The ABC's of Photography - Letter H (Reveal Phase)

[Antmeister]

The Reveal Phase begins Saturday (October 20th) and extends for the life of the thread. This is optional. This is the phase in which you can reveal which pictures you had taken. Up until this point, you shall remain anonymous. That way there will be no biases towards your work. You do not have to reveal yourself if you choose not to do so. However, if you wish to get help with how to improve your shots, this could be a good starting point.

Anyone in the future who wishes to join this group, follow these steps:

• Go to http://www.maverickmarks.com/abcphoto.
• Click the "Login" link and register from there.
• Once registered, login and click the Upload file(s) button to begin uploading your pictures.

[Lorena]

You guys have really come through, some of these pictures are incredible!

[Antmeister]

A References section has been added for those that are looking for photography tips. I am weeding out my post processing links and seeing what actual photo techniques are available. Just click on the section and click on the image to go to the link.

[Lorena]

For discussion today:

HavingACatch
Height
Hybiscus
Hooding Ceremony
Height2
Heralds
HillsideHome
Heath
Hydrant
HotDogHug
Hand
Hug

[Antmeister]

I usually don't comment due to the fact that I take no pictures, but I will try to do this from time to time to get things started.

HavingACatch: Great photo. This represents baseball to me since "Having a Catch" is something you did in your childhood and it is something that is practiced among professional ball players in their adulthood. I love this shot for capturing this moment at a great time and the picture seems very well balanced to me. I wouldn't crop it anymore because it would seem to do this shot unjustice. The contrast between the unforms and the surroundings add that extra boost to make them stand out. Great job. Definitely one of my favorites this week.

Height: Gotta admit I like the idea of the closeup in this shot and the fact that the picture appears to be telling a story as if the child is eagerly awaiting to see the results of the measuring tape. If there is one thing I would change, it would have to be the white balance. The subject tends to lean on the blue side. However, because this is a child, I can see why some things can be rushed and if this was shot in RAW, white balance is not important at all. However it is always good to get practice just in case RAW is not the feasible format to use, such as sports photography.

Hybiscus: The one thing done very well in this pic is the fact that the subject contrasts very well with the surrounding elements. The only issue is that there is another similar flower on which also trys to stand out in the photo as well. The only suggestion is to either move in closer to the subject (keeping the other flower out of view) or find 3 or 4 of those flowers in some sort of pattern (similar position or flow) all in focus.

Hooding Ceremony: Anytime I see a better than decent shot in low lighting conditions, I am impressed. If anything, this picture piques my interest since I am trying to figure out what the heck is going on. The only problem I have with the photo is that some of the people seem a little overblown losing quite a bit of detail on the faces of the individuals in the front. Other than that, there is a great bit of color and you took the picture at a way more interesting angle. Maybe crop a little off the top, but I am not sure if that would throw the balance off. Good job.

Height2: Picture has an interesting angle of a child, but I have always wondered how this would look if the child was more in a silhouette. I do like the fact that are still some existing highlights on the side of the face, but still wonder if it would have had more of an effect if the camera white balance was set for the sky and then manual focus your subject to get that silhouette.

Heralds: Very intersting shot and the subject looks great against that blue sky. I do like the repititous pattern you have there. Because of the location, I am not sure if you could have gotten all of the heralds in the sunshine (because of some sort of building or moments in the way). And I would also be curious to see how to looks at another time in the day. However the time for that blue sky is just great. I might crop just a bit of the sky to give a little more balance. Other than that, I like the framing of this.

HillsideHome: This is a good example of why I like the rule of thirds. Although the subject is a little lower than the bottom third of the frame, it still works. It the hillside home was in the middle of the pictue, it wouldn't have as much impact, but because it was moved to the bottom third of the picture, it makes for a more interesting shot. The picture is a little hazy and I would suggest looking on the camera for changing the contrast.

Heath: Looks like a fisheye lens was used for this shot, but I am not 100% sure. Either way, what I like about the shot is that it natural gradient, going from the light colored rocks to the moutain in the distance. However, the picture looks a little standard. Normally I would probably say to move your camera a little higher to get more of the sky to balance out the picture, but in this case, you would lose those rocks on the bottom that do add to the picture. So my other suggestion would be to move the camera to the right keeping the mountain on the left 3rd of the frame and getting more the the sky and much needed balance. Other than that, good choice of subject because there are some nice vibrant colors there and you were able to capture that.

