Photographers Opinions

[BSR6]

I know there are a few photographers lurking around here, I am hoping a few of you will chime in. I took these yesterday. What do you think? Too dark?

Edit: They look a little Pixelated in the thread, but they look perfect on my computer. Anyone got any tips on how to post them so they are sharp?

[Danz19899]

i'm no photographer but if you have a fancy camera try leaving the shutter opened for a bit longer. it lets more light in and should get you a shot that's no as dark.

I've done this and it works pretty well but only if you have a tripod

[R7]

Edit: They look a little Pixelated in the thread, but they look perfect on my computer. Anyone got any tips on how to post them so they are sharp?

Host them on photobucket, or something similar. Those sites allow almost double the pixel size as using NESR as a host.

Nice pictures, and nice R6

[Eric Baker]

Nice. A little dark but kinda artsy like.

[The Snowman]

Nice shots. A bit of backlighting might help. Or the use of a bounce flash to lighten up the surrounding area.

[mzdagrl]

Personally, I dig the shadowy-fading into the background sort of look. Keeps a little mystery in the pic. See my avatar.

[BSR6]

Personally, I dig the shadowy-fading into the background sort of look. Keeps a little mystery in the pic. See my avatar.

Yup...Thats exactly what I was going for. I just wasn't sure if I took it too far. I tried a few different shutter speeds for each angle and ended up using the darkest of the bunch. These are actually 30 second exposures. I personally prefer the dark look but wanted to know what others thought.

Thanks for the comments and feedback.

[benVFR]

If you've got lighting equipment I'd pop a little light on the front area of the bike up by the headlights & dash.. it's great over most of the bike but just too dark there..

But doing so will open up an entire new can of worms.. (bikes are not easy to light)

[Mike Qube]

I don't know if it's the way that the forum compresses the pics, but I'd like to see the contrast of the image cranked up a bit.

[BSR6]

If you've got lighting equipment I'd pop a little light on the front area of the bike up by the headlights & dash.. it's great over most of the bike but just too dark there..

But doing so will open up an entire new can of worms.. (bikes are not easy to light)

I did actually end up using the second light for the shot from the front of the bike, you might not be able to tell but the nose is slightly lit. This is as bright as I could go with the second light without brightening up the whole background and ruining the contrast I was aiming for.

I was trying to keep the background almost completely black. With the second light any brighter it lit the entire background ruining the effect I was looking for. Next time I think I am goin to put the bike a different angle so the nose is lit more by the primary light and possibly eliminate the need for the second light entirely.

[LiterR1]

What Camera are you using ?

[Danz19899]

wow ok 30 second exposure. try to add a tiny bit of light to the photo somehow

[LiterR1]

wow ok 30 second exposure. try to add a tiny bit of light to the photo somehow

I was about to say the same thing no need for a flash, fill-flash or external light source
Just play with the exposer from 20 t0 30 and the result can be dark as night to daylight

photos taken last fall about an hour after Sunset

[BSR6]

Wow I just looked at it on my laptop and its a lot darker on this forum than it is when I pull it up on my system. I guess the download onto NESR darkened it a bit more than I thought. The back lighting should be strong enough to show the whole nose and winshield.

I'm using a Nikon D80.

[LiterR1]

I'm using a Nikon D80.

Good choice on Nikon LOL ,I use a D90 and D60
now back to topic,you have a good camera capable to do the same as what I did, again just set the Cam to manual or "S" and play with the Shutter Speed for low light and no flash any thing between 10 to 30 seconds will let in as much natural light as possible with out blurring out the subject, just make sure you use a steady tripod.

"Mrezra" can chime in on this one

[Talus]

I have that same pitbull stand.


Might want to work on composition a little more. Include more in the frame, don't cut off the stand like you did in the second pic. Allow more of the surroundings into the photo so that the bike can become the focal point. In other words, I think you're too close to the bike.

[snwbrdr435]

Upload it to a hosting site that won't compress it. I know Flickr won't, photobucket will

[markbvt]

Wow I just looked at it on my laptop and its a lot darker on this forum than it is when I pull it up on my system. I guess the download onto NESR darkened it a bit more than I thought. The back lighting should be strong enough to show the whole nose and winshield.

Keep in mind that unless you're looking at it on a color-calibrated monitor (which the vast, vast majority are not), you really have no idea what results you're going to get when the image is displayed on any other monitor. Even if you do prep the image on a calibrated monitor, you still have no control over what it will look like on Joe Average User's display -- but at least it's at a sort of reference standard point, so it will look right on other monitors that are calibrated (and these days, most displays are close enough that the image will at least look decent on most other monitors).

