mikemorrellNL

40 minutes ago, Rishi Raj said:

...

For photo 2, I wanted to convey a story of how a stranger in so engrossed in the dance performance and is almost enchanted to follow the main performer to the “T”. Realising the chances of embarrassment this might lead to, the person on the right is pacing to stop it. 

Ah, now I see it!

Just a personal post. I recently visited my home village in Wales and I - as usual went on various trips to local beauty spots. I also took photos of family and friends. Beforehand -as usual, I'd packed my DSLR (a Canon 5D mk iv) with just my 'walk about' lens this time, leaving the heavier Canon 70-200mm lens behind.

In fact, for 95% of the photos I took, I just used my Android phone even though I had the DSLR in my rucksack.  In the whole 10 days, I only took 4-5 photos with my DSLR.  My phone photos were good enough and it was so quick and easy to share selected (and sometimes edited) photos with family and friends while I was there.

I resolved to leave my DSLR at home next time I visited.

I don't want to influence the 'Iphone photographer' discussion one way or the other.  There any many photographic situations that would lead a photographer to use a mobile phone or DSLR. I just want to share my personal experience that a mobile phone camera worked better for me travelling (with good light) travelling than a DSLR.

Mike

Welcome (back), Dan!

I'm sure I was a member back in 2018/2019 too but I don't remember you. Like you - I've also had periods of 2-3 years when I wasn't at all interested in PN. Back then, I also had a thing about the 'No Words' forum. In the sense of posted photos not being searchable. So maybe we just missed each other. But I've always come back to PN and I occasionally post to 'No Words' too!

I live in The Netherlands so I'm way ahead (timewise) of members based in the US.

I've watched the video on your RICHTER MUSEUM link and browsed through the wonderful galleries and photos on your website. I was amazed at the diversity and quality of photos that you've taken! I also love the love the opportunities that you - at the Richter Museum - provide to art students!

I'm really looking forward to your contributions on PN!

Best wishes,

Mike

19 hours ago, mikemorrellNL said:

Sorry, @pavel_l., even with an interest in modern art. I just can't make any sense out of this photo.

My apologies, @pavel_l.. I completely withdraw my previous comment. I was just back from vacation, flicking through e-mails, etc. and I didn't give your photo the time and attention it deserved.

On a second viewing, I see many details that I missed the 1st time (when I just "saw" two artworks on a wall). Details that make this photo so interesting.

For example, the concrete floor, the worn woodwork and the damage to the 'artworks' in both frames. The one on the right also appears to have a sticker stuck to it. And of course the broken bench. And also the 2 objects (a heart + ?) to the right. Given the concrete floor, the damage and the wear on both the woodwork and the bench, my guess would be that the scene would be outside. Or an inside location that enabled the weathering.

Whatever, your photo does contain interesting juxtapositions: 'artworks' vs. the wear and damage both to them and especially to the surroundings. Somewhere there's a 'story' in the photo but the photo invites the viewer to consider what the story might be. In the best traditions, your photo just asks questions.

Excellent photo! If the viewer (=me) takes the time to really look at all the elements 🙂

Sorry, @pavel_l., even with an interest in modern art. I just can't make any sense out of this photo.

I really like the photo!  The (red) lighting may have been as it was.  But personally, I would have toned down the red on her skin in PP. Perhaps on her hair too.

Hi @Rishi Raj,

I'm don't often take street photos so I'm I don't have much experience.

I am going to be a bit more critical of your photos. Not to criticize them but (hopefully) just to give you some thoughts that may help you.

First of all, anything that interests you in public spaces falls into 'street photography'. There are no rules to follow. Yes, the best photos (including 'street photos) have something interesting about them. Could be the subjects, could be the composition. Ideally both. Interesting street photos are hard to to find and even more difficult to take because the 'interesting moment' is soon over. 

I truly admire your interaction with some of your subjects before taking photos. I've seen some truly awful 'street photos' on photography sites. IMHO the worst ones are of 'pretty girls' taken from across the street with a long lens without their knowledge. Others include 'cliche photos' of wizened old men and women, homeless people, etc. 

