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Grumzz — Leafy Sun
Published: 2010-05-07 23:25:35 +0000 UTC; Views: 680; Favourites: 12; Downloads: 29
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Description
I was wandering around through the tiny forest (about 30 trees..) next to my room.. the sun was bright, the leaves were young-green.. I couldn't resist getting out to capture the lovely pre-summery feeling!I needed to get out anyway, so I put my headphones on (Stone Sour <3) and walked around
(protip: don't stand in the middle of the road. you will be very very startled by a german car honking, causing you to jump pretty high...)
anyway, I discovered this picture when I was reviewing my shots at the computer.. the amout of detail shocked me! I now set it as my wallpaper =3 (all of my deviations are downloadable, and you can of course use it as your wallpaper
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Comments: 20
Hello. I looked to your gallery and saw some cool photos. However with this one i saw the discussion on the composition and wanted to be of use for you. I downloaded it and tried some stuff.
The problem i discovered with this photo is that the main subject of the photo is leaves. However there is no pattern with them. If there was a colorful object in front that would be awesome. So composition in short is the relations of the elements in the photo. The relations in this photo are only between sun and the leaves. That is cool also but could be expressed more dramatically.
Anyway its not bad but it can teach you a lot. Striking relations of elements in photos make lovely photos. If not a primary subject its better to look for patterns. Experimental photography is whole other issue though.
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I think kkart said something similar about the leaves, there's no 'flow' in it.. and I do agree with that, it's, as you say, just leaves and sun. do you think it would've been better if there was some kind of bug in the middle, like, that I focussed on the bug? (there is actually a bug in there! a leaf on the right, in the middle, you can see the silhouette of a little bug 
thank you for your time and comment, I'll try and look into that =3
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I like it.
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it did give me a great feeling too.. I was walking around in a little forest after a very bad news call.. the scenes in the forest were so soothing, old, brown leaves on the ground, and the freshest, brighest green leaves on the tree, with a sun behind it ^^
thank you ^^
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I do like this photo. I can see where ^kkart says it looks like a snapshot though.
The color is a bit desaturated and even though the sun is centered in the photograph, I think if you took another shot of it where it is coming in through one side and lighting up the rest of the area, basically using the rule of thirds for this scene.
You have a nice bokeh in the background, the sky is a bit blown out and also the leaves are too dark. The detail is good though, I see the veins pretty well.
I see you used ISO 200. Next time if you want more detail, just try out higher ones, not too high or it will be too pixelated, but maybe try a 500 or 800.
Next time go out with a tripod and have the aperture a little bit darker and the shutter less, so it takes in the scene better. Make sure to have the 2sec or 10 sec delay shutter though. I learned that the hard way.
I hope I helped, even a little bit
Just experiment and have fun, if you want a good photo, make sure to play the scene up in your head first, so you are composing, look for different shots or different angles. You might just surprise yourself.
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I don't know what's wrong with the colours; one time they look just fine, the other time they do indeed look desaturated. and that's no screen issue, it's on the same computer
I'll have to go out again, and mess around with the composition a bit more.. though the weather is cloudy and rainy right now >.<
hm, I see right now I used a pretty much auto setting.. meh :\
I do think that if I wanted 'lighter' leaves, the background would become too light.. I was struggling with that all the time so I had to make choices.
I've got a good tripod (borrowed from.. well.. my now ex boyfriend >.>) but it's quite heavy xD so I mostly leave it. Plus I have IS, so I can still shoot at 1/10, when the scene is lit properly.
I thought the lower the iso, the lower the noise :\ I'm probably mistaken xD
you did help yeah
and, always when I have a specific image in my mind, I just can't seem to get it right..
thank you ^^
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I know what you mean. I get that all the time.
Experimentation is the key which is highly helpful. Even when the weather is cloudy and rainy, try out some different shots of that too. Raindrops are awesome photos and they even have groups with just water droplets.
Manual setting is the bomb in this, auto is good, but you can only do so much with it. I know in college, if I put my camera in auto, my teacher will look at my camera info and give me an "F" because I didn't manually do it myself. But I love it because I'm learning my camera. They say that there is "The photographer and the camera is the photographer's assistant in achieving the photographer's vision. If it gets turned around, as good as the photo may be, the camera is the one with the vision instead and us photographers have turned into the assistants" Something that photographers never want to be.
You may want to look into those light weight tripods, I don't trust them as much but they are helpful when out and about. I have 2 tripods, a 72in. very lightweight 2lb one, and another one which is 60in. 10-12lb one. I do my heavier one when I'm inside and my lightweight one when I'm outside.
You are right about the ISO, the lower the ISO the lower the noise, but also helps in achieving a little bit more detail in the photo, or that may be just me. When I use macro sometimes, I use a 500-800 ISO so you can see the pollen dust and more.
I know what you mean there as well. I've been there myself, I not only put my work up for show, but to also get feedback, but there a few types of people to consider for this sort of thing. The ruthless don't care type of people, the kind hearted person, the "I'm not busy right now so I have to find something to do" person, and the smiley face people. There are others but those are the main ones to consider with any type of work.
