Photo Comp - Chat Thread

[Sir Trev]

Night time? Rats - I'm going to have to stay up past my bedtime to snap something now...

[mister c]

Night time? Rats - I'm going to have to stay up past my bedtime to snap something now...
:smt082:smt082:smt082:smt081:smt081:smt081

[punyXpress]

Would go with this month's theme:
Perseids at full force on 12/13 August

[mister c]

Would go with this month's theme:
Perseids at full force on 12/13 August
Lets keep our fingers crossed for clear skies :)

[Kenzie]

Should have entered this one:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/654/32182916185_55eb2c1762.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/R2TRKg)

[BanannaMan]

Should have entered this one:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/654/32182916185_55eb2c1762.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/R2TRKg)













Wow that is a great pic!

[Kenzie]

Some really good shots so far. Keep them coming!

[Luckypants]

Diffwys, 7yb, Mehefin 2013/7am June 2013
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4496/23618805488_9631303557_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/BZ7y1h)walk_with_dom_june2013 (82)_rszd (https://flic.kr/p/BZ7y1h) by garynortheast10002011 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/67411872@N03/), on FlickrLlun ardderchog Gary! Lle oeddech chi tynnu llun 'na?

[garynortheast]

O ben Diffwys ger Abermaw, yn edrych Gogledd Ddwyrain Mike. Mae Cymru'n hyfryd iawn.......

[Littlepeahead]

I'm pondering the theme this month. Could post up a pic of my ar$e as I've definitely eaten too much this summer!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171006/c867afc30a1c7962f1dd2d2b4214158b.jpg

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[garynortheast]

Blimey Sandman, that picture of yours made me feel a bit queasy!!

[sandman]

Sorry mate
just testing out a new update on the drone
Not the best picture but a bit of fun

[garynortheast]

Ha ha! I like the picture, just gave me vertigo. Funny as I have no problem with heights.

[Sir Trev]

Sorry mate
just testing out a new update on the drone
Not the best picture but a bit of fun

I'm guessing from the shape of the lake that's West Wycombe?

[sandman]

It is indeed
here is a a different angle

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4510/37979105296_ff64bfb49b_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ZS5QQh)IMG_3605 (https://flic.kr/p/ZS5QQh) by sandman73 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/29369882@N00/), on Flickr

[Red ones]

Seems a sensible place to ask. My 15 year old son is considering his first DSLR. Any tips or advice. Budget is £300-400. Models? Any lens advice?

I'm sure I saw a camera price comparison website link on here once. Can't find it now.

[Kenzie]

I had/have a Nikon D3200. Has a very good guide mode to help new shooters. I think they are up to the D3400 now.

[Sir Trev]

For new stuff try camerapricebuster.co.uk to get good deals from the UK or Panamoz.com for an import. Or, keep an eye on MPB or similar for used deals or eBay/Gumtree for someone selling their starter kit as they upgrade.

[Kenzie]

Camera Jungle is pretty good too.

[Kenzie]

I would say Bananaman has won it this time?

[BanannaMan]

Somebody please post a pic.

[Sir Trev]

Sorry Bill, like I suspect many others I have been hibernating and/or busy with the run up to Chrimbo.

[garynortheast]

Would it be worth running this one over through January to give people the chance to get over the holiday period?

[BanannaMan]

Would it be worth running this one over through January to give people the chance to get over the holiday period?




+1
Gets my vote.

[maviczap]

Sorry Bill, like I suspect many others I have been hibernating and/or busy with the run up to Chrimbo.

Think a picture of a gritter could have won the December comp.

Yep, roll it over until end of Jan :-)

[Red ones]

SPORTS



Take it how you want







Are we sure this topic is of an appropriate rating for this forum?

[shiftin_gear98]

Anyone?

[garynortheast]

Damn I'd forgotten about this. A timely reminder SG. I'll get one taken and posted tomorrow. Now I wonder which sport it will be........

[BanannaMan]

I tried to take some pictures especially for this month's competition but it didn't work out.
The only bad pics I've taken with the Galaxy 7 so far. :(

[garynortheast]

Come on folks, get some pictures up there!

[Red ones]

I think the Photo Comp has died.

[Kenzie]

Not so much that, it's a hard theme. Sport in the early part of the year was hard too. Also I work full time so it can be difficult.