Hydrant: For some reason, I really really like this shot, even with the weird angle. I think it is the fact that there is this vibrant red hydrant sitting there against this duller looking backdrop and even though the hydrant is showing its age (with cobwebs and chipping), it still stands out amongst them. The may try straighten it out, but other than that, the closeup and focus are actually quite nice. Good job.

HotDogHug: I want to like this shot, but there are just too many distracting elements. If it weren't for the fact that it was named hotdoghug, my eyes would have focused more on the catcher. The best thing to do with this shot is to crop down to the actual hot dog hugger and the fans to the bottom right. But you did capture a good moment and most of the time you can't always be in the right position to capture those moments, so crop away.

Hand: Okay that is one wrinkly hand. I am curious to see the explaination on that one, but you did capture the detail of it. Wherever this is taken the lighting does seem poor. My suggestion would be to back up a little bit and take the hand off center, preferably to the left. Other than that, it is interesting.

Hug: I like mostly everything about this. I like the positioning. I like the subject. I like the theme. I like the framing. If there is one weakness, it is lighting. Not horrible though. I am curious if this location had access to natural lighting (from opening windows or doors). If not, the lighting in this picutre is just fine since it also has this cool halo around the subjects. I just happen to think that natural lighting in this instance would have been better if there was access to it. However, that would be it. Excellent shot.

[OldGiants]

HavingACatch--Nice shot, the ball in the air adds action. However, the out-of-focus signs distract me, and I'd rather be closer to the thrower, that is him be larger.

Height-- "AM I Four feet yet?" I like this one. Nice emphasis on the eyes.

Hybiscus--Flower shots should be closer up, IMO. the leaf blocks the flower on the left, so I would have cropped it out.

Hooding Ceremony--I've taken a lot of graduation shots, and this one is very good. Hard to get the bright light versus off-stage darkness correct, and this did a better than ordinarty job.

Height2--reminds me of my face shot of Rodin's thinker back a week. Obviously, I like this style. It's hard to shoot into the sun, and this is a good job.

Heralds--My favorite this week. Great color and clarity, plus the contrast of the distant statues in the sun and darker up close implies a movement of sunrise bringing the light to the observer.

HillsideHome--Ordinary. Not enough of the home to justify the shot, IMO>

Heath--good angle, againing movement is implied.

Hydrant--I don't like shots that crop out important edges of the subject, it implies haste and lack of composition. I would have tried to get the top of the hydrant in the shot.

HotDogHug--fun shot, good action. Tighter focus on the hugging would have improved it.

Hand--I like this one. The age of the hand is its own story. Again, I would have preferred a more inclusive crop to get all the hand in.

Hug--All around good shot. Positioning, focus and light very nice.

[Abe Sargent]

HavingACatch--This is a very traditional baseball shot, but it works for me. It seems like the cover of a magazine or somesuch. I think it is well done.

Height-- This is my second favorite shot this week, because it tells a story. I love this photo!

Hybiscus--I'm not sure where to look in this picture, because my eyes wander .

Hooding Ceremony--I really like the lightning and the color in this picture.

Height2--Again (I did these going up), I find that this shot might be technically proficient, I don;t know, but I'm not moved by it. It doesn;t so anything for me,

Heralds--This is my favorite picture this week. I really like everything about it.

HillsideHome--I'm not a fan of this picture. There is not enough in the shot for me.

Heath--I agree with above comments that this picture could have been taken differently to get an evern better result, but I like the unlight and outdoorsiness of the pictuire. Where is it taken?

Hydrant--I like the Hydrant, but I'm not sure why

HotDogHug--I don't know enough about photography to know if this shot is technicaly well done or not, but it does nothing for me.

Hand--Is it a hand of age or just really wrinkled from the water? I don;t know. I lik eit.

Hug--I'm not sure what the subject material is. Salt and Pepper shakers?

[Lorena]

HavingACatch – It truly is amazing how such a simple picture can have say so much. I see this picture and I think summer, America’s Pastime, tossing the ball with my friends, baseball in L.A…. just an awesome, awesome shot. I love the motion of of the ball too.

Height – I love this one! It’s like listening to my kid asking, “How tall am I? HOW TALL AM I?” Nice job although it seems a little blurry… just a tad though.

Hybiscus – I’m a huge fan of pictures with dominant green and red colors. I think if this focused primarily on one of the hibiscus flowers it would work for me. But then again, it can always be cropped a bit tighter.

