A Picture I took - 2012

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I recently returned from a honeymoon in Paris. Took over 2500 pictures, about 1300 usable. I think I will post a few of my favs from each day over the next 10 days. I primarily shot on my Nikkor 50 1.8 and newly acquired Tokina 10-17 Fisheye. Occasionally I had time to pull out a 70-300 Sigma. I didn't use or wasn't able to use the tripod as much as I thought I would. C'est la vie!

Empty Quarter, great shots of my city. :)

Here's day one (travel day, not much done).


Paris_Day1_0009 by Ryan_G, on Flickr
Tokina 10-17 Fisheye


Paris_Day1_0069 by Ryan_G, on Flickr


Paris_Day1_0049 by Ryan_G, on Flickr


Paris_Day1_0019 by Ryan_G, on Flickr
 
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Empty Quarter - I've been taking some time looking back at your shots to find out why they always seem to strike me so. First thing to note is the colors, but more subtly, I'm noticing you REALLY pay attention to composition and how your subject fills the frame.

Do you do minor post processing crops to get things just so, or are you actually framing them as they appear? If the latter, major props! If the former - still props.... Just not as major... ;)

BB
 
BB Gun said:
Empty Quarter - I've been taking some time looking back at your shots to find out why they always seem to strike me so. First thing to note is the colors, but more subtly, I'm noticing you REALLY pay attention to composition and how your subject fills the frame.

Do you do minor post processing crops to get things just so, or are you actually framing them as they appear? If the latter, major props! If the former - still props.... Just not as major... ;)

BB
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Thanks for the compliment! :)

I do aim to get the framing right in the first shot. Framing-wise, the only processing I do is lens-correct the distortion, then mildly rotate a few degrees, and if need be, center the image (if symmetrical). So I will take multiple shots of the same subject, and then later pic the best framed one, and work from there. Of the recent pictures I posted, the only one that involved significant rotating, cropping, and framing was "Sparks", but that was simply because it was shot at a really awkward angle. "Lower Wacker" was also significantly cropped. "Chase" also took quite a few shots as it was a little tricky aiming 100% straight up, dead center.

As for colors, ty, it took a while, but i finally figured out how to slightly saturate the colors without blowing them out or affecting contrast levels, My photos 1 year ago were over-contrasty, and a little oversaturated in the blues. I also recently figured out the joys of using filters, they do wonders for landscape colors!
 
I wouldnt say that, your photo is superb, the car is in focus from front to back, all logos are legible, that's actually a pretty good shot. I didnt manage to get a good one of ferrari, and for every one "good" shot, I had a dozen of other mishaps. Funny enough, I thought all the star drivers were tough to photograph. You are right in that F1 is definitely not the best place for panning photography, the cars accelerate and brake too fast! hah


Mark Webber by Empty Quarter, on Flickr


Roman Grosjean by Empty Quarter, on Flickr
 
My best shots were around 1/100s...you managed to get sharp shots at 1/60, getting more background motion blur. What lens were you using? I was using the Nikon 55-200 4-5.6, so I didn't have an active VR mode to help.
 
I rented a 70-200 f/2.8 for the job as I don't have anything over 50mm. I had to use an ND filter to get a slow a shutter speed with a wide aperture.

I couldnt figure out which VR mode, whether normal or active, yielded a better result though, but I'm pretty sure I used normal throughout most of the photo-runs during practice.
 
If I understand it correctly, active VR mode stabilizes vertically but not horizontally specifically for panning. I didn't keep very good track of which shots I was using VR with and which shots I weren't, but from what I've read, I've gotten conflicting opinions on whether standard VR helps with panning shots or not.
 
Yeah, I dont think exif keeps track of VR as well. I do remember fiddling with it, but decided to simply stick with normal VR and play it safe. Panning is tough, I was lucky I just had a max of 200mm, that way when I scaled down and zoomed out, all the minor flaws could be hidden, panning must've been a royal pain with anything 400mm+.

I had to make sure I photographed many stills to ensure I walked away with photos to remember the event with, I wouldn't risk taking all panning shots and ending up with no usable photos :p.
 
Once I get my second YP-560, I'll have 3 manual flashes and I'll be able to do this pic better by adding rim lighting.
 
From my cell phone :)

556244_10100998420319767_402179275_n.jpg
 
So I tried my hand at boudoir for the first time ever last weekend, here are the first few edits:
VIMP_SSPF-0212-Edit.jpg


VIMP_SSPF-0427-Edit.jpg


VIMP_SSPF-0504-Edit.jpg


For some reason I couldn't convince this one to take her clothes off... ;)
VIMP_SSPF-0120-Edit.jpg
 
^You're not alone on this one. I took a strobe class a few years ago and picked up a thing or two, and it definitely improved my technique and overall understanding of how to actually use one... properly. A lot of times it's a bit counter intuitive, (i won't use a strobe indoors, but will use one in a bright and sunny day), but overall, like you, I do like the natural light look better.
 
Empty_Quarter said:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8069/8221448435_69b3f25072_z.jpg[img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/68580585@N06/8221448435/]Gotham[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/68580585@N06/]Empty Quarter[/url], on Flickr

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/68580585@N06/8218150000/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8059/8218150000_b0e1a1ecf6_z.jpg[img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/68580585@N06/8218150000/]Sebastian Vettel - Champion[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/68580585@N06/]Empty Quarter[/url], on Flickr

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/68580585@N06/8214953935/][img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8069/8214953935_aa18fcd72d_z.jpg[img][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/68580585@N06/8214953935/]Kingston Mines[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/68580585@N06/]Empty Quarter[/url], on Flickr[/QUOTE]

Nice pics. Kingston Mines is a blast, but I do have to nitpick and say that NYC is Gotham, not Chicago :)
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