[Kombisaurus]

Fantastic shots everyone!

I was back at the South Fremantle Powerstation yesterday (see This Thread for pics), and just about every window, beam, rail, or panel in that building is repeated endlessly along the massive structure it seems. It seems like every shot had repetition in it somewhere, whether I wanted it or not.

But this is the shot I chose to submit for the assignment - a formation of planes flying over the building just before I went inside.

[Kombisaurus]

hmm.. taking the repetition theme one step further with that image of mine.. this is what popped into my head.



Note: I'm NOT making a political statement with this image. I made it because visually it just seemed like a logical progression from the previous version of the image. Please don't try to read any political intent into it.

[Toad]

the technique of using the planes as stars on the second one is cute, but the first one is far more powerful as a photo. I find the flag destroys the clarity and focus of the image.

But both are very skillfully done.

[Kombisaurus]

Thanks Toad,

I agree that the flag version doesn't really work properly, but I just included it for the novelty factor and that it made further use of the repetition theme.

[Petographer]

Great photos. I'll have to agree that the first is the better. Great spur of the moment capture.

[stargazer]

I took this shot specifically for the repetition of the metal bars on this handrail, but when I loaded the photo on the computer, I kind of liked the sky as well, so I left it in the photo. I have a problem though. The ehite part of the cloud on the right side has burnt hightligts. I was shooting in auto mode, and really didn't want to spend too much time because of the -15 wind chill. My question is, how can I prevent this from happening?



Here is the origianl EXIF data:
File: - G:\DCIM\100_FUJI\DSCF0694_1.TIF

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PlanarConfiguration - 1
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - FUJIFILM RAW FILE CONVERTER LE Ver.1.1
DateTime - 2005:12:11 13:12:13
Copyright -
ExifOffset - 25094
ExposureTime - 1/950 seconds
FNumber - 8.00
ExposureProgram - Normal program
ISOSpeedRatings - 200
ExifVersion - 0220
DateTimeOriginal - 2004:12:11 11:57:19
DateTimeDigitized - 2004:12:11 11:57:19
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/955 seconds
ApertureValue - F 8.00
BrightnessValue - 9.96
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 2.83
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 7.80 mm
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - sRGB
FocalPlaneXResolution - 1667
FocalPlaneYResolution - 1667
FocalPlaneResolutionUnit - Centimeter
SensingMethod - One-chip color area sensor
FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera
SceneType - A directly photographed image
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Auto
WhiteBalance - Auto
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - None
Sharpness - Normal
SubjectDistanceRange - Unknown

Thanks
Chris

[Toad]

Not sure how to fix the highlights - but I like the soft focus and composition of your photo

[stargazer]

Thanks Toad. I know what caused the problem, I just don't know how to fix the problem if I shoot in a similar situation. The sun was off to my right when I took the photo, and I think that caused an overexposure. I took the shot in auto mode, and I would have liked to stay there and take a few more shots, but it was so cold and windy that my hands were numb. I wasn't dressed for the occasion which didn't help.

I thought maybe a polarizing filter because of the water and the sun, but I don't really know much about filters yet, nor do I own any. Like I said, I am very new at this photography thing .

I would also think that maybe upping the ISO one notch and dropping the aperature may have helped, but I don't know what the rest of the shot would have looked like. I tried playing around in PS to see if I could fix it, but there are no details in that area of the photo. It is a complete washout.

Overall, I kind of like the photo, I just wish those details were there to see.

Chris

[Toad]

Digital cameras are notorious for blown highlights in high contrast situations. If you are a PhotoSHop wiz and use RAW, there are a few tricks for minimizing this effect, but when highlights are that bright, there isn't much you can do.

For what its worth - I really didn't notice the highlights until you mentioned them - I was looking at the photo subject...

[Kombisaurus]

Nice shot Stargazer,

I agree with Toad - I didn't notice the blown-out area until you brought attention to it.
But I can also appreciate that you just want to know how to avoid it becoming a problem.

Toad's suggestion of shooting in RAW mode for those cameras that support it is a good one - there is usually extra detail in the RAW image that can be used to put detail back into mildly-blown-out parts of an image.

