Photo Projects - Practical Approach

Hello Friends,

From last some days I was thinking to start this topic. Actually I love to do different geners of photography like landscape, product, drop, smoke, animal, flower macro etc ...and would never set some specific likes or dislikes for a specific type.

Soo I found a book online which have 50 photo projects ...name of book is 50 Photo Projects. We may not be able to perform all the project cause of need of various photography equipments like wireless flash trigger, ND, CPL filters, tripod etc ...but we can try with some home made stuff to compensate that.

Soo I will encourage you guys to find out various substitute to items...you can post pic of your setup too to help others...and dont feel ashamed by simple setups...they are actually more helpful.

Also post 1 pic at a time.. the best one you think..

if possible post basic exif details like -
cam used-
aperture-
shutter speed-
time of the day-

Note - I can not copy paste book contents directly coz of ...I can upload the book in my skydrive and give link...

Soo I will start from today evening..

It's good to see its coming... I got that book. It's good to do the projects along with the like minded people.

Shoot Silhouttes

What is silhouttes? its a picture where subject becomes completely dark due to bright background.
ex -
*encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT6t3AD-2dRVCBwlY-aO9Xkrz5BvtBKIvam9S31IsPg4krQvJjVJXWvRI9D
*t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSO5FFAgLYmgEDw9YDjNSXKmUZwbYXTftbbIiwYmahHKCd_cQYxJm1siTzQ

To take silhouttes follow the steps -
1. plan what you want to shoot...u can shoot tree, friends, pets or any object.
2. the best time for silhouttes is sunrise or sunset where you can find sun right behind your subject
3. choose a low angle if possible
4. select spot metering and point it towards sunlight soo that the camera records overexposure and try to underexpose the pic

now edit ur pic and slightly increase the shadow soo that the silhoutte looks perfect

there is no specific camera settings for this one...just have fun

I will start with my pic taken today evening

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3818/9032115345_6e9719f54b_z.jpg
Sky by sujoyp, on Flickr

When I saw this photograph in the other forum today morning, I wanted to try such a shot when I get an opportunity. Yes, it's a silhouette...
This is the photograph I am talking about.

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/9018300844_ed54f5e860_b.jpg

Sujoy, Photographs have to be taken fresh. Earlier work of yours can't be taken in account

(It's taken before the post you posted :grin:

)

LOL ....i took the pic today itself in the evening 6:30

ok I will post another tommorow

would love to be a part of the projects... and am sure between us we can jugaadofy most of the stuff we can't find

My contribution to Silhouettes. Old pic though

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6554868733_6a4cc85ef8_z.jpg
With the sun at my back by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

I am sorry to say this, the ultimate goal of doing photo project destroys if we are digging our archives to find one to suit the topic. Most likely some of us have the 50 photos already in our archives. No offense meant, Amlan and

Sujoy

I hope you see the point, right?

agree wholeheartedly .... so fresh pics from now on. some suggestions, please see if they make sense

1. Lets keep one project for a duration of about a week, that way everyone will have time to contribute (I'm hoping that in the future there'll be more than just the 3 of us chatting here :))

)
2. We can start off with an intro and how to (like the excellent one that sujoy gave here for silhouette)
3. Let's share the link of this thread on some of the other threads also, the more people there are the more we'll all learn - Sujoy, would you do this?

sorry for rattling this off so early in the morning, but it will be awesome fun and we'll all get a chance to do stuff that we normally do not do with our cams

Nac I will post another one this week

Amlan I didnt understand what u mean by sharing the link to other thread...anyone interested will join here

The 1st one was rather simple project that even p&S user can perform easily ....

what I want is you guys can suggest any new ways to do it with ur own experience...I am not bookish here..only the topics r bookish

izzikio_rage said:
agree wholeheartedly .... so fresh pics from now on. some suggestions, please see if they make sense

Thanks for taking it lightly and understanding.

izzikio_rage said:
1. Lets keep one project for a duration of about a week, that way everyone will have time to contribute

You sure about that. It will take about a year...

izzikio_rage said:
(I'm hoping that in the future there'll be more than just the 3 of us chatting here )

I wish so... Will see..

izzikio_rage said:
3. Let's share the link of this thread on some of the other threads also, the more people there are the more we'll all learn - Sujoy, would you do this?

Mod may thing that Sujoy is spamming the forum and ban him :rofl:

And you are nicely escaping by asking Sujoy to do it... :rofl:

sujoyp said:
Nac I will post another one this week

I am sure you will do. I will take the one posted as an example from your collection.

you are right nac if we keep one project a week it will take too much time and patience....lets make it 2 projects a week..I will post them on every Sunday and Thursday

I took this one today...its not exact to whats shown in example but in the same genre .

*lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hQ4UXebtrvA/UbtAGPZHm6I/AAAAAAAAI6U/mTA52oWkCPc/w442-h708-no/DSC_8419.JPG

Got up early, checked sunrise time and went out for photo shoot. I am not ok with the result, so I am not gonna post them. I am looking for something close to a striking image if not as stunning as the ones from the professional photographers. Thought of trying it again in the evening, but couldn't.

hmm its difficult...maybe we need an open sky and a model to try something

Open sky is not that difficult... I will again try it out tomorrow. I will try and make sure it's better than today's...

nac I loved 2nd one...wish it had those orange black colors...would look awesome

Thank you... Lately, I started liking black and white photographs. Most of my photographs I am taking now are black and whites and @ ~50mm focal length.

thats nice..but B&W is more challenging ....

Yeah, it's challenging. When I was reading "plants", I couldn't see which one is the subject in one of the photographs (I think that was taken by the author or someone who is good at taking photographs) because it was a b/w photo. I tried a similar one and posted too.

And it's interesting too... esp. portraits and wedding.

Tried it again this evening. It's a very similar location, just that there was a tree in the field. Though it wasn't a lonely one. So couldn't find as interesting location as I expected.

soo should i wait for 1-2 days more for new topic in case anyone else want to post?

No, you can go ahead and post the next topic. If one wants to post, he/she can post when they are done with their work. In fact, I am not done with this topic yet. I would like try some more, only the black and white plant silhouette suits this topic among the ones I posted. Now I think I shouldn't have posted the rest of them. I will take them down.

I wanted to share, but I should have done it in photography thread...

yaah thats y i wrote in the 1st post to post only the best one and not all of them

remaining u can post in photography thread.

I will also try some more ...will try for the perfect one ...not a tree but maybe something else i can get....I had an idea but it failed that day...will try it again

nac said:
Mod may thing that Sujoy is spamming the forum and ban him And you are nicely escaping by asking Sujoy to do it...

Definitely not my intention .... would be an epic level troll though :))

. Anyhow 2 projects a week sounds good too, atleast it'll keep us clicking.

So is open sky the second project for the week? seems like a good time for it, what with the rains and all

I was planning to put the starry night as 2nd project but its rainy season and most of us wont be able to get stars at night

Again I tried today. I think it's little better this time because of the subject.

But it was drizzling

Sky is dull this time

Here it is...

*img18.imageshack.us/img18/9734/2rwl.jpg

Wanted to take landscape style photograph for this project, like the one in the book. But I couldn't... and I am ok with photograph.

Suojy is banging his head :banghead:

to pick a topic for this week. It's either we can't find the subject for the project or we may not have the equipment required. Let's say he is coming up with a simple one like self portrait, how many of you will post your work.

I have been hanging around here for about 20 months, I couldn't remember anyone have ever posted a self portrait (not a dim light portrait or your shadows or silhouette kind). Only one I can remember now is Vimal, he has posted his.

Nac that pic is awesome...just wish there was more water below to see the reflection...its superb

Nac do you want self portrait ....it will be fun

but thing is you have to take ur own shot and not take help of somebody else...are u ready ...then will formally post the topic here

@nac:

...... That is the biggest dilemma as a photographer, your collection will have 1000s of pics, of 100s of events, from a variety of photo styles but hardly any pics of you. We can start a self portrait project, would be good to be able to put a face to the familiar names.

So if Sujoy agrees we can have this as the next project.

a little something to inspire and guide us 100 Seriously Cool Self-Portraits (And Tips to Shoot Your Own!)

*d2f29brjr0xbt3.cloudfront.net/526_selfportraits/selfportrait-52.jpg

*d2f29brjr0xbt3.cloudfront.net/526_selfportraits/selfportrait-67.jpg

I am cool with the project. Just that I don't know whether I would be posting mine or not... Haven't done so before... A million dollar question. Just wanted know how you guys feel about posting your own photographs.

That's a nice link, Amlan.

Nac lets do it...I will find some nice article and post some background info about it ...lets do it

its not that u have to reveal urself...u can wear mask...take silhouette or even cover your face except ur eyes like that

Fine then. I will try and if I find it interesting, I will post it. You don't have to look for some articles, unless you want to throw something extra. It's already there in the book.

Project 2 :Self Portraits

Self portrait means taking the shot of your own. without help of any third person.
Tips for self portraits -
1. Check the focus properly. keep a teddy or something in the place beforehand to set the focus properly.
2. if taking normal portraits look into the camera
3. keep aperture accordingly...if background is away keep aperture open around f2.8 else keep f4 -f5.6 to get everything in focus.
4. always use timer at least 10 sec to cool down and give a pose...2 sec is just too hurry.

my Fav amature self portrait photographer is emily theresa ....she takes awesome self portraits.
Flickr: emily theresa's Photostream

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
soo here is my self portraits for today night

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3737/9085287287_32f338babc_z.jpg
DSC_8530 by sujoyp, on Flickr

^ IMO position of hand is not looking good, ... may be the effect of emily theresa's Photostream on my mind

ha ha ha 6x6 she is just too good for her young age....I just tried something i never did

Already!!! I didn't expect this quick. I still looking for what kinda shot I can try...

nac that was taken at night 1 o clock

was testing light techniques and diffusers and softbox etc....will post something else if i succeed

@sujoy - That emily theresa is just too good. I didn't know girls can be soo good photographers

TFS

sujoyp said:
Project 2 :Self Portraits

Self portrait means taking the shot of your own. without help of any third person.
Tips for self portraits -
1. Check the focus properly. keep a teddy or something in the place beforehand to set the focus properly.
2. if taking normal portraits look into the camera
3. keep aperture accordingly...if background is away keep aperture open around f2.8 else keep f4 -f5.6 to get everything in focus.
4. always use timer at least 10 sec to cool down and give a pose...2 sec is just too hurry.

my Fav amature self portrait photographer is emily theresa ....she takes awesome self portraits.
Flickr: emily theresa's Photostream

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
soo here is my self portraits for today night

nice try , but some work done on posing would have made it great.

im2k its very difficult to set timer of 10 sec and run to give pose

....still i am trying...the pic i posted is actually sitting on the floor...and diffused light from softbox from front below me..
tomorrow i will try in day light...lets see

Tried some, and I couldn't come up with an interesting one. I even attempted to turn myself avatarish look using gimp.

You all know how good I am at editing photographs

Still trying...

Sujoy, That's the maximum time delay in your camera?
You have remote trigger, right. Then, why bother about time delay.

I need time delay coz the remote trigger is engaged with flash....i can use them either as a flash trigger or a remote trigger...not both togather

max time is 10s

Oh!

I thought you can trigger both at the same time with the equipments you have...

@nac maybe I can do that but for that I need a third piece of YN603-N3 ...maybe I will buy one more pair if I found using them too much

--------------------------------------------------------
hummm so no participation...all photographers hiding

ok will add a new project today

But I tried to come up with an interesting self portrait. So many attempts.
Tried image manipulation software to make "navi" look.
Tried in a complete dark room and lit with a torch light. And some crazy editing... I thought of sharing it here, but the "colour issue" need to get it fixed before uploading.
Yesterday, when I was shooting for "moon and sun", I tried some self portrait. It was much better than I expected. It really amazing when I checked the playback. Yet to upload in my computer.

hmm good that you tried ....I will try again tommorow after haircut ....ok will wait for your pic till sunday morning

Photographers wants stay behind the scene. No one wants to come in front of the camera

Here is my self portrait. Worked hard not to get any details

*img259.imageshack.us/img259/755/u2p2.jpg

Don't ask me how I get this effect.

nac thats good one... I could not guess how did u shoot that...

