[Plamadude30k]

Here’s an example:
Shot one: Straight Man, Richard Russo, page 115, middle:
“Starting Monday, I kill a duck a day…”
I post a pic of a duck and a guillotine.

Shot two: Galen Rowell’s Vision: The Art of Adventure Photography, Galen Rowell, page 194, photo caption:
“Pattern, texture, and depth”
I photograph something with said qualities.

Shot three: Exoplanet Atmospheres, Sara Seager, page 70, middle:
“…[T]ell us where a cloud can form”
I take a pic of somebody pointing at a cloud.

These are just simple examples from the three books closest to me. You can use just one book, or two, or three.

[Plamadude30k]

yeah, as long as it’s food, I see no problem.

[Plamadude30k]

While some of the terminology isn’t exactly what I’d use, this IS a pretty good guide to SNR for photographers. I’m actually putting together a guide like this myself for the G+ astrophotography101 course.

[Plamadude30k]

Nice shots! A friend of mine just got that same fisheye, and I just got the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8, and I am all sorts of impressed.

[Plamadude30k]

Psh, sugar is cheap, I’ll just make my own damn lens.
There are tons of lens grinding guides out there too, and since sugar is softer than glass, CAKEWALK!

Oh. My. God. Great idea. I ground/polished/silvered my own telescope mirror back in undergrad days, and it was great fun. Now I wanna make a telescope you can eat!

[Plamadude30k]

Damn there are a lot of great pictures in that album. Looks like you all had fun. I wonder if there are any people around here who would be willing to do a photowalk? gonna have to find out somehow.

Yaknow, we have enough folks within say, six hours of anyfreakinwhere in NM or southern CO to pull off a 2-3 day hike/camp/day/night group photojourney.

And I just got an extra week’s vacation this year to burn somehow…

edit:Taos and the surrounding area could be a lot of fun.

Hey, that’s my old stamping grounds. If the timing is just right, I might be able to tag along too, if I’m visiting home.

[Plamadude30k]

It really IS always barbeque season in Hawaii. I don’t really care when we do this, though; if enough people want to delay, why not?

[Plamadude30k]

2 and 5 are sort of in-line with what I was thinking – moreso 2

Alright, thanks for the feedback. I think I’ll sit this one out, then, since only one of my entries really fits.

[Plamadude30k]

So yes, portrait-style close-up photos. Not just photos of “people” in general.

Okay, now I’m wondering if any of my possible entries will work. I do have pictures of strangers, but very few are at what I’d consider a traditional portrait (maybe one or two at most). Anybody care to take a look and let me know if any of these will be alright?

1
2
3
4
5

[Plamadude30k]

Hmmm. Graduated Neutral Density filters. This damn hobby…three’s always something else to wanna buy. I’m looking at a softbox first though.

GND filters are my absolute favorite supplementary photography tool. I was recently looking at getting a *reverse* GND filter, but they’re a bit steep for a grad student to afford, so I’ll have to wait a while. I’d be interested to see the kinda stuff you’d get up to with one, though, U-man.

[Plamadude30k]

I just went out shooting for this theme last night on Waikiki. I didn’t get much usable, but combined with the last outing, I think I’ve got three usable entries. I’d be really down about my chances in this contest if I didn’t know the voters are so hard to predict.

…And damn, I just looked at ennuipoet’s choices. No hope for me!
I like the easter hat one, if that helps at all.

[Plamadude30k]

(IE, I have an ever-growing set of cokin filters)

What filters do you find most helpful in this age of digital photography?

I’ve got a cokin system also, and I’ve only got about 8-10, some of which I’ve abandoned using due to the magic of Photoshop (Speed filter, for example). I’ve had the filters and rack since my Pentax K1000 (OK… who’s nostalgia meters did I just trigger?).
I’ve found that there’s only a few that I end up using anything like regularly, and others are money ill-spent.

I use various GND, and ND filters, and I’ve been looking at a CPOL for my cokin system. That’s basically all I use whether I’m shooting film or digital. I try to keep post processing to a minimum, and unless I really want to get into B&W shooting, I’m not going to go for any of the wild colors, which just look strange to me when used on a color shot (even the color grad ones).

[Plamadude30k]

Awesome shots, plama. And I don’t think you even posted the best of the lot here. The Subaru Laser is really cool. And I could easily see this one accompanying a magazine article on the observatories.

Yeah, I’m oddly proud of that one. It was one of those weird ‘see it, snap it’ kinda situations as we were going in to the telescope to open up in the evening.

[Plamadude30k]

SilverStag, I would say the first one, though the one Orionid singled out was also an excellent choice.

ennuipoet: Yep, the little super guy in color.

Loki, looking at those, I would say the third is the best distillation of what I think of your style (though the first one is pretty close too).

Kes, I always liked your Rainier at sunrise (or is it sunset?) from “Travel Photography,” Oct. 10, 2010.

And as for Orionid, I usually think of some exceedingly clever studio setup, like the “Money Shots” one. Or else, maybe that nice snowy shot from “Color Popping Naturally”?

Hope I didn’t miss anyone there…

Generally, the high vote getters for me have also been my favorites:

(My very favorite)

(Second favorite)

(Voter’s favorite)

[Plamadude30k]

I’ve actually used a few of these links in the past, and if they’re any indication of the quality of the list, this ought to be the “How-to” to end all “How-tos”. Awesome stuff.

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