So interaction (before or after taking a photo) is great.

To be critical, the 'portrait photos' 1, 4 and 5 are for me less interesting. Great that you've asked (and got) permission but the photos themselves could IMHO have been taken by a friend, boyfriend, or husband. So nothing about these 3 photos (without visual context) says 'street photo' to me.

Photo 2 (a performance of some sort) is great. It's interesting to me in the sense of 'what's going on here?' I like the juxtaposition of the man's and woman's arms (composition). Most of all, I like the inclusion of the man in black on the right who's appearance looks completely spontaneous. All in all, the photo 'tells a story'' and the viewer is left to figure out what the story might be.

I like photo 3 too. Although the B/W contrast is way too heavy for my tastes, your subjects (people 'marching' in a determined way) is a great 'street photography' subject'. I also like the 'leading line of the black bollards/bins which adds depth to the composition. Photo 6 is for me (as a musician) excellent. Not because of the street band but because you've caught the drummer's expression (which I interpret as 'lost in the music' just right. You've also captured his face and body reasonably sharp while showing movement (blur) on his right hand. From my (amateur) experience photographing drummers, this is far from easy! It doesn't matter too much whether it was deliberate (adjusting exposure settings) or pure coincidence. The face is that you got a wonderful shot of a street musician showing both expression and movement. One to be proud of!

IMHO your last photo is you best one. The expression (especially the mouth and eyes) of the woman on the left just draws me in as a viewer. She appears to me to somewhat serious and determined. In stark contrast to the woman on the right who appears to be happy and smiling. And yet they're obviously friends or relatives. I fully realize that any photo is just a  'moment in time' and often doesn't reflect any 'truth'. Five minutes, an hour or 12 hours later the women's' expressions might well have been completely different, even reversed. Still, I really like this photo because of the contrast in expressions in friends or family.

@Rishi Raj, I truly wish you well on your journey into street photography! These days, there's an enormous amount of free and paid resources available on internet on street photography. Google (or any other Browser) is your friend.

Wow! I really like this!

A sense of mystery, great contrast and wonderful textures and (flowing) patterns. Without the title, the photo almost looks like woven cloth.

Well done!

On 4/30/2024 at 6:54 PM, samstevens said:

Finally, I've become immortal. Now if PN could just help me scale buildings in a single bound ...

LMAO!! 😄😄😄!!

Hi just my personal opinion on the future (or not) of PN.

I'd originally included this as a 'P.S.' to a different post but I decided to separate the two. I'm just an ordinary PN member and I have absolutely no 'privileged' information about PN. I have no complaints about PN.

I just want to share my 'imagined' viability of PN (or not). I completely understand the difficulties that our moderators have had in dealing with our past and current 'owners' over many years. Once again,  I truly appreciate and compliment them. Especially for their heroic efforts to keep PN up and running despite the lack of any upgrades/investments and lack of contact with our owners/developers. And - more importantly -for their unrelenting efforts to 'engage our current owners/developers. Which sadly proved unsuccessful.

I've often wondered what the 'business model' of PN is. And what the 'business motivation' is for our past and current owners to subside the running costs of PN. My wholly uneducated guess (based on my suspected average age and experience of PN members, the 'voluntary subscriptions' from current members, the very slow trickle of new members and (therefore) very limited income from 'Ads') is that our current owners probably loses money each year on their investment in PN. In terms of their total investment portfolio, a loss on PN is probably 'peanuts.' In other words very minor assets or liabilities.

A couple of opinions (fantasies):

- My guess is that PN is an extremely small investment/cost in in our owner's portfolio

- My guess is that sooner or later some 'bean counter' will come across PN in the books (however marginal in the portfolio) and ask questions like 'hey, what's this?, What's its current and projected R.O.I?"

- My guess is that the answers would be something like 'don't worry about it, it costs almost nothing and who knows, at some stage we might even manage to leverage some profit'

- So my tip is also to consider PN as a 'business venture' (potentially profitable or not) and not only as a 'temporary playground' where we can all freely indulge our interests in photography;  the bottom line is always: who pays the bills for our 'PN playground' and why?

