A Picture I Took 2015

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MN Scout

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Welcome to the [H]ard|Forum's Photography subforum "A Picture I Took 2015" thread.

This is the place to post photos that you've recently taken and are proud of. Also allowed are photos that you've recently reprocessed that were taken in the past.

"Safe for Work" pictures only in this thread, please. We have a thread for NSFW pictures here.

Plan for all of us is to:
Post a photo, include a little information if you want, comment on other peoples photos. Keep the discussion related to photography topics.

Where can you upload your photos?
-Flickr <- The most used host from last years thread.
-imgur
-ImageShack
-Our very own forum member Blue Falcon has a free image hosting your can sign up for www.bbpix.com
-Your own hosting

Suggested image dimensions:
Width of 800 to 1024 pixels is good.

Thanks all for a great 2014 thread, let's make this one excellent also.:cool:

Feel I should improve this welcome post? Just PM me.
 
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A fantastic start to this thread. Thanks for sharing! I used to live in Las Vegas, and man - that whole area is just beautiful.
 
Snow in southern CA is crazy. I know you have some mountains down there, but it just sounds odd. Those hills look beautiful to bike in.
 
Snow in southern CA is crazy. I know you have some mountains down there, but it just sounds odd. Those hills look beautiful to bike in.

The peaks of the local mountains(not the ski resorts) get a light dusting occasionally that doesn't generally stick around. We had up to 2 feet on these mountains last week and snow levels down to 1000ft which is just unheard of. Lived here my whole life and never seen it. Pretty nice to actually have a real winter for a little bit. Laguna Beach 5 minutes one direction, snowy mountains 15 minutes the other direction....Even if only for a week.
 
Everything private is covered. Maybe we should only post pictures of women in burkas?
 
@patric the pictures are NSFW

I am not offended by them in any way, they are quite tastefully done. Even full nudes can be tastefully done

I think in the modern society it's normal to have a proper appreciation the human body and reject ridiculous outdated views on human sexuality.

The problem is that some people have such uptight work environments that they can easily get into trouble. Even if the person viewing it appreciates it you never know what kind of uptight colleague might look over the shoulder.

I do agree with what some people suggested in the previous thread and have 2 separate threads a SFW and NSFW
 
I decided to try a few milk bath type of pictures yesterday. They didn't come out too badly, but I need to change a few things with my lighting and possibly make a bigger frame to hold the milk. I also need to look at the hot water heater in the studio since it ran out of hot water pretty quickly...
And all this time I thought only cereal was good in milk. Tasty!:D
 
@patric the pictures are NSFW

I am not offended by them in any way, they are quite tastefully done. Even full nudes can be tastefully done

I think in the modern society it's normal to have a proper appreciation the human body and reject ridiculous outdated views on human sexuality.

The problem is that some people have such uptight work environments that they can easily get into trouble. Even if the person viewing it appreciates it you never know what kind of uptight colleague might look over the shoulder.

I do agree with what some people suggested in the previous thread and have 2 separate threads a SFW and NSFW

I'll take them down, but to me NSFW involves nudity or vulgarity. They fully comply with social media guidelines as well. It's too bad we live in the society that we're in. Seeing as I pretty much only shoot fashion and beauty, I won't be posting much in 2015 then.
 
I'll take them down, but to me NSFW involves nudity or vulgarity. They fully comply with social media guidelines as well. It's too bad we live in the society that we're in. Seeing as I pretty much only shoot fashion and beauty, I won't be posting much in 2015 then.


Again please don't misunderstand me, i fully agree with you from a moral and ethical perspective.

I was simply speaking from corporate experience, even artistic tasteful pictures can get you into trouble if the wrong person (of either gender mind you) sees you looking at it.

It's just one of the unfortunate consequences of modern office culture. You'll always have someone looking to get you into trouble. You have to watch your back.

Please do not be discouraged by my posts, i did appreciate your pics, and it would be nice if you would continue to share. Perhaps someone can just start a separate thread.
 
... It's just one of the unfortunate consequences of modern office culture. You'll always have someone looking to get you into trouble. You have to watch your back...

Here's a novel idea... how 'bout people doing their JOB while at work and save the surfing for THEIR time, NOT company time. :eek:
Then there wouldn't be any need for a NSFW category...
 
I'll take them down, but to me NSFW involves nudity or vulgarity. They fully comply with social media guidelines as well. It's too bad we live in the society that we're in. Seeing as I pretty much only shoot fashion and beauty, I won't be posting much in 2015 then.

