Picture This

Archived discussion from Toril-2.
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Picture This

Postby Ashiwi » Sun Dec 10, 2006 3:16 am

I started uploading some of the photos I've taken recently onto Photobucket. Below are a couple of the ones I was really tickled with. People always ask me how I can stand living so far out in the country, and hopefully these might help explain it. I really enjoy photography in a totally amateur way, but I was hoping somebody could answer a couple of questions for me.

My camera's nothing fancy, but I love it; it's just a Nikon CoolPix L1, and as far as I'm concerned it does a really great job for MOST simple shots. The one thing I've found though, is that all the cameras I've tried so far seem to have a problem catching specific hues of pink and orange that you see in sunrises and sunsets. As those are my favorite pics to take, I'd love to know why, and what it's going to take to be able to capture those colors.

Also... why is it that when you take a picture with the moon in it, no matter how HUGE the moon looks, it always ends up a tiny pinprick in the picture? There's one shot in my gallery that I took just because the moon was so enormous in the twilight sky that it was really quite a breathtaking sight, but it just didn't translate the same at all.

Another thing... what's it going to take to be able to capture a dimmer shot? Is there something available that can work with less light and doesn't cost a fortune?

Thanks ahead of time!


Image

Image

Image

Image
Yes, that's my ratty little place that I try to avoid taking pictures of, but I couldn't resist the rest of the shot.

Image

Image
My fishing spot.

Image
Oral Roberts University Praying Hands

Image
Tulsa Riverparks... I just liked this one because of the contrast between the mirrored water surface on the left and the churning water on the right.

Image
Meet Eilistraee!

Image
Say what you will, SuperDave is one of my all-time favorite pics![/img]
Last edited by Ashiwi on Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Ashiwi » Sun Dec 10, 2006 3:26 am

Oh, and here's the gallery of what I have up so far.

http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j113/Kyzmette/

Anybody else have one? Post 'em!
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!
Auril
Staff Member - Quests
Posts: 522
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 5:01 am

Postby Auril » Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:07 am

You have some *very* lovely pictures there. :)
ssar
Sojourner
Posts: 1446
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Contact:

Postby ssar » Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:35 am

Ooooh, I love the pic of Eilistraee! Looks like a wonderful dog, so stoked to see dogs in the snow!

Love that moon photo too!
BEER
Lilira
Sojourner
Posts: 1438
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2003 3:53 pm

Postby Lilira » Sun Dec 10, 2006 4:59 pm

Gorgeous Kel!!!!

*grin* I love going through my old stuff and remembering that we moved from this....

Image

and this..

Image

To this...

Image

and this...

Image
Adriorn Darkcloak
Sojourner
Posts: 1292
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2003 7:11 pm

Camera

Postby Adriorn Darkcloak » Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:09 pm

The first photo is the best one I think, along with the snow/moon one. Unless it seems to pricey for you Ash, check out the Canon Rebel XTI. The problem you seem to be having with dim shots is due to the aperture (how much light comes in) and the shutter speed (how long light comes in for). Most point & shoot cameras don't have good shots at night, while others have better ones. The Rebel XTI can use different lenses, which can help dramatically with better shots and better dark/night shots. I got mine for $775, and it's a monster leap from my old point and shoot poop. But I'm a huge nerd.

Also, check if the camera has an ISO option. Usually it's set at 100, which is good for normal use, but see if you can raise it to 400 or 800, or even 1600. It helps ALOT to raise it when you're taking shots in low/no light. The shots come out a little grainier, depending on the camera, but you can usually fix part of it with a photo editor program. I hope this helps.

Btw, I always knew Eilistraee was a dirty old dog, but really...

eep.
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Ashiwi » Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:50 pm

OMG... my Eili is NOT dirty!
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!
Adriorn Darkcloak
Sojourner
Posts: 1292
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2003 7:11 pm

Oh

Postby Adriorn Darkcloak » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:32 am

Oh, you mean your dog's name is Eilistraee too...

:whistle:
Corth
Sojourner
Posts: 6002
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2001 6:01 am
Location: NY, USA

Postby Corth » Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:20 am

Here are a few pics I took in Iceland

Image

Image

Image
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth

Goddamned slippery mage.
Glorishan
Sojourner
Posts: 456
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN

Postby Glorishan » Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:49 pm

Here are some pics from my most recent Canadian fishing trip.

Image
A daytime shot from the island on which we camp.

Image
This is an evening shot from the boat where we were fishing. This is on the English River system in Ontario. The water can be choppy during the day, but it really gets glassy at night.

Image
A nice picture of the sunset.

Image
Fire!

