aj's pics thread (currently: REVIVED)

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aj's pics thread (currently: REVIVED)

#1 Post by aj »

After some encouragement a while back (thank fooby mainly, I think. Also fc?), and the realization that I'm making very little headway in my plan of uploading 'new' photos to my dA account (serious backlog + procrastination), I decided to just start posting photos here, and not wait to finish remaking my dA account. (Don't worry, you'll get the link to it later.)

So, here's aj's a pic a day thread, hopefully until dec 31. (Essentially, I resolve to post a pic a day, whether taken that day or from my archives, and if I don't, Fooby/others can/will hit me over the head. After dec 31st, I'll post, just not so often. School and all that.)

So, starting off, here's a special edition: 3 photos!

Image
^ Toronto after sunset.

Image
^ Path on a trail somewhere in Toronto. Bit dark I know, but I personally like it that way. The change between autumn and winter seems very depressing (at least to me).

Image
^ Fern of some sort near a beach in Toronto. Edited to bring out the detail in the fern thingy. (Basic exposure, etc. No photoshoping.)

If there's enough demand, I'll whip up wallpaper-sized versions too.

(See fooby, I did eventually start a thread with my photos! Now to do my dA account too...)
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Re: aj's pics thread

#2 Post by FoobyKamikaze »

And they're much prettier than mine XD

Speaking of which, I haven't updated mine in a while... >.>

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Re: aj's pics thread

#3 Post by Jonesu »

I LOVE the second one. o_o I've got a soft spot for roads and stuff. XD

The first one looks like a postcard. I dunno if that's good or bad. 8D Neat shot, just a bit generic. ^_^'

And I love the sky to ground ratio in the last one. Like, there's just enough detail in the clouds to nicely compliment the "fern thingy", like the clouds, they're interesting, but don't overshadow what you obviously want to be the main focus very nice.

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Re: aj's pics thread

#4 Post by aj »

Jonesu wrote:I LOVE the second one. o_o I've got a soft spot for roads and stuff. XD
So do I... Especially when they twist and turn through a forest or something. Or even just normal roads... As the curve carries on and leaves your sight, there's just something about it that makes it so interesting. :)
Jonesu wrote:The first one looks like a postcard. I dunno if that's good or bad. 8D Neat shot, just a bit generic. ^_^'
I knew it was kind of generic when I took it... just that I prefer to use only my photos as desktop background, and when I saw the view from the roof where I was, I thought "that would make a neat background".
Jonesu wrote:And I love the sky to ground ratio in the last one. Like, there's just enough detail in the clouds to nicely compliment the "fern thingy", like the clouds, they're interesting, but don't overshadow what you obviously want to be the main focus very nice.
Thanks! I was going to splice 2 images together - an overexposed one to get the ground, and a slightly underexposed sky to get the dramatic sky (the sunset looked better than what's in the photo), but ended up not doing it (2:15am, and I wanted to push it out before I slept.) I'll probably try soonish (I'm actually quite bad with photoshop - which could be a good thing or a bad thing.)

Oh yeah, critiques welcome from anyone. I'll try to reply individually. |D


So, no one posted again, hmm? Delete last post, make new post. :D~
Here's today's (18th Nov) photo. Enjoy.

Image
^ Sunrise from the plane as I was flying into Toronto. I took a lot of photos of this (around 50 or so), and this one is one of the better ones.
I personally liked the subtle shades of orange (though they seem to have mostly washed out. Hmm.) as it graduated between the two blacks. I would perfer if the airplane wing wasn't there, but it provides a foreground element that make the photo a bit nicer, I think.

Side note: Do people want me to post things like shutter speed, aperture, ISO setting, etc? I can if people want me to, along with an explanation of the various things, or at least link to a site explaining them...
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Re: aj's pics thread

#5 Post by FoobyKamikaze »

o.o

How do you take good pictures out of planes? If I ever bother trying, it never turns out well because of those windows. <_<



Side response: I never understood any of that stuff. >_< All I really get about advanced(er) stuff is shutter speed, and even that's a bit shaky. :P
I have no idea what my camera does...