I hate to see that because I really like your work. IMO, you're one of the most talented photographers on this site. I LOVE your lighting methods, your creativity, and your style. As a beginning photographer, I aspire to achieve your level of talent.

Hopefully those who run this board will come to their senses.
 
I hate to see that because I really like your work. IMO, you're one of the most talented photographers on this site. I LOVE your lighting methods, your creativity, and your style. As a beginning photographer, I aspire to achieve your level of talent.

Hopefully those who run this board will come to their senses.

The decision to designate this thread "Safe for Work" was my decision. The owners and mods gave me no input. My decision to change it from last year was due to comments from individuals that they were visiting this thread less and even unsubscribed to it because of the NSFW tag. I figure there are a lot of lurkers that feel the same way.

My goal with these post your photo threads has always been to get more people into photography and sharing their pictures they are proud of. I don't want to scare people away.

If any of you want to have a NSFW thread then I encourage you to start one. Maybe "2015 Fashion Photos - NSFW" or similar....
 
The decision to designate this thread "Safe for Work" was my decision. The owners and mods gave me no input. My decision to change it from last year was due to comments from individuals that they were visiting this thread less and even unsubscribed to it because of the NSFW tag. I figure there are a lot of lurkers that feel the same way.

My goal with these post your photo threads has always been to get more people into photography and sharing their pictures they are proud of. I don't want to scare people away.

If any of you want to have a NSFW thread then I encourage you to start one. Maybe "2015 Fashion Photos - NSFW" or similar....

Maybe people can just post links to the NSFW photos and tag them as such rather than embedding them. Or maybe we can use spoiler tags so this images are still there for the people who want to see them without having to navigate to a different site. Just a thought anyway.
 
The decision to designate this thread "Safe for Work" was my decision. The owners and mods gave me no input. My decision to change it from last year was due to comments from individuals that they were visiting this thread less and even unsubscribed to it because of the NSFW tag. I figure there are a lot of lurkers that feel the same way.

My goal with these post your photo threads has always been to get more people into photography and sharing their pictures they are proud of. I don't want to scare people away.

If any of you want to have a NSFW thread then I encourage you to start one. Maybe "2015 Fashion Photos - NSFW" or similar....

Whatever... it's your thread. :rolleyes:
I'm done with it.
 
Honestly, I think it was a good call. The photos posted earlier, while beautifully done, were borderline soft porn. Work isn't the only issue for NSFW material. I wouldn't want my teenage daughter walking in on me viewing anything of that nature. Argue it anyway you'd like. I'm not sure why creating your own thread and sticking it is such a big deal.

Whatever... it's your thread. :rolleyes:
I'm done with it.

Well, I can tell you that your attitude will surely be missed. :rolleyes:
 
Nice case darktiger. Looks very similar to mine.

0F right now at my location in MN. I'm day dreaming about warmer weathers where I could easily get out on my bike, and also enjoy the backyard with the family pooch. Just processed these two pictures from a roll of LomoChrome Purple XR 100-400 film. Taken at ISO 200 on my Pentax Spotmatic. Must have been chilly that evening I took the ride through the fall leaves, since my jacket is draped over the handlebars.

2014_Lomography_purple_01_by_Adam_J_Bavier.jpg
2014_Lomography_purple_02_by_Adam_J_Bavier.jpg


The film is supposed to make all green things turn purple. Works, but also shifts everything else (green->purple,red->red, fushia->yellow,brown=brown). The film took inspiration from infrared film that Kodak used to make for aerial photography where all plant matter would show as red on the final image. For Christmas my folks gave me some FPP Infra-Chrome Color which is old stock of the Kodak film -- the film is stored away in my freezer till Spring:( when green things start showing up again:cool:.
 
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Happy New Year! I am itching to pick up my D750 hopefully in the next few weeks. Already planning several photo trips to try it out.

Oh, and as someone who works in one of those up-tight PC type offices - thanks to MN Scout & DarkTiger for the separate thread setup for "NSFW" model images.

Edit - just realized I hadn't taken a single photo yet in 2015! Time to do something about it! Here's a random pic of a paintbrush to get the year started. :D
paintbrush-1.jpg


[...] The film is supposed to make all green things turn purple. Works, but also shifts everything else (green->purple,red->red, fushia->yellow,brown=brown). The film took inspiration from infrared film that Kodak used to make for aerial photography where all plant matter would show as red on the final image. For Christmas my folks gave me some FPP Infra-Chrome Color which is old stock of the Kodak film -- the film is stored away in my freezer till Spring:( when green things start showing up again:cool:.

