Project 52 by Mal Schulstad

[gregj1763]

Fascinating account of your experiences with your underwater shots. It must be like learning photography all over again.
Good luck with it and look forward to more to come.
Cheers Greg

[Donald]

This week I thought would be a good exercise of how not to take photos in the water.

Don't know how you're doing in terms of your own development, but you're sure educating the rest of us (well, the 99.99% who knew nothing of the challenges of shooting underwater). Fascinating stuff.

[Letrow]

With PP this shot actually looks quite interesting. I like the end result a lot.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Fascinating account of your experiences with your underwater shots. It must be like learning photography all over again.
Good luck with it and look forward to more to come.
Cheers Greg

Well, I'm learning to dive as well as learning to take underwater photos. It is like learning photography all over again but that's what keeps it interesting

Don't know how you're doing in terms of your own development, but you're sure educating the rest of us (well, the 99.99% who knew nothing of the challenges of shooting underwater). Fascinating stuff.

Well, it is a learning forum, right? I have to say that reading the theory is one thing, but actually putting into practice can be quite another. Learning to see the light and understand how it behaves underwater is quite an interesting exercise.

With PP this shot actually looks quite interesting. I like the end result a lot.

Thanks Peter. Just goes to show you that you should never throw a photo away until you've had a good play with it. Thankfully my PP skills are at a point where I can at least recognise an opportunity to turn a shot into something interesting.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Thank god the move is over and we've got our Internet up and running! Now I just need to start a new job!

Back onto the photography. Kerry's been doing markets recently - more of them of late as she ramps up her candle business. I've been tagging along to help out and while I'm there, I've been taking a few photos to help advertise her business.

It's personally something I've been struggling with but I thought I'd post some photos to get some feedback from you all

[FrankMi]

The series tells a great story of how Kerry is doing in her new venture and I really like the colour and how the flame has an interesting angle in #3. I was surprised, though, that you let the foreground candle go soft in #4.

I gotta ask, Malcolm, did you or Kerry do the artwork for the poster in #2? Nice!

[Letrow]

I like the photos Mal, some better than others. The last one is my favourite, nice viewpoint. Maybe I would have cropped out the lights. The first one is the one I struggle with a bit. There is a lot going on there, including a couple of chairs. And for me the white could pop a little bit more.
Didn't know you were moving. House to house? Quite a hassle I guess. I hate to think of moving, so much stuff in the attic...

[oldgreygary]

Mal, I think from my very limited experience of indoor photography is that setting up and creating the right lighting to show off the subject can be the most difficult. I would say that the lighted candle works best and if you added more of the label to promote the product/business. I guess it's switching mindset a bit from taking images from an artistic point of view to making images that promote/show-off the product/business in there best light (oops terrible pun!)

Cheers for now

Gary

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The series tells a great story of how Kerry is doing in her new venture and I really like the colour and how the flane has an interesting angle in #3. I was surprised, though, that you let the foreground candle go soft in #4.

I gotta ask, Malcolm, did you or Kerry do the artwork for the poster in #2? Nice!

The foreground going soft in #4 wasn't intentional. I have limited time to take some of these shots as people walk past so I just miscalculated the DoF in that one. The poster is from a photo that I took. Kerry told me what she wanted in the photo and I did the arrangement and took the photos. That's a bit easier than taking photos of a live market where you have very limited control over the lighting.

I like the photos Mal, some better than others. The last one is my favourite, nice viewpoint. Maybe I would have cropped out the lights. The first one is the one I struggle with a bit. There is a lot going on there, including a couple of chairs. And for me the white could pop a little bit more.
Didn't know you were moving. House to house? Quite a hassle I guess. I hate to think of moving, so much stuff in the attic...

I'll take your points on board about touching up the photos. I rushed the PP on these so there's definitely more work that could be done. I think Prefer #4 as well - it's a good perspective.

We forgot to mention to everyone we were moving, or that Kerry had quit her job to do her candles full time, or that I've just left my job of 11 years to take on a new role in a new company

Mal, I think from my very limited experience of indoor photography is that setting up and creating the right lighting to show off the subject can be the most difficult. I would say that the lighted candle works best and if you added more of the label to promote the product/business. I guess it's switching mindset a bit from taking images from an artistic point of view to making images that promote/show-off the product/business in there best light (oops terrible pun!)

Cheers for now

Gary

You know, for some reason when I took the lit candle shot I didn't notice that I had the "warning" label instead of the "Majjak" label pointing at the lens - that's why the candle is cropped so much. Lighting is indeed a challenge - no surfaces to bounce a flash off because of high ceilings and you can't place a flash anywhere. I've actually just ordered a strobe for my underwater camera set up which comes with an extension arm that I might see if I can adapt for the market photos

[johnbharle]

Thank god the move is over and we've got our Internet up and running! Now I just need to start a new job!

Back onto the photography. Kerry's been doing markets recently - more of them of late as she ramps up her candle business. I've been tagging along to help out and while I'm there, I've been taking a few photos to help advertise her business.

