Azuremen's photos - Spring and Summer vibes

[Cano]

Passing Reflection
​

 

[Azuremen]

Encroachment


Milky Way Over Vantage

Canon 5D Mark II ~ Rokinon 8mm F/3.5 II​

 

[Azuremen]

Decided to upload a block of work from Berlin and Amsterdam. Still more to come later...

Looks


Levels


Passage


Shopping


Check Point


Caught


The Race


Among Giants


Checks and Bikes


Gallery


Ascent II


Amsterdam Loves You


Learning​

 

[Boffin]

I'm all about that bikes shot 👍

 

[Azuremen]

Street Fire
Canon EOS M ~ Takumar 55mm F/2​

 

[Cale]

Awesome set in post #303

 

[Cano]

The Amsterdam/Berlin block is chockfull awesome, but "Passage" is on another level. Next favorite is "Gallery". Those two are amazing.

 

[Shaun]

but "Passage" is on another level

Yep, stunning image.

 

[Azuremen]

Sometimes I attempt to Ming Thein things...


Primary Park
Sony a7 ~ Nikon 50mm F/1.8 Series E​

 

[Azuremen]

To Each Their Own
Sony a7 ~ Canon 135mm F/2L​

 

[Shaun]

Nice I like it 👍.
How do you find the balance of a 135mm on the a7?

 

[Azuremen]

Nice I like it 👍.
How do you find the balance of a 135mm on the a7?

The Canon 135L balances fairly well on the A7 when I have the LB-A7 bottom grip on. The grip adds just enough for my pinky finger and a little weight that helps. I have also used my old Edixa 135mm F/3.5 on the A7, which is much, much smaller than the Canon - 49mm front filter and maybe twice the length of an old Takumar 55mm. Of course, the Canon is worlds better than the Edixa in image quality.

AF is useless at the moment, even on static subjects. May have to fiddle with settings but manual focus is pretty damn easy, and the lens has enough contrast wide open that focus peaking is fairly effective unlike some of the retro lenses I have. The focus ring on the Canon is pretty damn nice so I enjoy the focusing experience, though I do tend to front focus just a touch at the moment.

I'm just excited to have my favorite portrait lens with the superior Sony sensor.

~~~

Pause at the Fair
Sony a7 ~ Canon 135mm F/2L​

 

[Azuremen]

Went for a walk with the EOS M + `12mm and near pocketable tripod I found at a thrift store. Got a couple of neat photos at a park near my place.

Pale Roots


City Cove​

 

[Azuremen]

Contrasted Columns
Sony a7 ~ Super-Takumar 55mm F/2​

 

[Azuremen]

Untitled
Sony a7 ~ Super-Takumar 55mm F/2​

 

[Azuremen]

India


Home's Edge
Canon 5D Mark II ~ Canon 135mm F/2L​

 

[Azuremen]

Call to Share
Canon 5D Mark II ~ Canon 135mm F/2L​

 

[TB]

The orange in the bottom left corner is bugging me.

 

[Azuremen]

Untitled
Canon 5D Mark II ~ Canon 135mm F/2L​

 

[Azuremen]

Off the Edge
Canon 5D Mark II ~ Canon 135mm F/2L​

 

[Omnis]

What I want to know is what the strawberry and rosemary water was like. Seems odd.

 

[Shaun]

Really like the Off The Edge pic, just draws me in.
The composition and contrast of the child against the background is great. 👍

 

[Solo]

These shots are making me want to get my hands on a 135mm f/2 even more. Really liking the variety of subject and environment you've captured over the past few shots. 👍

 

[Azuremen]

These shots are making me want to get my hands on a 135mm f/2 even more. Really liking the variety of subject and environment you've captured over the past few shots. 👍

I feel the 135L is a bit awkward on a crop sensor from my experience, as it works out to a bit over 200mm equivalent. An 85mm works out to be 136mm equivalent, and the Rokinon is quite sharp and produces a similar experience on a crop sensor as the 135L does on full frame. At a fraction of the price.

Climbing Through
Canon 5D Mark II ~ Canon 135mm F/2L​

 

[Boffin]

Much like some of the Japan stuff of mine (which I never uploaded to such a size), that shot really comes true with the big res. The various others that I have 'liked' are also magic, especially old mate in his/her father's arms. 👍

 

[Azuremen]

What I want to know is what the strawberry and rosemary water was like. Seems odd.

I'll let you know next time I'm in there. Didn't even strike me as up here.

Much like some of the Japan stuff of mine (which I never uploaded to such a size), that shot really comes true with the big res. The various others that I have 'liked' are also magic, especially old mate in his/her father's arms. 👍

Thank you.

I'm still trying to figure out what resolution I'm okay uploading. I feel like that resolution is too high but any less detail reduces the impact of the image. I still haven't adopted a watermark system yet, and I feel that it would be wise to do so. Would appreciate your thoughts on either/or aspects if you don't mind.

Fall to the Mist
Canon 5D Mark II ~ Canon 135mm F/2L​

 

[Boffin]

I'll let you know next time I'm in there. Didn't even strike me as up here.



Thank you.

I'm still trying to figure out what resolution I'm okay uploading. I feel like that resolution is too high but any less detail reduces the impact of the image. I still haven't adopted a watermark system yet, and I feel that it would be wise to do so. Would appreciate your thoughts on either/or aspects if you don't mind.

My flat res that I go to for anything is 1500px on the longest side running at 96dpi. Don't ask me how I came to that, I just did haha. I'm sure you can relate as you are probably running a high res screen, but it destroys my soul editing something on the retina display and then upload it to FB and ALL of it is gone. But I find that size is what works and its the size that I am happy if someone else needs to download it for their own personal use without my consent. I am pretty sure any photo posted on the fb page ( https://www.facebook.com/alastairbrookvisuals - please excuse the meagre following) are all running that res. I would love nothing more than to throw up the full res thing, but I figure the potential losses far outweigh the gains of giving something only a fraction of viewers would appreciate.

As for the watermark, some people think I put a lot of thought into it, but it is really just a spruced up digitisation of what I used to sign any drawing I did in school. It can get kind of annoying as sometimes I get more comment on the watermark than the photos it appears on, but I guess it's all good. It has helped me build an identity though, I do get people who recognise the signature and then remember where they have seen the work before with the whole "Oh I have seen your work around the place", so that's nice and I guess it helps build an audience. But all in all, yeah I would consider the watermark sooner rather than later, for peace of mind if not anything else - people can always crop/clone out but at least you have all the originals you can throw at them if you come across them. The system I use is just having a vector and PSD file on hand in black, that I just throw in at the end when I resize (not on the master file), change the colour, perhaps overlay and opacity, and done. I know some people have an automation for it, but I guess it depends on the size, shape and if it intrudes with any of the subject.
I always shy away from wordy watermarks though. I think people instantly remember shapes more than words they ave read. This could be just me...

I feel I am saying all of this stuff that you'd already know

 

[Azuremen]

@Boffin - Everything you say makes sense, and I have an idea for a proper watermark in mind(avatar was a quick logo idea), just need to refine it and then implement it in a way that I'm happy with. Certainly better than some aperture blades and my CRS initials. And then learn some more about the business side of things.

Just a Snack
Canon 5D Mark II ~ Canon 135mm F/2L​

 

[Cale]

Cody you've reached new level hipster status with that avatar

 

[Azuremen]

Cody you've reached new level hipster status with that avatar

Well, enough people knew me as "that photographer with glasses and the hair swoop" that I figured I'd just go with it