Oh, that is crazy looking! Just realized these aren't just shopped to look that way. :p
Should be all kinds of interesting images to get with that film - looking forward to seeing what you can do with it.
 
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Just got back from a roadtrip with friends from Toronto to California and back, over the next few days I'll be sharing pics from the trip :) All will be shot with A7R, I've pretty much moved over to a Sony system
....

Great shots!. I especially like the Lake Powell shot. Looking forward to more from your roadtrip. What prompt the change to the A7R, and how do you like it so far?
 
Great shots!. I especially like the Lake Powell shot. Looking forward to more from your roadtrip. What prompt the change to the A7R, and how do you like it so far?

Ty :)

It wasnt by choice, my gear was stolen (backpack, body, lenses), so I figure I might as well start fresh with "new" technology, I no longer had legacy lenses forcing me to stick with Nikon. It's great and does the job well, some notes though:

1) I originally was concerned about how "robust" the camera was and how would it handle daily abuse. It seemed a little fragile vs a dSLR. I didn't baby my nikon, and dSLRs are built like a tank, so I dont expect to baby the sony either. I am not sure whether or not the camera is weathersealed. So far so good though.

2) Battery is poorer than dSLRs no doubt, but with the battery grip/extra battery, its actually pretty good. I have found that the battery % indicator wasnt really accurate. The battery is FAR better than that of fujis. I took 8 batteries with me on the roadtrip, I only used 4.

3) I have yet to figure out whether the camera just plain sucks in the cold, in the snow, or both. I have taken it while it was snowing a few times now, and I've had the camera AF just get confused on what to focus on, and just shut off. It was quite annoying tbh. I didnt look too far into this yet, but... not cool.

4) Long exposure "processing" times are just downright awful, but after asking a friend who also uses the sony, he explained that I need to turn NR off, so I have yet to try this out.

5) 1 SD card is weird, but it does the job

6) I do like the fact that it's small, and not "i got a big camera in your face", even though by the time you add the lens and grip, its borderline dSLR territory

7) Long exposures are a different mentality, I cant apply the same thought-process as I did with Nikon. The pictures come out weird otherwise.

8) No quick intervalometer option. I have yet to sort this out, but apparently, they exist.

9) I have yet to try it for shoots, but that will happen shortly.

But at the end of the day, it does the same function, they pictures are great, so I can't complain - one more from AZ


Navajo Mountain by Empty Quarter, on Flickr
 
4) Long exposure "processing" times are just downright awful, but after asking a friend who also uses the sony, he explained that I need to turn NR off, so I have yet to try this out.
Out of curiosity, what are we talking about? With Nikon's dslr, a 30min exposure still takes 60 minutes to process (with NR on). How much worse could it be? :confused:
 
Ty :)

It wasnt by choice, my gear was stolen (backpack, body, lenses), so I figure I might as well start fresh with "new" technology, I no longer had legacy lenses forcing me to stick with Nikon. It's great and does the job well, some notes though:

1) I originally was concerned about how "robust" the camera was and how would it handle daily abuse. It seemed a little fragile vs a dSLR. I didn't baby my nikon, and dSLRs are built like a tank, so I dont expect to baby the sony either. I am not sure whether or not the camera is weathersealed. So far so good though.

2) Battery is poorer than dSLRs no doubt, but with the battery grip/extra battery, its actually pretty good. I have found that the battery % indicator wasnt really accurate. The battery is FAR better than that of fujis. I took 8 batteries with me on the roadtrip, I only used 4.

3) I have yet to figure out whether the camera just plain sucks in the cold, in the snow, or both. I have taken it while it was snowing a few times now, and I've had the camera AF just get confused on what to focus on, and just shut off. It was quite annoying tbh. I didnt look too far into this yet, but... not cool.

4) Long exposure "processing" times are just downright awful, but after asking a friend who also uses the sony, he explained that I need to turn NR off, so I have yet to try this out.

5) 1 SD card is weird, but it does the job

6) I do like the fact that it's small, and not "i got a big camera in your face", even though by the time you add the lens and grip, its borderline dSLR territory

7) Long exposures are a different mentality, I cant apply the same thought-process as I did with Nikon. The pictures come out weird otherwise.

8) No quick intervalometer option. I have yet to sort this out, but apparently, they exist.

9) I have yet to try it for shoots, but that will happen shortly.