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Re: aj's pics thread

#6 Post by aj »

I used a blanket and made a old style camera 'hood'... blocks out most of the light from the cabin as long as you hold it tight around the window. :P

As for the aperture and stuff, I learnt most of it by playing around with the settings on the camera. You have a Nikon Coolpix L18, right? Go through the manual and the camera menus and change stuff and see what effect the changes have. |D

Also, take AP Physics. They cover optics, don't they? I take the equivalent of AP Physics, and learnt more about the actual optics behind the camera during the optics chapter... diffraction&resolution, chromatic aberrations, etc.

Ok, fine. That last bit is unnecessary. :P
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Re: aj's pics thread

#7 Post by FoobyKamikaze »

aj wrote:I used a blanket and made a old style camera 'hood'... blocks out most of the light from the cabin as long as you hold it tight around the window. :P

As for the aperture and stuff, I learnt most of it by playing around with the settings on the camera. You have a Nikon Coolpix L18, right? Go through the manual and the camera menus and change stuff and see what effect the changes have. |D

Also, take AP Physics. They cover optics, don't they? I take the equivalent of AP Physics, and learnt more about the actual optics behind the camera during the optics chapter... diffraction&resolution, chromatic aberrations, etc.

Ok, fine. That last bit is unnecessary. :P

Ooo, I'll have to remember that.

O_O How did you know?!
...oh, right. I have that on the dA. XD The only thing I really like messing with is the ability to take pics in Cyanotype. XD

I took AP Physics last year. We didn't learn much about optics, I guess, 'cause I still don't know what you're talking about.

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Re: aj's pics thread

#8 Post by aj »

Well, I did it in what is effective Grade 11. Don't think you're in grade 11 (Are you?), so it may be coming up. Or it could be that the IB syllabus is just different from the AP syllabus, which is entirely possible. >.>

Yes, dA exposes a lot of stuff about you... Up till a few weeks ago, it still had my real name up there. I don't really mind the full details of the camera used and all that (sometimes it's nice to see the settings used), but I do wish it had finer grained controls on info and stuff. (It's also why my profile is devoid for just about anything, despite the actual account being over 6 years old. (Fooby, you already know my dA user account. Or you should know it. |D )

Also, just to stay at least slightly on topic, here is a good website for photography techniques... a lot of it is stuff that can be applied across all camera ranges, not just the high end SLRs, so you might find it useful or something. :P
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Re: aj's pics thread

#9 Post by Jonesu »

The colors of the sky almost look fake. XD It's kinda cool.

I've never been in a plane at night, and all of my plane pictures are of clouds. 8D And of the ground as we were landing. ^_^' The wings always get in the way, though. D| I dunno, I might prefer the picture if the wing weren't there.... :/ But it is nice to have a focus. I feel like if it was just the horizon, it'd just look like black...and some pretty oranges and blues, and wouldn't much resemble a picture. Granted, I don't think I'd have known what it was if you hadn't said so. >_>


And I also know nothing about cameras. XD I do wish I had a nicer camera, though (I just have a Kodak D| I want a Nikon or a Canon). If I did, I'd totally mess around with it all the time and see what I could do.

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Re: aj's pics thread

#10 Post by FoobyKamikaze »

aj wrote:Well, I did it in what is effective Grade 11. Don't think you're in grade 11 (Are you?), so it may be coming up. Or it could be that the IB syllabus is just different from the AP syllabus, which is entirely possible. >.>

Yes, dA exposes a lot of stuff about you... Up till a few weeks ago, it still had my real name up there. I don't really mind the full details of the camera used and all that (sometimes it's nice to see the settings used), but I do wish it had finer grained controls on info and stuff. (It's also why my profile is devoid for just about anything, despite the actual account being over 6 years old. (Fooby, you already know my dA user account. Or you should know it. |D )

Also, just to stay at least slightly on topic, here is a good website for photography techniques... a lot of it is stuff that can be applied across all camera ranges, not just the high end SLRs, so you might find it useful or something. :P
I took it in grade 10. Last year.

If I did know it, I forgot it. =\
._.


Aha! I shall be stealin' that site. ^^

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Re: aj's pics thread

#11 Post by aj »

Jonesu wrote:The colors of the sky almost look fake. XD It's kinda cool.

