my comments (Was: [SI] "Sounds" has been posted!)

* Bowser wrote :
The latest Shootin gallery has been posted, and is available for
viewing

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/seasonal_sounds

FWIW, and considering I just made some comments about
critiquing(?), I thought I'd post my thoughts on the "Sounds" SI,
even though I didnt' submit. Hope that's ok. Please forgive me
if I mention something that has already been asked and answered.
I haven't gone through the other comments.

Skimmers, Peter Newman:
Thumbnail looks promising, but opening up the larger image my
eyes were immediately drawn to the bird on the right. Assume
it's a PP job. Unfortunately, for me, it detracts from an
otherwise promising shot. I'd rather be commenting on
photography than post-processing skills in this group. Even if
you'd feathered the selection (no pun intended) when pasting, you
may have gotten away with it, but the sharp edges are a standout.
The SI is about photography. My opinion, keep the images
submitted as close to "as shot" as possible. That way the
comments will be more helpful to getting it right straight out of
the camera.

Carousel, Savageduck:
Like the colours, bright carnival feel. Not sure about the
composition. Is it "pseudo-HDR"? Sorry, I hate that term, but
that's another, long, story. Looks like a pretty wide tonal
range in the shot and it's been handled well if not. The tones
on the girls front right don't quite look right, possibly because
saturation been boosted for the other carnivally colours.

Coco Montoya, Savageduck:
Now this one I like. Warm colours, assume Summer over there.
Music - obviously sounds of the season. Focus and depth of field
works well in this one. Good job.

Cobra at Laguna, Savageduck:
Whenever I see racing cars, I'd like to see the speed by using
panning shots, wheels blurry. Looks like the shutter speed was
quite high and the wheels are stopped. He could just be sitting
in a parked car. Probably wasn't possible from your
vantage-point, but I reckon it would be more appealing seeing it
from track level a bit more, too.

Boats/Sunset, Tim Conway:
Sounds - water lapping boats, bird squawking? Nice summer feel
to it, though. So nice shot, just not sure about the mandate.

Surf, Bob Coe:
Totally get the sounds of season. Sorry to see that's what you
guys have to call "surf" (I grew up on the Gold Coast) Can
see you didn't have much to work with here, there's not much
going on in the scene. How to make it more appealing? Maybe get
down closer to the waves and shoot more up and down the beach,
using the line of waves as a leading line to the horizon? Not
sure, sorry.

Excursion Boat, Bob Coe:
Bit more action, like this one more. Probably like to see it in
tighter with the interesting boat taking up more of the frame,
and rather than centred, have it on the right moving into the
scene.

Pirates, Bob Coe:
Cute Sounds of the season? Be good to see her in character,
pulling some kind of nasty pirate face or something.

Bugler, Martha Coe:
Reckon this would be cool in much closer, with a bit more
distance between him and the background, or shallow up the depth
of field, as the background is a bit too busy and distracting.

Piano Lesson, Martha Coe:
I'd get in close again on this one, up on the left of the
keyboard, and focus in tight on the girl's hand with the
teacher's hands in the background. Have the keyboard bottom left
to top right. Know what I mean? Should be able to make out the
child's hands younger than the teacher's, and having 2 sets of
hands on keyboard shows it's a lesson. Neat.

Genendammerung, Martha Coe:
Sounds? I do like these semi-astro shots. We call that "Belt of
Venus". I believe it's the shadow of the Earth as the sun goes
down. Saw a spectacular one on the way home from a drive out
west recently, but couldn't stop to take a shot of it. You did
well.

A****er Kent, Cooper:
Sounds? I don't get it. The object, no idea what it is, looks
interesting. Nice textures etc.

Election Interview, Cooper:
Nice journalistic feel to it. Season for elections? Just had
our federal elections here. Debacle.

Splash, Cooper:
Yeah, mate. That's Summer right there. Totally get it. Be fun
to see the boys playing, laughing, splashing or running in it -
bit more lively/action.

If I am elected, Peter Newman:
Now this one is good. Actually, it's really good. Sounds of
season, tick. Interesting subject, tick. Good separation from
background to make the subject stand out, tick. Bit of action,
tick. Like it a alot. Invoke feeling of Summer at the beach,
tick. Well done!

Mosquito wing, Paul Furman:
Excellent! Sounds of season - Summer mozzies! Grrr. Hate them.
They seem to love my blood. Fantastic magnification. Never seen
one that close, lovely detail and colours. Very interesting.

Band, Bowser:
Summer festival music. I get that, but the shot is kinda busy to
me. Tough environment to get them all in and make it more
interesting. I understand. Sorry mate.

Drag racing, Bowser:
Now /this/ is how I like to see racing cars. I hadn't even seen
this shot when I wrote the comment above. Pure coincidence.
Speed, noise. Yep. Get it. I'm there.