Other thing to consider is that if you're working in a color space other than sRGB, your image will probably undergo a color shift when it gets resized by online hosts such as a forum, Photobucket, etc. You want to get the image to where you like it, then (assuming you're using Photoshop) go to Edit / Convert to Profile and convert it to sRGB.

I do most of my image processing on my work computer because it has a calibrated 30" display, so I get the images to where I like them, save out master hi-res TIFF files, then convert to sRGB and save web-resolution JPEGs and host them on my own server. The resulting online images look pretty consistent across most computers and handheld devices, as long as their displays aren't totally out of whack.

--mark

[mrezra]

Keep in mind that unless you're looking at it on a color-calibrated monitor (which the vast, vast majority are not), you really have no idea what results you're going to get when the image is displayed on any other monitor. Even if you do prep the image on a calibrated monitor, you still have no control over what it will look like on Joe Average User's display -- but at least it's at a sort of reference standard point, so it will look right on other monitors that are calibrated (and these days, most displays are close enough that the image will at least look decent on most other monitors).

Other thing to consider is that if you're working in a color space other than sRGB, your image will probably undergo a color shift when it gets resized by online hosts such as a forum, Photobucket, etc. You want to get the image to where you like it, then (assuming you're using Photoshop) go to Edit / Convert to Profile and convert it to sRGB.

I do most of my image processing on my work computer because it has a calibrated 30" display, so I get the images to where I like them, save out master hi-res TIFF files, then convert to sRGB and save web-resolution JPEGs and host them on my own server. The resulting online images look pretty consistent across most computers and handheld devices, as long as their displays aren't totally out of whack.

--mark

This is a really good point, and something I have struggled with, with my images and my website. I was recently at a friend's house who wanted to show his girlfriend some of my work. We pull it up and everything looked like crap because his monitor was so poorly calibrated... kind of embarrassing. It's one of the reasons I'm considering an iPad.

[BSR6]

Wow, thanks Mark. I have been into photography for a while now but I always used my system to view and edit, then went through MPix for prints. Never had a problem, but I know at MPix they adjust them before they print to compensate for differences between my monitor and the printer so I am sure that is a factor.

Now that I am starting to share more electronically I am discovering the importance of having a calibrated monitor. Some of my pics look pretty bad on certain screens. How does one make sure their monitor is calibrated correctly? I'm going to be in the market for a new monitor soon, any suggestions on what I should look for spec wise?

[markbvt]

Pretty much any modern display can be calibrated (or more accurately put, profiled) -- you just need the hardware and software to do it. At work we use an Eye-One tool and software to profile our monitors, which builds custom ICC profiles for each display. We're Mac-based, and the Mac OS supports color management from the ground up, so the OS uses that ICC profile to display accurate color onscreen.

Here's a monitor tool (the one we use is the next higher-end model, which can profile printers as well for output that perfectly matches the on-screen image):
http://www.xrite.com/product_overview.aspx?ID=788

Windows was never built with color management in mind so it's a lot more hit or miss, but it's supported in Photoshop and a number of other applications. Definitely worth pursuing.

--mark

PS: If you use a Mac, you can actually get pretty damn close for free by using the calibrate function in the Displays system preference panel. Make sure you set it to advanced mode and go through the process, doing your best to make things match (it helps to squint, or if you wear glasses, take them off -- blurriness actually helps). I also recommend using a warmer white point, like 5500-6000 Kelvins, as it does a better job of simulating the warmer tones of daylight. The cooler white points like 6500K+ make the display look too blue to me.

[CEO]

Raise the kickstand when the bike is on a rear stand before taking photos

[benVFR]

I'm using a calibrated monitor FWIW and it's probably too dark.

If you are using flash the key to a black background is actually using a black background (e.x. a black sheet or a black wall, but it doesn't really matter), then keep the ambient exposure short, use your flashes to light the bike, and use some black cards, etc.. (gobos) to keep the light from the flashes from hitting the background.

But since you said 30sec exposure I figured you were not using a bunch of flashes/strobes.

[BSR6]

Raise the kickstand when the bike is on a rear stand before taking photos

Haha...I was waiting for someone to point that out. It's only in one pic because I caught it after I snapped the first shot. Too bad that first shot was one of the best cause now I am stuck with it. I might clear it with the editing software.