That was some crazy editing. Sujoy.

Here is another one...
The colour version of the first one in this series was good when I checked it in playback mode. I was just trying how I can set up the shot and the moon was behind the clouds. But I was ready and fixed the pose and all, moon came out of the clouds and its overexposed. So the reason for black and white version (and lately I prefer to shoot in b/w more than colour version)

*img405.imageshack.us/img405/5075/6en5.jpg

thats a nice shot nac...you have taken some innovative shots...actually when i google selfportrait ideas they all are of the photographer..

where are you people? don't tell me we've abandoned this idea even before it began

( .... haven't been able to click for quite some time (work + laziness etc) so it'll take me some time, but will have a pic in every project that gets started :))

@nac: awesome clicks, the second one is really really good, IMHO just a small change, since the overall tone of the image is a little pensive types so a more pensive pose should make it better. Guess you had a different story in mind

we are here only but no participation by anyone ...its like I and nac are discussing and posting and no one is interested....izzikio if u r interested, post a self portrait

then i will start next topic

As requested, shot just bare moments ago fresh from post processing, here is my entry for this photo project :))

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7363/9192456135_d73f8a27e5_z.jpg
Hiding behind the lens by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

@amlan ..now thats the spirit

good

will post a new topic today

Project 3 : Reflection on droplets

*farm7.staticflickr.com/6115/6271415267_8628df58d3_z.jpg

In this project we will try to capture something beautiful inside the drop. This is a macro photography exercise (and i dont have my macro lens

)

You will get lots of ideas and example on internet.

Things to remember -
1. the subject will come inverted in the reflection.
2. Keep aperture small and go closer with zoom or macro focus to get more in focus and nice bokeh
3. use colorful subjects (no B&W)

I will try tomorrow ...if u want you can try your own reflection on droplets

I tried lots of time today and its not possible to achive it without a macro lens for me...soo I wont be able to complete it

Thank you guys...

Nice project Sujoy.

I have tried similar kind once after seeing Aroon Kalandi's work. Placing a water droplet on an object was tough, added sugar to get it thicken. But it didn't help a lot. If you guys got any tip to place a water drop on an object, please let me know. Will try to get it done better than the last time.

no nac it was not tough to keep water drop stable....I did the same as you said...added 1 spoon sugar with little bit of water and the drop became very stable...Arron kalandi used injection/syringe to put the drop ....I know all the techniques he used...I have asked him once

but remember one of his secrets ...he uses lots of photoshopping...he even used to duplicate the good droplets and put them in place of bad once...

but I could not focus soo close without macro lens and soo i could not get any proper shot...not even close

The sugar idea is something that I've not tried before, let me give it a shot.

this one is some thing new i never tried
here are some shots i tried today,
*u1.ipernity.com/33/49/23/23364923.25df6d17.640.jpg
SX150is , f5 for 1/160th of sec from 249mm focal length (35mm eq) when iso was 200 and white balance was cloudy.
*u1.ipernity.com/33/47/41/23364741.1ccab067.640.jpg
SX150is , f5.1 for 1/45th of sec from 225mm focal length (35mm eq) when iso was 200 and white balance was daylight.
*u1.ipernity.com/33/85/09/23378509.8780c1a8.jpg
SX150is , f5.1 for 1/60th of sec from 241mm focal length (35mm eq) when iso was 100 and flsah fired- true.

adding an nonelectrolyte like sugar makes the drop much stable but again some good surface for adhesion is equally important.
i think more refinement is possible to what i did, i ll try some more shots tomorrow when there is good light with some asters.

IM2K ...the shots are awesome...sharp and exactly how it should be ...great

lm2k: is it just me or are the focal lengths too long? did you zoom into the drops or have you used a macro mode?

amlan how does it matter...I think he have zoomed to the drop coz the focal length is 200+

Want to learn his trade secret ..... I hardly ever get that good a drop or a bokeh

and i didnt get the sharp image at all...i will try one more time today

izzikio_rage said:
lm2k: is it just me or are the focal lengths too long? did you zoom into the drops or have you used a macro mode?

using super macro mode on camreas like sx1xx is possible only at wide angle(28 to 50mm -35mm eq) and this would have added unwanted details in the background.
i used something like this or the RAYNOX 250 is best alternative.
the lens adds up smo0th bokeh and ability to use "any" telefauto lens as macro.Hope it answers your question.

Cool.... first time I've come across someone actually using a lens adapter on a point and shoot. The photos are really good

A little tip for people with stock lens, flip lens and then take the macro shot. Gotta watch out for dust.

rohanz said:
A little tip for people with stock lens, flip lens and then take the macro shot. Gotta watch out for dust.

doesn't that require a reverse mounting adapter or something? Can you please explain this step by step or link to a good tutorial of this?

@amlan yes it needs a 250Rs reverse mount adapter and without an aperture ring its just useless...if u reverse the kit lens you may have to manually pull the aperture liver...all this may damage the automatic aperture control on the lens.

I have specifically bought my 50mm 1.8 AF lens for this purpose and used it 6 months for macros...it was a cheap combo...cost me just 3500

my very very late entry to Silhouettes .... clicked this a few days back only. BTW got my new sony NEX 6 :))

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3690/9257373172_a7d44ce84c_z.jpg
Rains, long drives and cool music by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

amlan ...smily is good

So what is the next project out here? My suggestion is that since the monsoons have already hit we can try some outdoor project this time. Cloudscapes is the only one that I can think of, suggest some more people.

Topic 4 - Monsoon Photography

We will try taking shots related to rain, monsoon , cloud.
Keep your electronic equipment away from rain water.

Geners we can try - lightning, cloud HDR , flower with droplets on it , raining scene , portrait of someone dancing in rain.

enjoy rain

Let's keep one topic, otherwise people like me will start posting the whole gamut of Monsoon pics here

Dancing in the rain seems like a good idea +1 from my side. Or clouds HDR (I just finished clicking those )

Enjoying the monsoon

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3732/9277573730_6dd9d675da_z.jpg
Day and Night by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

beautiful Amlan .....I will just make the idea more formal soo that its not lost

Just one tip that I got from a photography video, If you are trying to take pics of rain falling and want those typical streaks caused by drops then use a shutter speed of 1/160. It's like a magic number of sorts.

*www.backfills.com/raining%20rain%20falling%20at%20night.jpg

*www.joeydevilla.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/rain.jpg

nice amlan

thanks for the tip....let it start raining here , I will try

G

@izzikio_rage - Love the first one.

This is soo frustrating...I am not able to post anything on topics I am starting ....Its just not raining here

R

Tell me about it. It rained every afternoon so I finally took my camera to work - and got blue skies.

cheat a little, use a hose to throw water on stuff, Spray plants to get the droplets, and break a pipe to simulate the flooded homes of most of india :))

or this week we can try out a topic that you are good at. That way we get to learn something from you

My post for the droplets pics

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3698/9328688142_a969f3158b_c.jpg
Raindrops by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

@izzikio_rage: Awesome pic. Are those GEMS?

@amlan it seems cheating is the only way...let me see

quagmire said:
@izzikio_rage: Awesome pic. Are those GEMS?

I wish I was that rich :))

... they are just drops of water.

Edit: Oh, you meant the chocolate waale. Nope, had an assortment of fruits behind the drops

BTW, another tip. There are these Chinese balls (like very small beads) that you put in water and they grow in size. If you can find them then they give this same effect in a much much better way. Will try to find some and click

^I meant chocolate waale gems only :lol:

Even I have tried capturing swelling bubble like beads. IQ was not impressive with my camera. Will try again.

The SX240 is a pretty good cam, things that helped me were

1. Shoot near a window (or a lamp), so that you can lower the ISO and probably use a small aperture f/8
2. Use the manual focus - take time here
3. use a tripod, or keep the camera on something
4. Use a dropper to put the drops, that will make them more round and hence better lenses

izzikio_rage any tips for those beads.
Here's a pic I took a few months ago.

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3704/9345700200_7eb9f8ee6c_b.jpg

Exactly the thing. So get someone to hold one of them (preferably the transparent one) in front of them, then focus through the bead and you'll get an inverted image of the subject with the actual subject blurred out.

Or like the drops pic you can arrange them on a surface and shoot through them. Almost idea that works with water drops will work better with these

Good going guys :thumbs:

Lm2k, Wonderful water drop shot :thumbs:

Amlan, You have bought a new camera!!! Congrats...

so what is next in line for a project ? any suggestions?

I have seen very less guys trying splash photography or drop on water...that I can do at home too...wanna try??

I've tried this out a few times in the past, Its amazingly hard to do, but lets give it a shot. Lets start this off as the official project for this week with some good tutorials and a few clicks of the setups too.

Topic 5 - Splash photography

A splash photography is different then a droplet photography....in a splash photography you will need to drop an object on the water and capture the splash effect created .

Its a complete setup and nothing natural.

To set up -

1.select a nice clean background
2. Find a bright continuous light source like big cfl ...and use it as required
3. keep camera it in manual
4. keep aperture around 5.6-7.1 to get everything in focus
5. keep shutter speed high more than 1/500 to freeze the subject
6. keep the camera on tripod ...or you can also use handheld.

the bright continuous light is required coz in a room if u put shutter speed 1/640 and aperture f6.3 ...you will need lots of light.

plan beforehand what objects you are going to splash....a straberry , a coin , a banana or anything you want...

check this for complete process - *photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/shooting/how-to-shoot-high-speed-splash-without-flash/

*farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/4930212734_a1017ecca8_z.jpg

*t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDBpEVyubtUo8RpFisViDdQePZP0-GyK-EDsgBjRo0OVnjpiRK

*us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/groke/groke0805/groke080500039/3056982-chili-splash.jpg

some shots need a clean container....see that its haze free and spotless....people use aquarium glass box for this purpose but its costly

aah those shots from pros are beautiful....the problem I am facing is there is no big glass box where I can try these...I tried some today...the results are hazy due to plastic box ...I tried to remove them but it didnt look that good in big

*lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yjpBreIsRS8/UftyFOvtWSI/AAAAAAAAJNg/RH36J82iDHU/w987-h709-no/DSC_8879.jpg

what to do...any suggestions

Guys i m fed up of continuous rain here. Unable to use camera. Is there any tips or projects for rainy season?? I m out of ideas

@nikku y dont u try this project ....splash one...I am trying

nikku_hot123 said:
Guys i m fed up of continuous rain here. Unable to use camera. Is there any tips or projects for rainy season?? I m out of ideas

Nikku, Here is the one for you MONSOON PHOTOGRAPHY

I am three projects behind... I don't when I will get opportunity to try monsoon photography. "Rain god" is so angry with us. No rain here... May be around October.

I will try the other two...

sujoyp said:
@nikku y dont u try this project ....splash one...I am trying

nac said:
Nikku, Here is the one for you MONSOON PHOTOGRAPHY

I am three projects behind... I don't when I will get opportunity to try monsoon photography. "Rain god" is so angry with us. No rain here... May be around October.

I will try the other two...

Thanks guys... I m gonna try ur suggestions this weekend.

Guys...how to focus and where to focus when it's raining.??? Wanna take pics of rain drop splash.

just keep aperture small like f8-f11 and click the shot...the rain drops will come in focus

sujoy, your shots are pretty good. Waise a solution to the box ruining clarity thing, I think we can all try the spoon waala splash. Just need to ensure that the camera is far away and it has a UV guard or something on it :))

...

Nikku, you can always try out splash and drops projects indoors. Also rainly evenings give you a great chance to get some amazing cloudscapes. So keep shooting, you'll get some amazing stuff

@amlan ....the splash and shutter speed all was ok in many of my attempts but the clarity was too bad ...I disliked most of them
spoon wala splash needs a small nibbu or a strawberry on big spoon ....
I thought of that too but sadly all lemons are too big here...will try something at home (when i reach home next week

)

Hey!

