Joey's Gallery: Backroads of Michigan

Joey D · Jul 3, 2008

While up north I gave a go at trying to do some decent photography, but I just have a little point and shoot Olympus Stylus 760 so they aren't nearly at the level of ~~some~~ most of you. I've cropped some of the pictures as well to focuses them better, I don't know if that is kosher to do with the whole photography thing, but I felt some shots needed to be cropped and have a little clean up done to them.

Anyway this is probably my favourite shot, it's off the side of an old pump house near my buddies cabin. I've posted both the actual photo and the one I did a little photoshopping on.

I just really liked this shot of my buddies dog, especially since the dog looked so happy.

A storm was rolling in through the north and made for a very cool looking sunset, I'm very surprised me camera did so well when it was dark out like that. Typically the camera needs the flash in anything other then extreme light (which is quite annoying and ruins photos).

Then the sparks from the bon fire we were having.

I know nothing about photography or shooting correct pictures so I am looking for a bit of help here. As I've said my camera sucks for trying to do anything good like most of you do, but it's what I got and I want to make the most of it. I have no plans on getting a DSLR since I would have no use for it, but I am thinking about a new point and shoot that's a tad better than the one I have now. Any comments would be great!

exigeracer · Jul 3, 2008

You honestly don't need an amazing camera to produce nice photographs. There are plenty of people out there making great stuff with low-end cameras. Here's some quick commentary on your stuff:

The Old #2 is too close of a crop. You should be taking a picture of a sign that says Old #2, and not Old#2. I'm not saying see the background, but it is really in-your-face right now. The second version is unnecessary, the shot is already tastefully dark and just enough contrast.

The first storm cloud shot is very well composed, but exposed wrong on the part of your camera. The light from the sky invaded the camera's light meter which killed anything on the ground. You can probably adjust the exposure on your camera somewhat, so try and get something with more light getting in. I'm not sure if it's like this on all cameras, but aim your camera down a little so less sky is framed, hold down the shutter halfway for a bit, then pick it back up to your desired frame and hit the shutter all the way. The halfway point is when it focuses and sets on exposure, and when you lift back up it will stay on the ground settings but with the sky's light. This is how it works on my camera. That way you would would've gotten the real light detail on the ground, with the trees, the flowers and that stump. It's really nice. Overexposing to get light on the ground will also bring out some prettier colours in the sky too!

I like the digital noise and specks on your lens in the sparks shot. It helps. Even noisier would've made it nicer too, with more variety to a simple photo.

Perfect Balance · Jul 3, 2008

I think on the second scenery pic, it would have helped to point the camera up a little more, so you get more of the sky and less of the ground. Otherwise you just end up with half a frame of black.

Omnis · Jul 3, 2008

exigeracer
You honestly don't need an amazing camera to produce nice photographs. There are plenty of people out there making great stuff with low-end cameras.

Yeah, I've taken some better photos with my compact than I have taken so far with my 40D.

GilesGuthrie · Jul 3, 2008

#1 (original) is quite nice, although as has already been mentioned, some context would be good. There's not enough in the shot at the minute to keep me coming back to it.

#2 (processed) The PP was a bit unnecessary. Cropping, levels, curves, healing (spots), and some saturation work is usually considered to be the norm. Selective cloning too is fine. It really depends on the subject: glamour photographers go mad, landscapists tend not to. Try to use PP to accentuate the good qualities, but good PP is like good makeup on a girl: it's best when you don't notice it. And it looks like you've attempted a high-contrast black & white conversion. On a subject that was essentially monochrome to start with!!

#2 (the dog) is a nice shot, but an SLR with a fast lens is always going to kick your arse here, because it would have separated the dog from the background. From that distance, and with that lighting, a "force flash" may have lit up the dog's eyes nicely. Because you're a bit stuck with the depth of field (the amount of a shot that's in focus), try shooting from an angle much closer to the ground. If you can make the background further away, there's more chance of it blurring and giving you the separation you need.

#3 (sunset #1) Lovely. But try to remember the rule of thirds when doing sunsets: i.e. place the horizon 1/3rd the way up the frame.

#4 (sunset #2) The light has gone here, you're about 5 minutes too late. Try using Shadow/Highlight recovery to bring up the grass, but all the PP in the world isn't really going to cover for the fact that you were late. (Sorry!)

#5 (bonfire) Nice abstract. Plenty to keep the eye busy in the frame.

