*OFFICIAL* Snapshot of the Day (one image per post please) #1

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by adobeee

great shots everyone..

an old picture i am relinking..

I prefer the original with buildings on either side of the central building. It's also better in a smaller size, I think. You took it from a moving car at a relatively low shutter speed, so the movement is confusing when I look at your reworked version. My eye is hunting for something in focus, or unblurred, but there's no such point. In the original on Flickr, I see the whole scene and read your story about how it was made and I accept the blur. Here, out of context, I'm working hard to find what I'm supposed to look at.

Dave

[adobeee]

Originally Posted by dcstep

I prefer the original with buildings on either side of the central building. It's also better in a smaller size, I think. You took it from a moving car at a relatively low shutter speed, so the movement is confusing when I look at your reworked version. My eye is hunting for something in focus, or unblurred, but there's no such point. In the original on Flickr, I see the whole scene and read your story about how it was made and I accept the blur. Here, out of context, I'm working hard to find what I'm supposed to look at.

Dave

thanks for your feedback! yes it was at a low shutter speed and i was going about 80 km/h

i should have provided the picture in more context..i'll take some more new ones again soon!

[The1]

Originally Posted by adobeee

i was going about 80 km/h
:

ahhh, it's nice to see people using real measurements on here

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by The1

ahhh, it's nice to see people using real measurements on here

[The1]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

hehe..... yet, we still often use lbs in Canada..... we are a mixed up country.

[remmib]

Originally Posted by dcstep

My default setting is +1/3EV, which isn't much, but then if the subject is brown or black I'll go up to +1EV in good light and maybe even +2EV in low light. If the subject is white or light, then I start going to -EV. The American Pika a few windows up was at +1EV in bright, bright, mountain-top light.

Shooting to the right will change your whole view and approach to digital photography.

Dave

I agree with you in the expose to right, but shooting white, like snow, I'd use +EV and black, like a black cat or dog, I'd use - EV.

[oneintheory]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Pardon my directness, but that's how I would expose Kodachrome, not digital. They're VERY different in behaviour.

To maximize DR with digital, you Expose Right (to the right of the histogram). The only thing that I consider overexposed is a blown out highlight. It's not only hard to bring any detail back, but you cannot recover ANY detail from a blown out highlight. However, anything that's not blown out has more color and detail in the RAW file than anything that's underexposed. My histogram is generally right up against the right side and I get great details and little noise. I DO pull levels down in RAW conversion, but the details and colors are all there in the file.

My default setting is +1/3EV, which isn't much, but then if the subject is brown or black I'll go up to +1EV in good light and maybe even +2EV in low light. If the subject is white or light, then I start going to -EV. The American Pika a few windows up was at +1EV in bright, bright, mountain-top light.

Shooting to the right will change your whole view and approach to digital photography.

Dave

there's more than one way to do things as well. like i said, i prefer to be spot on. in post, i generally bump fill just a touch (to 10, for an average image), boost the blacks a little bit, and use a touch of recovery if need be. it's extremely rare that i need to boost exposure or brightness.

*i will say that i usually overexpose skin just a touch, as it's a bit more flattering than underexposing or properly exposing, especially at f/9 or f/10 where every pore is in focus. overexposing a little bit helps to minimize that.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by remmib

I agree with you in the expose to right, but shooting white, like snow, I'd use +EV and black, like a black cat or dog, I'd use - EV.

Well, yes, IF it's all white, like snow, you need +EV because the sensor is trying to make the white snow grey, but if you have a white bird in a medium to dark scene, particularly with sunlight, then you need -EV or the bird will be blown out.

With a black subject, the size of the subject in the frame will determine what you need to do. If you have frame filling black, then the sensor is adding EV trying to get the scene to a medium grey, so you'll either need 0EV or -EV. In most of my shooting of dark subjects, they're not frame filling.

Still, this does indeed point up another complexity of shooting digital. For some strange reason that I don't fully understand, white balance and EV levels are set based on a medium-grey card; therefore, if the scene is all white, the sensor underexposes, trying to get the scene to grey and the opposite happens if the scene is darker than medium grey.

Dave

[The1]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Well, yes, IF it's all white, like snow, you need +EV because the sensor is trying to make the white snow grey, but if you have a white bird in a medium to dark scene, particularly with sunlight, then you need -EV or the bird will be blown out.