If you can't get it right, try a little bit harder and broaden your horizon to try and get that shot. It may not be the shot you had in mind, it may be bad or it may turn out better than you could imagine.
You're welcome!
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hm, i just don't like the gloomy feeling when it rains. plus, my camera doesn't like water xD
I mostly use a setting where I can either determine the shutter speed or the aperture myself, because I sometimes have some problems with getting the right lighting.. but I do try manual more and more, you can get so much difference in your photo's by changing the settings slightly
when I have some cash again, I want to buy a big gorillapod 
I didn't know that about iso.. I will look into that ^^
broaden my horizon hm.. so I should get a wide-angle lens?
I always try tons of different angles and things, mostly I check the photo's I made immediately and they give me new ideas
I've got pretty unlimited storage anyway (8+4 gig sd-cards, and I don't shoot in raw, since I barely process my photographs anyway.. it's just not worth it for me yet) so I can shoot as much as I want =3
if I'd get a premium account, I'd enable critiques for every art work, they're mostly so much more in depth and detailled, and thought through (wow that was hard to type 
it's not really neccesary since you can also write in depth comments, but a critique almost forces you to write something more than 'NICE
thanks again
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Most camera's don't like water, that's why you stand under something
The settings are extremely helpful! I like manual alot, makes me have more control of my photo.
I don't think DSLR's suit that tripod though.
You can do that if you want to. I have 4 different lenses. A 18-55mm, 70-300mm, 24-120mm wide *good for portraits*, and a 20-35mm wide angle. I don't use that last one that often though.
you're welcome!
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I was standing underneath a tree.. well either way; those gorillapods say that they're also suitable for dslrs.. or well their manufacturers do. I'll have to ask a user to see if it really works, because I don't believe them yet
XD it was a bit of a joke, you said expand your horizon, I take it you didn't mean that literally?
I only have 1 lens though, the kitlens (18-55) and a couple of old (analogue) ones, but they don't fit on my camera.. and I'm not sure whether it's worth getting a conversion ring (found it on the internet already, its about.. 15/20 dollar I think? I don't know which lenses I have exactly (I got them from one of my teachers..
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lol, not literally, just mentally...I think that's what I'm trying to say 
That is a good lens. 2 of my lenses, I got from my grandfather and they are old SLR lens, they have a few scratches, but he put a UV filter on them to protect the lens itself. They work fine except the 20-35mm one. I have to hold a button down to make it work, but other than that it's great. The conversion ring does work. Or so I've heard.
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it's not really a matter of working, but a matter of fitting xD
I'd have to do focussing and setting the aperture really old-school manually, but I'm ok with that..
I might go to a second hand camera shop with the lenses to see whether they're any good, maybe I can even sell them xD to buy a new (or better second hand) lens
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The manual focusing is pretty interesting though. I like auto and manual *auto is easier, but when using manual I like seeing the fact that I know which way to go now too, but the setting the aperture with the lens is pretty confusing to me 
You could do that! I hope it goes well for you!
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hmm well I made a few analogue photo's (turned out crap xD had no idea how the thing worked and the light meter was broken/out of battery)
I mostly prefer manual focus, auto always messes up when trying macro shots xD it just goes crazy.. and when using auto in a dark room (parties n such) the flash goes MAD! flashes like, 20 times per second.. great to annoy people though =3
But I don't always fully trust my eyes for determining when a scene is focussed or not, in that case I use auto. And when I move around a lot of course
hm, makes me realize; I do have a 50 mm 1.8 lens. but it's a manual, so it's pretty much of no use since i'd use it for portraits and concerts.. not very useful if you have to do the focussing yourself in those circumstances..
heeh, I might even ask for a job or something, I know quite a bit about photography (for a noob) and I want to learn a lot more.. and youngsters in a second had shop attract younger people too, so it's good for the store's image too I think.. heeh, talking about the 'image' of a photography store xD
sorry, my mind's going crazy at the moment.. I've been using it too much lately (as a result of not using it enough xD)
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Uarg. I just read your complete conversation and it made me shake in disbelief.
I wish I had found this earlier to respond quicker..
Do yourself a favor and have a look at the gallery of the one who's giving you tips on photography.
A gallery of a good photographer who knows about the subject should consist of much different good photos which are showing up his talent. Not by two thousand shots of the same subject. (first lesson learned here
"I see you used ISO 200. Next time if you want more detail, just try out higher ones, not too high or it will be too pixelated, but maybe try a 500 or 800."
You were right about the ISO not she. The lower the number the lower the noise. And as noise kills detail the argument to go for a higher ISO is non-sens in my opinion.(Apart of that there isn't such thing as ISO 500
"Next time go out with a tripod and have the aperture a little bit darker and the shutter less, so it takes in the scene better. Make sure to have the 2sec or 10 sec delay shutter though. I learned that the hard way."
She obviously doesn't know what she's talking about here. I hardly understand half of what she's talking...
I'd like to see her painting the lens to get the 'aperture a bit darker'. Instead I'd rather close the aperture.. besides thats not a general rule that choosing a higher f number (higher number = smaller aperture opening) and changing the shutter (I don't know if she wants a shorter or longer shutter) will get the "scene better". That always depends on the scene and what you want to capture. Whats important to gain experience to know what to do in different situations.
