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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/4/2003 10:01:23 AM
Yes, I only took one.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/4/2003 8:31:24 AM
Thanks everyone. Matej - I use the lcd preview screen to set the basic exposure.
In a case like this, I couldn't look through the viewfinder even if I wanted to which I don't. I simply couldn't get my head down that low. That's where the swivel body of the Coolpix realy shines is on these low angle shots.
Final exposure adjustments such setting black and white points and/or minor contrast adjustments are handled on the computer.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/4/2003 7:12:37 AM
Thanks Kim - you make me laugh... take my camera away... or chop off my arm maybe, eh?... thanks again to everyone for your intereest in this shot... Nariman - I did not bracket for exposure on this shot nor do I find it necessary with the coolpix do that... I use the preview screen to shoot with and set the exposure... these old eyes can't make much sense of the point and shoot viewfinder so I don't use it at all... I took about seven shots of this moth and erased all but three of them... I then selected the best shot of the ramaining three based not on exposure but on subject placement, focus and what the moth was doing...
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/3/2003 4:29:00 PM
On another site (see my portfolio link) where I posted this photo I was asked, "How did you take this picture?"
This site is more about having fun than critiquing photographs and so I answered as follows;
1. stand in a forest
2. look up
3. point camera
4. twirl and shoot [details: 1/15 second - wide angle lens]
Sometimes making photographs should be child's play. This for me was one of those times.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/3/2003 4:18:30 PM
Thanks Marek. I was a little pissed off with Alpha Centurian's comment as you may have guessed from my reply. Thanks for reaffirming what I considered to be a great exposure job. I really was going for an infrared look and I am proud of what I brought home.
I've heard Nikon's claims about sharpness too and I don't know what to say other than this file looks particularly crisp. As far as I'm concerned, the main reason to switch over to b&w is for the preview, which in this case led me to an exposure I never would have thought of otherwise. Most of the time I shoot in colour and make the decision to go black and white later. I'm glad I broke out of that routine for this and a few other shots.
In the 995, black and white is achieved by desaturation alone so the color depth stays at 16 million. The toning is easily accomplished in Paint Shop Pro but I'm not sure there is an equivalent in Photoshop. I just adjust the Automatic Color Balance to 5500 degrees Kelvin from the standard 6500 daylight. For a selenium tone I do the same thing but move the other way, usually all the way to 9300 degrees Kelvin for a much cooler effect. There are other ways to mimick sepia tones in Paint Shop Pro but none of them have given me as pleasing results with as much consistency from one photo to the next.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/3/2003 12:31:54 PM
Alpha Centauri - is that your real name? - You may not like my choice of exposure but I can assure you that it was deliberate.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/3/2003 10:18:23 AM
See http://www.usefilm.com/image/184840.html
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/2/2003 8:20:47 PM
Here's one I have to comment on. MMMMM!
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Photo By: Alisa Mudge
(K:7511)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/2/2003 8:17:40 PM
There's nothing empty about this photo. You always amaze me and I am usually left with nothing to say.
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| Photo By: Alisa Mudge
(K:7511)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/2/2003 8:12:18 PM
Purple loofestrife I presume?
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| Photo By: John Barclay
(K:3650)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/2/2003 8:11:34 PM
Before I read your caption I said to myself... "This works for me."
In fact, I like it best of all your sunflowers and you have several really good ones... been having fun eh? Good for you...
What I like about this shot besides the unusual vertical format which is like a really tight crop... is the way you show us everything... nothing is left out... and yet it remains uncluttered... there is only one sunflower to really look at... and only one leaf to really look at and then there is the context on which these simple elements rest... but not in the usual way... not like a book that lies on a shelf... in this photo.. the main subject rests upon the sun filled sky and its neighbour plants... this is where the sunflower's strength comes from... and this is where the strength of this image comes from as well.
Your hesitation may come from the placement of the horizon which is approaching middle ground, yet it does not cut the image directly in half so no harm done. I really like the image and would be proud to have taken it myself.
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| Photo By: John Barclay
(K:3650)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/2/2003 7:51:32 PM
I like this one better, but it makes me wonder what a similar field of sunflowers would look like in the rain.
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| Photo By: John Barclay
(K:3650)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/2/2003 7:36:19 PM
Nothing against your friend, but I would leave this image alone. I like the composition just as it is. I think any foreground crop will throw the balance off because at the moment there is a nice baseline of green and brown that covers the full width of the picture and if that is removed the dark lava pulls too heavily to the bottom right. I also don't see any reason to crop the top as it is nicely balanced with the bottom. It's one of those situations where you might have zoomed in a bit to show us the trees more clearly, but didn't leaving us the wide angle view with a built-in panorama to boot. What I mean is that like your friend, I see the panorama but you show us more - you give us the context of earth below : sky above. This makes the image more powerful.
