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Post subject:
 Posted: 05.05.2012 23:36
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Moderator
Joined: 24.04.2011 Posts: 865
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Dude... whoah.
Nice shots. Really freakin' nice! |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.12.2012 12:59
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Joined: 13.01.2012 Posts: 507
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And now for something slightly different than my usual. Candid capture of one of my coworkers, he generally dislikes having is photo taken, so I make a point to snap one of him when the opportunity presents itself. Taken with the 50mm f1.4, and obviously some tweaking in Lightroom:
Used the split-tone for the monochrome look, brought the saturation of everything but the red channel to 0% and then lowered the red just enough to bring out the shirt some but not make it out of place with the rest of the image. |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.12.2012 16:12
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Joined: 14.01.2009 Posts: 1149
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Barracuda wrote: And now for something slightly different than my usual. Candid capture of one of my coworkers, he generally dislikes having is photo taken, so I make a point to snap one of him when the opportunity presents itself. Taken with the 50mm f1.4, and obviously some tweaking in Lightroom:
Used the split-tone for the monochrome look, brought the saturation of everything but the red channel to 0% and then lowered the red just enough to bring out the shirt some but not make it out of place with the rest of the image.
Dude, I would totally vote for that guy!
/Damn you Shephard Fairey
//Seriously, like the shot. |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.13.2012 13:20
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Joined: 07.10.2011 Posts: 583
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| Excellent photography 'Cuda, can you post the Farktography safe version so I can see what the difference is? |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.13.2012 23:15
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Joined: 13.01.2012 Posts: 507
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Per request, here's the farktography approved (still has some post-crop vignetting applied) version as it currently sits.
Oh, and totally was not thinking of the Shephard Fairey angle when I was working on this either, that's kinda funny and kinda scary at the same time. Wish I could say this one was some sort of skill on my part, but most of it falls to the lens and the lucky timing for the pose. All I did was crop it down some for composition.
Tomorrow I depart for a 3-day photo/bike/hike road trip. Hopefully there'll be a few good keepers at the end of it.  |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.14.2012 00:27
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Joined: 14.02.2010 Posts: 2826
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| I like the feel of the first one, but in regards to safe farktography, there's no reason you can't darken the overall image yet keep the lighter tones, then desaturate some to approach the same effect. Just make the changes global, it's no different than tweaking chemicals. You won't get the same texture, but you get the tones. |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.14.2012 08:19
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Joined: 13.01.2012 Posts: 507
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Good suggestions Rav. I like this result nearly as much as the split-tone. Even backed off the post-crop vignetting a tad as the background had darkened up enough after working with the black levels.
Ok, seriously, that's the last upload till I get back Wed. evening. I've got a few possible shots queued for the contest this week, though I probably won't be rolling back into town till after 9 or so depending on where I stop along the way home from Mineral Wells. |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.14.2012 11:24
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Joined: 07.10.2011 Posts: 583
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| I'm with Rav, I like that last one the best. Excellent portraiture. Here's to lots of discoveries on the trip. |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.15.2012 15:01
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Joined: 13.01.2012 Posts: 507
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| Quick update on the trip, half way through day two and there's over 600 shots taken so far between the two cameras. Historic downtown Grapevine, Ft. Worth Water Gardens and surrounding buildings, Ft. Worth Nature Preserve, downtown Mineral Wells including a few of the defunct Baker Hotel, sunrise at the Mineral Wells State Park this morning, and most recently along the Mineral Wells Trailway. Right now trying to find the get-up-and-go to head over to Clark Gardens before heading back to the State Park to try to find a vantage point to get the sunset this evening. It's far clearer today than it was yesterday so we'll see what sort of sunset we get. This morning still had enough lingering cloud cover to make for a nice sunrise. Looking forward to getting them home to see on the full screen and process in Lightroom. |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.26.2012 07:17
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Joined: 13.01.2012 Posts: 507
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A few results from the first pass through the photos I took last night at the annual criterium bike race in McKinney: Bike the Bricks 2012:
Good friend Charles deep in the Hurt Locker during the Cat 3/4 race. He also rode the 4/5 race and was unable to bridge when the group he was in split from the main pack.