Sorry to hear about the gear theft. I hope it was insured! You have some similar finding to my recent switch from my Canon 7d to my A6000. Regarding the intervalometer I have found the sony timelapse app to be decent. I assume its available for the A7 as well. I'm still nowhere near as familiar with the controls of my Sony but I think more time will continue to help.
 
Yes, I was insured. I am aware about the app, but I've heard the same comments regarding how flawed it was. I guess I should try that too though

Out of curiosity, what are we talking about? With Nikon's dslr, a 30min exposure still takes 60 minutes to process (with NR on). How much worse could it be? :confused:

Well, I never really used NR on the nikon, so I'm used to taking a 30 second exposure, and the image pops up instantly (I never really did any exposure that took minutes). With the sony however, a 30 second exposure with NR on took a good 15 seconds to "process". It's annoying when you're trying to tweak the exposure over multiple shots

Horseshoe Bend by Empty Quarter, on Flickr
 
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Love your shot UnknownSoulier, your shots always show great emotions and shoots look fun!

Thanks a bunch. I try to show personality and make things interesting. I'm also trying to widen my range. My last few shoots have been a bit more comedic, I tend to do serious dramatic stuff, so it's a change. Interesting to see what just pops out if you let it. I have some other concepts I want to shoot, so I'm expecting at least a chunk of my work to get more serious again, but we'll see what happens.

Going to make an effort to shoot more and share more this year. Hopefully more to come soon.

Jeremiah_Bostwick_-_Riley_West_Photoshoot_-_2014_12_19_-_Editorial_04.jpg
 
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Yeah, these are all great UnknownSouljer. I'd love to hear more about your process for this type of shoot! For starters, did this model hire you to do promotion shots, or did you have to hire her so you'd have a model to shoot? Or was it a mutual trade-off where you both mutually set this up to improve your own portfolios?

I had a bunch of other dumb questions about how you set this scene up, but I mostly just want to know what kind of lighting setup are you using?
 
Yeah, these are all great UnknownSouljer. I'd love to hear more about your process for this type of shoot! For starters, did this model hire you to do promotion shots, or did you have to hire her so you'd have a model to shoot? Or was it a mutual trade-off where you both mutually set this up to improve your own portfolios?

Well, it's complicated. :p She's a friend who is also an actress.
Anyway, about 8 months ago or so she asked if she could come along to shoots to understand photography better. So I invited her to a shoot and showed her some basic gaff and grip stuff (and she loved my work and process), then she wanted to update her headshots... and then well if I have extra time, and they're there and willing, then I'd would much rather shoot something more interesting for my portfolio, since I have less of an interest in filling it with headshots. So earlier in the day before doing this we had shot headshots with different looks, clothes etc.

I'm trying to push into commercial and editorial photography, so I simply create a narrative and then shoot that narrative. I didn't say what it was for this particular shoot when I posted the first images, but it was pretty simple: "Movie star lifestyle", a simple statement that working actors/actresses live remarkably normal lives. Got to get to an audition or need to do some networking? Then this is probably the process for most women, whatever gets it done. A far cry from being super elegant, well you get the idea.

In terms of process, I've been training myself to simply build on whatever is there. I shoot basically everything on location (including headshots, I don't have a dedicated studio). Blowing out a while wall, or setting up a reflector (using the white or black sides) to use as a backdrop (or even setting up seamless if it's required) is a no brainer process, so I generally go to my clients rather than have them come to me. So, all that said, this wasn't a set, this is part of her house. Shooting on location and just having to use what's there has trained me to be adaptable. And I've been doing things this way intentionally as training myself to do this helps me think quicker. People want last minute jobs all the time, so I see this self training as being a discipline worth its weight in gold. I see spaces and objects all the time (just in daily life) and I constantly think how I would integrate someone into it, or use props, and then shoot it. I'm also kind of a really technical person (in terms of aptitude), so I'm always mulling lighting, and looking at light.

So, that's most of the mental process, and how this shoot 'came to be'. It was spur of the moment and just having a location we could set dress with things she had and having someone willing to do it.


I had a bunch of other dumb questions about how you set this scene up, but I mostly just want to know what kind of lighting setup are you using?

I don't think any of these questions are remotely dumb. Anything else you have to ask, feel free.

In terms of lighting, I'm still using what I consider to be rudimentary equipment. Mostly because I haven't been able to afford better, or at least at this point more.