[admin]

I tend to forget. My photo taking can be a bit spasmodic as it fits in with other things.

[yokohama]

Sport was a hard one, and my photo taking is very off and on too. I plan to try and get a shopping one in though.

[Sir Trev]

I keep forgetting... :smt090

[BanannaMan]

I'm working on it!

[shiftin_gear98]

Sir Trev wins, lets call time already..... Love that picture.

[admin]

Sir Trev wins, lets call time already..... Love that picture.
I agree, tis a great shot.

[Kenzie]

+1

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[Sir Trev]

We're only half way through the month!

[Kenzie]

Yeah, but last comp was a long one.

[Littlepeahead]

Shopping? When are we meant to have time to go shopping, aren't we meant to be bikers, out on our bikes every spare minute?



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[Red ones]

Hold on. I bought an oil filter yesterday!

[BanannaMan]

No early voting.
I have a pic I plan to take for this whilest' on my trip this weekend.

[Bibio]

Vughthttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180613/b2e939d38c98588e468d6762572eae5e.jpg

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

little bit of hifi trivia. the overalls on the right is why the turntable company called pink triangle was founded. still to this day one of the best sounding turntables ever made.

[admin]

little bit of hifi trivia. the overalls on the right is why the turntable company called pink triangle was founded. still to this day one of the best sounding turntables ever made.Interesting. I'll have to Google that.

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[Kenzie]

I have a red SV, do I win? https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180711/313eca8d1714e9b532af205c1b8e5b0b.jpg

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[punyXpress]

Hey, Bill
Can one get married in 'your' Gretna ?
Preferably in the caboose.

[BanannaMan]

Hey, Bill
Can one get married in 'your' Gretna ?
Preferably in the caboose.




Despite being named after your Gretna it's not a place to get married.
Haven't seen any wedding chapel cabooses yet but there are several places not far away that have converted the inside to luxury accommodations and rent them out by the night.

[johnnyrod]

Lots of votes this month, thanks! Will pop a new topic up just now if someone can make sure it's stickied please.

[admin]

Good topic. Stickied.

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[Luckypants]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5271/14218712062_cbe8c2f3bd_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nEsBHY)14114094625_ff30f1bdc8_o_crop (https://flic.kr/p/nEsBHY) by Bob Goddard (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ophixpix/), on Flickr
not very artistic but should get some 'awww's
Size of that dog!

[garynortheast]

Bit of a large picture there Mr Admin sir!

[admin]

Bit of a large picture there Mr Admin sir!Was it?, Sorry that's the trouble with Tapatalk, you don't realise as it resizes it on my tablet screen and it looked fine. I'll repost once I've got to a proper PC.

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[BanannaMan]

When I was younger my Dad took us on a road trip to see the covered bridges around Pennsylvania. I used to love the barns too around there and also Upstate New York. Many a trip to the Catskills. Whereabouts are you located Banannaman?





Virginia. Used to be many covered bridges here but most have been destroyed by flooding.

[Sir Trev]

Admin - you seem to have two entries in the December photo comp. Tut!

[admin]

Admin - you seem to have two entries in the December photo comp. Tut!Have I. Goes off to check.

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[admin]

Sorted.

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[johnnyrod]

Thank God someone has entered this month! I was a bit stuck for ideas, wondered if it was a bit too obtuse.

[mister c]

Thank God someone has entered this month! I was a bit stuck for ideas, wondered if it was a bit too obtuse.
I have to admit that the forum is very quiet compared to a few years ago. The festive thing doesn't interest me (bad, I know) hence why I didn't contribute.

[Sir Trev]

My photography mojo ebbs and flows so it depends on what mood I'm in each month. Have an idea for this month so I'll see if I get the chance to carry it out in time as it depends on the weather, always a risk at this time of the year.

[admin]

Thank God someone has entered this month! I was a bit stuck for ideas, wondered if it was a bit too obtuse.Yes I'm still trying to get my head around the topic. I'll see what others post.

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[johnnyrod]

It's hard to explain but also quite general - a couple of good entries already. I have these as well from a few years back. This one:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151428606753829&l=ea89b580b1

then this one to explain it:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151429129848829&l=f205025c71

for some reason Flickr wouldn't let me upload them

[littleoldman2]

Yes I'm still trying to get my head around the topic.

