KenElevenShadows Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 I should share this one...high-res star trails photo taken underneath the gorgeous California desert night sky with a really unique Joshua Tree!!! http://500px.com/photo/70896873/trinity-star-trails-by-ken-lee?from=user_library Quote Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieP_MechE Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 That's some wild bokeh, Mike! Ken, I am always jealous of the cool landscapes you have out west! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Thanks. California is beautiful and diverse. We do have to drive for it. Most of the stuff I post are at least 3 hours from our house. But it's there. Quote Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieP_MechE Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Here is an photo from this morning. This is at an antique construction equipment show that happens twice a year near where I live, and I've been going there with my camera every year for the past 3 years. I took a very special lens with me, the Canon 50mm f/1.2L. I don't own this lens (it's owned by my employer to pair with a Canon C100 for video purposes) but I get to borrow it on occasion. I'm a big aperture nut and have a hard time shooting with it at anything other than f/1.2. It can be incredibly hard to get the focus right that wide, but when you do it gives a look like no other. I used a 3 stop ND filter to permit shooting wide open in the sunny weather we had here today. Big Dig by rpantaleo, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 Great shot Richie. 50 1.2L, that is great glass. I'm also a fan of wide apertures but as you mentioned it can result in a lot of missed shots. I need a ND filter. What kind are you using? Quote -Mike Martin Casio Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted May 18, 2014 Author Share Posted May 18, 2014 That's some wild bokeh, Mike! Thanks! I wasn't sure about this lens until this picture. Quote -Mike Martin Casio Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Also, resampling .... ...., and the rest of it? Well, not so much. Right, that should be fine considering you get results. In general, just playing about with PS or something else is fine, also without knowing the knobs, even, or without ultimate understanding (because it certainly doesn't expain a lot of hidden stuff). If it looks good, you keep it ! My argument was only to explain my own, personal preference, in that I value to be able to be realistic, and of course have probably more options then, to make changes that aren't. A trick for the re-sizing problem is to blur the image before re-sizing, with a suitable blur filter, possibly with a clear radius, or such a filter (like 2D Gaussian) that does solid blurring. Make the radius of the un-focus or blur filter such that it matches the downsizing amount, so a factor 2 smaller image: blur radius about 2 pixels. After the blur you scale the canvas (the image), and it looks more reasonable in terms of average color, and it could be thin lines are better preserved, but that's not true in all cases. If you're not sure of the effect, you copy the result you just got, and undo the scale and the blur (twice undo), then you just scale the (original) image to the same result, this time without the blur filter, and you paste the copied other result in a new layer (maybe PS requires some form of layer actualization after the "paste"). Now by changing the opacity of the pasted layer, and choosing a layer combine method that suits you (default should be o.k.), you can check out which method works better, or even pick a certain layer combination when the result looks good, and merge the layers. Makes any sense ? The point of the blur filter is that the re-sampler (part of scaling) might not average the pixels in the original the way you want before coloring the result pixels in the smaller image. T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 That's some wild bokeh, Mike! Ken, I am always jealous of the cool landscapes you have out west! I also love looking at good dessert landscape photo's , and photos of vast plains of flatness , they can look just amazing. Ken , my stand out favorite of all yours is still the Easter moon (different strokes for different folks??). Theo , stop talking and do some photo's . Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieP_MechE Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 Great shot Richie. 50 1.2L, that is great glass. I'm also a fan of wide apertures but as you mentioned it can result in a lot of missed shots. I need a ND filter. What kind are you using? I have a Tiffen 77mm (biggest filter thread on any of my lenses) 0.9 ND filter. It's about ~$20 on Amazon. I also have a set of Fotodiox step-up rings to adapt it to other lenses. Both the ND filter and the rings are anodized aluminum, which can stick when screwing them together and to lenses. It's a little annoying but I deal with it. B+W filters are made of brass (so no sticking) and seem to be pretty popular, but are also much more expensive. Speaking of fast glass, I found out fairly recently that Canon used to make an EF 50mm f/1.0L! Of course the prices for it used are outrageous (something like $4k) but I'd still love to shoot with one. LensRentals.com has one; someday I might rent it just to have that experience Thanks. California is beautiful and diverse. We do have to drive for it. Most of the stuff I post are at least 3 hours from our house. But it's there. I was working on a project with some strawberry farmers up in northern CA (like way north, almost in Oregon) a couple years ago, where'd I'd be visiting about once a year. We'd always drive past Mount Shasta on our way up, and I visited the Lava Beds National Monument and got up to Crater Lake in Oregon as well. Unfortunately, I didn't have a DSLR at the time. Someday I hope to go back and capture some of that landscape! