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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
11/15/2003 2:28:17 PM
nice to meet you too
8^)
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| Photo By: Carla Pires
(K:10713)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
11/4/2003 4:59:37 AM
As per Aleksander's request... the original image unmodified except for resizing.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
11/3/2003 4:43:46 AM
I am fine... thanks for asking... I have started to prepare my images for printing and offering a smaller version for viewing on the web which may not have the same edge fidelity as if I had prepared it strictly for on-line viewing.
Thanks for all your kind words. I hope to catch up with your portfloios in the near future.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
10/4/2003 9:17:56 AM
Very nicely done Christian... could be my favorute of yours to date!
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| Photo By: Christian Barrette
(K:21125)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
10/1/2003 8:04:38 AM
This turned out pretty nice... it does look like Velvia is giving you an unpleasnant green cast that might be better with other films... one thing I would suggest is stopping down a bit. Stars are actually pretty bright objects and the benefit of stopping down is to remove ambient light polution (the green background) while keeping as many stars in the scene as possible. It's hard to bracket f stops with such long exposures but each combination will yield different results. From the photo above I'd suggest the same exposure time around f8. I like your chioce of foreground. The only thing that really works against you here is the colour of the sky. You might want to convert this image to black and white just to see what it looks like. You will lose the colour in the stars, but the overall effect should be better.
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| Photo By: Megan Forbes
(K:4617)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
10/1/2003 7:48:24 AM
Hey Kim, this is pretty cool. somebody even liked it enough to make it a favourite. Just goes to show, we don't always see the value in our own work.
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| Photo By: Kim Culbert
(K:37070)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
10/1/2003 7:46:21 AM
Hi Megan; You don't actually say what sort of effect you were looking for, but from your comment about some better exposed shots, I take it you wanted something darker...
I don't think Velvia is a problem as from my perspective, reciprocity failure is just another tool in the bag once you learn what it does in a given situation and with a given film... What I like about this shot is the soft muted colours... hard to achieve in any other light...
I guess what I'm trying to say is there are some charactheristics here which are very nice, and rather than saying the picture or technique is somehow wrong, you might look at it as something to build upon...
The picture above is really quite wonderful if you were to crop some of the sky away and present it as a panorama. Some dominant form in the foreground might also have created more visual interest, particularily if there were a shadow cast by the moon upon the beach.
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| Photo By: Megan Forbes
(K:4617)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
9/22/2003 4:09:28 AM
Thanks folks. The exposure for this was started in camera and finished in the computer. As indicated above, the intial exposure was a full stop over. I was shooting under the trees with bright sun in the background. I set the coolpix to b&w saturation to get a better idea of where I was going. In the computer, I increased the contrast by making it lighter and bolder using an auto contrast adjustment in Paint Shop Pro that gives me great control. I repeatedly applied this filter in the same manner 4 times. Three was not enough, five was too much. The result is quite a long way from the original but very close to what I had in mind.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
9/21/2003 1:27:41 PM
nothing short of incredible... it's a painting
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| Photo By: Aiman Nassar
(K:11961)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
9/21/2003 1:13:33 PM
Hello Christian... I like this shot very much... the light is magic... I think if you cut back on the spread (or width) of your 3D shadow you can avoid the hard line on the right and bottom of your presentation which disturbs the illusion of the floating photo...
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| Photo By: Christian Barrette
(K:21125)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
9/21/2003 12:59:54 PM
just wanted to tell you how much I love this picture....
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Photo By: Alisa Mudge
(K:7511)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
9/21/2003 12:56:49 PM
First there is a mushroom, then there is no mushroom, then there is... with apolagies to Donavon for the ripp off [I can't help what goes around in my head half the time] I love this unusual and creative take on the end of Summer... the shallow depth of field works to great advantage here... marvelous!
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| Photo By: Kim Culbert
(K:37070)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
9/21/2003 12:50:44 PM
stunningly crisp and satisfying image... but then I'm a sucker for rope shots... you got my number with this one...
