Posts by Blunkka

When starting, learning the basics helps usually a lot. At the moment, I would say the best way to improve your work is to learn taking pictures with correct exposures and focus. PS doesn't compensate for taking bad pictures.

Quote from Grin

How much photoshop did you use to make the soft-focus parts look like that.. I mean those don't seem right.

I blurred the focal plane where spider parts weren't included. So that's mainly sand in the foreground. Didn't touch the background bokeh.

Got a tripod? Having one usually improves landscape shots as you can use lower ISO and smaller aperture.

Couple new ones of this spider. It was carrying a weird blue bag in the back of it's body don't know what that was for. Carrying babies...

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/Spider01.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/Spider02.jpg]

Hey thanks for the comments. Here's a couple more insect macros.

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/Fly02.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/Ant.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/BugShell.jpg]

Also bought a Sigma 100-300mm yesterday so here's one using that lens.

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/Squirrel.jpg]

I think you should try to isolate the subject more. I know it can be hard especially if you're using compacts with small sensors that don't really allow blurring background. Try different viewpoints or moving closer until you have a simple background without any distracting subjects (e.g. pic2: fence and the ball).

Pic 3 is definitely my favourite although also in this one you could have zoomed in or moved closer to remove the fence behind.

I've been spending some time crawling around the bushes (literally) in moms garden. These are some of the macros I've been able to get. Mostly taken ~20 cm from the subject with fill flash.

Mikro Nikkor 60mm

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/Fly.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/Tunip.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/ManyFlowers01.jpg]

Not sure which one of these is better The first kinda has more "precise" focus but the second is imo more fluffy and cute

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/Bee01.jpg]

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/08-05Makrot/Bee02.jpg]

Some nice pictures there. Since you seem to be shooting a lot people and in dark conditions I think you could consider buying a canon 50mm/f1.8. It's relatively cheap at just below 100€ and has pretty decent image quality.

I kinda think the rims look a bit too unnatural with the blue hue on them but I love the vibrant colors in the background.

Yeah, when you focus 1/3 of the dof falls in front of the focus point and 2/3 behind it. So by focusing to what is called hyperfocal distance yields the largest area of dof in your pictures. But of course only the exact focus point can be tack sharp so it's not always that easy to decide where to focus.

Nice pictures overall I like the building shots with blue sky as a background.

In some photos I think you should pay more attention to your focus distance. For example, in the shots with the fisherman. Focusing on him would still leave room for a 2/3 dof behind, bringing the fisherman into focus while maintaining the buildings relatively sharp.

Fake HDR from two exposures. Some sloppy brushing in the tree line but bleh... it's getting late.

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Photos/D200/Field.jpg]

I would have needed those colors yesterday.

Nice present. Car wash and some cool posters

Uhh I thought she would be something radically different from what you could estimate by the outlook.

Pretty girl tho.

I'm gonna go for 15

Thanks for the comments guys. I first tried a normal blue sky but I kinda didn't like how that looked. I also didn't want to get too detailed with the background. I probably going to try something gradient sort of thing and see how that looks. I agree that with the current background I kinda had hard time trying to define where the main light source was.

Nice I like the 5th best.

Are you allowed to use flash in at these concerts? Could do some pretty neat effects with slow shutter speeds.

Hey hey hey!

Just finished this piece. Posting it here to get some opinions and see if I've forgotten something essential.

[Blocked Image: http://www.kolumbus.fi/~kn0803/Eagle.jpg]

Yeah these are really cool. Demanding obligatory motion blur pictures...