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AMONGST THE CACTI


bosshogg

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Travel

· 82,420 images
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a nice catch; good perspective. I guess in the dry environment the car will be there for many years to come... What make/model is it? Cheers, Micheal

 

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A very nice image and I'm pleased to see that you are taking the artistic approach in your editing and cropping of the image. You may need a bit of training in your usage of the 'clone tool' but I doubt that many viewers other than myself would have noticed it.

 

Next time take multiple samples from different parts to clone out a background. No one will notice you've done it then and you can do much larger areas too.

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Thanks. I had forgotten that I meant to go back and see if I could clean that up after I had done a bunch of other stuff. You caught me. I'm not sure I know what you mean by "multiple samples." Is that something you do in one shot, or are you simply talking about what I normally do by grabbing a little here and a little there until it has a natural look (hopefully)?
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Thanks. I'm afraid someone much better versed in old cars than I will have to give us the answer on that. I have no clue, and that emblem on the radiator does not look familiar.
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Yes, I did mean to "grab a little here and there" to do the cloning. You already know why that is better.
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Another excellent shot, David. Some people have a certain affinity for os. With you and Shawn, it's grand old derelicts like this; with Kent, it's those monsters of the 1950's-1960's. Personally, I never seem to run into either, so I guess you gys have some special karmic connection to this stuff. Personally, I seem to be karmically connected to garbage. Ivery much like the way you have filled the frame and the strong, well defined lines of the car, as clean as a woodblock print. On the other hand, I think the out of focus bush in the foreground is a bit out of place and doesn't contribute to the theme (well, at least the way I see it :-))
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I had the same feelings about the cacti in the foreground. However after examining the image I realized it was probably impossible to eliminate it without significantly changing the image and possibly including more background clutter. If you look just past the grill of the old car you'll see there is another old beast next door. If you look through the driver's side window and the rear window on the driver's side you'll see a Route 66 sign and a portion of a building. In order to eliminate the cacti David would have had to move to the left, right or get in front of it. Getting in front of it would not have been an option without using a wide-angle lens and even then the photographer would have had to completely alter the image being taken. Moving left or right would have picked up more of the background and also lost either the front or the side of the old car. Therefore we are left with two choices: 1) what we are looking at; 2) don't take the photograph.

 

Many of these thought quickly flashed through my mind as I first saw the image. The real reason I noticed these things is because I saw that David had taken an artistic approach for showing an image when he normally chooses a more documentary view. What it all comes down to is, I think this is most likely the best view he could find.

 

David, your input?

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Jeez, Shawn, you have seen more in this photo that I did! I guess that's why you are so good with the minute details that are so often seen in your images. You are pretty much right that I did not see any other way to shoot it, and you will note that this image is a result of my going back through the images from my major trip this summer to see if I can coax a few more out of the memory cards. This one originally did not satisfy me sufficiently to warrant the first go around. I can kind of see where you guys are coming from, and I'm not going to disagree. Initially I thought the cactus and its yellow flowers added to the overall scene. Maybe not.

 

Jack, I'd say I have done plenty of garbage shots too. Some were of garbage and detritus, and others just ended up that way after I worked on them.

 

Clearly I am not the talent that Shawn is when it comes to these, and Shawn's observation about a more documentary style is pretty much on the money.

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Hell, Dave, I'm a sucker for these shots. I love this one, and I think the soft foreground makes the old car leap out of the frame. Regards...
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David, Shawn & Jack, I appreciate your observations. It is said fools rush where angles fear to tread. Being a fool, may I offer my suggestion.David, please forgive me for this impertinent act.

5927754.jpg
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If you are a fool, you are a fool with a fine photo ability and a wonderful way with words from what I know of you. No impertinence at all. I'm honored. The thing I like best about your suggestion is that it retains the more traditional 35 MM aspect ratio, which I'm more fond of than the more squared one I had used. I like it a great deal. Thanks and peace to you.
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I like the shot and the environment. Nice use of color. As for the cactus, I'm ok with it, as a matter of fact I like it, but I'm not sure why you made it out of focus. In this shot, I think the texture and "sharpness" of the cactus would work well as a foreground element to the vehicle. I think it's not the cactus itself but its being out of focus that is actually the distraction.
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Amal: As well you should!

 

Shawn: Maybe you will too.

 

Fred: You may be on to something. At this moment, I can't tell you if it was just thoughtless shooting, or if by going for more depth of field I would not be able to hand hold and was too lazy to get the tripod. Either way it would amount to rookie results. Having said that, however, there is something in me that says that the cactus was there to set the scene and is important solely for the purpose of leading into the car, and need not be in focus. In retrospect, I think it might have been at its best if the cactus were in sharp focus and the car trailed off into blur. But I think that it is more likely that the image would be improved with the whole image in sharp focus.

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I appreciate the thought, but to me it loses too much when you do that. I'm not the old car guy like Shawn and many others here on Pnet., but the car by itself just doesn't hold my interest. The cactus brought in another element to set it off I thought. Thanks for your input. I do appreciate it.
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