Blacksmiths, Bowser:
Ting, ting, ting. I can hear it. Not sure about the season
part, but got the sounds.

Tanglewood Finale, Peter Newman:
I get the sounds, but it's a bit busy and noisy for me. Assume
that's the conductor? Be good to get him bowing to the audience,
bit more obvious. Or maybe get in tighter on him. Or shallower
depth of field.

--
Troy Piggins

On 2010-09-23 20:36:44 -0700, Troy Piggins said:

* Bowser wrote :
The latest Shootin gallery has been posted, and is available for
viewing

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/seasonal_sounds

FWIW, and considering I just made some comments about
critiquing(?), I thought I'd post my thoughts on the "Sounds" SI,
even though I didnt' submit. Hope that's ok. Please forgive me
if I mention something that has already been asked and answered.
I haven't gone through the other comments.


Carousel, Savageduck:
Like the colours, bright carnival feel. Not sure about the
composition. Is it "pseudo-HDR"? Sorry, I hate that term, but
that's another, long, story. Looks like a pretty wide tonal
range in the shot and it's been handled well if not. The tones
on the girls front right don't quite look right, possibly because
saturation been boosted for the other carnivally colours.

No HDR, but in ACR i set the camera profile to "Camera Vivid" and I
guess that was what I got. Then I tweeked the contrast with curves,
ending up with what was presented.

Coco Montoya, Savageduck:
Now this one I like. Warm colours, assume Summer over there.
Music - obviously sounds of the season. Focus and depth of field
works well in this one. Good job.

Thanks, there were some other shots worth considering, but I thought
this showed them well.

Cobra at Laguna, Savageduck:
Whenever I see racing cars, I'd like to see the speed by using
panning shots, wheels blurry. Looks like the shutter speed was
quite high and the wheels are stopped. He could just be sitting
in a parked car. Probably wasn't possible from your
vantage-point, but I reckon it would be more appealing seeing it
from track level a bit more, too.

Bad selection on my part. I had I must have had about 20-30 shots of
the Cobra, on its own and with other cars, some better some worse.
This is the shot I should have submitted;
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechut...4353AE2cfw.jpg

....or maybe this V12 Lagonda, that has a completly different kind of
"Supercharged LOUD!"
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechute/_DNC4619ECfw.jpg

Thanks for taking the time to comment.


--
Regards,

Savageduck

* Savageduck wrote :
On 2010-09-23 20:36:44 -0700, Troy Piggins said:
snip /
Cobra at Laguna, Savageduck:
Whenever I see racing cars, I'd like to see the speed by using
panning shots, wheels blurry. Looks like the shutter speed was
quite high and the wheels are stopped. He could just be sitting
in a parked car. Probably wasn't possible from your
vantage-point, but I reckon it would be more appealing seeing it
from track level a bit more, too.

Bad selection on my part. I had I must have had about 20-30 shots of
the Cobra, on its own and with other cars, some better some worse.
This is the shot I should have submitted;
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechut...4353AE2cfw.jpg

...or maybe this V12 Lagonda, that has a completly different kind of
"Supercharged LOUD!"
http://homepage.mac.com/lco/filechute/_DNC4619ECfw.jpg

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Oh yeah, those are much better! What were you thinking?
Great action shots.

--
Troy Piggins

On Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:36:44 +1000, Troy Piggins
wrote:

* Bowser wrote :
The latest Shootin gallery has been posted, and is available for
viewing

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/seasonal_sounds

A****er Kent, Cooper:
Sounds? I don't get it. The object, no idea what it is, looks
interesting. Nice textures etc.

I've explained this in other threads, but that's an old A****er Kent
radio speaker spotted in a salvage yard. Being British, I don't
suppose you recognize the brand name. Would you have twigged if the
logo said "Bush" or "Pye"?

To an older American like me, the sound of a radio broadcast -
especially a baseball game - is the sound of a summer Saturday
afternoon.

Regarding your comments about Photoshopping, I also explained in
another thread that this image was Photoshopped to all get-out. Here
is the original as seen:

http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/Other/...0_e93eF-XL.jpg

I normally don't go in for Photoshopping SI submissions, but the
"Sounds" mandate suggested radio so much to me that I wanted to
include something to do with radio and I didn't like the original as
shot. Besides, it was an interesting exercise for me to restore that
old speaker.

Election Interview, Cooper:
Nice journalistic feel to it. Season for elections? Just had
our federal elections here. Debacle.

That was taken at a Tea Party rally. I liked the idea of capturing
the candidate in front of his own sign. The candidate pictured lost
his bid for office in the primary election.

Good to see you commenting, Troy.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida