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Thread: Back from Mexico

  1. #1
    mythlady's Avatar
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    Back from Mexico

    Hi everyone -- we just got back from Cabo San Lucas -- great trip, very nice place, the people were lovely, interesting excursions and so on. Still processing my pics, but here are a couple:

    Back from Mexico

    Back from Mexico

    Back from Mexico

    Back from Mexico

    The third one is a collage I had to do for my Photoshop class -- I combined several pictures from a church with textures and a few other things --

  2. #2
    jiro's Avatar
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    Re: Back from Mexico

    Nice set of images, Elise. I like the way you preserve the orange hue of the lighting and the softness of the image. Nice work!

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    Re: Back from Mexico

    Quote Originally Posted by mythlady View Post
    Hi everyone -- we just got back from Cabo San Lucas
    Wondered where you were!

    That's a lovely rich set of images with robust, deep tones. All look as if there may have been various ligthing challenges to be overcome. So, well done.

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    mythlady's Avatar
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    Re: Back from Mexico

    Thanks, Jiro and Donald. The ones from inside the church are very noisy, which is why I went the textured route -- I didn't have a tripod (and wouldn't have used it in a church in any case). But I was pretty pleased to see that they came out as well as they did, because my hands aren't the steadiest in the world, and I do have trouble at low shutter speeds.

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    Re: Back from Mexico

    Glad you made it back safely. Very interesting colors and contrasts in the photographs, especially the last one.

  6. #6

    Re: Back from Mexico

    Welcome back, Elise! I was wondering where you were, too. They're all really lovely! I very much like the lighting in the first one. Like Jiro said, that orange hue - I can easily relate it to south of the border. I can feel the brightness outside and the cool shadiness on the inside. Actually, it's the same with the last one, too. Your photoshopped one, also, gives a lovely first impression. I like it!

  7. #7
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    Re: Back from Mexico

    I like the last one; I don't understand it but I do like it.

  8. #8
    mythlady's Avatar
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    Re: Back from Mexico

    Thanks, John and Katy -- there was beautiful light in that little church in the mountains (in the village of El Triunfo), and I was so determined to capture it, even though the whole interior was quite dim. BTW, they're all "photoshopped" -- all of them have textures applied, though it's pretty subtle in the first and last ones (I think).

    Steve, the last one is just a bunch of junk that was outside a basket weaving place -- consider it a "junk still life."

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    mythlady's Avatar
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    Re: Back from Mexico

    egads, I just looked at these on my work computer and they look way oversaturated. Do they look that way on other people's monitors, or is it just my work monitor (which I'm sure has never been calibrated)?

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    Re: Back from Mexico

    I am not sure if over-saturated is the right "non- direction" as over/underexposed. Maybe they are the one in the same, but to me over saturation is pushing the density up, while adding an artificial layer of color (well, so to speak). If these are what came out of the camera, then it is an exposure issue in which case, all but the first one are underexposed by a 1/2 to a whole stop and the first one about a 1/2 stop overexposed...
    The only one where this becomes an issue for me is the last one because there was no need to not expose correctly, then if wanted at a later date, compensate to the desired level. For me, the better reasoning is to shoot a lower ISO, a longer and more detail acquiring exposure which always produces a finer grain (less noise).
    Still, they are nicely composed ann not so far out in any one direction so as not to be a huge problem in the hands of a skilled PP person...of course, which you are.

  11. #11
    mythlady's Avatar
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    Re: Back from Mexico

    Well, these are not what came out of the camera -- they all have textures applied to them. Here's an example of an unadorned one (RAW) of the inside of the church.

    Back from Mexico

    It was quite dark in there, I had the ISO up to 800, and could only get 1/125 sec at f/4.0. As I mentioned above, I didn't have a tripod and actually don't feel that comfortable taking pictures in a church -- at a mission once in Arizona, a man scolded me for taking pictures, even though there was a sign that said non-flash pictures were okay, and I wasn't using a flash. I get that it's a little irritating to have someone snapping away if you're in the church praying . . . any other suggestions of how I could have done better?

  12. #12

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    Re: Back from Mexico

    I think, this is where the non-obtrusive monopod comes into use. Even at that, if you know you are likely to add a texture later, I don't think the ISO bump hurts all that much. I shot some recently at 6400 and while they were quite grainy, there was still a reasonable softness to them that played to the materials I was shooting.

    I tripod-ed my camera the other day on a still life setup and shot one frame at each iISO setting on the camera, compensating only by aperture priority, and then one frame only by shutter priority...it's interesting to see the grain and slight color shifts one gets when the ISO numbers go past 1200. My next series is going to invlove using specific on camera filters at the higher ISO's to see what, if any compensation can be made, or even if I want to. I knew some day I'd find a use for all those old Cokin filters.

    In your specific case of primarily being a texturizer, I am not sure anything is out of bounds or realms. given the raw data above, you have taken them to a better place.

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    Re: Back from Mexico

    I love your work, and you should trust your judgement, in the end. I know there are technical issues, that if you haven't mastered them, make it impossible to truly express your vision, but when it comes down to something subjective, if you feel like there is something wrong, you should find a way to get to where you want to go.

    I like to take pictures sometimes of religious themes in religious places, but I deeply respect the feelings of those present, even if I don't share them... I feel like that is part of being human. That aside, You can get some nice shots

    Back from Mexico

    Wow, I have learned a lot since I took this one though....

  14. #14
    mythlady's Avatar
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    Re: Back from Mexico

    Chris, I agree that a monopod would have been helpful, but I made a decision to travel very light -- I only had my 40D and the 50mm lens, nothing else. I didn't want to lug equipment around that didn't fit into my shoulder bag or to be signaling that I was carrying a bunch of expensive camera equipment (I even changed the red-stripe Canon strap to a less obvious one before we left home). Maybe I'm overly cautious, but I'm not a spring chicken any more, and all somebody would need to do is give me a shove and they could easily take off with my camera.

    Tim, I love religious subjects, especially old churches and missions (of which we have quite a few in California). I love the statue in your picture -- are those light bulbs in the halo?? How interesting. At Open Studios this year I saw a woman who was doing wonderful things with statuary she photographed in cemeteries in Italy, angels and such -- she would print the angels on transparencies and then paint the back side of them with some kind of gold paint, and then combine that with other images -- they really were quite beautiful. I wanted to ask her a million questions, but it's a little tricky, getting someone to open up about their techniques to you

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    Re: Back from Mexico

    Elise,
    The statue is from St Anne's Shrine, at the site of a French fort from the 1600s. Latin cultures have the best religious art, in my book, anyway. I took it around dawn on a dark morning this December. It is covered by a dusting of snow. Now that I know a little more, I think I am going to try to fix it up some. I may go shoot it again. The site is a contemplative site that the Church kindly allows the public to use, including a nice beach, all they ask in return is quiet and respect. I don't usually take non wildlife or landscape, but this one caught my eye.

    It is amazing the kinds of non conventional, yet beautiful, things that people do, like your artist with the statuary.

  16. #16
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    Re: Back from Mexico

    You did a great job with these images....very nice.

    Chuck

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    Re: Back from Mexico

    Elise, I love the richness of colour that your overlay treatment has given to these. Although I have never been to Mexico, what I have read etc makes me feel that it would be as you portray it.

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