I've never been in a plane at night, and all of my plane pictures are of clouds. 8D And of the ground as we were landing. ^_^' The wings always get in the way, though. D| I dunno, I might prefer the picture if the wing weren't there.... :/ But it is nice to have a focus. I feel like if it was just the horizon, it'd just look like black...and some pretty oranges and blues, and wouldn't much resemble a picture. Granted, I don't think I'd have known what it was if you hadn't said so. >_>


And I also know nothing about cameras. XD I do wish I had a nicer camera, though (I just have a Kodak D| I want a Nikon or a Canon). If I did, I'd totally mess around with it all the time and see what I could do.
The colours were actually closer to this:
Image
I used a slightly longer exposure time for the first photo, and I think it looks better than this one. :wink:

Taking photos from a plane is interesting... You always have the wing there (it's generally unavoidable due to the sheer size and your location ight up against the window.) The main reason I get photos at night is because the flights I end up taking are 14 hr+ flights from Asia to Canada. As for the focus bit, I find that it makes photos more interesting... without it, it's kind of "yeah, another sunrise photo, cool colours, but nothing special".

Most camera have something that you can play around with... I started with a Canon Powershot back in 2002... Changing the exposure compensation was as close to changing the shutter speed and aperture as I could get with it. But it still took good photos. |D
FoobyKamikaze wrote: I took it in grade 10. Last year.

If I did know it, I forgot it. =\
._.


Aha! I shall be stealin' that site. ^^
So you are Grade 11 now then, hmm? *Updates mental database*

As for the dA account, I didn't state it... but I know that you know... even if you don;t think you know. I'll leave it as an intellectual exercise to see if you get it before I post the link to it. |D (hopefully in a week or so)

---------------------
Ok, today's photo:

Image
^ Sunset over a construction site by Clementi MRT station, Singapore
I wasn't entirely sure if I could legally shoot this picture - there's been some noise lately about SMRT (the station owners) banning photography in the stations. So I went ahead and shot it anyway. (It's not a sensitive area, besides it was a great sunset, and worst case scenario I delete the photo if they asked me to.) Didn't get in trouble, so that was good. |D

I liked the colours of the sunset...sunsets in Singapore are usually about 5-10 minutes, then everything goes dark. Shot this with a point-and-shoot (Powershot A650) that I carry around. Ideally, the crane on the right would not have had its pickup thing down, but I took it anyway.
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Re: aj's pics thread

#12 Post by Jonesu »

I like how the cranes make a frame of sorts, though I'd like it better if the vertical part of the crane was the same distance from the edge of the photo as the horizontal part. Does that make sense? 8D And the grayness of the construction site is a nice contrast to the colors of the sky, but I wish I could see a bit more of the details down there.

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Re: aj's pics thread

#13 Post by aj »

Jonesu wrote:I like how the cranes make a frame of sorts, though I'd like it better if the vertical part of the crane was the same distance from the edge of the photo as the horizontal part. Does that make sense? 8D And the grayness of the construction site is a nice contrast to the colors of the sky, but I wish I could see a bit more of the details down there.
Yeah, the composition is off. >.> Problem was, the crane was blocked by the overhang at the station. I got that photo by crouching down and holding the camera near the floor... This is what the first photo was like:
Image

As for the grayness, that was a result of setting the camera to expose for the sunset correctly. A bit of photoshop majik gives this:
Image

More photoshop majik gives this:
Image

Thanks for your comments... they're the kind of comment I like. :wink:
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Re: aj's pics thread

#14 Post by FoobyKamikaze »

...Illegal photography?


What the hell for? <_<



I like the second-last one bests. :3

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Re: aj's pics thread

#15 Post by aj »

FoobyKamikaze wrote:...Illegal photography?


What the hell for? <_<
Considering that I can't get/find the article now (it happened back in June or thereabouts), I'll give you equivalents from The Register: 1 2 3 - it's fairly similar to what I remember happening... person takes photo, security people ask him to delete photo because it's of 'sensitive' stuff, turns out that it's not an isolated incident/also happening elsewhere, etc. There's also a discussion on a local photography forum...

FoobyKamikaze wrote:I like the second-last one bests. :3
Yeah, the 2nd one was me following Jonesu's suggestion. The last was just messing around with photoshop. :P
This is why I ask for critiques. |D

--------
Considering that it's ~11:50pm here, I'll just go ahead and post the next photo, shall I? (Close enough, isn't it?)

Image
^Close up of rust on a seemingly abandoned box car in Niagara Falls. I personally liked the colours... rich orange rust contrasting with the white-grey wood. :D~

Edit: I'm not even sure if that's wood come to think of it. Probably is though...
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