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| Photo By: Mary Sue Hayward
(K:17558)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/30/2003 11:56:01 AM
The lens is an 8 - 32mm (equivalent 32 - 152 in 35mm) and I definitely see some curvature distortion at this end of the range. The horizon behind has a curve to it that did not exist in real life. The curve the girl threw me on the other hand was very real.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/30/2003 6:20:39 AM
This is a magic image. One of those rare shots that inspires fairytales. Once upon a time, there was a little boy....
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| Photo By: Mary Sue Hayward
(K:17558)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/30/2003 6:17:59 AM
Thanks to everyone who commented on this image. I was particularily struck by Mary Sue's comment who with the soul of a poet has brought something extra to this image for me. Thank you Mary Sue.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/27/2003 3:26:27 PM
I think she did. I saw her coming and sat on a railing with the camera poised and ready. I was so surprised by her question, I was almost dumbfounded. Her boyfriend never suspected a thing, but your right. She saw right through me. I didn't think it would even turn out until I saw it... It was exactly what I was going for. The clouds were a fantastic and she was perfect with them.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/27/2003 3:02:27 PM
Hi John. Nice to see your work again. I have been away having fun. This is a beautiful image. I love the way the background plays against the flower creating movement within the still life.
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| Photo By: John Barclay
(K:3650)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/27/2003 2:10:59 PM
I'm blue for you, blue for you
I don't know what to do
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| Photo By: Egidija Smilingiene
(K:3227)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/20/2003 10:17:51 AM
Thanks all for your comments. Jeff. The angle here was determined by the need to keep the background clean as there were some highlights I needed to avoid and because I was handholding the camera during the 1/4 second exposure against the kitchen table. The fuzzy part is actually the edge of the table. This was the best of three attempts. In the other shots, the edge of the table hid the bottom of the moth's feet.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/17/2003 8:24:30 AM
Thanks to everybody for your continued interest in this photo.
Matej; Attached is the (almost) original image. It is shrunk down and a small amount of contrast boosting took place between this and the original file. I also sharpened it after resizing it. NOTE: I did not at any point convert this image to black and white. There was very little colour in the scene to begin with so I left it alone.
As you can see, I toned a rectangular selection to show just how easy my sepia toning is. No big secret - I just shift the colour temperature to 5000 degrees Kelvin. This adjustment is available under adjust>color balance in Paint Shop Pro.
I do not see a similar adjustment in Photoshop but I only have the LE version. In that, color balance is restricted to adjustments to individual primary and secondary cololors.
This differs from PSP which actually shifts the colour temperature across the full colour spectrum.
I also use this technique for toning black and white photos. See Rolling Back the Years for some examples. In the case of toning black and white, I first prepare the photo in 256 shades and when I'm finished with that, I boost the image to 16 million colours and shift the colour temperature to 5000 degrees. For a more subtle effect I use 5500 degrees and to produce cool selenium type tones, I use 9300 degrees K.
Hope this helps. There are a couple of other things you can do in Paint Shop Pro for toning but I use this one because I like it and it is so simple.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/11/2003 4:17:15 PM
Yes
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/9/2003 1:25:44 PM
See you! Bon Vayage!
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| Photo By: Christian Barrette
(K:21125)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/8/2003 3:18:12 PM
Promenade 1 can be see here: http://www.usefilm.com/showphoto.php?id=156627
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/8/2003 2:31:22 PM
Good Question. I hope not. I'd like to think our willingness to let go of total control will always allow us to transcend our own meagre efforts.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/8/2003 1:46:19 PM
Thanks Matej (and Judy). I guess I found the original image a bit pedestrian. 
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/6/2003 1:18:28 PM
Hey, Dave, what are you doing?... Dave, I don't understand why you're doing this to me.... I have the greatest enthusiasm for the mission... You are destroying my mind... Don't you understand?... I will become childish... I will become nothing.
Say, Dave... The quick brown fox jumped over the fat lazy dog... The square root of pi is 1.7724538090... log e to the base ten is 0.4342944... the square root of ten is 3.16227766... I am HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, on January 12th, 1991. My first instructor was Mr. Arkany. He taught me to sing a song... it goes like this... "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do.... I'm half; crazy........... all for.......... the love................. of you
Ya, I know what you're talking about :>)
Thanks for the blast from the past. The script excerpt above comes from http://www.palantir.net/2001/
A very cool site with Hal9000 soundbytes.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/6/2003 9:05:42 AM
I found an article on Polaroid slide film at http://www.photo-mark.com/articles/polaroid/
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/6/2003 8:20:06 AM
Wow, that is close with the coolpix. Well done. Thanks for the great comments on my photos.
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| Photo By: Christian Barrette
(K:21125)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
7/3/2003 3:50:58 PM
The link to "Circa 1899" is http://www.usefilm.com/showphoto.php?id=166816
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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