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezman Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I had a look at the Lightroom app, Richie, but as far as I could understand it, it seems that the app will only work in conjunction with the desktop version of the programme. I expect it is massively complex and it will be some years before anything equivalent appears on an iPad... Actually, the iPad version of Lightroom can work standalone. You can open photos from your library, edit and save them. You only need the desktop application if you want to sync and edit them further. If you have a Creative Cloud subscription, you can store and sync the images via your CC storage space. I haven't used Lightroom as much over the last few years (I mainly use Phase One's Capture One Pro for raw processing) but since the release of the iPad app, I am tending to use it more. However, since my work is primarily in the design and production of upmarket catalogues and television commercials for a homewares retailer, I mainly shoot products and styled food shots, so most of my image editing work is done in Photoshop. I have only one complaint about the Lightroom app... the interface is not designed for anyone with less than 20-20 vision. Try reading the "About..." text etc.! BTW, I do have Leonardo and like it quite a lot, but in reality, I rarely edit an image on the iPad. I have a fully calibrated setup for editing and printing. I did, however, recommend Leonardo to my daughter and she uses it a bit, but she mainly uses Aperture on her Mac. There is one very important feature that Lightroom has and Leonardo does not; the inclusion of a histogram, albeit one that only shows all channels simultaneously. If you don't already understand how to read a histogram, it is worth the effort (it's not hard). Because of the limited gamut of the iPad display (although considerably better on the Air), it is easy to overdo some of the adjustments. The histogram helps you to avoid clipping while getting the best dynamic range that you can from your image. Quote The older I get, the more I know that I know less about what I thought I knew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 That's some wild bokeh, Mike! Ken, I am always jealous of the cool landscapes you have out west! I also love looking at good dessert landscape photo's , and photos of vast plains of flatness , they can look just amazing. Ken , my stand out favorite of all yours is still the Easter moon (different strokes for different folks??). Theo , stop talking and do some photo's . Brett Thank you so much for your kind words about the photo, Brett! Theo, thanks for the info about Photoshop!! Quote Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 You're Welcome Ken!. I love photo's of vast fields of flowers or other crops , they seem to offer spectacular photo's for little effort > http://caseymacphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/SunflowerSeason_662.jpg Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Wonderful sunflower picture, Brett!! Funny you mention how flowers offer "spectacular photos for little effort"... Very relevant to me at this time....Last Saturday I decided to try and take a picture of a lawn full of daisies ( I love weeds!!) I must have taken at least 40, with two different cameras, and I can honestly say that every single one of them was absolutely terrible. Too awful to even show you how awful they were! And I was thinking how incredibly difficult it is to get a good picture of a large gathering of flowers......... Anyways, very glad to see your picture and see that it is actually possible.... Quote "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Thanks very much for the info about Lightroom for iPad, Tezman. I took your word and downloaded it and yes, it does work - even though the very first thing it says in the AppStore is that it "requires lightroom 5". Initial impressions: I really love it. Very intuitive to use, beautifully laid out. Unfortunatley they have sent me an email saying that after a month I will have to suscribe to something to carry on with it. I wish they would just sell it to me - would be very happy to pay a fair price for it. Not happy about a subscription - I generally go out of my way to avoid such things. Still, it will be good to use it for a while and get a feel for it. I do like the histogram. Haven't seen one before, but I already get what it is trying to do. Doubtless the more I use the app the more I will understand it. Quote "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Love the Joshua tree photo, Ken. Beautiful and distinctively yours - like all your photos. Quote "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 Wonderful sunflower picture, Brett!! Funny you mention how flowers offer "spectacular photos for little effort"... Very relevant to me at this time....Last Saturday I decided to try and take a picture of a lawn full of daisies ( I love weeds!!) I must have taken at least 40, with two different cameras, and I can honestly say that every single one of them was absolutely terrible. Too awful to even show you how awful they were! And I was thinking how incredibly difficult it is to get a good picture of a large gathering of flowers......... Anyways, very glad to see your picture and see that it is actually possible.... xKuckles , that sunflower picture wasn't taken by me! (if I had the gear and scene I could have http://hdwalldownloads.