After a long time it rained here today.

Hoping there would be some more in coming days and I can use that opportunity to do "Monsoon Photography"

My contribution to the last project. Some stuff that I learned that might help others out
1. Keep the shutter speed at around 1/1600 or so or you'll blur out the splash itself
2. The minimum aperture that I could use was f/7.1 otherwise I would lose out the front and back of the splash (50mm focal length)
3. You need crazy amounts of light, so shoot in sunlight, put up lamps, just about everything you can lay your hands on
4. try a lot, by the time I finished I had about 350 clicks (1.25 GB) :))

ok without more gyaan, the pic

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7343/9530989566_734d78bd29_c.jpg
Splash! by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

R

That's a really great pic, and nice choice of colours. Are those Lego bricks?

u got a good shot
thanks amlan...i will try again

How did you get the pitch black background?

Impressive shot.

Raja Manuel said:
That's a really great pic, and nice choice of colours. Are those Lego bricks?

yup, 3 lego bricks of different colors joined together

pranav0091 said:
How did you get the pitch black background?

used the black cover from a PC case. Allowed me to underexpose the shot a lot giving that flat black look

G

@izzikio_rage - Thats a great shot.
350 clicks !!! you got a lot of patience.

Raja Manuel said:
That's a really great pic, and nice choice of colours. Are those Lego bricks?

Completely Offtopic, but I cant help but wonder, you registered about 6 years ago on this forum, have just 55 comments and I think I have seen atleast 10-15 of them (very insightful/reliable comments those were, I may add) myself in the very few threads I visit. What do you do, stalk the threads?

R

pranav0091 said:
Completely Offtopic, but I cant help but wonder, you registered about 6 years ago on this forum, have just 55 comments and I think I have seen atleast 10-15 of them (very insightful/reliable comments those were, I may add) myself in the very few threads I visit. What do you do, stalk the threads?

Ha ha! Yeah, lurking and stalking is pretty much what I do. Of the 55 posts I guess 1 must be from 2007 and the remaining 54 in the last few months, partly due to having 14-hours-a-day jobs that don't leave much time for commenting and partly because socialising isn't my strong point.

@raja but u give the best explanation among us...we would love more participation from you

BTW if you know soo much about photography where are ur photos

Yeah, would love to see your pics

R

I guess you guys must have seen a couple, though my photos are nothing very impressive. I don't have all that much time for photography and right now I am just fiddling around with Magic Lantern so I have a very high rejection rate. I might start a Magic Lantern thread if I make headway with it.

As for participation… other than the time constraint I don't think it is required, actually. We have a few knowledgeable members who step in and provide good info; many queries are about price which I don't know much about; and as I am sure you have all noticed, I am not particularly fond of recommending DSLRs to people who have no idea why they want one.

All this attention is very flattering, though

@raja ...I know u check the threads as much as we all do

its always good to get valuable suggestion from knowledgeables

@izzikio_rage - Superb shot .

izzikio_rage said:
My contribution to the last project. Some stuff that I learned that might help others out
1. Keep the shutter speed at around 1/1600 or so or you'll blur out the splash itself
2. The minimum aperture that I could use was f/7.1 otherwise I would lose out the front and back of the splash (50mm focal length)
3. You need crazy amounts of light, so shoot in sunlight, put up lamps, just about everything you can lay your hands on
4. try a lot, by the time I finished I had about 350 clicks (1.25 GB)

ok without more gyaan, the pic

which mode? i mean did you use Burst mode or just one shot per splash, also how did you manage to get black background??
the glass is also clean and there are no distractions, excellent.

lm2k said:
@izzikio_rage - Superb shot .

which mode? i mean did you use Burst mode or just one shot per splash, also how did you manage to get black background??
the glass is also clean and there are no distractions, excellent.

thank you. I used burst mode for this, even then it's pretty hard to ensure that the best time of the splash will get captured. So it's a lot of trial and error. The black background is a computer cabinet case, I underexposed the shot a bit so that it would come out black. Also this was in sunlight falling from the left side of the shot, no flash used.

looked at quite a few settings for these kinds of shots on flickr. The shutter speed seems more in the range of 1/300 types, so I guess they are using external lights (or even strobe lights) to prevent blurring.

Hope that helps

ooh 1/300 that means normal flash wont help ....

Thanks amlan...I tried some splash pics again...not good as urs but got much better results then before...btw I never went below 1/800 s shutter speed

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7449/9573627761_cce7965447_z.jpg
Rupee Drowning by sujoyp, on Flickr

btw 5RS coin was quit hard to take ...it went down soo quickly due to its weight

Pretty cool shot

I also did a few tries with some coins and I guess the type of splash also depends on what you drop in. I coin will not create much of a splash (water coming out of the glass) but will give that tunnel of air type thing really well. I also tried dropping a colored eraser, a nimbu and other random stuff :))

but got the best splashes with the lighter objects and great tunnels with the heavier ones.

So what's the plan for the next project? It's been two weeks now.

hmm next project...how about soap bubbles?? can we try that

sounds good, please start this off .....

Project 6- Soap Bubbles

This time we will try to shoot various patters on the soap bubbles...which looks amazing and colorful.

*i0.wp.com/i.imgur.com/o4ozaI0.jpg?resize=600%2C750

*cdn.mos.photoradar.com/files/articles/techniques/may2011/photo-ideas-soap-bubble-photography-example-02.jpg

Tips to take these -

1. Need lots of light reflecting from different angles
2. black background
3. make a bubble solution with 6 part soap and 1 part glecerine to increase strength of shell
4. use small aperture like f10- f16
5. shutter speed of 1/160 is enough if u just want colors...to shoot bursting bubbles u need to be on around 1/2000

refer - Photo ideas: soap bubble photography | Digital Camera World

Have the others given up already?

I couldnt make any bubbles...I tried twice...and I didnt find any glecerene here

will do something

izzikio_rage said:
Have the others given up already?

I am not...

Tried splash photo project...

I don't think I can get a decent result if I try it indoor with the help of built in flash. So I tried outdoor, in the middle of the day. Sun was too hot... :-x

Set up isn't good...

*img194.imageshack.us/img194/4433/jsh8.jpg

that is a pretty good shot, just some suggestions, zoom in a bit (or crop the existing pics). Perhaps a lower angle would help you get more of the splash in the image. and I guess you can always push the ISO to 200 and increase the speed a bit more.

I need few things to get it done better.

Light wasn't an issue... There was plenty of light and I can go as high as the max shutter speed in my camera.

nac the 2 things u have to do with the same setup
1. go low on angle , from top there is nothing much to see
2. have a background...keep a black cloth or red or some dark color behind the subject

Yeah, I will do that...

I try and come up with the better one...

God!!! I wish I have a weather shield camera. Few days ago when I was trying splash photography, I tried and keep some distance but couldn't avoid water drops falling on my camera and lens.
And again today, I was shooting for splash photography. Flipping water filled bottle in the air and capture the action. I was alone, so have to do the flip and click all by myself.

Urgh!!! water spilled in my camera but this time, a plenty of water. I was little worried at first and wiped the water off of the camera. Luckily it didn't get to the front side of the camera. Camera is functioning fine so far. I don't think I will be dare to take this kinda risk again.

I just wanna ask you... :twisted:

why all the last four projects have to do something with water

water coz its rainy season

anyways ...take care of ur camera...btw i too did something stupid like this...took splash shots of green chilly then noticed that my lens front have soo many droplets...tried to remove it but still some marks are there...i hope it could be cleaned...i tried my lens pen but still drop marks are there

bubble project is flop...i couldnt make any...let me think of something else....how about writing ur name using a light trail...using torch...forum name will also do

Project: Monsoon Photography

*img46.imageshack.us/img46/7409/rk1c.jpg

Canon SX130 | f/3.4 | 1/250 sec (EC 0 step) | ISO - 80
Photomatix HDR - Exposure compensation -2 step to +2 step (Total 5 images)

beautiful nac

@nac, glad to know that your camera is safe, and that is an amazing shot.

Thank you. Credit goes to photomatix...

@nac ...naah photomatrix make some crappy looking HDR

This is the one I was trying few days ago for splash photography project.

*imageshack.us/a/img46/6644/bakb.jpg

what is it exactly?? did u throw something in the air?

bottle rocket? did a lot of those as a kid, super fun

okkk ...dont know about it

Its probably a 600ml bottle of coca cola thrown upside down without its cap in a swirling motion.

but then y is the bottom brown ...hmm

nac said:
And again today, I was shooting for splash photography. Flipping water filled bottle in the air and capture the action. I was alone, so have to do the flip and click all by myself.

Guess you guys didn't read my previous post...

Rishi got it... :thumbs:

It's a 1/2 ltr Slice bottle.

It's a bottle filled with water. And "the brown" is wrapper around the bottle.

hey rishi said coca cola..soo not 100% correct

btw how will u capture splash by throwing something upside ....was it spalsh on u that u wanted to capture

sujoyp said:
hey rishi said coca cola..soo not 100% correct btw how will u capture splash by throwing something upside ....was it spalsh on u that u wanted to capture

Isn't slice a product from coca cola ??

hehe

u win rishi

sujoyp said:
u win rishi

Not at photography though. :wink:

Project 7 - Light Photography

Hello guys this time the project is not bookish ....I want you to create designs, your names, colorful patterns using long exposure.

Tips -
1. longer the performance slower the shutter speed
2. write on a paper and check how to write in a mirror

3. you can have multiple friends making some other designs
4. i think its easier with a torch

i am putting this as an example...i will try for something better

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3698/9716229663_f607c1fa1e_z.jpg
light love by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr

exif - SS 8sec , aperture f4 ....and darkened using editing ....you can never get a dark pic at shutter speed 10s or 8 sec ...need ND filter for that.

Only hand written light trails or any light trails like stars trails...

nope only handwritten...performed by you or your friend

D

My first in this thread,
tried the project today, I knew my writing was bad but this bad

...
Here it comes...

View attachment 12143

View attachment 12144
Could you recognise what I was trying to write(PaYne my online gaming alias)...

So, after these, I tried my hand on designing...

View attachment 12145

For now these are my only successful tries.
Will try tomorrow.

Thanks bye

Edit : Please can anyone tell me which tag to use so that the pics are displayed in the post and not as link?

@dheeraj just open a flickr.com account ...upload the pics there...go below the pic...there is an option to share...select bbcode and size...and copy the code and paste here ...you are done

btw I still couldnt make out what you were writing....dont be in hurry...you can increase the time by lowring the shutter speed like 20sec or so...make what you want calmly

D

sujoyp said:
@dheeraj just open a flickr.com account ...upload the pics there...go below the pic...there is an option to share...select bbcode and size...and copy the code and paste here ...you are done

btw I still couldnt make out what you were writing....dont be in hurry...you can increase the time by lowring the shutter speed like 20sec or so...make what you want calmly

Yes, I understand that that it has to be done calmly and not in a hurry...I was just trying whether I could do it or not...
The main thing I realised here was to stop the light at the correct moment so that you don't leave a trail of light behind which can make it a look messy.

Will try it again today

.

yes you are right...light had to be stopped at right moment...due to my ignorence there is a big light patch in the heart I posted yeasterday...and its looking bad

Hmm we did do any project for soo long...

How about the thing amlan has tried ...thats creating bokeh....guys I think that will be great for next project...what say??

Lets try getting bokeh. Start the project Sujoy.

Another idea for a future project can be on postprocessing. Making a normal click surreal, it won't exactly be very moral but should be a great learning experience

Project 8 - Bokeh

Although there is a huge confusion regarding bokeh...we will take bokeh as the ability to blur or create creamy background or out of focus area

A bokeh can be easily created by -

1. Select single focus point and focus on a certain subject...keep the subject away from background...and you will see objects in background blurred.