Taken with the 135mm Nikon Lens on the XSi
For those non-cyclsts, criterium racing is a multi-lap race on a short closed course. Length and course distance vary greatly, last night's racing was held in old downtown McKinney, about a .8mi loop including 6 turns. The course's final two legs were made even more difficult last night by the stiff south wind on the second to last stretch immediately followed by a sharp right hand turn into the uphill to the finish line. Most of the races last night went for about 40minutes + 5 laps. I'm more than content watching and now photographing the races, yet feel compelled to throw msyelf into that mix. |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.26.2012 07:39
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Joined: 07.10.2011 Posts: 583
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| Sounds kinda like NASCAR for cyclists, cool. So do they run race specific bikes or just general road bikes? Good tight photos BTW. |
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Post subject:
Posted: 05.26.2012 08:57
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Joined: 13.01.2012 Posts: 507
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Yea, much like NASCAR for cyclists, I avoided using the comparison, but it is a fitting one. General road bikes, there is a UCI rule book that some (most) races adhere to as far as the bikes go. There's a minimum weight, no aero bars, minimum height to the BB, etc. By and large, most road bikes you can buy at a local bike shop will be well within UCI spec, it's more in Time Trial bikes where the limits of what the governing body allows starts to really get pushed. The 'Pro' level race wasn't till after sunset and there was no chance, even at 1600ISO and the 50 f.14 wide open that I was going to get any usable shots of that race as they were easily pushing 30+ mph in and out of the turns at times. I tried anyways, but deleted the whole lot of them after a quick look.
For my first time shooting a race, let alone anything really 'moving', I was fairly pleased with the results. I think the Nikon 135mm is still front focusing compared to what I see through the viewfinder at some distances. For some shots that worked out to my advantage, not so much in others. Should have picked out locations with more light, but was with some other cyclists friends and was there first and foremost to watch, cheer and enjoy the good company (and a beer or two) after a long week. Unfortunately I tweaked my knee on my trip last week, aggravated it further last Sunday on a ride that was far faster than I'd expected, so I'm sitting out today's ride that I usually ride in hopes to heal up the knee for Monday's Memorial Day ride & picnic.
The rest are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/102637182371352471338/BikeTheBricks2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCKWo0tv65sPjtQE# |
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Last edited by Barracuda on 06.17.2012 12:16; edited 3 times in total
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Post subject:
Posted: 06.17.2012 12:13
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Joined: 13.01.2012 Posts: 507
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After all of Yogoboy's recent shots of his local minor league baseball team, knew I had to make it to a Frisco Rough Riders game this season. A few days later my cycling club posted that they were putting together a group outing to the ballpark for a game. I love it when a plan comes together. It was an evening game, 7pm first pitch, and there was a lot of building clouds in the area last night, so lighting wasn't the best after about the 3rd inning, requiring me to max out the ISO of my XSi. Enough noise in those shots where I decided the only thing to do with them was alter them enough to look 'artistic'ly noisy.
First shot of the night, and probably one of the best. This was taken with my 55-250 while there was still enough light to use it. Soon switched to the 300mm f4.5 Nikon lens.
Good thing about baseball is that other than the base runners, most of the action happens more or less in place in the infield. Making using a manual focus lens a little easier to deal with.
Rough Rider's mascot, don't ask me what it's supposed to be. He is neither rough, nor is riding anything.
Frisco was playing the 'Hooks' of Corpus Christy, a team affiliated with the Houston Astros, #50 is an Astro's player coming off an injury. Easily this most productive player at bat for either team last night.
Really wish I'd got this shot earlier in the night when there was more light. Going to either need to be much closer next time, or go to a day game.
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Post subject:
Posted: 06.17.2012 12:50
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Moderator
Joined: 24.04.2011 Posts: 865
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Good stuff 'cuda! These minor league parks are usually pretty relaxed places. As long as you don't make an ass of yourself and the place is empty enough, you can easily go down front and shoot a few shots before anyone gives you any crap. The nice thing about this approach is that you keep moving and get shots from a variety of angles.
... and I know EXACTLY what you mean about high ISO and having to post-process for it. A smidgen of "Smart Blur" can go a long way to rectifying this, as well. |
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Post subject:
Posted: 06.17.2012 13:57
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Joined: 13.01.2012 Posts: 507
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Yeah, next game I may try to do that, last night we were with a fairly big group so stuck to my seat for the most part. After the game I make a minor detour to the shopping center/mall next to the park where I knew they had some bronze statues for the upcoming "Carnival of the Animals" contest. I think this is my best of that set:
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