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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Reply |
Thanks for your comments, Dale :-) |
Apr 7th |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Reply |
Thanks, Chan. I like to play with photography, and this is a good lens for that. I think the effect is similar to the Orton effect, but I haven't done a direct comparison. It's just another quiver in my arrow :-) |
Apr 5th |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Reply |
Thanks, Steve. As Henri Cartier-Bresson said "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." ;-)
Yes, it does take practice, and using regular lenses after several weeks of the Lensbaby felt like I was running without weights after weeks of training with weights.
As for workflow, I feel like I'm the only photographer in the whole world who doesn't use Lightroom. But I've been using DxO's Photolab since 2020 to process my RAW images, and I feel no desire to change. It basically has the same things as Lightroom, but I think it was more intuitive and easier for me to learn and use. And its denoising is better than any of the other programs I have tried. Lightroom has a few things that Photolab doesn't that I use (e.g., Color Grading, Calibration, and Defringe), and I go to Camera Raw when I need those. Most importantly, Photolab has modules for every camera & lens combo I have (except Lensbaby), and I think (I'm not sure) Lightroom makes you choose from generic presets. And I think that makes a real difference--the RAW images look better to me right off the bat when I open them in Photolab versus Camera Raw, before I do any processing.
Last fall, I started trying to organize & catalog all my pictures since I got my mirrorless camera in 2023 and seriously considered both Lightroom and Bridge. In the end, I felt like Bridge fit me better.
After Photolab, I export my images to Photoshop & use Color Efex for all of them. Then I do various other adjustments in Photolab (like high-pass sharpening, dodging & burning, Curves, adjusting blending modes for multiple exposures, etc.) as necessary. Being able to do it all in layers, with Nik plug-ins, is really convenient because I can go back and make changes really easily. And masks are fantastic. And I think it's great at stitching pictures for panoramas & focus stacking, etc.
For black & white, I also use Silver Efex most of the time. When I want to play more, I also check out DxO's Film Pack, which has both color and bw simulations of all sorts of films and looks since the beginning of photography.
Once in a blue moon, I use Analog Efex to create a historical look. I really like Viveza's eye sharpening feature, and I also use Viveza once in a while for final adjustments. I don't use the other Nik modules much.
I got Topaz AI only 1-2 months ago. It's really good at correcting slight focusing problems--the kind that normal people would never notice but that would drive camera club judges crazy. It's much better at it than the other programs I use. It's good with macro pictures, and it's also been good with the Lensbaby because I usually don't want 100% of the image to be soft, and the Lensbaby produces soft images at wide apertures even when the camera is on a tripod & I use a remote shutter. It's not good at correcting focusing problems that are more obvious. I think its corrected version looks too artificial. I don't use Topaz AI for anything else, but I think its focusing function is worth the money for me (especially since I love macro & now the Lensbaby, too).
So this is probably not the most efficient workflow ever, but I got set in my ways, and I like post-processing and don't have any deadlines to meet. I'd be interested to see if you have any suggestions or thoughts on this. |
Apr 3rd |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Reply |
If ISO is 16,000, then your software did a great job. It probably also helped that there are not a lot of areas of darkness, which is where the noise shows up most. I think the resolution is fine if you don't do pixel-peeping. I use DxO Photolab to process my RAW images, and I'm amazed at what high ISOs I can get away with thanks to their denoising technology. |
Apr 2nd |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Comment |
What a great capture! Your reflexes must be functioning really well :-). And it's great that they are not overlapping with each other and that they echo the shape of the rocks. And that bird at the bottom sitting and watching them adds interest and variety, as well as all the different postures of the birds. Great shot! |
Apr 1st |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Comment |
The picture shows off fall colors well. I like all the yellow, brown, and green details in the corners framing the tree in the middle. |
Apr 1st |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Comment |
This is a good contemplation of built and natural environments. The difference between the top and bottom windows really holds my attention. And the contrast between the small windows on the left and the larger ones on the right, and all the lines throughout the picture produce a coherent, geometric look. I really like the idea of doing projects. What do you do with the images when you feel like you're done with a project? |
Apr 1st |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Comment |
The image does have a historical feel. I think all the post-processing choices you made accomplished your goals. And even though it's a messy scene with different types of rail cars, trees, a sign in front, etc., I think your composition and post-processing have created order out of this chaos. The right and the left halves of the picture are well balanced. |
Apr 1st |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Comment |
This is a very good capture of this bird in the peak of the action. The crop focuses on the bird (which is what most people would prefer), but I also kind of like the larger environmental portrait with those big, dramatic leaves. Is your ISO really 16000 or did you mean 1600? |
Apr 1st |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Comment |
I think it's a great project to work on documenting these old buildings before they are all gone. Reminds me of Atget's documentation of old Paris in the late 1800s. Even though the building has been modernized with shops, etc., the picture still gives a sense of what it probably looked like in the olden times. |
Apr 1st |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Reply |
Thanks, Will. I'm glad there's a fellow Velvet 56er in this group! And I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one for whom focusing is hit or miss. I did take a snapshot of an old lady with white with this lens last week, trying to balance the special effect with focusing, and it turned out great. She looked ethereal and glowy. I think it would also be perfect with children. Have fun with your lens :-) |
Apr 1st |
| 87 |
Apr 26 |
Reply |
Thanks a lot, Jennifer :-) Yes, you need perseverance for this lens, but I think it's worth it if you like playing and experimenting. |
Apr 1st |
6 comments - 6 replies for Group 87
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6 comments - 6 replies Total
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