If the apperture is more closed it results in a darker image if the shutter speed is not adjusted. However this is just a specific way how to change the overall light in an image. So I suggest to learn about the basic photographic values aperture, shutterspeed and ISO first and how they influence each other (really important to know). And when you're at it read about composition. This is one of the most important things to know to take good photos.
The 2/10 sec delay is only useful when using a tripod, and only really necessary if you tend to throw the tripod down while pressing the shutter..(okay it makes a lot of sense with long exposures, but don't make a general rule out of it).
Shutter/aperture priority is fine. You won't get better photos in manual mode. At least not if you don't know of all the other functions of your camera first.
Next suggestion: stop taking thousand of photos. If you see something beautiful then have a close look FIRST and imagine how it will look from different angles, walk around that subject and then try to get exactly the shot you want to have. Develop a photographic eye instead of spray-and-pray method
Premium membership is nice but really doesn't mean that you'll get critiques on every deviation.
I got one so far, just for relations. Just try to get 'friends' here on dA with good people who tent to write more than 'wow'. And ask for help if you need help. There are many more experienced photographers who are willing to help.
I don't know what kind of analogue lens you own, but usually they are great. So buy that adapter. It will be worth the money. Because even though you got to use MF the old lenses got some quality new lenses barely reach. And I'd think twice of selling them. They produce brilliant photos usually. (Remember, the quality of the image - beside composition etc - is JUST determined by the lens. Put a crappy lens on the newest Hasselblad and you get a crappy photo.
And start to use that 50mm f1.8
Especially for portraits you hardly find anything better. It produces a very nice bokeh effect, a small dof (depths of field) and needs few light to work.
And if you want to do great macros hold it reversed at the opening of your camera (aperture blades opened - there should be a trigger at the back of the lens if they aren't opened anyways). If you get comfortable with that method you can produce great photos. Not saying that mine are great but here are some examples:
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Well this had to be said.. the text got longer than I expected. I don't want to hurt anyone here but just because someone is convinced about how things are working doesn't mean he/she is right
Hope that helped.. If you got questions or if somethings is confusing just ask
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wow, wall of text!! xD
Honestly, I had kind of forgotten about that photo, I took it a long time ago, and I've learned A LOT in the meantime
I'm getting more and more exited about everything photography, and I'm judging myself much more than I used to.. which explains the lack of uploading new photo's, hehe
I know Iso 500 doesn't normally excist.. I think he/she meant 400 and made a typo- twice? lol.
I tend to use iso 1600 waaay too much, since most of my shoots are inside.. I've recently started to pick up on sports photography (Floorball/unihockey
I'll upload some of those pics someday
I haven't gotten round buying the convertor, and I think it won't fit anyway, because of the size of the lenses.. I don't quite know how to explain but when I just hold the lens in front of the camera, I get a circular photo (the edges are black)
plus I have to check on the actual quality of the lenses and the state they're in (they're pretty old, so they might be damaged 
I'm saving up to get a 1.8 50 mm lens
ooh, those photo's look beautiful, very surreal! I've heard (and used) the reversal lens thing, but the DoF is so shallow.. I prefer it a bit wider DoF, but that requires a higher aperture so I need more light.. *sigh*
I believe that trigger is only there on analogue lenses, on digital lenses you have to set it on the camera, hold a button and then remove the lens, it's quite annoying to do.
I also got to try out some 200-400 lenses at that photography fair.. damn those things are bloody amazing!! they had a couple of different lenses on tripods (and chained up of course xD) with nikon camera's attached.. the sharpness and clearness of the images was just amazing.. Shame they're so bloody expensive and huge!!
yeah, you helped a lot!! Thanks
how did you even find it..??
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Hey! Sorry for that long break.. was pretty busy the last time..
Well I found that photo somewhere in a discussion somewhere at APN-Photography I think.. and then I read that comment and well.. wrote
Those dark edges are called vignetting. Same effect occurs when too much filters are stacked onto a lens.
I think it is normal that you see those while you are just holding it at the camera.
Because if there is some distance between camera and lens (like when there is no adapter put in the middle) the actual behavior of the lens will change.
Well. I don't quite know how to express it..But however you can get a macro shot by putting some distance in between camera and lens. You just have to make sure that no light can enter.
About the 200-400. Well those is some great zoom there. And bloody expensive. But on the other hand cheaper lenses in that range won't give that great results I expect.
In general you have to keep in mind that its always a compromise of comfortability (zoom lens) and image quality..
Well.. that's all I can think of right now. Have a nice time!
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That sucks about the light meter!
I can never do auto when working with macro
I have the same problem with my own eyes, but I just go ahead and trust it, because if I don't try to at least trust my own judgment, it makes me feel odd
Alot of concerts nowadays won't let you take pro cameras to concerts anymore. Everytime I try I get kicked out.
That's awesome, that would be cool to work that job. It's a great learning experience.
That's ok! My mind is crazy myself at the moment. Sorry I took so long to reply, I've been out there recently
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