Joey D · Jul 3, 2008

First off, thanks to the both of you. I know you are both experienced photographers and take some amazing shots, so thank you for you inputs.

exigeracer
You honestly don't need an amazing camera to produce nice photographs. There are plenty of people out there making great stuff with low-end cameras.

I suppose I just need to learn more about my camera then. I've gone through the instruction manual that came with it but it really wasn't all that much help, it made the photos better but not how I really want them. I am still looking at getting a new Canon SD1100IS.

The Old #2 is too close of a crop. You should be taking a picture of a sign that says Old #2, and not Old#2. I'm not saying see the background, but it is really in-your-face right now. The second version is unnecessary, the shot is already tastefully dark and just enough contrast.

I didn't do any cropping on that picture with the computer, I suppose I was standing to close though. I'll be heading back up north soon and I would like to play around with taking photographs of the build since it's fairly neat. I'll see what else I can come up with a couple steps back. And ya now that I think about the the PS one is a little bit much.

The first storm cloud shot is very well composed, but exposed wrong on the part of your camera. The light from the sky invaded the camera's light meter which killed anything on the ground. You can probably adjust the exposure on your camera somewhat, so try and get something with more light getting in. I'm not sure if it's like this on all cameras, but aim your camera down a little so less sky is framed, hold down the shutter halfway for a bit, then pick it back up to your desired frame and hit the shutter all the way. The halfway point is when it focuses and sets on exposure, and when you lift back up it will stay on the ground settings but with the sky's light. This is how it works on my camera. That way you would would've gotten the real light detail on the ground, with the trees, the flowers and that stump. It's really nice. Overexposing to get light on the ground will also bring out some prettier colours in the sky too!

Ya shooting the setting sun seems to be some what of a challenge. My camera does the half-shutter-button focus thing but more often then not it leaves my shots blurry. Maybe the image stabilization has something to do with it? I will try and mess around with this a bit more, but right now it seems a bit above my skill level especially after some of the stuff I read online.

I like the digital noise and specks on your lens in the sparks shot. It helps. Even noisier would've made it nicer too, with more variety to a simple photo.

Good to note. Thank for all your comments, they were quite helpful and gives me some things to keep in mind while I attempt to do this again.

GilesGuthrie
#1 (original) is quite nice, although as has already been mentioned, some context would be good. There's not enough in the shot at the minute to keep me coming back to it.

Alright, as I've said I'm going to play around with this one next time I'm up north. I just really like the way the side of the pump house looked for some reason. But I will see what I can do in terms of changing it up a bit.

#2 (processed) The PP was a bit unnecessary. Cropping, levels, curves, healing (spots), and some saturation work is usually considered to be the norm. Selective cloning too is fine. It really depends on the subject: glamour photographers go mad, landscapists tend not to. Try to use PP to accentuate the good qualities, but good PP is like good makeup on a girl: it's best when you don't notice it. And it looks like you've attempted a high-contrast black & white conversion. On a subject that was essentially monochrome to start with!!

Ya photoshopping isn't really my strong suit, I need to figure out what I'm doing more before I attempt things like this. I'm used to cutting up cars and what not, not trying to make photos look better so I need a bit of practice.

#2 (the dog) is a nice shot, but an SLR with a fast lens is always going to kick your arse here, because it would have separated the dog from the background. From that distance, and with that lighting, a "force flash" may have lit up the dog's eyes nicely. Because you're a bit stuck with the depth of field (the amount of a shot that's in focus), try shooting from an angle much closer to the ground. If you can make the background further away, there's more chance of it blurring and giving you the separation you need.

It was a rather spur of the moment shot while we were loading up the van to come home. I actually had to crop the passenger door out of the picture. But Sandy (the dog) is pretty well behaved so I'll have to see about getting other shots of her from different angles like you said.

#3 (sunset #1) Lovely. But try to remember the rule of thirds when doing sunsets: i.e. place the horizon 1/3rd the way up the frame.

Thanks, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. I think that's one thing that has always got me on sunset-ish photos. I either put to much horizon in or to much sky.

#4 (sunset #2) The light has gone here, you're about 5 minutes too late. Try using Shadow/Highlight recovery to bring up the grass, but all the PP in the world isn't really going to cover for the fact that you were late. (Sorry!)

No quite alright, I was a bit late, I think it was already 21.00 and we were in a valley.