But really the only other way to avoid the problem is to reduce your exposure. This will make everything darker, but you can mask off areas in photoshop later and selectively brighten them, and at least you'll have more detail in the sky where you want it.
To reduce the exposure, you need to adjust your camera's exposure compensation setting - this tells it you want to underexpose or overexpose the photo slightly, relative to what it thinks is the ideal exposure, and then let it set the aperture and/or shutter speed to suit as it normally would. I think most cameras won't let you change this setting in full Auto mode, but they usually do in most other modes. If you usually use Auto mode then I'd suggest switching to "P" (program) mode to allow you to tweak things a bit while still being Auto. If you feel comfortable in Av (Aperture Priority) or Tv (Shutter Priority) modes then stick with them. You could also just use M (Manual) mode and instead of tweaking the exposure compensation setting (which it won't have), fiddle with aperture and shutter speed until you see the light meter read a bit below the "ideal" exposure you want, but this is usually overly fiddly for these kind of fairly regular daylight shots.
The amount you need to underexpose by will require some trial and error and will vary from situation to situation. Just take a shot and look closely at it (and its histogram!), then try reducing the exposure a bit and try again until the white clouds stop getting clipped. Obviously the more you reduce the exposure the less detail (and more noise) you will get in the shadows, so you don't want to reduce it any more than you need to.

A polarising filter may have helped slightly, but I doubt it. It will reduce the polarised light (make the blue in the sky darker and cut some reflections), and it makes the whole scene between 1 and 2 stops darker, but the camera's light meter compensates for this darkening and will increase exposure to cancel it out. So you'll still be left with bright highlights in clouds. In fact quite possibly brighter highlights!

A technique I often use in Photoshop to deal with overly bright skies is to mask off the sky and apply a tone-curve layer to get the sky right, and then duplicate that layer, invert the mask (so it now masks everything *except* the sky) and then adjust the 2nd tone curve to get the rest of the image the way I want it. But of course this only works when there is enough detail in the sky to work with in the first place.

Good luck! I love skies and the impact they can have on the mood of a photo.

[stargazer]

Thanks for the input. I did shoot my photos in RAW mode today. I may be making more out of the blown highlights than I should. It's possible that the clouds in that part of the photo were all white, but I'm sure there should be some detail there. Next time I take photos like this, I will try some different settings to see what typre of results I get. It's been so long since I had to adjust aperature and shutter speeds that I couldn't even tell you what camera I did it on. I know that I was in high school, so it's been at least 22 years. The beauty of digital is that you can shoot hundreds of shots, and learn, without spending a fortune on film processing.

Chris

[Irma]

I like the composition in your picture, the sky is also very interesting, and I didn't realized about the blown out sky until I read your comment... the subject took my attention... I think your picture fits very well in the assignment...

When I take my landscape pictures at the beginning I start warming up in Aperture Priority mode, I check the histogram, and see the numbers I get for the shutter speed... then I compose my picture and take some more. When I have the composition I like, I switch to Manual and set the same aperture and start working with different shutter speed numbers... When I change of scenery I go back to A and I do all this again... I think it is not too profesional... but at least I have a lot of pictures to choose from... I never use P mode... Maybe I should try...

[byrt_001]

Hi

just a point....

do you used the uminosity histogram? maybe that will help with ur problem?

great shots everyone

[XeoX]

When is the last date I can post my shot here? I think I just created sth I can share, but I'm waiting for a sunny day to capture some pictures from the nature maybe.

[EnglishBob]

They don't close, so no time limit.

[XeoX]

Thanks, Bob.


Repetition from the Point of View of Minimalistics


Repetition in the Fog

[Toad]

Xeox:

Lovely - both great - #2 is outstanding! Some purists will say that the dead center composition is theoretically wrong - but I like it. I find that tree shots like this - and I have seen several (I posted one as did Irma) can stand the totally center composition - even though I probably told Irma something different (old age is like that)

Either way - outstanding shots!

Best
Toad

BTW: I think this challenge has generated great stuff by all participants - I would definately contribute - but I have been on the road for 3 weeks.

[matthew]

The images have been great. Ironically, I've been lacking inspiration, and haven't had anything new for a while. (The irony being that that kind of block is exactly why I should be shooting for an assignment.) Regardless, I'm still getting over the shock of the first cold weather of the season. Give me a few weeks and I'll be fine.

I've been going through unfinished shots, and looking for ones with potential...



(... and not always finding it.)

There may be another assignment in here....

[Kombisaurus]

ooo.. I really like that 2nd one Matthew! Very original, and it works well.

[Irma]

Pattern in the wire fence and bokeh.

[Irma]

Taken in Hamburg few days ago.