Raw Force

I have a confession.  I have heard all the arguments for and against switching to raw, but I wanted to stick with Jpeg out of fear.  You can call it fear of change, or fear of botching it up; the truth is, I didn’t know how to convert it to jpeg to work with my computer, and I was too lazy to look at the instructions.  There, I said it!

Now that I have that out of the way, let’s get down to the meat of this article.  A couple of days ago, I watch Jared Polin, on youtube, talk about the benefits of using raw, and yes it might be a little more work, but it’s a hundred times more versatile than using jpeg.  After seeing his proof, I revisited my software instructions and found the conversion button.  So now, I can adjust the raw files to the image I want, (not what the camera wants), and convert it after I’m done with it.

As of yesterday, I made the switch completely to raw, and here’s a couple of images I took with it.

Picture of my cat

A Haunting Self Portrait

The hardest part of taking this picture was the lack of light.  It was taken at 10:30 at night, with the moon covered by clouds.  I started with two minute exposures at ISO 100, but all I got was darkness with a couple of light spots in the distance.  In order to get the shot the brightness I wanted I had to go up to ISO 3200.

The face, and the fence had another problem.  The flash I was using wasn’t enough. In the end, I had to use my flash light to paint myself and the fence with light.

This turned out to be a great experience photographically, and a fun challenge, which was to do a self portrait in an unconventional manner.

Taken at Willard Beach, by SMCC

I’m puzzled!!!

I know this picture is a little busy, but I think this would make a very challenging puzzle.

Fishing dock in Portland, Maine.

 

Continued Sentiment

A woman protests Americans in Afghanistan

I took this photo to show the anti-war sentiment that is always prevalent whenever there is a conflict somewhere in the world.  I felt you could have easily replaced the country names with Germany during the 40’s.

The kid walking out to the street, in the background is there as a reminder that people are too busy with their everyday lives to hear the protests of others.

 

 

Better Christmas Photo

I took this picture to replace the shot I got before.  The problem with the earlier version is that it has nothing to do with Christmas.  It’s just the top of the candle with blurry lights.

What I really wanted was a picture that at least had the feel of Christmas to it.  Of course, I didn’t want to over do the picture, so I kept the props to a minimum; just red berries, and pine.  I used a small slave flash for the lighting, but the first few shots were blown out.  In the end, I had to bounce the flash off the wall, then darken a little in Photoshop.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Stealth mode

In this shot, I really liked the color scheme this mother & daughter had going.  This was taken in the grocery store, where cameras are frowned on.  I don’t usually encourage breaking the rules with cameras, but once in a while there are just pictures you have to get.

In order to get the shot, without drawing attention to yourself, turn off the flash, and keep the camera at a level where there is no attention drawn to it.

Pretty in pink.

Combined Techniques for Christmas photo.

In this shot, I combined bokeh, and light painting to give the effect that the candle puts out Christmas colors.  I will probably add words later.  I hope you like it, let me know.

Taking it to the streets.

Normally, I’m a nature photographer, but starting today I’ll be going on street excursions, to do a little street photography.  It suddenly made sense that if I want a chance at pro-photography, I’m going to have to vary it up a bit.  Not only that, I’m starting work on a video series, on my YouTube channel in January on photography for people with a meager budget.  I’ve done street photography before, but this is the first time I was truly serious about it, and not just using it to test equipment.

I will now post some pictures, and I hope you will like them, and tell me what you think about them.  Don’t forget, I need honesty, as I’m getting ready to do this on a regular basis.

I just really liked the perspective.

 

This was taken in Longfellow square.

What struck me about this shot was the animated conversation. There seemed to be a story there.

 

I would love to know if there are ways to improve these, and I do listen to all comments.

If I could ask you for just one more thing, I’m looking for photo challenges to use for my videos.  Please let me know if you have any ideas.

Thank you and enjoy

Allen