough photos for the night. In the end, I put the car in reverse, backed up about 4 feet and left the headlights on. I stooped down in front of the car and positioned the camera about where my head was when I was looking at this tree through the windshield.
And I’m glad I did, it’s one of my favorite shots. 
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
-ATS
You've got some great images there!
ReplyDeleteAfter studying art photography (and photo journalism) at OSU it almost feels like cheating to use a digital camera and make adjustments on the computer. There is a certain satisfaction that comes from choosing a film, taking the light reading from the point closest to true white and stopping down and then extending your exposure time in the dark room to add a greater contrast to your image and make it more dramatic (ala Ansel Adams).
Then again, I enjoy not having to spend tons of money on photo paper and waste hours of time in dark rooms inhaling developer fumes. I think the reason I didn't pursue photography was because for the amount of effort needed I really wanted everything to be perfect in the end, and with a digital camera if you screw up the shot... Delete. You can take 100 pics to get one good image and nothing was wasted.
Basically I didn't want to be the guy we ended up hiring for our wedding. You know, the guy who charges you money for crap photography.
Some nice photos, indeed! Love the tree shot...glad you got back out of the car to take it. :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chris! I guess that's part of what I'm feeling about it. I mean, I know that with the digital SLR's the main difference is the fact that instead of film, the image is captured on to a memory card. All of the other tweaking is possible (and encouraged if one is serious about the art), but in the end I DONT have to choose daylight or tungsten or black and white film...I DONT have to worry about adding filters when I'm shooting and I DONT have to worry about over or under-exposing in development. And, ultimately, I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on film to get shots that I would feel good about blowing up and hanging on my wall.
ReplyDeleteI guess the difference for me is, just because I don't have to worry about those things...that doesn't take away the fact that I still want to know about those aspects, because ultimately, I want to get the shot no matter what camera I'm shooting on. And until seeing some specials on Ovation about current big names in the photo world,I still felt like digital was cheating. I don't feel that way so much now...now I just want to make sure I learn the basics so that I can turn my camera on completely manual and still get the kinds of shots I'm looking to get.
I'm not there yet...but practice makes polished (not perfect, I'm not sure anyone can hit 'perfect') :-)
Thanks, Deb!
ReplyDelete