Project 52(late start!) by Gary (oldgreygary)

[oldgreygary]

Greg and anyone else who is interested this is the unedited version. I just wanted to focus on the stones.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Geoff F]

That has worked well, Gary, you have some good detail in that swirling water.

I'm just wondering about the crop. I think I would either crop a little wider, so a little of the far bank is visible; perhaps the first three steps. Or, alternatively, crop a fraction closer so those stones 'go on forever'.

How much is the new CS6? Not that I will be purchasing.

[oldgreygary]

My interest in Photshop was to see what its functionality is all about. As mentioned in previous posts CS6, is a trial version available for download for 30 days and costs nothing. Once that is up that's it as its way beyond my budget. I think it costs £600+ in the UK. But I guess you can upgrade for less or get a student version. If I had that sort of money available I would certainly be able to lead a less hassle free life.



Gary

[oldgreygary]

I think that this is an old cricket pavillion that is in the grounds of the fire brigade training centre. Although it has seen better days it is this unkempt look that makes the image interesting. Any thoughts welcomed.

Cheers for now

Gary

[oldgreygary]

I have to admit to becoming a bit frustrated with the Canon G2 as it's limitations are beginning to show. One of these is it cannot process RAW files very quickly. It takes at least 5 secs to process and by the time thats done the opportunity to get another shot has gone.

Anyway, it wasn't an issue with this shot! I saw this snail crossing the path as I was walking. I thought it quite appropriate at the moment as it represented the speed at which my brain is working at the moment...

Cheers for now

Gary

[FrankMi]

Hi Gary! A very interesting subject indeed! If you get another chance like this, try putting the camera on the ground and shooting horizontal at the snail's level. You'll have to guess a bit at the angle and focus but at the speed this guy moves you could get in quite a few shots before he races out of sight and the image, should you be able to get the focus sharp, would be really fascinating!

For this shot, if you can do some post processing, could benefit from a colour tone change for either the snail or the background to get the subject to stand out a bit better from the background and clone out the twig coming out of its neck. Hope this helps!

[Geoff F]

That background nicely shows how the shell can merge into the general surroundings and act as camouflage.

And yes, I sometimes get days when I get fed up with being harassed and chased around by the snails.

[oldgreygary]

Thanks Geoff and Frank for your replies. I have re-processed the image. As I only have a couple of days left on the trial version of Photoshop I used it to do the editing. I cloned the twig out of the way. Then I made a selection of the snail. Created a layer and added the selection of the snail as a mask. That allowed me to add an adjustment to adjust the brightness of the background. I then duplicated this layer and inverted the mask. This allowed me to adjust the brightness of the snail. I then merged all those together, created an object then added an unsharp filter to the image. I think this is an area where photoshop wins as it allows for fine adjustments. Anyway, the trial ends soon so I will have to get along without it. Any further thoughts/comments welcomed.

Cheers for now

Gary

[oldgreygary]

In another post I put some more images from this event for comment(London To Brighton Cycle Ride). As I think that images can get a bit lost in the Project 52 post and I was looking for more feedback on the shots. It's the London To Brighton charity cycle ride. This was taken as the cyclists rounded a bend and went up a short hill. Capturing images head on or rear on as in this image was reasonably straight forward. Capturing motion side-on was more difficult. I think one of the limiting factors as well as me, the photographer is the Canon G2. If I say I don't think its quick enough that's not very specific but thats what it felt like when trying to take these shots. By the time it focused and was ready the shot was gone. Then when I did take an image the Raw processing takes an age and further opportunities disappear.....

Cheers for now

Gary

[Geoff F]

Exposure and focus seem fine.

This is one of those cases where the continuous focus mode might be useful. Also, for side on shots, panning the camera until the best angle/shot appears can speed up the focus.

[oldgreygary]

Thanks for reply Geoff. A lot of questions and answers came out of taking the images. I will have to try the continuous mode and panning and see where that takes it.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Geoff F]

As the answers in your other post confirm, the G2 camera doesn't work as well as full AI servo in the newer, and much more expensive, options. But it should get you somewhere closer, although with some additional potential problems.

[oldgreygary]

It certainly feels like that I need to be able to find a way to step up to the next level with regards to camera and lens's. It's something that I am going to have to find a way to
get to.

Cheers for now

Gary

[oldgreygary]

Continuing this week with panning practice with the Canon G2. Some of the lessons learned so far. Use the viewfinder rather than the LCD to compose the shot. Using shutter priority with 1/60 seems to work ok for both panned and static shots. Although weather has been mostly overcast so that might need to be revised. I am not to sure whether panning works for uphill shots for cyclists. They are going relatively slowly so the background blurring is less pronounced. Its not always easy locating the 'right' background sometimes I think it might have to be a compromise. Also, I think that freezing the action when cyclists are turning corners looks pretty effective as an image. I guess that things like image stabilisation and contiuous focus could help imporve these images. Anyway, here's the image so comments and advice are most welcome.

Cheers for now

Gary

[oldgreygary]

Continuing on the action/sports theme this week I went down to the local cricket club to see what results I could get. I created a problem for myself by getting my fingerprint on the lens. This showed up as a ghost-like white appearance around part of the image. I posted this problem in another post and after it was suggested it might be condensation I thought I had better check the lens. Not condensation but my errant finger print on there. Still not sure how it got there but hey, we all make mistakes (Thanks to Frank for triggering off the thought process to check things).

Anyway, as it was a bright, sunny day with some cloud I did a test shot at 1/60 as the shutter priority and this was too much exposure so, I switched to 1/125 and 1/500. Subsequent to this and doing some research which said that minimum shutter speeds tend to be around 1/500 and above. Also, seems to suggest higher ISO as well. If I want to achieve the blurred effect with slower shutter speeds in bright daylight not sure at the moment how you would be able to achieve that with the Canon G2? The other major factor which inhibits this shot is the lack of focal length. The G2 has a 35mm equivalent of around 100mm which according to what I have read is way off whats needed. The suggestion seems to be for a lens having a focal length in the range 70-300mm? Nevertheless, in the image that I have posted I did manage to capture the batsmen, the ball and a fielder which for me anyway captured a moment in the game.

I guess within the framework of the G2's capabilities it is probably getting close to the best I can get for action type photos. Probably, greater focal length, ISO and shutter speed options would allow for a greater variety of shots.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Geoff F]

A good action shot there Gary, I can even see the ball.

I did wonder about cropping a little from the left side and bottom, but that would lose the wicket which I think puts the whole scene into context.

The only alternative which may be worth considering is to crop somewhere around 2 x 1 ratio to remove some of the grass and create something of a panoramic effect.

[oldgreygary]

Thanks for your comments Geoff. The panoramic effect you mention is what I was looking for but with so much cropping it didn't leave much to work with. I thought that it might be helpful to put the original uncropped version in the post. It illustrates the issue with the G2 lens/focal length in not being able to get a tighter shot.

Cheers for now

Gary

[Geoff F]

There was a screw on converter which increased the max size by 1.5x but it can only be used when aiming with the review screen not the viewfinder. Which I found a bit limiting.

[Ken MT]

How about this crop as an alternative?

[oldgreygary]

Ken, that crop orientation looks good to me. Working with the G2 for these types of shot looks like I will have to crop heavily to get a result. The panorama 2:1 as Geoff suggested and Ken has illustrated work well. Excellent!

Gary