#5 (bonfire) Nice abstract. Plenty to keep the eye busy in the frame.

Cool I'm glad both you and exige liked the photo 👍.

Thanks again for the comments fellas!

Sprite · Jul 3, 2008

exigeracer
You honestly don't need an amazing camera to produce nice photographs. There are plenty of people out there making great stuff with low-end cameras.

Joey D
I suppose I just need to learn more about my camera then. I've gone through the instruction manual that came with it but it really wasn't all that much help, it made the photos better but not how I really want them. I am still looking at getting a new Canon SD1100IS.

If I may, add my 2c to this thread, as what exigeracer has said is spot on, and to prove it, I did a test a couple of weeks ago between 3 cameras, now it wasn't 100% scientific but I thought I would shoot a vase full of flowers in the window of my house, using the same light source and no tripod (trying to keep it as real world as I could) the three cameras on test were:

My Canon 400D With Basic Kit lens (didn't use any special glass just what came with the camera to keep it a fare race), Cost at time of righting £379.99.

My pop's Canon Powershot G2, now this is an old Powershot but was getting good reviews when he got it, cost him about £500+ back at the time.

and....

My mums Casio EX-Z1050. This camera is a little cracker and packs a punch and at the time of righting it costs a whopping £99.99.

Now to keep if fair I took all the shots on Auto, with no specific settings to throw more digital whonanny into the mix, and then I took a shot in Manual and with RAW file Setting on with the 400D below are the results.

Canon Powershot G2:

Shot 1. 100% crop

Shot 2. Full image scaled to 800px on the long side

Casio Z1050

Shot 1. 100% Crop

Shot 2. Full image scaled to 800px on the long side

Canon 400D (Auto)

Shot 1. 100% Crop

Shot 2. Full image scaled to 800px on the long side

Canon 400D (Manual)

Shot 1. 100% Crop

Shot 2. Full image scaled to 800px on the long side

Now there is a difference, but the leap in terms of picture quality isn't huge, but for me the SLR still comes out on top due to is flexibility and the possibility of better glass, but the old Powershot and Casio really show that given the money you can still get fantastic results from a compact camera.

I hope this helps in some way. 👍

and in terms of the shots I like them, if you had left the exposure longer (if possible) the sparks would have given a nice trail across the shot, just like those car headlight shots. 👍

Joey D · Jul 4, 2008

That's actually pretty informative Sprite, thanks for the test results, they are apperciated 👍! I guess you can really get nice pictures without all the professional equipment. One day when I have the time I'm going to get a DSLR and learn to use it. But until then I will make do with what I have. I still think I'm going to get a new Canon and give my parents the Olympus.

And thanks for the compliments on the shots. I'm not really sure how to make the exposure longer on my camera but I should figure it out.

exigeracer · Jul 4, 2008

Not only in terms of sharpness and colours, but getting the right composition and reading the light and adapting that to whatever you're shooting with can happen with any sort of camera. Just ask tait, he shoots with all sorts of cameras, both high quality and old, outdated stuff and they all have their own properties. I bet he goes nuts when he finds some old junk at a garage sale to try it out and see what kind of effects the lesser quality cameras produces.

Joey D · Aug 3, 2008

So I did end up getting a new camera, a Canon SD1100 IS, and thought I would try it out. I look forward to any insight you experienced photographers can give me since I feel as if I have a camera I can really work with now. The Olympus wasn't a bad camera, just not really what I wanted. My parents love it though so it's all good.

First I did a bit of a photoshoot with the MINI the other night and I loved how both of these photos came out. I did a processed version of the Cooper badge for my desktop that I thought came out decently well but since this is only supposed to be for photographs and not photoshops I'll just post the original.

I really like these types of shots and would like to figure out how to do it better so any suggestions would be appreciated. Actually any advice on shooting cars would be quite helpful since I would like to snap away.

Here are a couple of sunset photos I took tonight while out on my best friend's boat. I thought they came out quite well but I think they might need a bit of colour adjustment in photoshop. The first one is my favourite with the dog (Sandy). I tried to take the photos earlier in the evening this time as compared to last time to get the orange glow instead of the blue onset of night.

Joey D · Oct 22, 2008

A bit of an update, as always tips, trick, criticisms, advice all welcome.

1.) An awesome sunset scene from my buddy's back desk, I really tried to set everything up perfectly and I was really happy with the way the colours in the shot popped out.

2.) My car on the bridge to Meadow Brook Hall.

3.) A line up of my buddies and my car lined up on Meadow Brook Hall's drive.

4.) Random lot on campus, tried a black and white with just one colour showing in the background. My camera has this snazzy feature that allows it and I thought I would play around with it.

5.) My buddy's Firebird Formula.

6.) I liked the lighting on this one.

7.) I just really like this photo, I think the angle and lighting make the photo.

8.) More of the way the I liked how the cars were positioned and what not.

Syntax error · Oct 23, 2008

Hey dude, you've got some nice shots there. You have a descent eye for composition, I think the camera maybe letting you down a little though. The colours just seem a little off.

Anyway with the fourth shot, if you are going to do selective colouring, you have to keep in colour the main subject of the image so as it draws your eye towards it. In this case the cars or one of the cars (preferably the mini) should have been the subject in colour and the rest in b&w.

6 & 7 are good shots too... i like them, there is maybe just a little excitement missing... maybe some motion... or a hot girl lol...

By the way wicked little cooper 👍

Joey D · Oct 23, 2008

Syntax error
Hey dude, you've got some nice shots there. You have a descent eye for composition, I think the camera maybe letting you down a little though. The colours just seem a little off.

Thanks 👍! I'm sure the camera is fine, I think I'm the issue with the colours. I'm still learning how to set everything up and what everything does.

Anyway with the fourth shot, if you are going to do selective colouring, you have to keep in colour the main subject of the image so as it draws your eye towards it. In this case the cars or one of the cars (preferably the mini) should have been the subject in colour and the rest in b&w.

You are most defiantly right on that, once again though I'm not entirely sure how to make the camera do that. I only really discovered how to do the colour exclusion thing during the shoot.

6 & 7 are good shots too... i like them, there is maybe just a little excitement missing... maybe some motion... or a hot girl lol...

Agree completely, and none of our girlfriends would pose on the cars so we had to make do :lol:

.

By the way wicked little cooper 👍

Thanks 👍!

Syntax error · Oct 23, 2008

Joey D
Agree completely, and none of our girlfriends would pose on the cars so we had to make do .

Perfect Balance · Oct 23, 2008

Hire Casio next time you need a model. I've heard he does nude modeling as well.

homeforsummer · Oct 23, 2008

Only just taken a peek into this thread, some great shots you've taken Joey, the first shot in post #11 in particular is excellent 👍

Joey D · Oct 23, 2008

Perfect Balance
Hire Casio next time you need a model. I've heard he does nude modeling as well.

The cost of a plane ticket would be a bit much though :lol:

.

homeforsummer
Only just taken a peek into this thread, some great shots you've taken Joey, the first shot in post #11 in particular is excellent 👍

Thanks 👍!

Moglet · Oct 23, 2008

Pictures 1 and 2 are very impressive, when shooting cars though, have you ever considered stepping back and zooming in a bit? You'd be surprised at how much depth it can give the image since you don't have a controllable aperture. Give it a go!

Also try looking for interesting details on the cars that you can pick up on. Some of the smaller parts on the Mini would be great for close up shots. 👍

Slick Rick · Oct 23, 2008

The sunset shots are great! You could try and get a pic of your car moving with those autumn leaves flicking up, that would look good.

Joey D · Oct 23, 2008

Moglet
Pictures 1 and 2 are very impressive, when shooting cars though, have you ever considered stepping back and zooming in a bit? You'd be surprised at how much depth it can give the image since you don't have a controllable aperture. Give it a go!

Also try looking for interesting details on the cars that you can pick up on. Some of the smaller parts on the Mini would be great for close up shots. 👍

Thanks. Never really thought about just zooming in, I have just a normal point and shoot so I don't know how that will affect the picture. I'll give it a go though along with the close up shots on the MINI, it worked for the badges so I'll have to try it on other parts.

Slick Rick
The sunset shots are great! You could try and get a pic of your car moving with those autumn leaves flicking up, that would look good.

Thanks. I've never really tried moving pictures with the Cooper although there are a bunch with the Blazer. Might have to give it ago but I don't think I'm going to be able to get it done since I think we've ran out of nice days this year.

Joey D · May 22, 2009

Grand Re-opening!