2. Use bigger aperture lenses like 50mm 1.8 and you will find the object kept even 3-4 inches behind of in front of focal plane will get blurred easily.

3. use macro lens ...due to the high magnification the object behind the focal plane becomes blurred easily even at f8

4. use zoom lens...put the object at minimum focal distance and focus at max zoom....the background will get blurrs

I will give you example with all these points

ok Soo I have some examples

1st I will show you how difeerent lens create bokeh when an object is just 5 inches from the subject

*farm6.staticflickr.com/5325/10082488795_e4eca5bf72_c.jpg
Bokeh close by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr

As I have said before...

example of 2nd point - I shot Tamron 17-50 at f4 from close and it nicely blurred the object behind
example of macro lens - you can see I shot the watch from very close but at around f5.6 or f8 but still due to close magnification it blurred off background subject as good as tamron did at f4
example of zoom lens - I used nikon 55-200 from around 2 feet at 200mm and it successfully blurred the object behind...but it didnt blur it that beautifully

now I shot some more when background is infinite
*farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/10082447164_31c8a7871d_z.jpg
Nikon 55m micro by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr
Shot with nikon 55mm micro lens...you can see the background is soo smooth and proper...thats how u get those plain green background in macro shots...its no magic

*farm3.staticflickr.com/2857/10082457714_5a715710d5_z.jpg
Tamron 17-50 by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr
this is shot with tamron ...you can see the background is blurred but not smooth and bit harsh...thats how some lens produce harsh Bokeh...cant help ...this shot at f3.5

*farm3.staticflickr.com/2843/10082464394_f1d0b7f99b_z.jpg
Nikon 55-200 by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr
now lastly this is shot with nikon 55-200
you can see that it produces very nice bokeh...and background is nicely blurred...I just love this lens

People can also play with lights for example I shot this last year using diwali lights

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7064/6920706685_0bfa1537ba.jpg
Cup of Love by sujoyp, on Flickr

sujoy can you post the first watch pic with the same crop factor as you used in the last two. I just want to see the bokeh of 50 micro compared to the zoon lens in last pci.

That is an absolutely brilliant set of examples Sujoy. Working a bit on this, hopefully will have some shots worth posting

sure faun...will post them today

but I must tell you that Nikon 55mm 2.8 Micro is famous for sharpness and produce just a notch less bokeh then 50mm 1.8

@amlan..thanks...bokeh can be produced by any lens...its a matter of technique

sujoyp said:
@amlan..thanks...bokeh can be produced by any lens...its a matter of technique

I really need to realize this, for the past month i tend to blame my equipment for stuff and then try to fix everything in post.
Its making me more of the instagrammer type photographer.

So lets shoot some awesome bokehs :sly::sly:

@faun here is the wide pic of nikon 55mm 2.8 micor...pic is not good but u can see the bokeh

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7366/10101040603_dc32e8d5c3_c.jpg
nikon 55mm wide by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr

its not a portrait lens soo maybe you will find the bokeh not too good from far away but I will show you example where i shot it from very close and bokeh came very creamy

*farm7.staticflickr.com/6094/6321921083_5a6cbdff7c.jpg
Insect by sujoyp, on Flickr

We will never be able to get that creamy background with our camera

nac you can...put your camera in macro mode and take shots of object from closest possible distance...try on a flower

Nac, you have a canon sx series right? Just zoom out to the max and use manual focus to get to the minimum focusing distance.

Place subject and move cam till object is in focus. Choose a place where the background is very far away. (balcony, park, hall etc).

Yes, I can get some bokeh... But not that creamy, misty, foggy washed out background...

nac post something so that we can see it...

How can I get a bokeh with my canon a3300 (point and shoot)?

frostbite said:
How can I get a bokeh with my canon a3300 (point and shoot)?

Apllies universally :-

izzikio_rage said:
Nac, you have a canon sx series right? Just zoom out to the max and use manual focus to get to the minimum focusing distance.

Place subject and move cam till object is in focus. Choose a place where the background is very far away. (balcony, park, hall etc).

sujoyp said:
nac post something so that we can see it...

I think, I have posted these before...

*imageshack.us/a/img29/3356/2dtj.jpg

*img853.imageshack.us/img853/864/ry0b.jpg

*imageshack.us/a/img546/2595/pqla.jpg

I am not saying these are not good, given the sensor size, it's fantastic. Just that the one's we get from a bigger sensor are much better

Those are some really good shots nac, and then you ask people here if you can get a bokeh with this lens

my contribution to this project

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3713/10140734475_e973fe6ebf_c.jpg
Shooting a shooter by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

shot this yesterday. I guess the bokeh in this is way better than my previous shots

nac those are nice...good enough

@amlan try more....yes this is a good composed shot..but u can have more bokeh

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3796/10212604754_43d07c2122_c.jpg
DSC_0190 by GirishGokul, on Flickr

Is this any good??

@girish its almost good...just select a better subject

G

@nac - The flower photo is too good; do you have a colour version too ?
I never get those kind of bokeh light circles.

What's that thing in the foreground in the 2nd one ?

^ Yeah, I have colour version too... Since I have already shared a colour version of the image (from the series), I posted black white.
That's a dried leaf in the foreground.

so is there a new project this week?

but no one did anything on last project

y new project ...I tried something but its not looking good

sujoyp said:
but no one did anything on last project y new project ...I tried something but its not looking good

Not fair, I've been shooting bokeh's for the past two weeks. To the point that people have started telling me "dude, half your photo is blurred, you should've purchased a real SLR, not this half jugaad

"

Anyhow just to hammer in my point here is another one
*farm4.staticflickr.com/3724/10295211934_3b3d7d27d8_c.jpg
Sound engineering by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

@amlan this is nice...liked it.

and yes people say that bokeh is a waste ...says itna mehanga camera and poora focus me kyo nahi aata

mera 5k se acchi pic aa jati hai

anyways we are part of artistic world and not snap shot photography world ...right ?? when a modern art of mf hussain having a horse head can sell for million doller then we are doing great

Comparing MF hussain to us? Maybe in a few years (and i kind of like wearing shoes :))

)

So, what project do we take up? Others, please come up with suggestions.

LOL

yaah others ..please suggest...from next month I can perform any project you like..I will be back in India

Tried Bokeh...

*farm6.staticflickr.com/5523/10591374774_687a2b956a.jpg
IMG_1765 by NikhileshSharma, on Flickr

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/10647409573_f3c0db9431.jpg
IMG_2050 by NikhileshSharma, on Flickr

@nikku..spider one is superb...clean OOF ...but flower one can have better..

Spide pic is damn gud

Thanks sujoy and srkmish..

Finally got my camera back, and just in time for Diwali. Finally got a decent bokeh shot

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3675/10703968495_6672d596cf_z.jpg
Time to start up the lights by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

nice amlan

I too tried many things with bokeh but they didnt come that good to share

one more

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7408/10745668425_d0f55e325f_z.jpg
Lamps by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

BTW since no one else seems to be suggesting photos projects then how about this. Let's do a project on household items, like coloring pencils and all. It's mostly about Macro shots, taking care of background and arranging the items artistically.

you can see some stuff here
30 Fabulous Photos of Pencils - Digital Photography School

the spider pic is amazing @nikku ...which cam?

abhidev said:
the spider pic is amazing @nikku ...which cam?

Thanks.. It's 1100D with 55-250 stock lens.

^^ Nice work Amlan.

@nikku : spider pic is amazing
@izzikio_rage : liked the pic of the diya. Very beautiful.

lm2k said:
@nikku : spider pic is amazing
@izzikio_rage : liked the pic of the diya. Very beautiful.

Thanks man..

Winter is here (atleast in rest of India, not here in Chennai :cry:

). I found an interesting thing to try in the winter

:

Snowflakes, night city and other things: My technique for snowflakes shooting

Trublu, there are only a few places in india that get any snow. If people are there then it would be awesome if they tried this out.

But i guess the rest of us can try this just to get good macro shots. Will need another lens though

A revival of this thread is needed. Can we take this week's project to be Christmas? There should be lots of stuff to shoot this week for it.

Sujoy can you start this off with some ideas and examples, i'll post a couple of them too.... Then we start shooting

Next Project - Christmas Captures

Christmas is a time of celebration and you will get lots of colors in church or at local christmas tree decoration...
best time to go for a shoot will be early around 7...as the time passes by the crowd increases.

you will find many decoration all around.

1. you can not carry flash or tripod with you soo take something which can take low light shots or be ready to bump up the ISO to 1600-3200

2. Dont disturb others there...if its not ur festival still its a religious thing.

3. its easier to capture beautiful colored bokeh there...do take ur 50mm along if u have.

some of my examples I took 2 years back

1. Small decoration 1
*farm3.staticflickr.com/2831/11477652424_339ba8f81e_z.jpg
Christmas4 by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr

2. Decoration
*farm3.staticflickr.com/2808/11477638055_0453acc1c5_z.jpg
Christmas3 by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr

3.candles
*farm4.staticflickr.com/3777/11477773333_6459461b4b_z.jpg
Christmas2 by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr

4. Beautiful girl putting candle

(thats y I hide behind candle

*farm6.staticflickr.com/5473/11477637245_08ff18ee61_z.jpg
Christmas1 by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr

5.Christmas tree at church
*farm8.staticflickr.com/7353/11477640015_1808a22988_z.jpg
Christmas6 by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr

*imageshack.us/a/img802/5467/3cjf.jpg

nice click nac .... oh and a merry christmas to everyone here

G

@izzikio_rage - Hows your new camera working out for you ?
btw your signature appears all messed up , is it just me ?
@sujoyp - like the xmas tree & candles.
@nac - whats that ?

Already posted a couple of christmas shots from sunday in the photography thread. I got 2 more for here.

*farm3.staticflickr.com/2829/11552581955_70a55c190d_c.jpg

*farm6.staticflickr.com/5537/11552636323_488cdc3138_b.jpg

@gen nice colorful christmas shots

Izziko's signature is messed up coz TDF have disabled html codes in signature...so all html tags are messing up

@gen: new camera (it's been 6 months now, so not sure it still qualifies as new) is great, still figuring out new stuff for it. Still get comments from people about how 'itne me to proper bada wala SLR aa jaata, yeh kyun le liya

). But it's good fun, next step is to get my hands on some manual focus, fast, prime lenses (hoping for a 50mm f/1.4 minolta MD mount lens since I have ordered the adapter to fit it on my cam)

@sujoy: good shots, but way below your usual standard of shots .... so waiting for more

@nac ... nice shot, but I guess a macro shot with the ornament focused would also look amazing.

Gen, That's decoration star you see people let it hang in their house for christmas. I fell sick few days ago, I planned to go out for taking some pictures. But I couldn't it, so I shot that one.

Amlan, That's wasn't for the project. It was more like greeting card.

My entry for this project

*farm6.staticflickr.com/5487/11567316546_38517557b5_c.jpg
Merry Christmas everyone by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

@amlan those shots were taken 3 years back

I put them as sample ...I wished to shoot christmas but my bad schedule and evening gym made it impossible...lets see if I get something in new year I will post it in this project

Photo Project: Bokeh

*imageshack.com/a/img802/4238/egbp.jpg

That is a pretty awesome bokeh Surauna, Guess the full zoom and aperture wide open idea worked for you too

Yeah, it's working... I wish I could get that nice round bokeh like in the marigold photo...

Nice bokeh nac ...round bokeh is quit difficult to get.....keep trying

Need decent highlights in the background and right size subject. If I zoom in all the way, frame only covers an inch or two tall subject.

This was taken when I was trying on new years eve for this same project. There was good enough highlight to get that round bokeh, but I couldn't find any decent subject at that time.

No subject in the first one, just the bokeh
*imageshack.com/a/img543/5777/py22.jpg *imageshack.com/a/img833/9720/x6n2.jpg

@amlan its all about setup...without a setup I dont think its possible..

