Please help me pick 3 images...

[TheDude]

I need to submit 3 images for a juried gallery exhibit. Need to submit them tomorrow to be eligible. The first two are pretty much a given, but give opinions anyway as to the 3 you would choose. Thanks in advance!

[Ashley]

These photos are amazing... I really like the ocean one with the mountains and light, I've always loved when the light streams like that through the clouds, like heaven opening up. That one has my vote! I also really like the walls one, because the doorway looks like it opens up into a completely different world.
What kind of camera do you use??

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Tags_girl_

What kind of camera do you use??

The type most of us wouldn't even be able to figure out how to use!!

Excellent pics, Patrick. The best one I think is the one of those leaves over looking the serene lake!! Absolutely superb!!

[ezmoney46]

Great pix as usual but where's the "Rolex" I think one watch picture would be ok?

[Robb]

6,8,10 are amazing.......Well, there all amazing!!!!!!!!

[TheDude]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

The type most of us wouldn't even be able to figure out how to use!!

Excellent pics, Patrick. The best one I think is the one of those leaves over looking the serene lake!! Absolutely superb!!

Hehe - sorry... I'm Ron - the other "Duder". I know - I should have checked, but when I registered I didn't put a space and the forum software engine correctly treated it as a unique UID. We humans have a bit more trouble... Having two members - "TheDude" and "The Dude" is a confusing mess. Thanks - that shot is the tidal basin in Washington, DC and those leaves are the famous Cherry Blossoms - a gift from Japan many many years ago.


1,3,4,5,6,7 were taken with a Nikon D70 + the "kit" 18-70 DX lens

The remaining shots were taking with a Canon 5D + 24-105 lens


Thanks for the nice words guys. I'm actually thinking of not entering any today and picking another event to enter later in the year. I need to frame them by 7PM and I have two customer meetings... Too damn busy for my hobbies!!!

[frostie]

4 th image 9th image and the last pic. All of them are amazing by the way

[TDH]

3,7,9 all super pics and thanks for sharing!

[TheDude]

Thanks everyone.

In case anyone is wondering what/where

1. A mission church graveyard in Farmington, New Mexico - USA
2. Arlington, Virginia - USA (in my neighborhood)
3. The Bisti Wilderness in New Mexico - USA
4. San Cristóbal Fort in San Juan, PR - US Territory
5. El Morro (fort) in San Juan, PR - US Territory
6. Small Islands near Culebra off the coast of Puerto Rico - US Territory
7. Tidal Basin in Washington, DC - USA
8. Ruins of old Pompei, Italy
9. Ruins of old Pompei, Italy
10. Capri and the Amalfi coast - Italy
11. Ravello, Italy
12. Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain

[bayhillrolex]

1, 2, 10

Thanks for sharing these great photos

[HYDROMAROC]

I think they are all great!!! I do have a question though. As an amateur photographer, and please don't take offense but, how many of those shots were " manipulated" digitally? Noe the less they are great pix

[KJacques]

Originally Posted by HYDROMAROC

I think they are all great!!! I do have a question though. As an amateur photographer, and please don't take offense but, how many of those shots were " manipulated" digitally? Noe the less they are great pix

What do you mean by "manipulated digitally?" Do you mean a digital version of what was always done in a traditional darkroom to produce pictures that look "better" than they appeared? (filtering, adjusting color, exposure, framing, dodging and or burning, etc.) Or creating a composite picture out of elements that wouldn't have existed together otherwise?

I personally haven't seen many digital files straight out of even the most professional cameras that look phenomenal without some post processing (unless the in-camera settings are altered and that in itself is a form of digital manipulation.)

I'm not a fan of over photoshopping where it involves altering the subject...Like you see on every magazine cover these days. A little softening is one thing, changing the actual physical appearance of something is another.

But to stay on subject, the displayed pictures here all look great. I'm a big fan of saturated color.

[TheDude]

Originally Posted by HYDROMAROC

I think they are all great!!! I do have a question though. As an amateur photographer, and please don't take offense but, how many of those shots were " manipulated" digitally? Noe the less they are great pix

Very good question. I have had the good fortune of attending some Santa Fe Workshops courses, and have learned digital printing from some of the best. This involves the preparation of the image, which inevitably means Photoshop.


Of all these shots, the worst offender is probably the leaf on the manhole cover. I used a few soft masks to cut through some haze in the water, and I created some extra contrast and color where the image needed it. Speaking of the mental process, you have to think about what the image needs. If you're just using a technique because you just learned it, you can run into the "everything starts to look like a nail" problem. Learning to really objectively evaluate your work and -then- decide what to do is the true skill and mastery that defines the art. I'm certainly not anyone you should listen to, but these are things that some very talented and respected people have said about this topic.

The first shot, incredibly only had a minor curve applied to it. The third image was basically straight off the camera, but I used a 3 stop Darryl Benson reverse ND grad on the lens to be able to get the exposure of the sky and the ground balanced. I don't really like HDR processing and don't ever do it. The wide shot of Capri was also taken using the ND grads. Without them, the mountains would have been a blown out bright blob of white-ish yellow. Again, that one is pretty much out of the camera (aside from the crop).