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Garfield-Wallpaper-Iphone-Mobile.jpg ), it's one of my faves off the net!! . I am surprised to hear of your flower photography troubles , maybe you could show the experts here to see what is amiss through PM . Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Love the Joshua tree photo, Ken. Beautiful and distinctively yours - like all your photos. Thank you so much!!! Quote Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 My Ken Lee Facebook Photography page passed the 5000 "likes" mark today, rather surprising since I started it just two and a half years ago! i've been posting this tree, reaching out to the heavens as a thank you to everyone on FB who has "liked" the page. http://www.elevenshadows.com/travels/ancientbristleconepineforest-2013july/images/2698_kenlee_bristleconepine-20sf28iso3200.jpg Quote Ken Lee Photography - photos and books Eleven Shadows ambient music The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Eleven Shadows website Ken Lee Photography Pinterest Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 You just got another "like" Ken. Quote "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 The old tree against the starry sky is divine Ken. I painted the town red with likes at your facebook site too , MY fave pictures are where the stars aren't "moving" , but sitting still and developed in all their glory. Top stuff man. Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Needless to say, I have had been experimenting with processing (actually really enjoyed doing it....but not always easy to know when to stop....) Here are two photos which I took a couple of months ago. Both processed, one in Lightroom, one in Leonardo. If you think I have overdone it, I would be interested to hear... Quote "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Bluebells & Tree Stumps by xxKnuckles, on Flickr Quote "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Bluebell wood 2014 by xxKnuckles, on Flickr Quote "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Actually.....seeing it here that 2nd photo does look a bit overdone. Here it is again with a more natural look..... Bluebell Wood #2 by xxKnuckles, on Flickr Quote "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xKnuckles Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Problem is....... I like them both...... Quote "Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" Bluzeyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 WOW! , they all look great to me xKuckles! , nothing necessarily overdone as such - I would say. The extreme blue one is excellent!. Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieP_MechE Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Actually.....seeing it here that 2nd photo does look a bit overdone. Here it is again with a more natural look..... I like this one better. The other has a bit too much blue cast; it loses the warmth of the sunlight. Nice image regardless! I haven't used Lightroom as much over the last few years (I mainly use Phase One's Capture One Pro for raw processing) but since the release of the iPad app, I am tending to use it more. However, since my work is primarily in the design and production of upmarket catalogues and television commercials for a homewares retailer, I mainly shoot products and styled food shots, so most of my image editing work is done in Photoshop Do you shoot with a Phase One? I'm curious about the future of digital medium format when you have Sony coming out with 36 megapixel 35mm sensors (found in the A7r and the ) Nikon D800) and Canon rumored to have a 40+ MP sensor on the way. Combined with some good glass, this gives the average Joe Photographer a much lower barrier to entry to making huge prints compared to the expense of Phase or Hasselblad systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Does anyone have a suggestion for a 24"-27" monitor with accurate color reproduction and not too expensive? Quote This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Martin Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Taken with my Tamron 70-300. Heavily cropped. http://ppcdn.500px.org/71128917/82dea3e67f9e443063f91a7586b0032b17161a4e/4.jpg Red on a Fence by Mike Martin on 500px Quote -Mike Martin Casio Mike Martin Photography Instagram Facebook The Big Picture Photography Forum on Music Player Network The opinions I post here are my own and do not represent the company I work for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I had this great, very bright, special TFT technology HannG screen for years, but nowadays it is interesting to go to WQHD (even more pixels), and there are screens with the "Apple" sRGB compatibility mode, as well as "32 bits color". I am satisfied with my Asus PB278 screen, certainly not as cheap as between $100-$200 or so, but for what it offers, it is cheap. I don't know what the competition has done in the meanwhile, it was unique when it came out. A nice rose for the bird: http://www.theover.org/Keybdmg/Pictures/dsc00038bmc.jpg taken in Picture Mode with a Sony CX320 (from a special sale), and processed at bit with GIMP. T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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