G

new year eve bokeh is nice. I've never got remotely close to getting a bokeh like that.

Project : Bokeh

Since I got my hands on the close up convertor I've been searching for others on ebay and all. Seems like a pretty good option, it is available at around Rs 800 for a set of lenses (+1, +2, +4, +5). Also there are the reverse mounting rings for your normal lenses ( Though I think this can only be done with a manual lens since reverse mounting kills the af, electronic aperture control and all)

Almost all these options gave some really amazing macros and really smooth creamy bokehs. Worth a try if you want to do macro photography on the cheap

Can we make the next project about shooting during the golden hour (during sunrise and at sunset). It gives some amazing pictures, specially if you are planning to do portraits. Plus it'll get all of us lazy people out of our beds early in the morning

Sujoy, if you agree then lets start this up

sorry amlan I didnt notice your last comment.

I have all three of them those closeup lens which cost 500 ...reverse ring to mount manual lenses and manual extension tubes ...all three have some or other advantage disadvantages...if anyone interested then I can give a explaination else u better off getting a macro lens like me later

yaah sure we can have a golden hour photo project...but please explain exactly what kind of pic u want

explain in detail in 200 words

Project: Golden hour Photography

In photography, the golden hour (sometimes known as magic hour) is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day. This is the time of sunset/sunrise. Due to the diffused slanting light (which is a warm golden, hence the name) at this time you get images that have soft shadows, beautiful highlights, a higher dynamic range and very bright saturated colors.

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6572564669_eebbbd990d.jpg

How to shoot it
That's the easiest bit, you just need to shoot using natural light during the first and last hour of sunlight during the day. You can pretty much shoot anything, landscapes, portraits or even street photography. Just a few tips
1. keep your aperture wide open as the amount of light is less
2. Keep a high ISO to counter the lower light
3. Set the white balance on your camera to cloudy to make the picture even warmer. In auto, your camera will neutralize the beautiful golden color
4 SHOOT FAST : since you only have a limited time for this and the light changes very quickly. So prepare everything beforehand

Stuff to try out

1. Rim lighting: You keep the sun hidden behind your subject so that it highlights all the outlines of the subject. You might need a reflector to reflect the rays back on the subject to make them brighter. Just use a large sheet, chart paper, thermocole sheet for this
*farm6.staticflickr.com/5101/5608324654_e13b600ed2.jpg

2. Flare: Change position so that the sunlight hits your lens directly. This will give the photo a warm glow and add rainbow like colors and round lens flares to your picture. Changing your aperture, lens or even angle will give very different effects.

*new.photographyconcentrate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/large_curtkristina-0171.jpg

3. Landscapes: Same as normal. Just reduce your aperture to f/8 or lower. If you can set your camera up on a tripod or place it on something (wall, chair, a sleeping cow) and trigger it via a 10sec timer, then reduce the ISO to the lowest and increase shutter speed to get a bright image. If not, then just shoot handheld in landscape mode.

*www.photographymad.com/files/images/hot-air-balloons-sunrise.jpg

Give this a shot this weekend, and lets share our results here next week.

wow ...very nice...Now I can try something...I have an idea in my mind..lets see if I can apply it somehow

what a bad luck ...woke up for these golden hour shoot and sky is all dull with just red sun behind

Managed these shots ...will try more

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3805/12024054884_ba4c2989e7_z.jpg
DSC_1074 by sujoyp, on Flickr

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3737/12024541686_d697fa87c2_z.jpg
DSC_1041 by sujoyp, on Flickr

Actually I had the idea to show two worrier fight in golden hour but my other worrier had a broken leg and can not stand on its own

...will try to repair it and follow my idea

This time of the year, it will be little foggy/misty in the morning. You can try to get one like the sample one posted (landscape).

it was not foggy or mysty it was cloudy....and yesterday it rained here...no birds today no flowers :hissyfit:

sunrise is not working for me either .... but I guess I'll need to try for sunset

I tried, it was misty/foggy... So tweaked to get that "golden" effect...

Project: Golden hour Photography

*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/829/9vvk.jpg

G

sujoyp said:
what a bad luck ...woke up for these golden hour shoot and sky is all dull with just red sun behind

The 1st one is quite nice.
I haven't seen nice clouds in the sky for some months now. The sky is always dull greyish light blue all the day & sunsets aren't much interesting.

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7388/12030463514_87f5014e8f_b.jpg

But u guys are just taking silhouette...but in example there is no silhouette..

Guys think of some other compositions...something new

I guess one thing to remember is that we don't need to get the golden sky in the shot to get a great golden hour shot, the light itself will give you some awesome shots

here is the only good shot I have of the golden hour

*farm3.staticflickr.com/2774/4503328390_c94c7284aa.jpg
paths not taken by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

Here are some from other flicker profiles that I liked

This I think has used a reflector to reflect the light onto the lady's face
*farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6902476914_e54da91d74_c.jpg
Golden Hour by Rick Nunn, on Flickr

*farm6.staticflickr.com/5515/9531224728_387b117619_c.jpg
Golden Hour Swoops by interchangeableparts, on Flickr

this has used the trees and the shadows to great effect to get an amazing effect. Notice how the low diffused light gives a great depth and color to the pic

Golden Hour Doe by Spring Noel, on Flickr

yaah yaah soo try something na...I will see if tomorrow there is some sunshine I will take something in morning golden hr

sujoyp said:
But u guys are just taking silhouette...but in example there is no silhouette..

Guys think of some other compositions...something new

Isn't the camel shot, silhouette??

If I have to get something similar to the sample images, I don't think I can try to the first two (rim and flare) with the set up I have. I can try the third one (landscape), just have to scout for location.

G

nac said:
Isn't the camel shot, silhouette??

If I have to get something similar to the sample images, I don't think I can try to the first two (rim and flare) with the set up I have. I can try the third one (landscape), just have to scout for location.

For the rim lighting one, you actually need to be careful with the metering mode, the spot one worked for me for ok results. But I get overexposed background. ... now that I see, they example has blown out sky too.

In all the examples I can see details of subject and none of them is black out...thats the reason I havent blacked out my subject and you can see the details of shield and its muscles ...

sujoyp said:
you can see the details of shield and its muscles ...

If I look hard, I could see your muscles too from the shield reflection

Gen.Libeb said:
For the rim lighting one, you actually need to be careful with the metering mode, the spot one worked for me for ok results. But I get overexposed background. ... now that I see, they example has blown out sky too.

How much a pair of reflectors would cost? That would help to make the image from OK to BETTER.

24inch reflectors cost 500 for one side white other side silver ....5 reflectors pack of 42inch will cost 900-1200

I wanted to buy one but didnt have any shoot to test

24 inch one is very small just size of a thali ...42 inch is big for full body portrait

sujoyp said:
24inch reflectors cost 500 for one side white other side silver ....5 reflectors pack of 42inch will cost 900-1200 I wanted to buy one but didnt have any shoot to test

24 inch one is very small just size of a thali ...42 inch is big for full body portrait

Actually, a reflector is the easiest thing to make at home. You can literally use a steel thali for this, or a big piece of thermocol or chart paper.

yaah amlan you are right but the thing you buy from market folds very small ...the 24inch one can be folded into your bag

Damn, ever since I started this project the sun has decided not to show up in Delhi. First few days we had a frozen hour in place of the golden hour at sunrise. Sat, I decided to shoot at sunset to get these shots in and it started raining

. Fingers crossed for the rest of the week.

hmmm similarly we had cloudy weather from 2 days ...

Ok, after failing miserably to see the sun god over the past one week I decided to cheat. Went to some malls that had really bright halogens, put my cam to cloudy mode and clicked this.

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3681/12120580695_02cb6fab53_c.jpg
Nightly strolls by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

People who're lucky enough to see the sun, start clicking this weekend

I am lucky here...will go to garden early this time...I want to shoot green bee eater in golden hour...till now I used to search for kingfisher 1st

Project: Golden hour Photography

Entry # 2

*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/30/drcs.jpg

Shot RAW, it's the sole reason behind we see so much details in this image.

Ground details look good nac...but donno y the sun and cloud looks strange

It gone through heavy editing. But most of them were in the ground where the paddy fields are. Comparing with the jpeg, sky lost the blue tint and got green (coz I increased the hue "green" to get the field greener.)

Nac: that is a pretty cool shot. Although if you are using light room it would have been a better idea to increase the saturation for green rather than giving the entire image a green hue. Also there are visible green artificts on the image. I guess that comes from over processing it. If you want then just attach the RAW here and maybe we can give it a shot?

Thanks for the tip Amlan, I didn't thought of that when applying GND filter.

And sorry... I thought sky got the green tint because of hue. But it's not... It's better call it as "heavy editing"... Choice of WB coupled with Vibrance and saturation.

I am attaching the RAW file.

CRW_3015 - Download - 4shared

few from me. Comments are welcome

[url=*www.flickr.com/photos/68338749@N06/12177362764/]*farm4.staticflickr.com/3672/12177362764_33e320428f.jpg Serene by NikhileshSharma, on Flickr[/URL]

another one

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7420/12177270684_2060e06293.jpg
Kanyakumari Pics by NikhileshSharma, on Flickr

great shots nikku..1st one is awesome composition

Awesome shot nikku.... first shot is too good

G

@nikku_hot123 - Great pic with the boat

Thanks guys...

Nikku, Nice work :thumbs:

How was the "Trip to South India"? I hope you have lot more to share than these two photographs...

Thanks nac... Yeah I got lots of pics and processing is going on.

And trip was nice.

G

nac said:
I am attaching the RAW file.

I gave it a try, I can't get a result anywhere as good as you did.

*imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/62/qzm0.jpg

Gen.Libeb said:
I gave it a try, I can't get a result anywhere as good as you did.

Probably, I gone crazy with the editing.
Glad you say my work (PP) is good (Really???) *www.gif-paradies.de/gifs/smilies/2d_gefuehle/gefuehle_smilie_0227.gif

I too tried to edit your pic...but really what you edited nac is awesome

...I could not come even close

*farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/12217194313_e4c3ec27a5_z.jpg
CRW_301511222 by sujoypackrasy, on Flickr

I am on

@nikku: that boat pic is amazing. The colors and shades are amazing, it's a little underexposed though

@nac: here is my attempt. A little noisy, but I guess that was given considering how much I tried to push the exposure in PP.

*i.imgur.com/BffMN1H.jpg

And a version which looks a bit more natural

*i.imgur.com/Nj1tnv9.jpg

Project: Golden hour photography

Finally got some decent sunlight today. Here is one image, I have a couple of others will see if any of them are worth putting up.

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3779/12255391374_0ac3332064_c.jpg
Bottling some sunlight by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

Good one amlan...

Nice attempt Amlan...

I guess this one can be in both the golden hour and the bokeh project (am getting super lazy)

*farm4.staticflickr.com/3666/12290733035_0f3d28e1e6_c.jpg
Of lights and handicrafts by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

amlan last shot of this subject was much better...this one is good for bokeh project only

@amlan. Thanks buddy, will try to get a better exposure in the pic.

Any suggestions for the next project people. I've been trying out high speed photography over the past few days. If you people are ok then we can keep that as the next project. What say?

yaah yaah sure amlan..that will be great...lets do it

Can u guys explain what is it?? Speed photography.

High speed photograpy

This time's project is about using the highest shutter speed of your camera to freeze things that our eyes can't see. So things like water drops, popping balloons, breaking glass. The basic rules are pretty simple, you need lots and lots of light. so shoot in bright sunlight or use your flash.

sunlight
1. Use the highest shutter speed on your camera to freeze the motion
2. keep aperture narrow f/8 types so that you have a decent depth of field (you may need to increase this if light is low)
3. High ISO (400-800) to compensate for the high shutter speed and small aperture
4. burst mode can be used since it's hard to get the timing right

flash based
1. Use a dark room so that the flash is the main and brightest source of light
2. aperture will need to be set according to how much light your flash gives
3. High ISO
4. Using a flash will limit your shutter speed to 1/250 or 1/160, don't worry, the flash itself gives light for only 1/1000th of a sec so it will act as your shutter speed
5. burst mode might not be available, so try try try to get the timing right

*cdn.tutsplus.com/photo/uploads/legacy/401_fastshutter/Chaval%20Brasil.jpg

*cdn.tutsplus.com/photo/uploads/legacy/401_fastshutter/Steph.jpg

*cdn.tutsplus.com/photo/uploads/legacy/401_fastshutter/Edward%20Horsford.jpg

Go on give it a shot

I tried this out this weekend so I have a few images already, sharing them here.