- TBH, I have no idea what the 'business value' of PN is to our owners. Maybe just the URL and the membership list.

- IMHO 'becoming (marginally) profitable' - in years to come -  is unlikely to happen in PN's current form and with PN's current 'business model'. I in no way intend to criticize our owners, our pro-active mods or our members. I Just want to share my 'imagined' (positive) possible futures for PN

- When our current owners bought PN from its previous owners, I could envisage some kind of 'synergy' with (= integration between)  PN and our current owner's portfolio. As yet (2  years on) no initiatives have been made to do this

A wild idea that has been floating around in my head for years is to possibly negotiate a 'membership buy-out' of PN from its current owner.  And to develop a new - paid membership based - business model. I've backtracked on this idea. Partly because of my suspected average membership age - including myself - and consequent motivation of members to embark on such a risky adventure. But mainly - despite many valiant attempts -the refusal of owner representatives to engage with with our mods.

@mods: please correct and edit as necessary!

Wonderful that this site exists! I've used it myself now and again, usually to find 'archived' websites that have long since disappeared. 

For websites/forums that still exist, for me it's a) fun to visit and b) evokes a sense of nostalgia- especially for valued members who are sadly no longer with us.

Whether 'old posts' from +/- 10 years ago (on any archived blogs and forums) still have any real value to newer members - and especially to  non-member 'visitors' is debatable.  My personal opinion - based on my long-term membership of a saxophone forum - is that:

a) pretty much the same kind of questions/discussions come up at least every couple of months/years.

b) most current/new members prefer (by far!) to post their current questions in new threads to current members (as opposed to trawling through search results of posts on similar or related topics)

c) most current/new members prefer to ask for current (up-to-date) feedback rather than relying on +/- 10 year old feedback found in search results

d) answers to some questions do change over time; not fundamentally, but w.r.t. the availability of 'best buys' and 'external learning resources' (articles, books, websites, YouTube videos, 'best practice' examples, etc.)

So applying my 'sax forum' experience to PN, I strongly suspect that very similar principles work for PN too, for example:

- 'photography' (as a subject) has seen an explosion in consumer interest and 'learning resources' over the past +/- 10 years: books, magazines, videos, websites, blogs, workshops, etc. Anything to do with 'improving your photography' just sells!

- any +/- 10 year-old posts related to 'digital technology' (cameras, printers, scanners, post-processing) is now completely out of date

- the past 10 years have seen a renewed interest in 'Analogue'. Both in music and in photography. So film photography (using 'classic cameras') has now been taken up much more widely by young photographers than it had been previously in the 'digital age'. 

- as a consequence, many more 'film photography' websites, blogs and forums have sprung up in past years that are oriented towards young photographers who are re-discovering the joys of film photography; including skills and 'best buy' film cameras and lenses

(My) bottom line: PN - as  'go to place' on the internet to learn about (film) photography, classic cameras, etc. now has much more internet 'competition' than +/- 10 years ago.

For current PN members, this may not be such a big deal. We all IMHO have some 'shared values' and are generally comfortable with PN as it is (though some members may fondly reminisce about the 'old PN').  

Hi @accrobaticswaves,

I'm based in Europe so I know little about US prices. What I do notice is that your 'package' includes:

-  2 camera different 'bodies' (Canon 5D mk iii + Rebel T6I)

- a variety of 'lens lengths' some of which overlap

- The Canon 5D mk iii has a so-called 'full-frame digital sensor'; the Rebel T6I has a so-called 'crop sensor'

- Both camera's were good in their day but - looking at your lens line-up - I suspect that some some lenses are only compatible with the Rebel T6I (crop sensor) while others are compatible with both camera's

Maybe a 'dealer' on PN (or elsewhere) might make you deal on the complete package and split it up for retail. Failing that, you could perhaps do it yourself. For exampe, by selling on e-bay or some other on-line platform. In that case, my suggestion is to look more closely (and look up) the various components and then split this 'package up into (at least!) 4 packages:

1. 1 'Rebel T6I' 'body' package with the batteries and the lenses that are only compatible with a Canon 'crop camera' such as the Rebel T6I
2. The Canon 5F mk iii 'body' + batteries, etc.
3. Lenses (that are compatible with both 'full-frame sensor' and 'crop sensor' camera bodies (1 and 2) that can either be sold with one of the bodies or separately
4. Accessories (VideoMic Pro, Tripod) that can either be sold as an accessory to one of the 'body packages' or separately

So my gut feeling is that the 'package' you describe is unlikely to appeal to (and get it's full value from) consumers directly. It's possible that a consumer would make you an offer for the complete package, pick out the bits that they really want and sell on the rest.
 

If you haven't already done so, it's probably worth e-mailing a couple of 2nd-hand camera/lens outlets to get offers.

Mike

IMHO, the choice depends very much on the kind of photos that you might to take (and with which lens-lengths). In general, I'm with @hjoseph7 on the 'digital choice' - why not just take both?Just a 1-minute browse on internet reveals that both devices take decent to good photos.  Though the wide-angle/zoom ranges vary. As do undoubtedly the useful ISO ranges too. There may be some situations in which you prefer using the Lumix. And others is which you prefer using Samsung (or both). Since both are digital cameras, your best resulting photos van easily be combined and digitally post-processed (if necessary).

Personally, if I'm just on a 'day trip' with friends and I don't want to slow them time by unpacking, using, and repacking my DSLR, I rely more and more on my mobile camera. I use my DSLR  mainly on (voluntary) 'photoshoots' and at locations at which I expect to want to 'photograph' with different settings, lenses, etc.

Samsung G20 (edited).

On 4/27/2024 at 3:08 PM, Sanford said:

Would you agree that there are

Yes. Without any doubt. There are IHMO 3 main drivers for this:

- the ubiquitous cell-phone cameras that allow people to take any photos/videos anywhere and at any time with reasonably high quality

- the 'photo/video' sharing culture that (socially) stimulates and rewards people for exchanging their cell-phone photos and videos with each other

- the 'traditional media' that are a) focusing more and more on their online presence and b) as a consequence, aim to include less text and more and more visual content in their on-line presence

I should add a note: there are many reputable news outlets (the BBC and the NYT Times just as 2 random examples) who -online- always place 'news' front and foremost, Preferably with supporting 'visual media' but otherwise (until supporting visual media arrives) just in text.

But I totally agree that 'more people are taking pictures now than at any time in history'.

Hi @pavel_l.,

I really like this photo! Your focus, b/w tones, subject vs. background textures are IMHO excellent. I love the 'echo' of graffiti between the 'main' and 'secondary' subjects. For me, this 'echo' brings all parts of the photo together as a whole. T.B.H. I don't think that 'Vomiting' is the most attractive (or even descriptive) title for this photo as a whole. The photo is fine. My only tip is to consider an alternative title. My guess is that your title is focused on the overflowing ticket machine. As good as the title is, I humbly suggest that there's a lot more going on in this photo than just the ticket machine (for example the graffiti). Up to you but  you might want to look at the photo as a whole and consider a different title.

Best wishes,
Mike

Please correct me if I'm completely wrong!  I've always learned -in theory but not in practice - that 'photo (print) resolution' is partly a physical process. But mainly related to the 'viewing distance'. In other words, the closer you are to a photo, the higher the resolution needs to be. Conversely, the further away you are a lower resolution can still look 'sharp'. So 'resolution' is - is terms of perception' much more relative than absolute.

Taking an A3 print as a benchmark, if my amateur calculations are anywhere close to being correct (????), a 200 MB sensor would comfortably allow you to make an A3 print at 600 dpi whereas a 24 MB sensor would comfortably allow you to make an A3 print at 300 dpi.

IHMO, 'resolution' (and correspondingly sensor size) is all about 'applications' and what works best for you.  Pretty much all my photo are published  (1980 x 1080) on the web.  So even my 24 MB sensor is an overkill. I can scale up the size of my images to A4 format at 300 dpi for print publication and that's about the extent of what I need . So my 24 MB sensor works fine for me.