It's personally something I've been struggling with but I thought I'd post some photos to get some feedback from you all

When I first looked, I stopped at the first image and thought "what would make it better?" I was going to suggest trying to get your lens down below the product. But then I looked further and you had done just that with the 4th photo! I like it and the 3rd image the best. Candles always look better burning. Don't know if this is much help. Maybe I'll think of something really great to say later :-@

[Goldcoastgolfer]

When I first looked, I stopped at the first image and thought "what would make it better?" I was going to suggest trying to get your lens down below the product. But then I looked further and you had done just that with the 4th photo! I like it and the 3rd image the best. Candles always look better burning. Don't know if this is much help. Maybe I'll think of something really great to say later :-@

Every bit of feedback helps The perspective shots and the candles burning are my favourites as well but I think I need to figure out a way of capturing the sense of being in the market at well.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Well, I have to say that Kerry and I are loving the new place. We've started taking lots and lots of photos of our neighbours. I'd say that they're finally becoming used to us.

This week's feature neighbours are the kookaburras. They have been very welcoming to the neighbourhood and are more than happy to keep us company in the morning and afternoon.

One thing I have found is that shooting with Kerry's 55-300mm at 300mm wide open reduces a fairly soft and noisy photo. I thought adding a flash might help resolve the problem but I'm still seeing something similar. I haven't tried increasing shutter speed yet or reducing the aperture but I've been less than pleased with the results at 300mm. I have a feeling that it's a shutter speed issue but I was expecting the VR of the lens to compensate. This one is the best of a bad bunch at 300mm.



Thankfully the kookaburras are all fairly friendly so I managed to get a few closer up with better results. I got a bit carried away but these are my favourites.

[gregj1763]

H Mal,
Great shots, #4 and #8 are my favourites. 4 is a great portrait of a proud Aussie icon but maybe a little tightly cropped in front of his beak? and I like the soft foliage behind him in 8 as extra interest?
#1 does look a bit softer than the others, was that taken at 300mm. I can't check exif data on my iPad.
Looks like that will be a well fed kookaburra by the end of the day judging by the little bribes on the fence next to him in the last photo
Cheers Greg

[Wendy Stanford]

Great series Mal,
I really enjoy the kookaburras laughing at sunrise and sunset also,
I like the angle and composition of #2, nice focus on the eye and beak,
#8, has a little more space around the bird, lovely DOF and colour which appeals, nice angle of the head and it is looking into the space,whites are a little blown, but still a great shot.

Cheers

[FrankMi]

Nice set, Malcolm! Only the first one looks soft and although it was at 300mm, the others look fairly sharp even though some of them were fairly close to 300mm. As the branches in front of the first one are razor sharp, I suspect that there was a focusing problem rather than the lens being soft at the 300mm mark.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Thanks everyone. I did end up figuring out what the problem was - somehow the VR on the lens had accidentally been turned off.

[oldgreygary]

An embarrasment of riches at the moment with all these bird shots, nice sharp images Mal. The Kookaburras must be comfortable with people around. They almost look like they are posing for the pictures.

Cheers for now

Gary

[johnbharle]

With PP this shot actually looks quite interesting. I like the end result a lot.

Can you call an underwater shot "Atmospheric?" Well, guess I just did. Nice shot.

[Teton Chuck]

Mal, nice shots of the kookaburra. The last one of the series does the best job of distinguishing the feathers on the chest. And both the eye and feet are in focus. Did you use manual focus or auto focus? I find that even with VR it is helpful to use a tripod and manual focus when photographing birds, especially in shrubbery. It looks to me that with just a bit less exposure and better focus you will have some really great shots of your new neighbors. The last of the series is the best picture of a kookaburra that I have seen.

Cheers, Chuck

[Goldcoastgolfer]

An embarrasment of riches at the moment with all these bird shots, nice sharp images Mal. The Kookaburras must be comfortable with people around. They almost look like they are posing for the pictures.

Cheers for now

Gary

They certainly are happy enough for me to get pretty close!

Can you call an underwater shot "Atmospheric?" Well, guess I just did. Nice shot.

I think we can make up whatever we like - it is a learning forum after all Thanks John

Mal, nice shots of the kookaburra. The last one of the series does the best job of distinguishing the feathers on the chest. And both the eye and feet are in focus. Did you use manual focus or auto focus? I find that even with VR it is helpful to use a tripod and manual focus when photographing birds, especially in shrubbery. It looks to me that with just a bit less exposure and better focus you will have some really great shots of your new neighbors. The last of the series is the best picture of a kookaburra that I have seen.

Cheers, Chuck

Thanks Chuck. I was changing settings on the fly, along with playing with the flash as well. Focus was an auto but I was using single point and manually shifting the focus point on top of the eye. I tend not to be a tripod shooter - just a personal aversion I have because I find that I can miss shots when the camera's stuck on top of it sometimes. I was using the flash to compensate instead - throwing out the light to freeze any movement.

What week are we up to now? I have a feeling I'm lagging behind now.