Photo of the Day - November 2021

[fooferdoggie]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Clix Pix]

 

[Citysnaps]

 

[fooferdoggie]

A foggy night on our bike ride

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[fooferdoggie]

A foggy night on our bike ride

 

[Citysnaps]

Ocean Beach, San Francisco.

 

[Clix Pix]

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

This is HWY 1 near Half Moon Bay in the Bay Area, this was a test run so I know exactly where to be to get this shot during sunset to get a real keeper with the burning color in the sky/horizon. Got the composition and focal range I want so I'm good to go, I'll be attempting next weekend.

View attachment 10094

Damn utility poles and wires. Are you planning to digitally remove them or shoot from a different location?

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Another critter discovered while restacking logs, quite camouflaged at the top of the rock with that lighting.

Since both are cold blooded I most likely disturbed their brumation and neither put up much of a fight being handled. After this photo I put the lizard on a rock in the sun and they scurried off after about 10 minutes of thawing out.

 

[Eric]

Damn utility poles and wires. Are you planning to digitally remove them or shoot from a different location?

This is really the only location to capture this shot right and believe me, it took a lot of time to figure out just the right angle, lens, focal length, etc. This was a planned shoot all the way, including drive time, time of day and the actual quarter mile walk up the hill with all my gear to this spot as there is nowhere to park.

As far as the power lines, they're part of the landscape and I always include them, same goes for traffic lights, signs and all of that. The only modifications I ever make to my photos are color correction (profile) and basic post processing touchups. I will never add or remove artifacts.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

As far as the power lines, they're part of the landscape and I always include them, same goes for traffic lights, signs and all of that. The only modifications I ever make to my photos are color correction (profile) and basic post processing touchups. I will never add or remove artifacts.

That could probably be a discussion for its own topic. I'm kind of on the fence (should I digitally remove the fence?) on capturing nature scenes with man-made objects basically ruining the nature of it. Your location is kind of an extreme example, but a lot of times I find myself getting irritated when trying to frame a nature shot and am unable to keep a utility line or two out of frame.

The funny thing is you probably don't even notice it that much when just looking around with your eyeballs but as soon as you capture it in a picture they really stand out.

 

[Eric]

That could probably be a discussion for its own topic. I'm kind of on the fence (should I digitally remove the fence?) on capturing nature scenes with man-made objects basically ruining the nature of it. Your location is kind of an extreme example, but a lot of times I find myself getting irritated when trying to frame a nature shot and am unable to keep a utility line or two out of frame.

The funny thing is you probably don't even notice it that much when just looking around with your eyeballs but as soon as you capture it in a picture they really stand out.

I get that perspective and can see where some may want to do that, it's just not for me. In the bay area especially you're going to see this sort of thing everywhere and IMO it's just part of the aesthetic for better or worse. Someone else brought this up in my Reddit post as well but for the most part people don't seem too concerned with it.

The attachment is another good example, I took out a group of photographers for this shoot and some were looking for ways to get the bridge without traffic lights and signs instead of simply incorporating them. All of these things are part of the area, I prefer to celebrate them and show them for what they are.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I get that perspective and can see where some may want to do that, it's just not for me. In the bay area especially you're going to see this sort of thing everywhere and IMO it's just part of the aesthetic for better or worse. Someone else brought this up in my Reddit post as well but for the most part people don't seem too concerned with it.

The attachment is another good example, I took out a group of photographers for this shoot and some were looking for ways to get the bridge without traffic lights and signs instead of simply incorporating them. All of these things are part of the area, I prefer to celebrate them and show them for what they are.

That's a great city picture. I think I would be less concerned about manmade action and clutter in a city photo because that's just part of the setting.

I'm in no way a professional photographer or aiming to be one, but I sometimes think in terms of if a picture would look good in a gallery setting, especially critical of nature pictures. I don't know if there is a formula, official or not, but I could see a picture that includes a road that would also be ok with utility poles in the shot, but not ok when it's largely waves crashing on a shore and there's a dumpster in the frame. So by formula, I mean there's a percentage that a photo will include manmade items but at some point there shouldn't be any manmade items.

 

[Citysnaps]

I get that perspective and can see where some may want to do that, it's just not for me. In the bay area especially you're going to see this sort of thing everywhere and IMO it's just part of the aesthetic for better or worse. Someone else brought this up in my Reddit post as well but for the most part people don't seem too concerned with it.

The attachment is another good example, I took out a group of photographers for this shoot and some were looking for ways to get the bridge without traffic lights and signs instead of simply incorporating them. All of these things are part of the area, I prefer to celebrate them and show them for what they are.

As they say, to each their own.

It's not for me, though I've removed extraneous elements a long time ago when I was getting started. It's certainly easy to do. I guess I viewed that as a challenge and wanting to make things "perfect."

Now..for me, the challenge is trying to get things as close to right as possible, including elements I want or don't want in the frame, at the time of exposure. Or using elements in a different way that adds. Or keeping some elements in the shadows to promote mystery/heaviness/gravitas, hopefully posing questions and conjuring potential narratives/stories in a viewer's mind. I often chop off heads or left faces/people drop in the shadows (like below) when I think it might promote a better narrative.

Best piece of advice I ever received from a fellow photographer, is being on board with the idea that photographs are made, rather than taken.

.

 

[Clix Pix]

I tend to remove what are in my opinion distracting elements if for whatever reason I cannot simply reposition myself and the camera, frame and compose my image without them..... We all have our own approach to this, eh?