I can well imagine some (scientific, astronomy, macro, etc.) applications for which a higher-res sensor might really help to capture small details. But for the average 'consumer'?  My guess is that larger image files might be more of a hindrance than a help.

PS. My 'digital photography' journey started out in 2003/2004 with a Canon Powershot G7 (5MB sensor). Many years later, I upgraded to a 'real DSLR' (a Canon 40D) with a 10 MB sensor. A couple of years ago I bought a 2nd hand Canon Mk iv body with a 24 MB sensor. Partly because I felt that my trusty 40D was long due for an upgrade. And mainly because I'd screwed up a repair on my 40D!

In terms of my 'digital publication quality' the sensor size between these cameras (5MB - 24 MB) has made very little difference. The main difference between these cameras (for me) is in the ease in which I can take higher quality photos (responsiveness, burst speed, sensor quality, higher ISO photo quality, etc.) 

So, for me, increasingly larger sensor sizes do not add value to my personal style of photography. But, as stated above, they may well add value in other photographic applications.

My take:

Many suppliers (notably Apple but also Google (Android)) have 'default settings' that - without your knowledge - store all your device's 'data' in their section of 'the cloud' and when the 'introduction period' ends, try to charge you for more. The same applies to other 'storage apps' (for example Evernote).

The great advantage of 'cloud storage' is that your data (in the cloud) is usually synchronized between multiple devices. For example, everything I do on my mobile (Android) phone is immediately synchronized with the Chrome browser on my Laptop. And the other way around too.

But I deliberately choose not to have 'file storage' automatically backed up to (and synchronized with) 'the cloud'. I just prefer to choose my 'file backups' independently.

So my advice is to look more closely into the 'Apple Cloud' storage options and select only those that have value to you,

On 4/23/2024 at 6:11 PM, dcstep said:

I think that the color versions have a white balance issue. In RAW conversion, try putting the white-balance dropper on the shadow part of the white background to see if that doesn't make it more natural.  Save as sRGB for internet.

Hi @dcstep, yes I totally agree! And a great tip about the shadows, thanks! For all the photos I deliver (or publish), I do a (RAW) white balance correction in Lightroom. My only 'enhancements' in Lightroom in terms of 'clarity' and 'vibrance' (as opposed to contrast and saturation) are limited to 10%-15%. These color photos looked fine on my Laptop (Lightroom) and also on  the website to which I'd uploaded them (viewed with Chrome on my Laptop). 

I was therefore quite shocked by the garish (reddish) colors published here!  It's obviously that I want to look into (Laptop, color settings, etc,).

FWIW, this is the link to the photos that I uploaded. I don't know why, but they they look (on my Laptop with Chrome) a lot less saturarted than than the identical ones that I'd posted on PN.

https://myalbum.com/album/FQs59RyGfkuMnQ/

Once again, I've learned a great deal from fellow members who have been kind enough to contribute to the 'Critique Forum'. My thanks go to everyone who provided me with (always constructive) feedack.

On 4/13/2024 at 6:24 PM, samstevens said:

Yes, for some reason the color versions are coming through with an over saturated look. Nevertheless, I think the color versions (less saturated) potentially have a more naturalistic feel. To some extent, whether I’d use color or black and white would depend on the context and whether these were part of a bigger series. In general, I’d say the conversion to black and white reads as an imposition and, while such impositions can affect emotional responses and be expressive maneuvers, they can also draw more attention to the medium itself than might be desired in certain documentary work (if you’re thinking of this as documentary work). 

I understand this, but my response would be to ask why one would want to isolate form in a case such as this. I see these photos as a situation where natural color adds a sense of life and energy and, perhaps most importantly, realism. There are certainly times when a reduction to or emphasis on form would be appropriate. But here, I’m feeling more in tune with, and the purpose of the photos seems more aligned with, narrative and situation than with form. 

