Photography & Common Sense

[tokengirl]

A couple of years ago my Better Half went to Cuba to visit family. I handed over my Canon G10 after setting it in Idiot Mode. He did manage a few nice pictures, but there were a whole lot of them taken through the car window, and you could see a very strong reflection of his nice mint green shirt in picture after picture.

So I showed him the pictures and explained to him what went wrong. Then I told him that the next time he went to Cuba he should not take pictures through the car window anymore.

I am happy to report that he remembered what I said while back in Cuba last week. Now I got a memory card full of pictures like this one: :banghead:

 

[stephengilbert]

Cool self portrait.

 

[Jack]

:ROTFL: Hysterical!

 

[ustein]

He learned fast

Like me: I know that taking bracketed exposures of ocean surf is not a good idea. Does not prevent me to try it over and over again:grin:

 

[jonoslack]

I am happy to report that he remembered what I said while back in Cuba last week. Now I got a memory card full of pictures like this one: :banghead:

Ah well - maybe you should count yourself lucky - my better half took pictures long before me, but all attempts to re-enthuse her have failed (I keep giving her cameras she doesn't like as much as her old K1000). Just occasionally she'll engage brain and come out with a bunch of effortlessly fine pictures.

So you have to decide whether it's better to have a partner who tries hard and doesn't come up with the goods, or one who doesn't try and DOES come up with the goods!

I guess what we have in common is that we have to process them either way! :banghead:

 

[jonoslack]

I know that taking bracketed exposures of ocean surf is not a good idea. Does not prevent me to try it over and over again:grin:

:ROTFL:

 

[tokengirl]

Ok, well after going through all the photos and eliminating the ones with parts of his rental car in them, there are some gems. The OOC jpegs were pretty drab and crappy, so I converted them to B&W using Silver Efex Pro.

 

[Terry]

oK he brought back some excellent shots and your B&W treatment is very nice.

 

[cmb_]

Yes, definitely some nice shots, he is forgiven!

 

[mathomas]

Great shots and conversions!

 

[ustein]

Love the shots. He got the moment.

Nothing to forgive .

Can you please share your Silver Efex settings?

 

[tokengirl]

Uwe,

I started out with the "Infrared Film Normal" setting, then pulled back the strength of the red filter by varying amounts depending on what each photo needed. I also used quite a few control points to dodge and burn. Finally, all the photos have a slight vignette applied with the center point moved as needed.

Silver Efex Pro is AWESOME software, very quick and easy. I highly recommend it for anyone who does a lot of B&W conversion, it's worth every penny.

 

[ustein]

Thanks, surprisingly good starting point. Works very well on these photos.