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| Photo By: Eric Goldwasser
(K:4294)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/30/2003 10:18:37 AM
Looks to sharp to me too Kim... I like the colours and contrast better in the original and wonder what the drybrush version looks like as I think that would rock...
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| Photo By: Kim Culbert
(K:37070)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/30/2003 10:11:36 AM
I like this picture but I think it just doesn't zero in enough on the Summer Ivy... as well, the pinkish area to the right of the central tree is pulling my eye away from the central theme... of course, that you get anything using this method is testament to your mastery of it... I'll stick to photoshop and watch in wonder at what you come up with... without it...
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| Photo By: Bobbie C.
(K:1425)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/30/2003 10:04:28 AM
Nice sharp definition throughout the flowers... no easy task as I have found out myself in the last week taking a series of Queen Anne's Lace shots... maybe I will post a few...
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| Photo By: John Barclay
(K:3650)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/30/2003 9:48:50 AM
I just had to comment on this fun image... it reminds me of They Might be Giants who sang;
To make the merry-go-round go faster
So that everyone needs to hang on tighter
Just to keep from being thrown to the wolves
Some days are like that... you have to hang on tighter, just to keep from being thrown to the wolves... now I have an image to add to the soundbyte...
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| Photo By: Ron Browne
(K:1282)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/30/2003 9:23:33 AM
she's gorgeous, isn't she... the rim light and the fill flash are perfect... couldn't be better... the background on the other hand is marred by unnecessary clutter... even out of focus, the white object is poorly placed... still, she's gorgeous!
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| Photo By: Elangovan S
(K:10675)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/13/2003 1:12:33 PM
You guys and gals are the greatest! Thanks for your words of encouragement and support...
John Barclay - don't be silly... you all make leaving so difficult... it is nothing any of you have done or haven't done... it's just time for a change...
I'm getting a huge amount of feedback from my new home at www.fotolog.net/yesterday and there is a much broader audience of people (not just great photographers) checking out my work which is becoming more free spirited all the time... I don't think that is what Usefilm is about... I think it's about tradition and standards and finding the very best photographic vision...
that's a good thing, but right now I'm more interested in photography as a communication devise... in personal vision... and of encouraging my experimental self without the quest or need for perfection...
Thanks Again. Really.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/13/2003 10:39:02 AM
I love it - and of course am deeply honoured. I also thought of Georgia O'Keefe.
As an amateur photographer, that is, a person who does not need to answer to or meet the needs of a client or art director, I feel the best use of photography as a medium is to bring something of beauty into the world which might not otherwise exist.
To me, that makes this a great image.
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| Photo By: John Barclay
(K:3650)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/10/2003 11:16:27 AM
Thanks guys... you are all on my list for bearhugs... I will be dropping in from time to time and I am sure I will have occaision to comment on your photos... but I don't see me duplicate posting photos on this site and my other web address any more...
Maybe I am getting critiqued out... I generally know what is wrong with my photos... I prefer to celebrate and share what is right about them... that joy is what is missing for me here...
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/9/2003 4:36:11 PM
Thanks for your comment Kim. Don't worry about the rating. I hardly ever look up there. I just thought, I can add the B&W as a comment. Sorry Kim, but this is the one I meant to show.
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/9/2003 4:31:00 PM
Connie; thanks for telling me how little this picture moves you... It amazes me that you would bother to comment on it at all... the bird was very relaxed in my hand and was clearly saved from a rather painful death by my actions... if that isn't something to memorialize, I don't know what is... photography doesn't always have to be about pretty pictures... sometimes, a competent illustration is a welcome adjunct to a short descriptive essay... I must say, I grow ever weary of the intellectual approach to picture making that seems such a big part of Usefilm...
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/9/2003 3:58:17 PM
That's interesting... I meant to upload the black and white version... So maybe tommorrow, I'll show the other one... and I can get you to choose between them...
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| Photo By: John Charlton
(K:5595)
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Critique By:
John Charlton (K:5595)
8/9/2003 1:47:42 PM
Wow Kim! Really great. I was thinking there were a few bright spots which could use burning just as you have said. I was palying around with it before I read your comment so here it is.
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| Photo By: Kim Culbert
(K:37070)
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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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