*farm3.staticflickr.com/2833/12405421175_678e49a51f_c.jpg

Thanks amlan for the example ...ur shot wont count ..remember the rule...you have to shoot after creating the project

Crap... should have created this project a day earlier then ...

No worries though, it was awesome fun the first time round and I just hope I'll get time to try it out again this week.

Yaah if u dont have much time u can try splash with something at high speed

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today I tried this high speed shots ...and none of them look good ...wasted whole afternoon splashing ball on a bucket
Will try with my off-camera flash tomorrow...I thinks its easier with flash

hey no participation here...it was a simple project...just try it in a sunny day

Here I was thinking that this project would be something that everyone would try, since it involves stuff that you can easily get at home and pretty much any camera can do this.

I will try tomorrow...its saturday ...and I will have free eveninig time

Will try this weekend, but without remote trigger I think it's gonna be PITA. but will try to get some clicks.

you dont need a remote in this one...just need a friend to perform

High Speed Photography (I don't know whether this qualifies or not)

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/12674603304_247df24893_z.jpg
Kick
This is a cropped one, the full picture is better but I don't want to promote nudity on TDF

nope this doesnt qualify ....I mean u have to show the face of the person kicking the ball else how will we know he was running or walking or standing like that

You wanna see that guy topless :lol:

ok I will put the uncropped one then....And if my friend gets to this then it would probably be my last upload :X

ooh leave it...its ok

Golden hour project
a very very late entry to the golden hour project

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7419/12953562814_98c9cb5196_c.jpg
Time to light the lamps by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

Nice one Amlan.
It's alright better late than never

nice one amlan ...loved the composition

Thank you sujoy and nac , somehow had missed this thread for some days. I tried to get that rim light thing (guess it comes out well only on people), did get the lens flare in this though

yaah maybe on hair light looks beautiful...maybe it needs a curvey objects like a ball or tree or animal or human

G

Any tips on shooting electronic items ? may be cell phones , pc parts something like that without much setup?
I need some inspiration to get myself back into photography.

without much setup...hmm get 2 led table lamps ...put the item between them and shoot at f11-f22 ...use white or black base ...I just shot some of my coins yesterday...still processing them

I want to take some shots of Street Vendors , somewhere around Chandni Chowk Delhi , in morning at 10:00 clock.
Any recommendations ??
Although , a friend of mine would be accompanying me with his DSLR. But I am clueless.

rishi ...there is no sure shot formula for street photography...just put aperture around f8 to get them sharp ...try to shoot at 35-50mm mostly to get a good angle/composition...and never use pop up flash

For street photography mostly the moments are split second ones so keep the cam on program mode and on AF. Shutter speed priority is also a good mode if you want to capture motion blurs or panning shots.

Try to talk to the people after you shoot them, it makes you less creepy.

Look for patterns or frame shots that tell a story, Don't spray and pray hoping to get a good shot

Check out flickr/500px before you go out. It'll give you some great ideas

Have fun, its usually a very strange experience if you are a shy person. Hoping to see some awesome clicks

and yes if someone demands to see the shot or delete it ...please delete it happily ...dont argue in any case ....or you may end up in a bad experience

sujoyp said:
and yes if someone demands to see the shot or delete it ...please delete it happily ...dont argue in any case ....or you may end up in a bad experience

The benefit of being a geek is that you know that even the deleted photos can be recovered easily.

I wouldn't mind deleting them , I know how to get em back.

sujoyp said:
rishi ...there is no sure shot formula for street photography...just put aperture around f8 to get them sharp ...try to shoot at 35-50mm mostly to get a good angle/composition...and never use pop up flash

Okay. I will try these settings.

izzikio_rage said:
For street photography mostly the moments are split second ones so keep the cam on program mode and on AF. Shutter speed priority is also a good mode if you want to capture motion blurs or panning shots.

Try to talk to the people after you shoot them, it makes you less creepy.

Look for patterns or frame shots that tell a story, Don't spray and pray hoping to get a good shot

Check out flickr/500px before you go out. It'll give you some great ideas

Have fun, its usually a very strange experience if you are a shy person. Hoping to see some awesome clicks

Yeah . Its kind of strange when doing street photography , specially people staring .
Will post some pics on Sunday.

G

Rishi. said:
The benefit of being a geek is that you know that even the deleted photos can be recovered easily.

I wouldn't mind deleting them , I know how to get em back.

LoL. That behavior is being an a##@ole geek.

A couple of ideas for future projects

Benezier method: was just reading about the benezier method of emulating the DOF and field of view that a medium format camera (with an even bigger sensor than a full frame). Seems like a fun thing to do if you are comfortable with using photoshop or other editing programs. does not require a hifi cam to do

Shooting an emotion: this is a task that a couple of pro photographer friends of mine get from their mentors. The idea is to shoot something that will immidiately allow the viewer to identify the emotion that you've chosen, like love (pretty easy) or anger (hard if you are not shooting a portrait). Again can be tired with pretty much any cam

We can always do projects on light painting, star trails, panning etc provided people are interested. What say?

I am already learning about star trails and stary sky ...Nac is working on it...prashant is good at it...we can have the project

Got myself a gimbal head, Opteka GH1 Pro Heavy Duty Gimbal Head with Quick Release (Supports up to 30lbs)

Superb one, has that Arca Swiss kind of release Will try and pick up Gitzo second hand legs or something similar, gearing up for the Big purchase the Tamron 150-600mm . Have already contacted Tamron India,available on order only!!!!!!!!

14k head

and u want to spend 20-25k on gitzo legs ....just for a tammy 150-600

costing 80k ....why not get canon 100-400 L at least

Posted the same thing twice ,looking despo now. Moved it from here Realising it a wrong section and you commented posted it back for relevance and in the other post Nac commented niw cant delete either!

Yes , buying the 100-400L was the original plan but have given up on it since budget is a constraint.But still if I can shore up the funds surely will by the L ,but its distant dream as of now.

Project: Light Photography

The Door

*i102.photobucket.com/albums/m108/tkphotos1/IMG_3933_zps8aa3fe07.jpg

SX130 | f/3.4 | 1 min | ISO 80 | F 28mm eq.,

Bought a laser pointer last week. And completed this project. It's been in queue for a long time.

This is my 6th project out of 11.

I request sujoy to put an index in the very first post. Links to the posts where we can see details of the projects. If you have links to the posts where the images are posted.

Ok will do that soon
[MENTION=125321]nac[/MENTION] thats an awesome shot

...

Thats a very cool shot,

The index idea is great, but can that even be done on a forum?

Yeah, You can see index like thing on the other thread (learn photography with me).

Nac give me some time...I will do it

that'll be awesome, it will also give us a chance to figure out which projects we've missed and then do them. BTW what is the plan for the next project? are we doing star trails? although I might not be able to do it considering the amount of pollution (both light and smoke) in gurgaon

I wanted to do star trails but the sky is cloudy even in summers ...you can try starry sky type of shots

No stars in gurgaon, the entire sky has this orange haze on it

Or is there is any other idea for a project then lets do that

Puddle reflections

since we've been debating a revival of this thread lets start with a super easy project. The objective is to get some reflection shots in puddles of water.

*designyoutrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/street-puddle-photography3.jpg

1.Can be done with any cam/phone etc.
2.Important point is that the closer the camera is to the puddle the more feild of view you'll get in the puddle. So keep the camera almost touching the water.
3. Can't find a puddle? empty a bucket and make your own
4. need more advise? Puddle photography

examples

*sweetgrace.typepad.com/.a/6a00e553deebaf88340133ece8bceb970b-500wi

nice...this I can try...mumbai have water everywhere...like everywhere

nac said:
Yeah, You can see index like thing on the other thread (learn photography with me).

sujoyp said:
Nac give me some time...I will do it

Can we make the index for this thread as well. That way people who are new can still try out all the projects

Is anyone trying the puddle project? Do give it a shot, i guess it would be raining in most places. If not then make your own puddles

It's not raining here... But luckily it did yesterday, it was late and I didn't dare to go out in rain to take the shot. Self made puddle is not that impressive.

Well I got a couple of shots ... but none are as cool as I would like. So will give a shot over the week as well.

REFLECTION

*i.imgur.com/m5ZmMiK.jpg

Nice click, here the day i carry my camera it stops raining. Still waiting for a good puddle shot

Thanks !!!!!! Actually, this pic is from a Zoological Park....Flamingos by the side of an artificial pond....

nice one kaz

Kaz, Nice start. Finally, a photograph after months...

Thanks [MENTION=39722]sujoyp[/MENTION] and [MENTION=125321]nac[/MENTION]

Hey guys i have a pic but i am not able to fix it. As i am not that good at PP. can somebody help me, Specially fixing the blown out sky.

here is the link to download the pic.
Download

There is no cloud/sky detail to bring back and the over exposed part of the sky doesn't look bad either.

nikku_hot123 said:
Hey guys i have a pic but i am not able to fix it. As i am not that good at PP. can somebody help me, Specially fixing the blown out sky.

here is the link to download the pic.
Download

Nikku, drop this into the post processing thread. I'm pretty sure you'll get good advise and post processing done there

Post processing thread

nac said:
There is no cloud/sky detail to bring back and the over exposed part of the sky doesn't look bad either.

me too think so, as when i clicked this pic in kanyakumari it was bright sunlight in the noon.

- - - Updated - - -

izzikio_rage said:
Nikku, drop this into the post processing thread. I'm pretty sure you'll get good advise and post processing done there

Post processing thread

I posted there. Thanks

Guys lets start this projects thread again ... My cam seems to be collecting dust these days. Give me suggestions, will post the starting note

1. Christmas shots
2. mist & fog
3. Bokeh

these are good idea....i will try mist & fog

If others are ok with doing mist and fog as well then sujoy would you post a starting note with eg, tips and all?

hmm let me do that....I dont get much time nowdays..I will search for tips and post that

Sujoy, post karo... Lets see some amazing pics

Photography Project :Shooting Fog

I read this article and its very good
How to capture photos in foggy or misty conditions - Digital Photo Secrets

1. Need a tripod or u need to increase ISO cause its less light out due to fog
2. if you want foggy landscape dont shoot longer then 1 second exposure...if you want fog on water body of smooth fog then you can shoot longer exposures
3. Fog generally fools cameras metering system cause of reflective nature. better take a sample shot and increase the exposure compensation according to that.
4. Shoot RAW to play with white balance later on
5. Its advisable to have a subject in foreground to give depth in image.

*farm6.staticflickr.com/5552/15040075967_489f50554a_c.jpgFog by ncocco, on Flickr

*farm8.staticflickr.com/7512/15682249751_8e4ed8c2b6_c.jpgfog by neonow, on Flickr

Cool, will shoot fog this weekend. The second photo is a beauty and quite easy to do.

Who all are still following this thread?

I am going home on 24th...I will do this excersise then...Nagpur is quit cold and foggy this year

Ok, my attempts for the fog challenge. I was trying to get a few foggy night shots and this is the one I liked the most

*farm9.staticflickr.com/8651/16079275991_e7185abac5_c.jpgLooking up by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

Was checking out some ideas in my old pics and got this one, will try to do a revisit of this. Perhaps with a new twist

*farm9.staticflickr.com/8506/8515511623_35762afb02_c.jpgAs I fade away by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

amlan whats foggy about the 1st one ...2nd one is superb shot

Well during light fog the entire color of the place changes to the color of the lights. Here the purple lights make all the buildings appear purple as well.

