A Picture I Took 2017

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I love going up above Sedona. It's like a break from the complete desert. Last time I went home after visiting my parents, I took that scenic road out of Sedona to Flagstaff instead of the freeway. Way worth it.

There is a place up there where you can go catch trout at a trout farm. That place was cool. WAY too easy to catch fish, but still fun.

I always enjoy your pics. I miss Arizona, I really need to get back down there and visit family.

Also, are you a professional photographer (as your profession) or just do it as a hobby? I'm wanting to get into it as a hobby and nothing professional, but your shots are always great. Right angle, lighting, etc.. Where'd you learn that?
 
I love going up above Sedona. It's like a break from the complete desert. Last time I went home after visiting my parents, I took that scenic road out of Sedona to Flagstaff instead of the freeway. Way worth it.

There is a place up there where you can go catch trout at a trout farm. That place was cool. WAY too easy to catch fish, but still fun.

I always enjoy your pics. I miss Arizona, I really need to get back down there and visit family.

Also, are you a professional photographer (as your profession) or just do it as a hobby? I'm wanting to get into it as a hobby and nothing professional, but your shots are always great. Right angle, lighting, etc.. Where'd you learn that?

I learned photography from your mom. Ok, now that I've gotten that terrible joke out of the way, let me answer.

Photography is not my profession, but it has provided income at times. For example I had a couples shoot and a family shoot in the last two weeks. And while that type of photography is not my strong suit, people seem to be very happy with the images.

More to the point, I've always had an appreciation for nature since I was a kid. But I always felt like something was missing. And photography filled that void perfectly by allowing to take what I see home with me. Also, being someone who is into technology...such as PC's and why I first joined this forum...became an added strength when it came to the technical side of photography (transferring images, understanding formats, editing techniques, building a proper PC for editing, etc).

Ultimately I learned and am still learning on the fly. Shoot shoot and shoot some more. Always keeping an eye out for what feels like may be a good photo. Like the tree in my above post. Everything was dark around it and the sun was shining on that tree alone. I was smacked with what I was looking at. But it was windy as hell so I upped the ISO so I could snap with a fast exposure to freeze any movement. Seemed to work. Maybe slowing it down to allow blur would've made it better...I don't know.

And unlike a lot of photographers...I don't plan much. I may have a loose idea and go with it...flying by the seat of my pants. For example, going to Sedona. I was hoping for more landscape shots, but my daughter and her friend wanted pictures of themselves and it worked out nicely. Or so I think anyways. It's just fun to grab the camera and go. See what I can find. Sometimes I get a good image, sometimes I come home disappointed and wonder why I failed.

I'm very hard on myself and there have been only a handful of images that I would say I'm truly happy with. Therein lies the rub. I don't consider myself a good photographer. I feel like a hack who gets lucky sometimes. And that's the truth. But it keeps me motivated and pushes.


There is one photographer I follow on YouTube for the sheer fact he captures and shares my views on photography. Thomas Heaton. I highly recommend you check out his channel. Very real and down to earth.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhW84xfA6gEc4hDK90rR1Q
 
Sunset tonight in Mesa, AZ.

20171017_Sunset_1.jpg


20171017_Sunset_2.jpg
 
I like the leading line there but I feel like you might've cropped a bit too close to the cliff up top on that one. Otherwise nice work!
 
Decided to import smartphone RAWs taken with my Mate 9 over the last 6-7 months to see what I could do with them in Lightroom...in the absence of being able to get out and about, this gives me something to post.


Ala Moana Beach (Smartphone)
by David Gevert, on Flickr


Mt Rushmore July 2017 (Smartphone)
by David Gevert, on Flickr

Mate 9 RAW files aren't exactly D800 RAWs, but they're pretty decent all things considered. However, there's some really wonky white balance stuff going on..."daylight" balance isn't anywhere near 5500K with 0 tint...in Lightroom Mobile or Lightroom 5 on the PC, to get daylight balance, I'm at more like 6800K with +70 magenta tint. :/
 
I find that I can take "ok" photos with my phone, but my mind isn't really set there. Even the cell-phone-photo-snap mindset falls into my general photography at times. So now when I grab a camera it's to try and be a bit more deliberate. I just can't make that switch with using a cell phone.

Plus my cell phones take shitty photos.

Fall exploration by travis, on Flickr
 
Tons of good stuff this year! Wow! I gotta catch up on this thread. I've been slacking on photo this year - doing a lot more graphics painting/illustration type stuff for a mobile gaming project. More details to come on that eventually. For now, I decided to off-load some gear to make some breathing room in the budget.

Anyone interested in picking up one of the best macro lenses ever made? It's an incredible lens, but I haven't been doing any macro for a while now, so it needs a new home. Check out my for sale thread here:
FS: Nikon ED AF Micro Nikkor 200mm 1:4 D
 
This is great! Reminds me of the fantasy pics people make in Skyrim or maybe Adria holding the Black Soul Stone in Diablo 3? Freaken fantastic shot! Using as a Wallpaper. :)

Thank you for the kind words. Taking portraits isn't my strong side, but I'm systematically getting better at it (I think :p), and this is one of my favorite shots as of late. I'm having a lot of fun with it, and I hope to create more awesome work in the future :smug:
 
Thank you for the kind words. Taking portraits isn't my strong side, but I'm systematically getting better at it (I think :p), and this is one of my favorite shots as of late. I'm having a lot of fun with it, and I hope to create more awesome work in the future :smug:

Need more asap! (y)
 
If you don't have an ND filter, you can always do multiple exposures (same settings) and stack them together to get that silky smooth effect throughout the body of water like JStamsek is getting. Food for thought.
 
If you don't have an ND filter, you can always do multiple exposures (same settings) and stack them together to get that silky smooth effect throughout the body of water like JStamsek is getting. Food for thought.

I was working with a set of ND's, but perhaps mine were a bit too cheap. When stacked the image quality really started to degrade. I'll look at upgrading them for next year.
 
That's what I'm saying, you don't need any filters at all. It does take a bit more effort in post to get it done, but the image quality isn't degraded at all.

Here's a quick and dirty tutorial on how to get it done.

https://expertphotography.com/daytime-long-exposure-photo-stacking/

Do note, however, that in your example stacking is going to be a bit more difficult due to foliage, but you can easily mask everything that isn't water, and call it a day. Looking forward to your next photo :)

Otherwise... B+W for filters (y)
 
Nice shot of BW falls!

If you are up for a hike drive to the other side of the river, and hike down to the falls. Its very easy to do, even a fatty like myself can do it--and I did. There are several nice spots along the bottom of the river for outstanding composition. Also Elakala falls is not far from that spot, there are several photos showing the circular pattern the pools there form. This one of my favs from 4 years ago.

Blackwater Falls 02-16-2013 by Domingo Washington, on Flickr
 
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