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As someone who is uneducated in photography I have no idea.

I do like KeithD's very much.

[yokohama]

I do like KeithD's very much.

I like it too. I'd love to know what it is.

[Kenzie]

Surprised it didn't get entered into the pattern contest.

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[johnnyrod]

Littleoldman, it doesn't have to be too complex, just something a bit off the wall.

was wondering the same about Keith's pic. I have a personal hatred of HDR, though his looks good - as he says, too often it's just garish, but even done without all that, the lower contrast can look a bit odd. If you are after trying to bring out the lowlights then look into ETTR (exposure to the right) which is the digital equivalent of the film adage, expose for the lowlights, develop for the highlights. In a nutshell you do away with "ideal" exposure and, using the histogram, increase exposure until the brightest parts (peaks) hit 100%, so recording maximum info about the scene. The in post you balance it all out again. I've seen the odd picture taken against full sun like this and the shadows, while deep, still have detail.

[mister c]

I read it as a bit of experimentation out of the norm.

[admin]

Re hdr. I use hdr occasionally when the subject matter requires it. I use a Photomatrix plugin for Photoshop elements. It gives about 15 preset outputs, some subtle, some not. Even then there are plenty of adjustments to vary output even further.

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[Sir Trev]

Here is my other "not as bad" shot from the roll I tried in the TLR assemble-it-yourself camera (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Haynes-Build-Your-Classic-Camera/dp/B00MGJS8RK) Lady Poppy got me. This one needed rescuing in Lightroom with the shadows opened out, some split toning and tweaks to the exposure and colour saturation.

Was a lot of fun putting it together, with it's Haynes manual, but some of the plastics did not screw together very well, I had a feeling light would get in (it did in some places quite badly), and the film advance sprocket did not work very well so deciding how far to wind it was hit and miss. Most disappointing was the focusing though as you could not really see if you'd got it right in the viewfinder as it was very dull, even on a sunny day, and the lenses were impossible to synchronise. I obviously did not get that bit right during assembly, despite following the instructions, as most were pretty blurry but it was a bit of fun and a nice experiment. At £15 for a film and processing at my local Jessops I doubt I'll do any more tests though and it is a fun ornament in the study now.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7909/45872678305_f806f51e45_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2cTBt5D)Experiment 1 (https://flic.kr/p/2cTBt5D) by Trevor Laight (https://www.flickr.com/photos/116210840@N03/), on Flickr

[johnnyrod]

I guess you need to shoot with small apertures and rely on DoF to get you out of trouble. If you want me to have a go at collimating it then PM me. Some TLRs come with or are modified to have a little magnifier over the ground glass screen so you can look at a detail to fine-tune the focus.

[Sir Trev]

There's no glass in this model at all - all plastic, including the optic elements with a few screws holding it together. Fixed aperture and spring loaded shutter means the only adjustment is focus, unless you count putting different speed films in depending on the weather and available light. It has a threaded socket to mount it on a tripod but even that does not work as it does not tighten up...

Was fun to build though.

[johnnyrod]

presumably it has a screen of some sort, which in a real TLR would be ground glass? Or some sort of focus aid for the viewfinder. Collimation is adjustment of the taking lens' focus so that when you set it to 5m and/or it is sharp in the viewfinder, then the taking lens is doing the same and taking a sharp picture. Not sure how much sharper it could get than what you have but might be worth a look, up to you anyway. Does it take 120 film? You can normally rig up some sort of 35mm adaptation using 3D printed parts - called sprocket photography. Kenzie's done this with at least one of his TLRs.

[Kenzie]

Johnny, these are plastic fantastic 35mm toys. I'm amazed Admin even got a photo out of it! I actually have the unbranded version of this somewhere, it does has a plastic focus screen but you'll be lucky if you get a decent image.

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[Sir Trev]

Johnny, these are plastic fantastic 35mm toys.



Spot on - it's just a toy really. All of the exposures actually came out which I was amazed at to be honest. Some are hopelessly out of focus, some are blurred and some have so much light leaking in it's hilarious. But I got 16 images all the same. Not bad considering I had no idea how far to wind on after the first time when the indicator stopped working (linked to the sprocket moved by the film - the gears did not mesh fully).