Hooding Ceremony – Okay, I have several questions on this one. What lens was used, what were your camera’s settings (ISO, shutter speed, etc)? I have such a hard time with low-light situations that I could not pull something like this off. I always use flash and it drives Ant nuts. No one is blurred, nice amount of darkness… I’m a really big fan of this pic.

Height2 – this has a silhoutte-type of look and I like it! What I’m not a fan of is the slight… blurriness in her right arm and the tiny bit of greenery on the bottom right hand side.

Heralds – my first reaction to this photo was WHOA!! I love pictures with any receptiveness… love the blue sky, it really is a nice picture. The only thing that bothers me a little bit is it’s centered, but nothing a little cropping can’t fix. Nice!

HillsideHome – I’m not really sure about this picture. I mean I like it, but not really sure why. I think it’s the amount of sky and a hint of the hill so it leaves it to the imagination.

Heath – I love the colors and where the rocks were placed in the image. A whole lotta rocks, then little greenery, less rocks, more greenery, even less rocks, and an endless amount of greenery… almost like a pattern.

Hydrant – I like where the hydrant was placed in the picture, but I would like to see the background more out of focus, it’s a little distracting. Or maybe gone up a little closer so we can see the spider webs.

HotDogHug – I know the subject is supposed to be the hot dogs, but I don’t see this picture that way. As I mentioned with the “HavingACatch” picture, this picture screams summer, drinking beers and just hanging out in a ballpark. Or in this case, fans getting anxious for a player switch?

Hand – The lighting seems a bit off, but I like it overall.

Hug – This is one of my favorite pictures this week. I like the placement of the subjects in the picture and the nice, tight focus.
__________

[Antmeister]

Good writeups thus far. And remember to take pictures for the next letter.

[Bonegavel]

No time right now to go through them all but for the most part (I think one was an exception) every pic this Letter is very very good. Love 'em.

[Kalypso]

HavingACatch- This is a very nice photo. I think it can be hard to take action shots of athletes, because sometimes their bodies are in weird mid movements. Both subjects were caught in great movement and this is just a great pic.

Height- This is a fun pic and I love the concept! The close up on just the eyes really makes the story on this one.

Hybiscus- This picture could have been boring- but what makes it so unique is the lighting! The light and shadows on this is fantastic. Nice touch having one flower head on and in focus, and another to the side and in the background.

Hooding Ceremony- There seems to be alot going on here- I do like the contrasts between the vivid colors and the black.

Height2- I like the concept of this photo alot and her pose- it seems a little on the dark side though

Heralds- This is a very nice photo- the blue sky really pops and the sunlight on the statues is very unique! Maybe more heralds, less sky?

HillsideHome- I am uncertain as to what I should be looking at? There is alot of sky- maybe more hill?

Heath- I like this photo- the terrain is so unique. The head on angle really emphasizes a fading of rock to grassy hillside to sky and it is a nice layered effect.

Hydrant- What a great angle on this. If the photographer had been standing, I think it would have been boring- this photo is proof positive that just changing your angle can make all the difference. Great!!

HotDogHug- for an action shot at the game, it's pretty impressive that you were able to focus in as much as you did. There is alot going on though and I echo maybe a little cropping would have helped.

Hand- I like the basic thought of this photo- the angle, close up, the pose of the hand- color of the rug. Maybe it is just me being too imaginative but the photo makes me of a child is unconscious in the tub

Hug- I like pretty much everything about this photo- the simpleness of the background, the objects in the corner, the lighting. It's not annoying cute- just simple, artistic yet endearing....I love it.

Unique photos this week!
~Kalypso

[Barkeep49]

Standard disclaimer that I have no formal training as a photographer and am just giving a "what I like" response.

Having a Catch - I like this picture. The lightening is interesting, the subject is interesting and I think it's well framed.

Height - Another one I think is great. I think the framing with that close attention to the eyes looking at the ruler is what really makes this shot.

These first two are neat study in contrasts since one is taking a more general view of something (a ballpark long before a game) while one is taking a very detailed view of something (eyes) and both work well.

Hybsicus - I like the focus on this shot, but think the lightening is a little too dark to really capture the fully beauty.

Hooding Ceremony - Where as the I felt that Having a Catch worked because there was no one thing to focus on, it doesn't work because there's no one thing to focus on. There simply aren't enough details to focus on to make it work.