With a black subject, the size of the subject in the frame will determine what you need to do. If you have frame filling black, then the sensor is adding EV trying to get the scene to a medium grey, so you'll either need 0EV or -EV. In most of my shooting of dark subjects, they're not frame filling.

Still, this does indeed point up another complexity of shooting digital. For some strange reason that I don't fully understand, white balance and EV levels are set based on a medium-grey card; therefore, if the scene is all white, the sensor underexposes, trying to get the scene to grey and the opposite happens if the scene is darker than medium grey.

Dave

sort of like how the auto focus system responds best with 2.8 and higher apertures as a result of the way they are set up form the factory.

faster lenses have a higher tendency to not focus properly below 2.8

film was simple. it made sense aways.

[Chewy734]

I believe it also depends on what you're shooting, as remmib described. Of course people have different techniques while shooting. That being said, one professional photographer, who many think of as a master of light, does use a technique similar to what Dave suggested. However, Zack Arias doesn't necessarily go to the extent that Dave does (in terms of what he considers blown out highlights due to overexposure) because he's generally shooting portraits as opposed to wildlife at far away distances.

As usual, take everyone's comments with a grain of salt and try out both methods yourself. I'm sure neither method works flawlessly for all shooting conditions, but practicing can help you decide what works better for you, and in what situations.

Isn't that one of many advantages of shooting digitally? You can have a lot of fun experimenting and not have to spend hours developing film, etc to see the results.... just saying

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by oneintheory

there's more than one way to do things as well. like i said, i prefer to be spot on. in post, i generally bump fill just a touch (to 10, for an average image), boost the blacks a little bit, and use a touch of recovery if need be. it's extremely rare that i need to boost exposure or brightness.

*i will say that i usually overexpose skin just a touch, as it's a bit more flattering than underexposing or properly exposing, especially at f/9 or f/10 where every pore is in focus. overexposing a little bit helps to minimize that.

Well, the readers should realize that you're almost always controlling your light with supplemental light and I'm almost always shooting in the wild. Even on location you're usually adding light and, of course, in your studio most of the light is controlled. We're shooting two totally different scenarios, typically. If I were shooting in a studio, I'd almost always pick my 5D2 over my 7D. You just have several extra margins for producing detail and avoid noise.

BTW, love your work. That latest blond you put up is killer and I like all the poses on your site.

Dave

[infinitekidM2C]

Still a newb but here's the Santa Monica Pier

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by infinitekid2002

Still a newb but here's the Santa Monica Pier

Interesting colors, nice sky and pretty good composition. Assuming the sky is still interesting I might have positioned the horizon a little lower to put less emphasis on those foreground buildings. I like your height perspective, but those buildings are a bit of a bummer.

Dave

[M_Six]

Maybe a little creative blurring just for fun?

[adobeee]

tiltshift ftw!!

[The1]

tornado in goderich by Reed Jackson, on Flickr

shot this last weekend, there was a Tornado that went through a town near where I keep my boat, so i decided i would pay a visit, it was really a sad sight as a lot of historic buildings were brought to the ground.

The colour inside this building just made it very interesting to me.

[infinitekidM2C]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Maybe a little creative blurring just for fun?

cool i like it..how does one do that?

[ShopVac]

Originally Posted by infinitekid2002

cool i like it..how does one do that?

Topaz Lens Effect is a good tool to do this through PhotoShop. It runs as an add in to the product. You can also do a selective blur right in PhotoShop.

[ShopVac]

Originally Posted by The1

shot this last weekend, there was a Tornado that went through a town near where I keep my boat, so i decided i would pay a visit, it was really a sad sight as a lot of historic buildings were brought to the ground.

The colour inside this building just made it very interesting to me.

Seems like some rough devastation. Did your boat make it through fine, or do you have an new one on order with all that insurance $$$ you're raking in.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by infinitekid2002

cool i like it..how does one do that?

Duplicate the layer in Photoshop. On the top layer go to Filter, Blur, Lens Blur and set the blur (I just used the default). Then create a layer mask and "paint" out the area you want to be clear.

[TL]

Originally Posted by infinitekid2002

Still a newb but here's the Santa Monica Pier

here's one i took of the SMP last year...miss that place


Santa Monica Pier 1 by GQjai, on Flickr

[Chewy734]

really nice reflections and tone/colors of the sunset Tim!