The focus screen is plastic, just like everything else, and the viewing lens moves in/out in line with the exposure lens through a simple gear drive, but there is no way to calibrate this - I may have been a turn or even two out when I out it together.

Nice bit of fun though.

[Kenzie]

If you like building them, try the Lomography Konstructor.

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[johnnyrod]

You are a fully qualified Lomo hipster now!

[Kenzie]

You are a fully qualified Lomo hipster now!Yeah, I have a shelf full of them!

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[BanannaMan]

Wow, stiff competition this month.
Famous people, art, famous people's art.

American Graffiti at it's best is a "B movie about the early 60's that made it big.
Or it's worst, the reality, mostly misspelled swear words painted on public property.:rolleyes:
No one in America has ever seen some new graffiti and thought, I wonder if that's a Banksy?

[Adam Ef]

"Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing".. he came from a very posh background / schooling and has definitely never had "almost nothing".

[mister c]

Wow, stiff competition this month.
Famous people, art, famous people's art.

American Graffiti at it's best is a "B movie about the early 60's that made it big.
Or it's worst, the reality, mostly misspelled swear words painted on public property.:rolleyes:
No one in America has ever seen some new graffiti and thought, I wonder if that's a Banksy?
I had the most surreal meeting with somebody who I think was Banksey in Chester early one Sunday morning.
This chap was happy to chat to me about life, motorbikes, art etc & he had the base of a skateboard with him. When he turned it over, there was a painting on the back, which looked like it was painted by Banksey. He said that a "friend" had painted it for him.
When i was about to leave, he asked me not to film him with my camera on top of my helmet, which I didn't. It was one of the weirdest meetings I had ever had

[johnnyrod]

Nearly voting time so I've popped an entry in there. I really wanted a pic of our parish church on Good Friday as it looks nothing like usual, but the opportunity wasn't there.

[Sir Trev]

Thaks for the nudge - I'd completely forgotten to add a pic.

[garynortheast]

Damn! I live right next door to a chapel too, so I should have no excuse. :-(

I'll get a picture tomorrow.

[johnnyrod]

Adam what did you use to take your pic?

[Adam Ef]

Just a phone. Post processed with the VSCO app.

[johnnyrod]

It's the distortion,looks like something like a box camera!

[Kenzie]

Dak, presuming your photo is long exposure? How did the person crouching not end up blurry?

[daktulos]

Dak, presuming your photo is long exposure? How did the person crouching not end up blurry?

It was a long exposure - 13 seconds at f/22 with a ND 1000 filter. It was more or less luck - the person is my wife who was also taking photos, she was just still at the right time.

[punyXpress]

Reckon the June 2019 winner isn't even entered yet!
DarrenSV650S

[Adam Ef]

We're half way through August and there doesn't seem to be any uptake on this months theme. Would people prefer I change it to something less obscure? Be a shame if there's no entries as people aren't keen on the theme.

[Kenzie]

Sorry, have been busy with work. Not had a chance to think about this.

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[johnnyrod]

It's an interesting idea but I haven't really had the time to try it out!

[Adam Ef]

It's an interesting idea but I haven't really had the time to try it out!


I started doing it out of not having time to take photos in a considered way as I would normally, as my hands were full with the kids needing attention every few seconds.


I wouldn't recommend it with film, but digital frees you up to just have a camera in your hand and click as much as you like.

[johnnyrod]

Oh I don't know, some cameras have a waist-level finder that you lookdown into, or with reasonable light you could use 1/60 or 1/125 and still use say f5.6 and have a reasonable depth of field, especially with a wider lens, and use zone focusing. not everyone is precious about every frame when shooting film! Some people are a bit more Austin Powers and hang the cost.

[johnnyrod]

PS had a go in Debenhams the other day with my iPhone but it was out of focus because I was too quick - there's something to be said for manual focus

[yokohama]

The OMD EM10 is good for this. Have the camera hanging from your neck at waist height and tilt the screen out to 45 degrees so you can see it. Camera takes a shot when the screen is tapped.

[johnnyrod]

Cool! Actually my X30 has a tilting screen too, I tend to only take it out for trips, but then I don't do street shooting.

[Sir Trev]

Sorry but my photo mojo is on a downer at the moment. It'll come back up soon (hopefully).

[Kenzie]

I don't street shoot either. Something about taking photos of strangers worries me.