Height - I like the framing/perspective here and I think the girl's pose is interesting. However, the darkness does detract from the photo.

Heralds - I like the way this picture is framed with the sky forming a nice background.

Hillside Home - Another one where I feel the lighting detracts from the subject.

Heath - I find the subject uninteresting but I think, the lighting works much better than in the previous, somewhat similar, shot.

Hydrant - I like the perspective of this shot. Only comment is (and I'm sure this is hard) is that it seems like the edge of the hydrant is in slightly less focus than the rest of the shot.

Hot Dog Hug - While the hug is indeed an interesting shot, there's too much distraction with-in the foreground (catcher) and even side (bat boy).

Hand - Another really interesting human body shot. The hand is in an interesting pose and it certainly looks like a hand with history.

Overall I'd say this is the strongest set of photos I've looked at.

[Antmeister]

Thanks all for the comments so far. People are bringing their own perspective to this and it is helping.

[Antmeister]

Reveal Time!

[Abe Sargent]

I was Heath. I was taken before I even had a camera when hiking n West Virgina and I borrowed someone else's.

[sterlingice]

Unfortunately, I was a bit late to the party this weekend for comments so I guess I'll have to wait until next weekend.

Two of mine should have been obvious

Having a Catch makes me feel just what Ant and DC capture in words- it's baseball at its core. It's that feel that I'll get here about mid November where myself, my wife, and a friend just start going "I miss baseball" and getting ready for next year.

Hot Dog Hug was actually my favorite of the three. They sometimes have live action hot dog races in KC like the sausage races in Milwaukee. I'll admit, there's a lot going on there and it can distract. This one was taken a few weeks ago with my S3 rather than most of the pictures I post which were done with my A80 over the past 3 years.

Hooding Ceremony is the other one that's mine. For those unfamiliar, that's basically a med school graduation when the students officially become doctors. I love the colors in that picture and we had a pretty close seat from the second level. However, between the distance and the iffy lighting of some of the people onstage, there's a lot of washout unfortunately. For instance, the guy in yellow looks like he's glowing and about to burst into flames- if you look at the larger version, it looks worse. Still, I couldn't pass this one up since I do love the colors.

DC- this one was just done with an A80 so no lens was used. I play with the shutter speed a lot in low light to try and get the right picture and this looks like something between a 1/15 and 1/30- hence why it looks kindof dark and the colors aren't quite as vibrant as they'd be with a good flash or in good lighting. That said, the speed's high enough that you see some blur on the person walking.

SI

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

DC- this one was just done with an A80 so no lens was used. I play with the shutter speed a lot in low light to try and get the right picture and this looks like something between a 1/15 and 1/30- hence why it looks kindof dark and the colors aren't quite as vibrant as they'd be with a good flash or in good lighting. That said, the speed's high enough that you see some blur on the person walking.

SI

If you had blur in that image, then it must have been minor because I didn't see any.

I was height, height2, and hand.

I took several height pictures but felt that the one submitted told more of a story. It bugs me that it's a little out of focus but the sun was going down and the lighting was a little bad.

Height 2 was shortly after height and you can tell because of how dark she looks and the bluriness of her hand.

Hand was our son Landon's hand straight out of the bath. The kid just didn't wanna come out and when he finally did, we noticed how pruny his hand looked.

[Kalypso]

I was Heralds.

I tok this pic in Vegas. I was walking over a walkway, looked up and snapped this shot- I was memorized by the white stone on blue sky. I did some cropping, but was happy it wasn't blurry as I was in a hurry and in the middle of the hustle and bustle..

[Lorena]

By the way, these are fixed up versions of my "height" picture:

[lordscarlet]

Ugh. I haven't commented yet either.

SI: Just because you didn't comment before the reveal, doesn't mean you can't comment.

I was Hug and Hillside Home. I want to go back and find specific comments people made, but off of my head I just had a couple things to say. First, someone said that Hillside Home "did not show enough of the house". Well, that was the whole house. There was no more to it. "Hug" is a set of salt and pepper shakers. I did a bunch of experimental photos (I'll try to post them later) but ended up with the "normal" one instead. I used a mag lite for the lighting and a 3 second shutter.

[OldGiants]

Just to clarify, "did not show enough of the house" = "crop the picture so the house occupies more of the shot".

[Kalypso]

Dogerchick-
I love "height" in black and white- it looks awesome!!!

[Lorena]

Thanks Kalypso! Antmeister did the post processing for that one.