I guess these are flowers of some kind. I'm sure somebody will tell me what family, genus, and species they belong to. For me, these are just some trial photos I took yesterday morning with my new camera, with which I am struggling. Some of the photos I've taken have been over- or under-exposed. Some are not sharp at all. So far, I don't really get it. I'm not sure what settings to try. I got better results using my old Lumix DMC-ZS8 than I'm getting with the new ZS30 (called the TZ40 in France).
I've never been secretive about the fact that I use Adobe Photoshop to edit, improve, crop, sharpen, and otherwise "improve" the photos I take. I know there are people who think you should be able to use just your camera to get good photos. I don't agree. The camera is just a tool, and so is Photoshop. What the photos look like is what I want them to look like, and what I remember seeing when I took them.
Like you, I alter my photos. I crop them. I use Picasa and its "I feel lucky" button. I never mastered photoshop and since picasa is free and good enough for me, I never really bothered with it.
ReplyDeleteKen... the flowers are from a willow [saule], Salix sp.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the sharpness in the flowerheads and water drops...
especially the latter with their lens effect.
My cage has just been well and truly rattled...
"I don't agree. The camera is just a tool, and so is Photoshop.".... agreed wholeheartedly!!
When I started photography I used B&W and changed my photos in the darkroom...
All SLRs show only part of the picture through the viewfinder... variously between 93% and 97%...
so I have always shot pictures that include everything that I want to see...
with the intention of cropping to a final result.
I still use that technique... but use Pottyshop to "work them up" to...
"what I want them to look like, and what I remember seeing when I took them"....
however, I do think that a lot of the problems now rest with the alogrithms that the camera makers are programming in....
my brother, who shoots professionally using "just short of the top of the range Canon gear....
a D5ii, now takes pictures entirely in RAW... for that very reason...
I now would if I had the time... perhaps in the future...
but, until then, I am having to "shut-up and put-up"!
My personal feeling is that the programmers and manufacturers have tried to make their machines....
all singing and all dancing... which satisfies the average photo"snapper"...
and are aiming more and more at people who post to Facebook, Flikka, etc. to show what they are doing...
at that instant of time... so want an instant, acceptable result...
one of the latest versions of my Pentax WG Series camera... my in-pocket record everything device...
now comes with WiFi so that "one can transmit the picture to one's tablet and post"... Yuck!
Sorry if this seems a long answer, but you and I seem to be having the bars of the same cage rattled!!
Hope that knowing that there are other frustrated "photographers"... rather than "snappers"... out here helps!
What you do to your photographs is nothing new. Since the early days, photographs have been treated and enhanced. I have a daguerréotype (1850) of my grandmother which was colorized by hand. There is even a touch of gold for her earring!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your use of PhotoShop. We're all trying to make the most interesting and (often) the most beautiful images we can. Now if you were a crime scene investigator ...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your shots here look great! Keep experimenting.
I was going to suggest Fothergilla, but that is a small shrub plant, not a big tree, and it would have green leaves on it by the time it had those blossoms, as well ... also, the blossom would maybe be a bit more feathery in texture: fothergilla
ReplyDeleteI agree with chm -- artistic photographers have always used some means to get the "look" that they wanted (exposure time, etc.).
You've answered my thoughts, Judith! My horticulture prof was always raving aout Fothergilla (a great 4-season plant/shrub) and that is exactly what came to mind (but I had forgotten the name!) when I saw this photo of Kens!
DeleteKen - Your photos are very interesting and inspiring to me. How you got there...who cares? Not me. I will need more studying to improve my snapped photos!
Mary in Oregon
Like you, I alter my photos. I crop them. I use Picasa and its "I feel lucky" button. I never mastered photoshop and since picasa is free and good enough for me, I never really bothered with it.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteExactly.
DeleteWow our spring is at the same level as yours
ReplyDeleteI use what my computer has for sharpening, cropping etc and don't feel that I am altering the photos so much as cleaning them up. iPhoto. Your photos are always wonderful.
ReplyDeleteMerci, NFA. I use the rotate (i.e.straighten), crop, sharpen, and contrast tools the most. I also like the "shadows and highlights" tool to lighten dark areas and darken light areas on photos, to soften the contrasts. And when a photo is slightly out of focus, I use the dry brush filter effect to make it viewable.
DeleteMerci, NFA. I use the rotate (i.e.straighten), crop, sharpen, and contrast tools the most. I also like the "shadows and highlights" tool to lighten dark areas and darken light areas on photos, to soften the contrasts. And when a photo is slightly out of focus, I use the dry brush filter effect to make it viewable.
Delete