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M8 in rainy Morocco

Terry

New member
Well the Moroccans were quite pleased that it was raining but the visitors were a wee bit less pleased. It hadn't rained in many months....and then I stepped off the plane. With mostly rain, not a lot of pictures worth posting. After much public deliberation, I took the following lenses CV15, 28 cron, 50 cron, 90 macro elmar (and I snuck in a long zoom little point and shoot). I took about 10 shots with the CV15 evertything else was shot with the 28 cron. Here are a couple of shots that are a work in progress as I haven't really touched any of the files except perhaps some straightening or fill light (lightroom).











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Sorry to hear about your poor weather conditions. It looks like you made the best of it though. I really like the photo of the lady in the restaurant. It has a nice feel to it - I am betting it was a 28 Cron shot. The second photo of the artisan would have been better (in my opinion) if the camera angle was lower. I noticed this because I catch myself failing to explore alternate camera angles other than normal height.
 

hdrmd

New member
Nice work. If you get a chance, check out Bruno Barbey's book on Morocco. Or, just look up his article in National Geographic. Again, I enjoyed seeing the photos. DR
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Good work Terry , there are some things you will learn in the workshops that will help you a great deal with composition , raw processing , photoshop and such . The big one is having Jack and I over your shoulder as you shoot. This really helps with your thinking, this is the one big area we stress on the workshops is the one on one when you are ACTUALLY shooting, no other workshop that I know is in your face this much helping. Okay small plug for the workshop:D

Honestly you will learn a great deal on the workshop but your looking good so far and just keep plugging away. Believe me as a self taught Pro nothing beats getting out there and working it.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Nice series Terry, I really like images number 2 and 5!

On #5, while it is very good as-is, I might have experimented with a few alternate compositions, maybe pointed the camera slightly more to the right -- just enough to NOT cut out the couple in the background -- or alternatively, I would have moved myslef right and positioned the woman in front of the light immediately behind her, thus rim-lighting her hair. I would also probably add a touch more exposure (you can do it in the raw converter) to pull up the woman's features slightly. This will allow the lights in the background to blow a bit more, but they are perceived as specular highlights so allowing them to blow more fully should be irrelevant to the overall image IMO.

IMO #2 is perfectly framed and exposed for that shooting position --- congrats! Only suggestion here is I might have additionally dropped to one knee to get on his level and made a similar, but lower-angle composition. Not sure it would be better, but something else to compare/choose from later.

I'll hold comments on the landscape compositions, as this is something we'll be covering in detail when we see you in Moab. Be sure to bring the raw file for that first image, and I'll share some ideas on how to work it to make it pop ;)

Cheers,
 
While on our Germany trip, it was not uncommon to find Guy on his knees or laying on the ground for a shot. On one occasion I was taking a photo of him on the ground and a car came along forcing him up out of the way. Turns out he was laying in a city street
 

Terry

New member
Sorry to hear about your poor weather conditions. It looks like you made the best of it though. I really like the photo of the lady in the restaurant. It has a nice feel to it - I am betting it was a 28 Cron shot. The second photo of the artisan would have been better (in my opinion) if the camera angle was lower. I noticed this because I catch myself failing to explore alternate camera angles other than normal height.
Thanks for that comment and relooking at the shot you are cometely correct. I did get yelled at by two different people for trying to take their picture which is apparently common in Morocco.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
LOL. I do that a lot is to get away from the eye level view and get more into the dog view and it does give a different dimension but it also makes the subject seem more grand in look. Stuff like this comes from trying different things in your work and really experimenting like this with angles and composition really can make or break a image. What happens sometimes is the first thing you see with a subject is the one you wind up shooting but if you move around and try different angles and such that usually winds up to be the better image, given you have time to do that also. In the workshops I can look at what someone is doing at a distance and know exactly what is in the viewfinder, than I will get them to work it maybe a little differently and it starts clicking in there head. Reason I love the word experiment, there really is nothing better than trying it different ways to find what works better in your images. The composition module in the workshops is really a great learning tool and everyone really loved that part of it because many great images come from this alone.
 

Terry

New member
Thanks Jack and Guy,
the landscape shots were from my terrace, leaving very little room to move around for different compositions. We hand thoughts of hiking down towards the river but it was stormy for so long we ran out of time. Good thing we didn't try to hike as we probably would have taken a spill or two as the ground was not so stable (these were the first rains in many months). Heading back down the mountains we were in 4 wheel drive a lot because of may mudslides. Made for somewhat of a white knuckle ride on a 1 1/4 lane winding moutain road without a guardrail and lots of mud, mules, cars and buses sharing the rather limted road space! The funny thing is with all of the dwellings being built into the mountain sides there really were not a lot of compelling shots because you have these primitive (by our standard)villages with homes homes built of native materials that blended in with the earth and the satellite dishes plopped on top. I guess one could clone them out!
All that being said, I am very much looking forward to Moab and was looking at flights this morning.

By the way the woman in the picture is my friend Jamie. She has to suffer through lots of photos as I play around but she gets lots of fun ones of her kids. I like the 28 a lot. It allows me to get close enough to someone and still get enough background.

All typos are excused as I'm on the iPhone!
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Pretty damn good from the Iphone. It's a nightmare for me , fat fingers . LOL

Just remind Jamie that is what friends are for. LOL She at least has a nice look.
 

cmb_

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Despite the poor weather conditions it still sounds like a nice trip and it looks like you got some good images. The portrait of your friend has a nice feel to it as well as the portrait of the artisan at work. Clouds and light are nice in the first landscape and I am interrested to see Jack's ideas to make it "pop".
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Clouds and light are nice in the first landscape and I am interrested to see Jack's ideas to make it "pop".
I'll put together a mini session and show you both exactly how to do it ;)
 

Jim Stone

Workshop Member
Teri,

Sorry about the weather, but you managed to get some good shots. I also like the one of your friend Teri and the street shot. Jack and Guy will definitely work with YOU one on one !! ;) And they might even help your photography !! Right Guys? !! LOL !! Really, they were a great help and hope to make another one soon. Hope the weather improves and keep posting.

Cheers,

Jim

ps The iPhone working great !! :D
 

PeterA

Well-known member
i want to know why you let that pretty woman get in the way of the last shot -:)
and on a slightly more serious note...I like a lightly wider perspective on shots of people working at doing things like that man..ie the old environmental portrait where the person is part of the place they are in..
a lot of people say that one has to get closer - but I suspect that that thought is overdone at times..
I am off to Paris in the new year and cant wait to do some street shooting..

thanks for posting.
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
Hi Terry,
I am sorry to hear about the bad weather, but you made the best of it. Your shot of the artesian is very nice. My favorite is the shot of your friend. I'm glad the new lens is working out so well for you.
 
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