SnusOn Art

[CoderGuy]

Very nice Ansel.

Sgreger, love the food pics too!

Some awesomely talented people on here. I love talent, it's so cool.

[lxskllr]

[heders]

I like that mushroom pic especially.

Thanks a lot lxskllr. I'm glad you like it! That picture was a assignment for my school, with the theme "contrasts". It's taken with my 18-55mm lens, but I was suprised with the bokeh that came out of it. It shows that you don't really need an expensive macro lens, or a lens with an extremely low aperture number to get a nicely blurred background.

heders... I'm impressed! Nice photos.

Thanks a lot wa3zrm!

Sgreger I was a pro for a good number of years several decades ago and I can't say I had anywhere near the eye that heders has. The "eye" is an almost impossible thing to cultivate however much one practices. It has been my observation over the years that either one has it or one doesn't. I had it barely enough to get by but heders has it several cuts above that. And no amount of P-shopping can substitute for that "eye". Gotta be born with it I guess. I will say that heders' pics are elegant illustrations of the Rule of Thirds--except where they aren't--proving that a good sense of composition does not follow strict guidelines and therefore is not quantifiable.

Thank you! I'm glad to hear! However, I've got to say that my pictures was pretty ugly in the beginning. You could kind of pick up a sense of what I wanted to do with the picture, but the picture with the compositions were, if I may say so, almost terrible. You definitely need an eye for it, but if you have that, you can always get better!

I would love to see your photos by the way!

Okay that's what I figured, you pretty much outlined my exact workflow. I shoot in raw, then develope them in adobe raw, then photoshop to correct the tones etc. I have photo matrix too which is a great program but the presets are a bit overboard on the HDR effects lololo. I also use noise ninja to reduce the noise if shot at a high ISO, and i recently got the Topaz plugin fair photoshop which really brings out the details in things. It's sort of like an HDR type program that is more concerned with sharpening and bringing out detail than compositing multiple images shot at different exposures like photomatix is.

I also prefer PhotoTools blur for adjusting the aperture in post processing. That program is fantastic for getting the depth of field right.

Right now I need to work on composition, because like you said that is what really makes a difference, everything else can be fixed in post processing. I always keep the grid up on my camera to make sure and follow the rule of 3's too which is a big help.


Well looks like you and I are doing the same things as far as workflow, I just need to go out an shoot more! I am going to try some snus can shots, make it "the Adventures of Thunder Frosted" and take a pic of my thunder can every time I visit someplace new lol.

Keep posting em man!

Oh cool! Good to hear we're following the same editing routine! And also really nice to hear that you are photographing in raw. Keep that up!

Yes, do some snus photos and post them here! I'll try to do some as well as fast as I can. I have some photo assignments for school that really needs to be done. I'll post the results here!

These are my photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetwalker1978/sets/

Really great shots man! Awesome portraits!

[lxskllr]

[Ansel]

Very cool. I've always liked the idea of Morocco. I don't really know anything about the place, but the image in my head is appealing. I don't know how close reality coincides with that image :^)

Thanks both of you. Well i think if i had a choice i'd go to Asia rather than Morocco but it depends what you're looking to do - i felt a little restricted in Morocco.

[lxskllr]

These are my photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetwalker1978/sets/

Very cool. I've always liked the idea of Morocco. I don't really know anything about the place, but the image in my head is appealing. I don't know how close reality coincides with that image :^)

[sgreger1]

These are my photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetwalker1978/sets/

These are great too, looks like something you would see headlining a AP/Reuters article or something! I would love to be able to travel the world and take pictures, so far I havn't been able to break the shackles of the US, but someday! I am going to the Philipines next year so hopefully I can snap some great shots.

[sgreger1]

Sgreger I was a pro for a good number of years several decades ago and I can't say I had anywhere near the eye that heders has. The "eye" is an almost impossible thing to cultivate however much one practices. It has been my observation over the years that either one has it or one doesn't. I had it barely enough to get by but heders has it several cuts above that. And no amount of P-shopping can substitute for that "eye". Gotta be born with it I guess. I will say that heders' pics are elegant illustrations of the Rule of Thirds--except where they aren't--proving that a good sense of composition does not follow strict guidelines and therefore is not quantifiable.

Yah I agree, he really has the eye for catching just the right comsposition. And you're right that it's something you either got or you don't. One can improve with practice like anything, but he's really got that natural talent.


You should post some of your old pics Darwin, i'd love to see them!