The Cherry Blossom shot was taken with me holding a wireless SB-800 speedlight down by the ground in one hand, and shooting the camera in the other up at my eye. I had the power dialed way down on the flash. Without the flash, the blossoms would have been black or very dark. Again, there were some basic curves applied and sharpening - but it was minimal.


Nearly all of the best techniques are analogies of darkroom techniques. Most people never realized that when they dropped a roll of film off at the drugstore or the supermarket - that there was someone back there tweaking and tuning their images so they would look decent. The fact that this was never divulged makes a lot of people think that what they got back is exactly what they shot. It never is, save for positive film (slides). Because they think nothing was done with film (way not true), that somehow manipulating images is wrong. It's not. In fact, you can do too much. Striking the balance is well... art. :)


Oh, so here's the modified shot followed by the original leaf shot prior to any manipulation. They say that digital image sensors aren't really capable of capturing the nuance and richness of color that our eyes see when we gaze upon the same subject. We can make the captured image look "right", but it won't necessarily come out of the camera that way. Again, there is a need to process shots. As I said, this one is the worst offender of the pics I posted.

[HYDROMAROC]

Originally Posted by TheDude

Very good question. I have had the good fortune of attending some Santa Fe Workshops courses, and have learned digital printing from some of the best. This involves the preparation of the image, which inevitably means Photoshop.


Of all these shots, the worst offender is probably the leaf on the manhole cover. I used a few soft masks to cut through some haze in the water, and I created some extra contrast and color where the image needed it. Speaking of the mental process, you have to think about what the image needs. If you're just using a technique because you just learned it, you can run into the "everything starts to look like a nail" problem. Learning to really objectively evaluate your work and -then- decide what to do is the true skill and mastery that defines the art. I'm certainly not anyone you should listen to, but these are things that some very talented and respected people have said about this topic.

The first shot, incredibly only had a minor curve applied to it. The third image was basically straight off the camera, but I used a 3 stop Darryl Benson reverse ND grad on the lens to be able to get the exposure of the sky and the ground balanced. I don't really like HDR processing and don't ever do it. The wide shot of Capri was also taken using the ND grads. Without them, the mountains would have been a blown out bright blob of white-ish yellow. Again, that one is pretty much out of the camera (aside from the crop).

The Cherry Blossom shot was taken with me holding a wireless SB-800 speedlight down by the ground in one hand, and shooting the camera in the other up at my eye. I had the power dialed way down on the flash. Without the flash, the blossoms would have been black or very dark. Again, there were some basic curves applied and sharpening - but it was minimal.


Nearly all of the best techniques are analogies of darkroom techniques. Most people never realized that when they dropped a roll of film off at the drugstore or the supermarket - that there was someone back there tweaking and tuning their images so they would look decent. The fact that this was never divulged makes a lot of people think that what they got back is exactly what they shot. It never is, save for positive film (slides). Because they think nothing was done with film (way not true), that somehow manipulating images is wrong. It's not. In fact, you can do too much. Striking the balance is well... art. :)


Oh, so here's the modified shot followed by the original leaf shot prior to any manipulation. They say that digital image sensors aren't really capable of capturing the nuance and richness of color that our eyes see when we gaze upon the same subject. We can make the captured image look "right", but it won't necessarily come out of the camera that way. Again, there is a need to process shots. As I said, this one is the worst offender of the pics I posted.

Thanks for your reply. I'm getting into the macro world and have recently obtained a copy of PS CS and want to make full use of it with my scenic shots too. For me, all your pixs are winners!!!!!

[The Dude]

And there for a sec I thought we were both named "Patrick"

You should have entered for the hell of it, you have nice images - always frame a few large prints of your images way in advance for such occasions, then you'll have no excuse to not enter, just a few blank spaces on your walls cause you "entered" those pictures

Originally Posted by TheDude

Hehe - sorry... I'm Ron - the other "Duder". I know - I should have checked, but when I registered I didn't put a space and the forum software engine correctly treated it as a unique UID. We humans have a bit more trouble... Having two members - "TheDude" and "The Dude" is a confusing mess. Thanks - that shot is the tidal basin in Washington, DC and those leaves are the famous Cherry Blossoms - a gift from Japan many many years ago.


1,3,4,5,6,7 were taken with a Nikon D70 + the "kit" 18-70 DX lens

The remaining shots were taking with a Canon 5D + 24-105 lens


Thanks for the nice words guys. I'm actually thinking of not entering any today and picking another event to enter later in the year. I need to frame them by 7PM and I have two customer meetings... Too damn busy for my hobbies!!!

[DSJ]

Add 5 to the collection. Rich contrast and interplay of textures between the different stone patterns and the sea.

As a former photography major, I am jealous and impressed by your ability, both with the camera and in the "darkroom." My pictures were good enough (all film), but I never mastered the art of darkroom enhancements.