G

[MENTION=8593]izzikio_rage[/MENTION] - The 2nd pic is awesome. I think I've seen it before.

Finally got my camera back repaired.

*i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t627/GenLibeb/fog-attempt_zps7d11a0ef.jpg

One shot from mumbai fog

*farm9.staticflickr.com/8579/16102651631_ac5fe2e363_c.jpgDSC_6720 by sujoyp, on Flickr

attempt no 2 at fog pictures. Clicked this with my phone

*farm9.staticflickr.com/8622/16340242071_9084ccbe5c_c.jpgThe road less travelled by Amlan Mathur, on Flickr

I've gotten hold of a intervoltmeter app for my cam and am trying to get some star trails or even a timelapse video. If anyone else is intersted in doing this I can start this off as a project. People with a canon cam can do the same using the CHDK firmware

S

Hmm, well the projects thread seems to be dead ?

just needs someone to take the initiative

... that's the hardest part

Suggestions for this weekend?

I shot some macros and planning to edit them...I will be back into photography very soon

then will give suggessions

Not participating right now, but thought to drop in a line that I subscribed to this thread, since I think what you guys are doing here, is actually pretty cool.
Carry on ... and Good luck ... :doublethumb:

(maybe some day I will post a pic myself. Maybe tho).

Edit: Realized this was a old thread. Nevertheless, my point stands.

guys if somehow we can create a mumbai photography group then I am sure we can post lots of pics in this thread

I have not found any photography enthusiast friend in mumbai...and going with the girls you know (they will be in all the pics

)

sujoyp said:
guys if somehow we can create a mumbai photography group then I am sure we can post lots of pics in this thread

I have not found any photography enthusiast friend in mumbai...and going with the girls you know (they will be in all the pics )

Such misogynistic thoughts. Waise remember we all did that self portrait challenge. So i guess no one will mind seeing some of the forum members.

Do go Sujoy, it'l be fun

No no I am talking about weekly challange...if I can form a local group then 2-3 guys will post pics which will inturn create interest for other forum members too for participation.

I already went to many place around mumbai but I feel for photography its required to go with photography enthusiast friends only..going with girlfriend or general friend do not give much fruitful results

S

sujoyp said:
No no I am talking about weekly challange...if I can form a local group then 2-3 guys will post pics which will inturn create interest for other forum members too for participation.

I already went to many place around mumbai but I feel for photography its required to go with photography enthusiast friends only..going with girlfriend or general friend do not give much fruitful results

D: I live so far away.......literally isolated on a mountain top away from civilization....I cannot even think of a group considering my location xD

you live in one of the best places in india...you should shoot alone

So anything this weekend?

leave weekend...we will try to shoot the firework on diwali...that itself is a big project

I did fireworks on dussera... Need something new

yaah...humm you can try to shoot sunset..but sun should be visible in the pic ...round red sun

have u tried it?

So did somebody tried to capture the sunset...I was not joking..its almost not possible to capture sun in a picture..if its possible please give tips

R

What is the issue you face when capturing the sun? I've not tried many sunsets because I'm in the wrong location for that, but I have had some success with the sunrise.

whenever I tried to capture a sunset thats the reddish glow light which is soo beautiful with big round sun.....if I meter it on anything other then sun then sun will look like a bright light and the round thing will disappear
If you point the meter towards sun everything will become dark as compared to sun...and again picture will be useless.

even if I try to bracket the shots the sun will look like a bright light source but no round red ball.

^ Were you serious? I didn't take that post serious, thought you didn't mean it "impossible".
I have taken both sunrise and sunset without blowing up the sun and retaining the disc shape. At least by my scale, they are "disc"

Do I have any in this set as you expect?
Meter for Sun and fix the rest to your taste in post.

Nac sadly there is none what I really wanted in that set.

look this one..when you meter at the sun - *flic.kr/p/dD93Vf here sun is there but the environment becomes dark...and that beautiful pink hue in the sky is completely lost.

what I want is a sky like this one
*weknowyourdreams.com/images/sunset/sunset-01.jpg

and a pink sun in it..

didnt you guys see a big pink sun setting in the afternoon with pink hue in the sky ...exactly same thing

Google some examples of what you want... And lets all give it a shot

HDR shot might be the answer. A +3 type bracketing.

sujoyp said:
what I want is a sky like this one
*weknowyourdreams.com/images/sunset/sunset-01.jpg

and a pink sun in it..

didnt you guys see a big pink sun setting in the afternoon with pink hue in the sky ...exactly same thing

Looks like long exposure to get enough light.

@amlan...let me try to find one..although in the morning I was not able to find any.
[MENTION=20614]Faun[/MENTION] this maybe a long exposure...but a long exposure with sun in it will make sun vanish in the sky

- - - Updated - - -

what I want is almost impossible to get..but we see it daily in the sky

a sky like this
*74211.com/wallpaper/picture_big/The-Setting-Sun-Has-Added-Everything-Light-Pink-Color-Clouds-Are-Soft-and-in-Slow-Move-It-is-the-End-of-a-Busy-Day-HD-Natural-Scenery-Wallpaper.jpg

and a pink sun like this one-
*1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Z-GeWl5Cr8/UioYkcpoI1I/AAAAAAAAaF0/RroJra8wCYc/s640/3256247655_752080167d_z.jpg

just see the sky when sunset or sunrise and you will know what I want...dont belive google pics on this

Photoshop for good measures.

I am not sure if you can actually capture the pic you are describing. May be under some special circumstances.

I think it's possible, Sujoy. Shoot RAW, expose for Sun, adjust WB to get the pink tint (you can't always find the pink sky) - Check out prashant's work, you can find pink in pretty much all of his landscape work (no offense Prashant

) and adjust exposure for the sky if you find it dark.

The first two in my set are shot at the same morning. I tried warm in one, and pink in another. But in this monsoon season, do you guys see Sun? It's been weeks since the last sunny day.

I see sun here daily

and even in mumbai sun is clear

Ok I will give one sincere attempt after going back to mumbai tomorrow..lets see

R

Hmmm. These are the nearest that I have to that description.

Sunrise:

Sunset:

raja manuel said:
Hmmm. These are the nearest that I have to that description.

Are those yours? *www.americandetectorist.com/forum/images/smilies/mysmilies/shocked03.gif

[MENTION=133607]raja[/MENTION] the 1st one is matching..but not the 2nd one

R

nac said:
Are those yours? *www.americandetectorist.com/forum/images/smilies/mysmilies/shocked03.gif

Yes.

sujoyp said:
@raja the 1st one is matching..but not the 2nd one

If you look at the luminence histogram of that image (sunrise) you can see why it doesn't have many of the issues you encountered: it has a rather narrow dynamic range. The unclipped portion of the sun is approximately in the middle of the histogram, and most of the histogram peaks long before the highlight end. The foreground registers as a spike a little way from the shadow end, but the bulk of the image is middle to middle-right. Getting the sun in the middle of the histogram is possible only when its direct light is very low, such as when it is just peeking over the horizon, and its light is also lighting up the sky with close to the same intensity. There should be no visible clouds near the horizon or the sun's light will diffuse and you will lose the disk. Same applies for dust and pollution so shooting over the sea gives you an advantage if you are in a city. If there are clouds above you they can reflect sunlight onto the foreground and narrow the dynamic range even more.

To shoot that sunrise I walked every morning by the beach and timed the sun. From the time I saw the top edge of the sun appearing over the horizon to the time the bottom edge clears the horizon was less than 4 minutes. It's a narrow window but at least I didn't have to hang around long. Once the sun crosses the window it rapidly brightens and in just a matter of minutes it is one large diffused blown out highlight in the sky. How quickly the sun climbs the sky depends on your latitude I think, so you might have more time and more friendly light further away from the equator.

I obviously tried several times. I got a nice series of shots in January sometime after the rains ended when the air was clear, crisp, and cool and the beach was deserted. I guess a similar procedure in reverse should work for sunsets but I've never tried that as I'm on the east coast and cannot shoot over the ocean.

raja manuel said:
Yes.

Wow!!! Raja. I am surprised. Oh boy!!! Finally.
I guess this is your first ever photographs you share with us in my four years in this forum.

Can you guys use imgur or some other external image sharing. Cant see the pics by raja.

Same issue here... And I'd love to see the pics

Faun said:
Can you guys use imgur or some other external image sharing. Cant see the pics by raja.

izzikio_rage said:
Same issue here... And I'd love to see the pics

Too late guys. Screening over...

Was this like a flash sale .

Sujoy, will give your idea a shot this weekend. Although i feel that it needs to be an HDR shot made in Photomatix or something like that

R

nac said:
Wow!!! Raja. I am surprised. Oh boy!!! Finally.
I guess this is your first ever photographs you share with us in my four years in this forum.

I have posted a couple before. Yeah, it's not a large number but my score wasn't zero.

Faun said:
Can you guys use imgur or some other external image sharing. Cant see the pics by raja.

izzikio_rage said:
Same issue here... And I'd love to see the pics

I can't see them either. I used photobucket to post the images which works well for other forums – have no idea why they showed up this way (though they show up if I click on reply with quote). Can you tell me how you link images here so that they show up in the thread itself?

Here are the direct links if you still can't see them:
Sunrise:
*i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x458/pokeslow/Potluck/Shutterbug/GoodMorning_zpsbae7aedb.jpg
Sunset:
*i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x458/pokeslow/Potluck/Shutterbug/CloudMarch_zps3aeeea94.jpg

raja manuel said:
I have posted a couple before. Yeah, it's not a large number but my score wasn't zero.

Oh, may be I couldn't remember them. Probably long ago...

raja manuel said:
I can't see them either. I used photobucket to post the images which works well for other forums – have no idea why they showed up this way (though they show up if I click on reply with quote). Can you tell me how you link images here so that they show up in the thread itself?

But the previous post seems like an attachment than a link.
In photobucket on the right hand side there are four links. The last one is "IMG", just click the link. It will be copied automatically, just paste link here (don't need to use insert image option). Like this

*i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x458/pokeslow/Potluck/Shutterbug/GoodMorning_zpsbae7aedb.jpg

*i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x458/pokeslow/Potluck/Shutterbug/CloudMarch_zps3aeeea94.jpg

R

Thanks!

H

Hi friend this a great project I tried. Good luck to your work.

have all the photographers of TDF become that lazy?

lol..maybe yes

i seem to take more personal portraits then doing photography.

YES. Highly inactive. And with like button, we don't have to leave a line saying "I like it". I started seeing that option lately, I didn't see many photographs after that. I didn't even get to use that option much.

We need to start something, this weekend perhaps. Nahi to this group will disappear

you guys are right..actually it happens like this but new guys come in with enthu and take the group ahead...
[MENTION=125321]nac[/MENTION] please start shooting

you are one of the most active member and you post pics very rarely.

I will shoot something

my valentine shoot didnt go that well else i would have posted it

sujoyp said:
you guys are right..actually it happens like this but new guys come in with enthu and take the group ahead...
@nac please start shooting you are one of the most active member and you post pics very rarely.

That's what I think too... There should be a wave of new comers every now and then to take it to the next level. But here 3 old people talking about it

Yeah, I am not taking as many photos as my first year with the camera. I am not going out much and I am not creating opportunity to take photos. From March we can start to see Milkyway. May be I can try that if the sky is clear.

I am gonna see how active I was then and how active I am now.

I am trying to clean the spot from the sensor/lens. I called Canon, I was asked to take it to the service center. Emailed, same response. I couldn't even get a rough quotation. I am not ready to send the camera without knowing the cost of service. If it's too expensive, I wouldn't send.

give them to check the issue, they can call you regarding cost before repairing it. checking will cost something but not much.