[Ansel]

These are my photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetwalker1978/sets/

[Darwin]

Sgreger I was a pro for a good number of years several decades ago and I can't say I had anywhere near the eye that heders has. The "eye" is an almost impossible thing to cultivate however much one practices. It has been my observation over the years that either one has it or one doesn't. I had it barely enough to get by but heders has it several cuts above that. And no amount of P-shopping can substitute for that "eye". Gotta be born with it I guess. I will say that heders' pics are elegant illustrations of the Rule of Thirds--except where they aren't--proving that a good sense of composition does not follow strict guidelines and therefore is not quantifiable.

[lxskllr]

[sgreger1]

Okay that's what I figured, you pretty much outlined my exact workflow. I shoot in raw, then develope them in adobe raw, then photoshop to correct the tones etc. I have photo matrix too which is a great program but the presets are a bit overboard on the HDR effects lololo. I also use noise ninja to reduce the noise if shot at a high ISO, and i recently got the Topaz plugin fair photoshop which really brings out the details in things. It's sort of like an HDR type program that is more concerned with sharpening and bringing out detail than compositing multiple images shot at different exposures like photomatix is.

I also prefer PhotoTools blur for adjusting the aperture in post processing. That program is fantastic for getting the depth of field right.

Right now I need to work on composition, because like you said that is what really makes a difference, everything else can be fixed in post processing. I always keep the grid up on my camera to make sure and follow the rule of 3's too which is a big help.


Well looks like you and I are doing the same things as far as workflow, I just need to go out an shoot more! I am going to try some snus can shots, make it "the Adventures of Thunder Frosted" and take a pic of my thunder can every time I visit someplace new lol.

Keep posting em man!

[wa3zrm]

heders... I'm impressed! Nice photos.

[lxskllr]

I like that mushroom pic especially.

[heders]

Good God Heeders, that is art if i've ever seen it. I am thoroughly impressed. I would assume you were a professional photographer! You shot this with the kit lens? I beg you to tell me how you have mastered this ability to get shots like this. How does one go about getting a shot like this one?

[img]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2458/3...b033cdb583.jpg[/img]



How much (if any) post processing was done on these photos? The one I referenced above must have at least been an HDR photo, there's no way you got that straight off the camera. What is your secret to getting such rich colors? Is it the exposure, the lens, the fspot settings? I want to know how to shoot like that!



Edit: ... I just saw the last two sets of photos you posted... now I will be forced to spend all weekend out with my camera trying to figure out how to get shots like this. They are so smooth, the aperature is perfect, the exposure is perfect, are you doing any post editing on these? You have to be, they are too perfect!

Now i'm going to start taking pictures of snus cans, that is such a great idea. I don't think the best professional could take better pictures than those snus ones you posted, especially the last one.

Wah, thanks a lot man for your kind words. I have always had an eye for this kind of stuff. Most of it lies in the after work (Photoshop). The colors look pretty pale and boring straight out from the camera, but my advise to you is, take pictures in raw format, if your camera support it. Make sure the photo is as good as it can be in the camera, exposure-wise. Then just edit away in Photoshop and make the colors clearer or decreased if you want too.

The photo you linked too is indeed a HDR photo made from 3 exposures and edited in Photomatix.

When I edit a photo, I open it in Adobe Camera raw, change the exposure if needed, increase the contrast, make the dark areas lighter if needed (fill light), increase or decrease the saturation depending on what mood I'm trying to capture, and then click "Open image", to open it in photoshop. There I make basically the same changes if needed (and if I didn't do them enough in camera raw), and of course, make the picture sharper with unsharp mask, or, the more advanced method: Duplicate layer, put a High pass filter on one of the layers (set at around 2 if I'm not mistaken), then choose blend mode too "Linear Light". Then I just change the opacity to choose how crisp I want the image to be. Then I'm done.

You have an eye for photography I've got to say as well judging from your pictures. Just get out there, experiment and have fun! Remember that one of the most important aspects in photography is composition. By composing the photo right, a seemingly boring subject can turn extremely interesting in the eyes of the viewer! A basic composition rule is the golden ratio, if you're not familiar with that. Think in terms of 1/3 - you can put the subject in a portrait at 1/3 of the screen, and if there's see in the background, you can put the horizon at 1/3 as well. It almost never fails! But rules are made to break, so when you're comfortable with the golden ratio, experiment and try everything!

Damn, I really got a craving to photograph now. Have to get out as soon as possible!