Photos Photo of the Day

[Draxin]

Originally Posted by Jumeira_Johnny

Do you have a filter on the front of your lens? it looks like internal reflections.

AH!
i have the UV 0 on the front of my 50mm 1.2L for "protection"
i always forget to take that off when i shoot at night.

thank you for helping me realize the obvious.

[Fod]

Just leave it off. Filters do nothing for protection that a hood won't do.

[GregTheRotter]

Originally Posted by Fod

Just leave it off. Filters do nothing for protection that a hood won't do.

Said the man who hadn't been shooting stuff like this;



While I am starting to feel that filters are just there for peace of mind, they do have their time and place. In the shot I posted above, there was a lot of wind, and I was often having to wipe the salty sea spray off the filter. Obviously for just about any other situation you might not need one.

On the other hand, hoods can sometimes draw added attention, or just might not be convenient to carry around. It's just a case of whether you've got money to blow on a pro grade filter (I use the Hoya Pro1 D filters, and I can't see any difference). Obviously if you notice you're getting flare, and you happen to have a filter on, then it's common sense to remove it.

Ok, I'll stop rambling xD In any case, I've stopped buying them The only lenses that I have one on at the moment are my 24-70,70-300VR,35mm F2D, and 85 1.8D. Lenses without; 50 1.8D, 135 f2.8 AI-S, 55mm F2.8 Micro Nikkor AI-S and 180 f2.8 AF-D.

[mars-bar-man]

I pointed and clicked....it's blurry

[mars-bar-man]

Double post >.<

[teamtd11]

[Fod]

Originally Posted by GregTheRotter

Said the man who hadn't been shooting stuff like this;

yes well, of course in *very specific* situations they're needed! even i put filters on at the beach!
Fantastic shot btw!

[Lynx]

#1


#2

[bigkingfun]

@Greg I really like that one, the sail details are so sharp.

[Tim S]

Originally Posted by mars-bar-man

I pointed and clicked....it's blurry

Tonight's sunset was ridiculously red/purple. Just a shame there wasn't a cloud in the sky (and I was sat in an office in London)!

[Vers]

I didn't take these today, but I finally got around to editing them today

[fabler]

@Vers

Cool Shots man..

[Draxin]

Made it up to Griffith Observatory last night.
here are a few of my favs. (no photoshoping, but exposure, contrast, rotation, and color correcting were done to various images in Aperture) (full set HERE

(oh and Jumeira_Johnny I remembered to take my UV 0 filter off this time and behold no reflections, thanks for helping me figure that one out)

[fabler]

@Draxin

No Photoshopping. Its great.. good shoots by the way..

[Draxin]

I HATE photoshop.
As far as I am concerned Photoshop has killed (honest) photography.
too many people take "meh" pictures and then spend hours in photoshop to make them "WOW". The only time I personally feel its ok to photoshop a picture is if its one of those once in a lifetime shots and there are just a few things you need to tweak

[stonedsurd]

I believe a little post-processing is more than okay, especially for professionals whose livelihood depends on their pictures.

That aside, your stunning (non-PP'ed) shots have earned you rep. I am in awe of your skill.

[Tim S]

Here's one I made earlier this morning...



Almost straight out of camera. I used an ND grad 0.9 HE filter and deliberately set a low whitebalance to enhance how cold it was this morning. I made minor colour/saturation adjustments running a fairly standard action that I use on most of my landscapes. That was all that I had time for before heading to work and (frankly) all that was required.

[Tim S]

Originally Posted by Draxin

I HATE photoshop.
As far as I am concerned Photoshop has killed (honest) photography.
too many people take "meh" pictures and then spend hours in photoshop to make them "WOW". The only time I personally feel its ok to photoshop a picture is if its one of those once in a lifetime shots and there are just a few things you need to tweak

I agree with you about post processing for the most part - I believe it's fine to use it in the way that photographers used to use tricks in the darkroom, but anything beyond that moves it away from photography into the realms of digital art or image manipulation.

The only PP I do is to enhance the original image... never to salvage. I'm not big on Photoshop myself (mainly because I don't have the time or inkling to learn it properly) and, aside from a few actions designed to improve colour saturation and contrast a little, I don't touch the image outside of Lightroom's standard set of adjustments.

[supermonkey]

Originally Posted by Draxin

I HATE photoshop.
As far as I am concerned Photoshop has killed (honest) photography.
too many people take "meh" pictures and then spend hours in photoshop to make them "WOW". The only time I personally feel its ok to photoshop a picture is if its one of those once in a lifetime shots and there are just a few things you need to tweak

I understand the sentiment, but the whole "purist" photographer thing is of the mark, in my opinion. Although you've proudly hailed the purity of your photos by stating that there was no "photoshoping," you then went on to state that you adjusted exposure, contrast, rotation, and color - you just used a different program.

I do agree that every effort should be made to do as much work in camera as possible, I fully disagree that "photoshoping" is an evil modern concept destroying honest photography. Much of what people do in Photoshop (or Aperture, or Pain.net, etc.) comes straight from the darkroom.

[Tim S]

Originally Posted by supermonkey

Much of what people do in Photoshop (or Aperture, or Pain.net, etc.) comes straight from the darkroom.

That's the stuff I think is acceptable - anything beyond that is what I don't (personally) agree with. Changing a photo into something that doesn't resemble the original is, generally speaking, what I don't believe in. Others may well believe in it and they're more than welcome to have their own opinion.

It's the same for HDR - I've dabbled with it using bracketed exposures, but I have never found it creates something that looks real enough for me. To me, photography is all about compromises (when you're behind the camera) and visual tricks when you're in the darkroom, be it one in the traditional sense or a digital one, to enhance the image in a way that captivates the feeling you had at the time you pressed the shutter release.

This is probably worthy of its own topic because I think it's a good (and very valid) discussion.