So I have 1 excellent (if not relatively low cost) key, which is an Einstein with an Elinchrom 39" Deep Octa. And that's really it. I also use a 580EX II, which yes I do mix with the strobe if necessary. For her headshots I used it to blow to white. It's a bit frustrating to be stuck here, as I feel only being able to use two light sources as a bit restricting (3 I suppose if the sun is involved). I've worked for several other photographers, some with $100k+ in gear, so I know my way around gaffing and grip, but I haven't had the cashflow to get to where I want to be. I'd probably be able to accomplish 85-90% of what I want to do with 3 Einsteins. I would probably never use more than 6. At some point... one at a time.

Anyway, that's a side tangent. I've also used the 580 as a fill with an umbrella in bounce, and also as a hair light (I also have a 1'x1' Lastolite speedlight softbox). So, I'm basically just a scrappy photographer using whatever tools I have. Occasionally when I can borrow some of my friends stuff, that gives me access to another 2 speed lights. It's surprising how good you can make stuff look with cheap gear if you know what you're doing.

Those things aside, this particular photo set I only used one light. The 'key' of course was positioning the light correctly, and of course I'm not showing you my 15 or so test shots I took as I moved the light around until it gave a glow I wanted, and had the right falloff. 1 light accomplishes a lot. You can't do everything, but even sophisticated looks can be done with just one. Seeing that I will probably be just using one for the foreseeable future, I'll be attempting to prove that first hand, although I would argue that previous works already demonstrates this.
 
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Thanks for the info!

I don't think any of these questions are remotely dumb. Anything else you have to ask, feel free.

Well, if you insist... ;)
My other 2 dumb questions were: did you set this scene up in an actual bathroom, or was that a set in a studio? At first glance, I thought it looked way too clean to be an actual bathroom, but the more I looked at it, it does look like it was done in a real bathroom :p
Last question: do you have a makeup artist who comes along to do makeup re-touches as you go, or does the model do their own makeup before they show up?
 
My other 2 dumb questions were: did you set this scene up in an actual bathroom, or was that a set in a studio? At first glance, I thought it looked way too clean to be an actual bathroom, but the more I looked at it, it does look like it was done in a real bathroom :p

I mentioned this is the other post, but I know it was a wall of text... sooo yeah, I shoot everything on location, and I don't have a studio space. This is literally her bathroom. We 'set dressed' it, maybe literally, by using the curtain rod as a dress rack and covering the back window with that window blind and a few other things like that, but yeah, that's a bathroom. Pretty easy to do though, because all her clothes were on a dress rack to begin with, her being an actress and all, it was actually seeing that visually that gave me the idea to use the shower in that way.

The super tricky part about doing these shots was shooting angles and focal length. I wanted at least 50mm (which these were shot with), but what you don't see is the fact that I'm shooting through a door. I locked down the first two shots on sticks because any movement to the left or the right would have introduced the door frame. But that's the magic of photography! Had I not shared that, you'd never know.


Last question: do you have a makeup artist who comes along to do makeup re-touches as you go, or does the model do their own makeup before they show up?

Well! Here's the thing, I'm trying to up my game and collaborate with people. It's something I'm not good at as I'm an introvert. So, networking is hard, but it's an absolute must! How else are you going to get clients, or in this case a MUA.

So this young lady you see in the pictures is actually also a MUA (she does a lot of other stuff in addition to acting and whatever). The reason why I felt like it was worth taking her to shoot to have her learn gaffing and grip is because it's also something she does. With that knowledge, of course it's obvious she did her own makeup in this case. I haven't had a chance to collaborate with her with a female model yet (although there is one that will imminently be on the books), but like I mentioned before, I'm trying to up my game and get as many people on board as possible. Beg, borrow, or steal as they say.

So she's my MUA for now. Hopefully the relationship and work will be long and good with lots of money for everyone. :p Well, we can hope right? Obviously as I want to do commercial work having a MUA on call as well as assistants is basically mandatory, it's just hard to get people in at the ground floor when everyone isn't getting paid.

Jeremiah_Bostwick_-_Riley_West_Photoshoot_-_2014_12_19_-_Editorial_05.jpg
 
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Cool, thanks for the info!

I mentioned this is the other post, but I know it was a wall of text... sooo yeah,

Well I did say they were going to be dumb questions. Mostly because I'd already figured out the answers before asking. :p

But yeah, I'll take all the info I can get. I really want to ramp up my photo business this year; I'm thinking of trying to start shooting rock bands, as I really don't want to do weddings, and don't want to make a full-time job out of it either. Or maybe I'll get lucky and be able to start selling prints of landscapes, architecture, wildlife, macro's and other random stuff that will cater to my complete lack of people skills. :p

Mostly at this point I just need to get off my butt and start shooting a lot more again.
 
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