As some of you know I recently picked up a Canon Digital Rebel XS, with that I figured I should reopen my gallery so to speak. I realise I have a long way to go before I can get really good so any advice, critiques, and suggestions are welcome.

1.) My car, I liked the out of focus tree for some reason.

2.) Playing around with the macro and my tach, also wanted to capture the moment of turning over to 28,000 miles.

3.) More marco this time with a flower.

4.) Stony Creek, tried to do a landscape picture although I don't really know how to shoot that correctly.

5.) Just like the picture of the woods and sign

Syntax error · May 22, 2009

Joey D
1.) My car, I liked the out of focus tree for some reason.

Welcome to the fun world of DOF! Nice start. Are you shooting only in JPG at this stage or have you played around with RAW yet? If not, then get cracking as you will find an extra world of post production waiting for you as well.

Joey D · May 22, 2009

I'm only shooting in JPG, but I guess I should start playing around with RAW. The only problem is I'm using a small SD card for the time being until my high speed one get here.

boiltheocean · May 22, 2009

First Congrats on re-opening the gallery. 👍

Joey D
2.) Playing around with the macro and my tach, also wanted to capture the moment of turning over to 28,000 miles.

Joey D
3.) More marco this time with a flower.

I'm not sure if the Canons macro mode is any different than my Sonys but I find Macro mode makes extremely little difference when using a DSLR. My advice would be to not bother using it as I found it makes pictures slightly out of focus. Personally I think the Macro mode is put on entry level DSLRs to comfort people who have just switched from a compact.
They are nice pictures though, well composed and nice light.

Joey D
4.) Stony Creek, tried to do a landscape picture although I don't really know how to shoot that correctly.

One thing strikes me on this picture straight away, and you will probably have noticed it too, you've got alot of branches in the foreground which break up the picture and distract the viewer. If you've doing a shot with water in try using lower shutter speeds too, the effect is quite amazing really.

I found a gif that shows the difference really well.

Watchman · May 22, 2009

Congratulations on re-opening your gallery 👍

I've to say that I really enjoy looking at your pictures, as they always turn out really good Keep it up!

Joey D · May 22, 2009

Thanks for the comments everyone!

I'm not sure how the macro works on Canon's, I'm still trying to get through the novel which is the manual. I think a lot of the stuff will be figured out through trial and error though. I'm thinking about taking a photography class so I can get a better idea of what everything does and how to properly take photos.

I'll have to play around with photographing water too.

dougiemeats · May 22, 2009

Good start, Joey.

To add to SweetshopUnion's suggestion, you may need an ND filter in order to achieve slower shutter speeds in bright light. Also, a polarizer can reduce the reflection on the tach (not to mention some self-shots through a car window into the side mirror

)

Joey D · May 24, 2009

Thanks! I still have to invest in some filters, I have a UV filter which serves as a lens protector.

Here are a couple from yesterday/ last night.

1.) Yes, that says Mastodon Crossing. They found part of a Mastodon while building a new road here a couple years back and I finally got around to going to see the site. Nothing that thrilling considering I've actually seen the bones at the local natural history museum.

2. & 3.) Tried out a slower shutter speed to try to get the water flowing effect.

4.) A buddy of mine, thought it came out decently well since the background is blurred and he's in focus. We were both moving in opposite directions and I more or less just fired away.

Watchman · May 24, 2009

Nice pictures.. I especially like the 2nd and 3rd one

semilife · May 24, 2009

Dude you are in the same sort of position as I am in that I am no expert photgrapher. I think good photgraphs are not necessarily made with a good equipment (although it helps!), equally good pictures are just as possible with modest cameras. At the end of the day the most important thing is youre vision/interpretation of what you are about to photograph, the camera is simply to aid you to capure it. Just keep practicing as the guys are probably already telling you. Keep up the good work

Joey's Gallery: Backroads of Michigan

Joey D

exigeracer

Perfect Balance

Lead

Omnis

Not Even A Real Mod

GilesGuthrie

Joey D

Sprite

Beanbag Brain

Joey D

exigeracer

Joey D

Joey D

Syntax error

Joey D

Syntax error

Perfect Balance

Lead

homeforsummer

Bonbonbonbons!

Joey D

Moglet

Gendertrash

Slick Rick

Joey D

Joey D

Syntax error

Joey D

boiltheocean

Watchman

Joey D

dougiemeats

Racing in the Rain

Joey D

Watchman

semilife

Similar threads

Latest Posts