R

It depends on how much activity you want, but these are my thoughts on why we are seeing limited activity here:

* The subforum name itself points to this being a gear forum rather than a photography forum. This is why so many queries here are about buying a camera, after which you don't hear from that person again. Once they have the camera they want they don't have much incentive to come back here.
* Gear forums also suffer from being brand or platform dominated. E.g., if people here keep recommending Nikon DSLRs, there is very little reason for Canon, Sony, Panasonic, of Fuji users to participate in any discussion. Analogy: I'm a Windows Phone user. I will never come to this website for WP news or tips & tricks because it is dominated by Android. There are other places on the net where I can get what I want, including a very vibrant community of Indian WP users.
* Many 'photographers' (especially amateurs) are not interested in improving their skills. They are only chasing Facebook likes and that is less a matter of competence and more a matter of popularity. Building a community of photographers interested in the art and craft of photography requires first finding and attracting such users; a technology forum belonging to a tech magazine is not the obvious place to find, or expect, such users. We're the exception, not the norm, here.
* Many successful online photography (and other) groups have a strong offline presence as well. It helps for people to meet and share experiences; it validates and grows the community; and it keeps the flow going. This could be difficult here - as far as I know none of the regular posters here are in the same city/town.
* Users are increasingly turned off by forums. This is partly because of the inconvenience of using them, and the anonymous nature of most internet forums that make users fear abuse (particularly true for female users). Many photographers are moving to closed groups on Facebook. People are often careful about what they say when their words are accompanied by their true identities. Admins also find it easy to verify if users are genuine before accepting them into the group, and to remove them if they misbehave. There is greater participation as well as people check FB frequently and keep seeing group activity in their feed. I believe a similar move is happening in the corporate world towards closed groups on LinkedIn.
* Online communities rarely grow by themselves. It usually takes a few people who plan and create engaging content and interaction, as well as promote the community.

It's tough building communities, but I think a group that encourages photographers, especially beginners, to learn and experiment would be worthwhile. It does require a bit of work, though.

lets make this thread alive again...I am posting one part of the article at a time so we can complete the task

Use reflections for a double view

The first thing you notice while out on the rainy day is reflections. Puddles, wet pavement, benches – everything with an even surface is covered with water and reflects traffic lights, architecture, or people passing by. Observe reflections and you will discover some interesting images of the upside-down world reflected in water.

*www.bettertravelphotos.com/images/blog/Rain1a.jpg

Link to actual article - 5 Creative Photography Ideas for Rainy Days - Better Travel Photo

This is exactly what i was planning to try. Awesome start

its been 8 days....anyone took anything..I took some but didnt like it..will try more in weekend

Busy at work and not in a mood to shoot. It's been like this for some months.

Got some, bad attempts. Need to figure this out more

One more if anyone is planning to do this. Also i guess we can use this thread as a collection of projects that we find cool and then people can do them and post as they wish. So that if someone wants to try an older project they can

#dark field lighting

John Adkins Photography Blog: Dark Field Lightin

Awesome way to get the rim light shots for glass objects.

nice idea...but i dont have a glass

R

sujoyp said:
nice idea...but i dont have a glass

Straight from the bottle, huh?

Ha ha ha

I did try with a honey bottle..will share result tonight

- - - Updated - - -

So here is my try...I know it dont look photogenic..but its a plastic bottle....but technique is fine I suppose

*lh3.googleusercontent.com/FSnQSKkU6d588pcyKu56XU8abN4kF89VKj8Uuu5WELX6V51luV2napSUZ_fe5Ih-cT-ouIXxZOvs9IArIPu8GZ1kPhxfH5_M9boUK119wXZ_4AJPyh-3iNVZxrrZaRDzB63Cth3ox99IQVHPMCzYNAib-8HKiZSvfMCOrqzY3Sl4RoMMkcft7hgaAFQbPMVKn4bSlcxQVcAE85nE2RuvNchuvRyW9XvlYL6sjMQnB-vqQv-EAGZK3oTcbUiCDRfwwmKf3jMVhynqCnv82gRHARwZ2AC5MDuEIpieWq9-XsgyOuAyk7U0tpWjgw58QmnfUYSggV-t9HNkNdW_XIpoIa0GJ5RATwUgZBRvedlA3Va0NJM4xRLgbr7X8out--JKmiKurpLlR4IHskA4tI6Vh3QqV0A0g8ZiulGucmq5k2rxjcIXl8fXSTYeInd1a6Wvn7uOnj44gapsNAXt4GsbFFoksMd-0PFsjLWRx-icyBBhUtVDY-97s1ih1cNKVQLGyatHJnbZ68ZNmc9u6na19tbExKYlAxlWTUFURThywH6kUYNRuHF_IwZ5M3Q2NuULGJ8cxmFMEbK8ix4P6luB4uuwBi79lw0a=w679-h767-no

original is ->
*lh3.googleusercontent.com/y2qkDX8Efx_fmww0PdgpkgPUevbL-OErZqInb9EkH5cdvQXIq5eHIMbUDTt-_w5USsyJZ5H8ZcbxEY7cYsiYn0OvE6XY4TgHMF521pKzSiqig2ohBAxQ5xQZel26XSCUvfzXnPGMd4GFFMZmXYPZSXsAmW0jIsxns2aXoBjFjVpBkrfJFPOeQ0heCfdIHr5JI1BFbhvxStEEgXrfpwWNBlJbRPEzgax3AVEEHDpOgp_eqEXaye0XYZIv1gqYv2WzSJDZCXj7PLSGJQTByPhPCMQ4BqvOHt_MFQx6rX97OrWHvW73-Hyl4PsC9Svbk9b5Y3GfenJ9Hym5AFzvQqBylhTV7QuCnfHn0OdYTU4hbVHJ8WKalu0zSLtIrJLh6n7WK-a8L7NISCRlFly9YSqfA_EcKTY9xK1sMrpLsqYVxmaS4xwGrLZXKQMjEwVX11W8OaGCT4ZAXF1sQcnvJvT6L6yzUoPrS-R-0F_BsB7IjjiQbyZTsgBJasL1Vc7D092cidTF7QVQWWGHYo-ZoSk7hizzkUXJGSLSXLHR4xdztEKFXtouLcCUyBs5U5V1LCRiKqQLWL79qpTzUTaytzN-bpBD7OAG5Iry=w679-h767-no

Interesting project found by izzikio_rage. :cool_NF:

I don't have a nice looking glass either but I found these in shelves, which were gifted by someone. I have taken many pictures of products with white backdrop but this is my first attempt with black backdrop. Results are impressive but I need more powerful light. I have used cloth for backdrop so it is little shiny and rough. I need to look for smooth and matte material.

*c7.staticflickr.com/9/8731/28566828790_5360ed6376_c.jpg

*c8.staticflickr.com/8/7563/28236011983_3353deaa2d_c.jpg

[MENTION=39722]sujoyp[/MENTION]

Please fix the links to your photo shots. I'm getting broken link icon.

sujoyp said:
So here is my try...I know it dont look photogenic..but its a plastic bottle....but technique is fine I suppose

*lh3.googleusercontent.com/FSnQSKkU6d588pcyKu56XU8abN4kF89VKj8Uuu5WELX6V51luV2napSUZ_fe5Ih-cT-ouIXxZOvs9IArIPu8GZ1kPhxfH5_M9boUK119wXZ_4AJPyh-3iNVZxrrZaRDzB63Cth3ox99IQVHPMCzYNAib-8HKiZSvfMCOrqzY3Sl4RoMMkcft7hgaAFQbPMVKn4bSlcxQVcAE85nE2RuvNchuvRyW9XvlYL6sjMQnB-vqQv-EAGZK3oTcbUiCDRfwwmKf3jMVhynqCnv82gRHARwZ2AC5MDuEIpieWq9-XsgyOuAyk7U0tpWjgw58QmnfUYSggV-t9HNkNdW_XIpoIa0GJ5RATwUgZBRvedlA3Va0NJM4xRLgbr7X8out--JKmiKurpLlR4IHskA4tI6Vh3QqV0A0g8ZiulGucmq5k2rxjcIXl8fXSTYeInd1a6Wvn7uOnj44gapsNAXt4GsbFFoksMd-0PFsjLWRx-icyBBhUtVDY-97s1ih1cNKVQLGyatHJnbZ68ZNmc9u6na19tbExKYlAxlWTUFURThywH6kUYNRuHF_IwZ5M3Q2NuULGJ8cxmFMEbK8ix4P6luB4uuwBi79lw0a=w679-h767-no

original is ->
*lh3.googleusercontent.com/y2qkDX8Efx_fmww0PdgpkgPUevbL-OErZqInb9EkH5cdvQXIq5eHIMbUDTt-_w5USsyJZ5H8ZcbxEY7cYsiYn0OvE6XY4TgHMF521pKzSiqig2ohBAxQ5xQZel26XSCUvfzXnPGMd4GFFMZmXYPZSXsAmW0jIsxns2aXoBjFjVpBkrfJFPOeQ0heCfdIHr5JI1BFbhvxStEEgXrfpwWNBlJbRPEzgax3AVEEHDpOgp_eqEXaye0XYZIv1gqYv2WzSJDZCXj7PLSGJQTByPhPCMQ4BqvOHt_MFQx6rX97OrWHvW73-Hyl4PsC9Svbk9b5Y3GfenJ9Hym5AFzvQqBylhTV7QuCnfHn0OdYTU4hbVHJ8WKalu0zSLtIrJLh6n7WK-a8L7NISCRlFly9YSqfA_EcKTY9xK1sMrpLsqYVxmaS4xwGrLZXKQMjEwVX11W8OaGCT4ZAXF1sQcnvJvT6L6yzUoPrS-R-0F_BsB7IjjiQbyZTsgBJasL1Vc7D092cidTF7QVQWWGHYo-ZoSk7hizzkUXJGSLSXLHR4xdztEKFXtouLcCUyBs5U5V1LCRiKqQLWL79qpTzUTaytzN-bpBD7OAG5Iry=w679-h767-no

I guess the photographs are either private viewing only or we have to sign-in to view the pictures. Or is it invisible

Sujoy can't see the pics... Cracing, those are pretty cool. Do share your setup pics as well if you have some.

The orignal setup needs a lot of lights

Pics are just for testing purpose

Original
*c3.staticflickr.com/9/8732/28829369626_5c0dc35ff3_z.jpgDSC_1936_2 by Sujoy Packrasy, on Flickr

slight edited

*c1.staticflickr.com/9/8622/28243333264_535d7915d5_z.jpgDSC_1936 by Sujoy Packrasy, on Flickr

it got the outline light what it was suppose to be...if i find a good glass, then will take nicer shot for sure

izzikio_rage said:
Cracing, those are pretty cool. Do share your setup pics as well if you have some.

The orignal setup needs a lot of lights

I have not taken snaps of my setup but I built the light tent myself, using PVC pipes and fittings, just like those DIY PVC light tents found in google search.

Still trying to improve it by adding more light(s) and suitable backdrop material.

I too had made one 4 yrs back...its fun and useful for product photography

Pics of the tent... Or link to tutorial

izzikio_rage said:
Pics of the tent... Or link to tutorial

There are plenty of ways to make light tent. For structure, you can use Cardboard, PVC, Wood, Steel wire and etc. For backdrop you can use either card sheet or cloth but it shouldn't be glossy. Lighting can either be diffused from outside or directly focused on the object.

I have made a quick search for you and found some nice and easy to make light tents.

DIY light tents made using PVC:
DIY: Building a Light Tent – CW McDonald Photograph
How to make a light tent (DUW)
Photozoid: How to make your own high quality light ten
My Camera World: Mini Home Photography Studi

DIY light tents made using Cardboard:
Dirt Cheap Light Tent | ABieneman's Blo
*www.shutterfreaks.com/Tips/BillsLightTent.html
*scott-bot.com/making-a-light-tent/

Light tents with different size are also available for purchase. For example:
*www.ebay.in/itm/24-60-x-60cm-Photo...e-Soft-Box-Still-life-Diffuser-/371706944099?

Let me give this a shot. BTW any projects for the long weekend?