TBH, these photo's look a whole lot more saturated than I viewed on my my Laptop (with Lightroom) and on the online Album which I also viewed on my Laptop. I take all my photos in RAW and adjust these (generally sparingly: 10-15%) in Lightroom - and occasionally in Photoshop (sharpening filter). The first thing I do - after cropping - is to correct the 'white balance'. So I'm quite shocked at how over-saturated these color photos look here. I will look into this!

But I do take your main points that 'the conversion to black and white reads as an imposition' and  tha'natural color adds a sense of life and energy and, perhaps most importantly, realism.' Valuable feedback, Sam! Many thanks for this!

On 4/8/2024 at 7:53 PM, samstevens said:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-magic-man-of-hollywood-captured-golden-ages-biggest-stars-180984011/

What a wonderful article, Sam! Many thanks for the link.  (As a Brit) I'd never heard of George Hurrell. It was truly fascinating to read (and see) just how innovative and creative he was in his use of 'lighting'. He obviously had many other (social?) talents in becoming a preferred photographer of Hollywood stars. But his innovative ideas about 'lighting' were truly transformative.

For @samstevens (and others), these are the color versions.  Interested too to hear what you think the B/W versions have lost and gained compared to the color versions. BTW. the color versions look way much 'redder' on PN than on my Laptop screen (Lightroom)! Although I did correct the color balance in Lightroom.

The 'Free Dance' session was followed by a well-moderated 1-hour evaluation and discussion session.  A quick individual (card-written) evaluation of what participants felt 'Free Dancing' meant most to them. Followed by a rotating series of 1-1  'speed dating'  discussions between individual particpants based on a set of questions. The last 'event'  of the morning was to enjoy a tasty home-made lunch together 🙂. TBH I love being involved in (voluntarily) photgraphing this kind of local event! Including 'burst shorts' (dance) and a few photos of the evaluatiion session, I took almost 350 'shots' from which I delivered my 23 'best' photos. Different photos from different perspectives and with different focal lengths (from close-ups to wide-angle). TBH, my ISO (and shutter speed) were lower than they should have been. Still, my 'client' was delighted 🙂. So these are just 2 of the 23 that I think best expres the idea of 'Free Dancing'.

OT: My (volunteer) colleague wrote up an article of the morning in which she included some quotes from participants during the 'speed-dating'. Perhaps unsuprisingly, they expressed benefits with a much wider scope than movement/dance. They extedended into their better sense of 'self' and a greater sense of confidence and freedom in their everyday lives. For largely 60-plussers, I find this remarkable!

OK I'm going to go for a 'critique' again. At a local social center, I took (by invitation) some photo's of an activity called 'Free dancing'. In other words, anything - in terms of movement - goes.  This activity is open to young and old and also to users of walking frames, wheelchairs and mobility scooters. My original (digital) photos were in color. But I likea few B/W versions that showt  'the form' without the color differences. I haven't spent much time on the B/W conversion. Just picked a 'look' I liked in Silver Efex Pro. Any comments/suggestions much appreciated!

I've learned more about photography from Michael Freeman's books than from any other source. Notably from 'The photographer's eye' and 'The photographer's mind'. Though I have a couple of other of his books, including 'The complete guide to Light and Lighting'.. I can't compare how his (now older) books compare with more modern alternatives. And certainly not with those that focus on 'portraits'. I  just note that in 'The complete guide to Light and Lighting'., he does touch on portraits throughout the book and only really 'zooms in' on portrait lighting alternatives in the the last section of the book. The book is not solely focused on 'portraits' but if your can pick up a cheap copy, I would recommend it. In the last section of the book. he illustrates how 'lighting' affects a portrait. I learned from it.

 I don't have it, but you might also want to check out Michael Freeman's book 'Michael Freeman's School: Portraits'.

I'm a fan of Michael Freeman because - in his books - he focuses on the aesthetics of a photo (intention, composition, movement, color, etc) and not on the 'tech' used to capture and produce a photo. I also like his his 'learning style' that there are no easy 'recipes' or ''quick fixes' for photographers. They each have to experiment with and develop their individual style of photography.

Mike