Image
This is the picture I use for my desktop now.
Touk says 'ac > glorishan > mr > touk > hps'
Siamorphe OOC: 'If AFKing is the devil, then Corth is the Antichrist and Glorishan is the False Prophet who supports him.'
Referring to the guild on 8/28/06: Oghma responds to your petition with 'your leadership team averages 280 days MIA :('
Birile
Sojourner
Posts: 1413
Joined: Wed Dec 11, 2002 6:01 am
Location: Albany, NY

Postby Birile » Mon Dec 11, 2006 7:47 pm

Glorishan wrote:This is the picture I use for my desktop now.


I'm a snob--I only use Nokie's photos for my desktop backgrounds.
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Ashiwi » Tue Dec 12, 2006 1:04 am

They're all beautiful... but back to my original question. Where are all the pinks and oranges in the sky at sunrise and sunset?
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!
Yadir
Sojourner
Posts: 153
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Postby Yadir » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:40 am

Glorishan - Your pics remind me of a fishing trip I took to that same area in Ontario years ago. In fact, I could almost swear I stood in almost the exact same spot as the fire picture. The view brings back some good memories.

Thanks for posting.
Glorishan
Sojourner
Posts: 456
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN

Re: Picture This

Postby Glorishan » Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:46 am

Ashiwi wrote:Also... why is it that when you take a picture with the moon in it, no matter how HUGE the moon looks, it always ends up a tiny pinprick in the picture?


As an answer to this - the moon isn't that big when you're looking at it. It's your brain playing tricks on you. When a moon is low in the sky, your brain can use the ground and trees as a size reference, and as such it appears larger to you. When it's high in the sky, there is no comparisons for your brain, and thus it makes it appear smaller to you. If you used an instrument to actually check the size, it would be the same for both.
Touk says 'ac > glorishan > mr > touk > hps'

Siamorphe OOC: 'If AFKing is the devil, then Corth is the Antichrist and Glorishan is the False Prophet who supports him.'

Referring to the guild on 8/28/06: Oghma responds to your petition with 'your leadership team averages 280 days MIA :('
Tasan
Sojourner
Posts: 1710
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Fridley, Mn USA
Contact:

Re: Picture This

Postby Tasan » Thu Dec 14, 2006 12:39 pm

Glorishan wrote:
Ashiwi wrote:Also... why is it that when you take a picture with the moon in it, no matter how HUGE the moon looks, it always ends up a tiny pinprick in the picture?


As an answer to this - the moon isn't that big when you're looking at it. It's your brain playing tricks on you. When a moon is low in the sky, your brain can use the ground and trees as a size reference, and as such it appears larger to you. When it's high in the sky, there is no comparisons for your brain, and thus it makes it appear smaller to you. If you used an instrument to actually check the size, it would be the same for both.


Actually, it's due to the refraction of light through the atmosphere. Same as light through water etc. :)
Danahg tells you 'yeah, luckily i kept most of it in my mouth and nasal membranes, ugh'

Dlur group-says 'I have a dead horse that I'm dragging down the shaft with my 4 corpses. Anyone want to help me beat it?'

Calladuran: There are other games to play if you want to play with yourself.
Glorishan
Sojourner
Posts: 456
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN

Re: Picture This

Postby Glorishan » Thu Dec 14, 2006 2:46 pm

Tasan wrote:
Glorishan wrote:
Ashiwi wrote:Also... why is it that when you take a picture with the moon in it, no matter how HUGE the moon looks, it always ends up a tiny pinprick in the picture?


As an answer to this - the moon isn't that big when you're looking at it. It's your brain playing tricks on you. When a moon is low in the sky, your brain can use the ground and trees as a size reference, and as such it appears larger to you. When it's high in the sky, there is no comparisons for your brain, and thus it makes it appear smaller to you. If you used an instrument to actually check the size, it would be the same for both.


Actually, it's due to the refraction of light through the atmosphere. Same as light through water etc. :)


If that were the case, then it would come out looking different in pictures, too, which it doesn't. I had an optometrist explain this to me, wank! :)
Touk says 'ac > glorishan > mr > touk > hps'

Siamorphe OOC: 'If AFKing is the devil, then Corth is the Antichrist and Glorishan is the False Prophet who supports him.'

Referring to the guild on 8/28/06: Oghma responds to your petition with 'your leadership team averages 280 days MIA :('
Eshacin
Sojourner
Posts: 89
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:34 pm

Postby Eshacin » Fri Dec 15, 2006 12:13 am

Sunrises/sunsets don't come out right because the camera is trying to be too clever. It tries to make whites look white no matter what the light is. That means your red sky looks less red. It works well to even things out when there's bright sunlight, cloudy haze, overcast dull or indoors electric light, but is not so good when you want to capture those light differences.

The feature is called automatic white balance. If you're lucky, you'll have options to set it manually. Tell the camera that the light is bright sunlight when it's really sunset and voila! luscious red sunsets.

You'll find a better explanation here:
http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_white-balance.html

Oh yeah, and Glorishan's right about the moon.

A good site for camera reviews is http://www.dpreview.com
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Ashiwi » Fri Dec 15, 2006 3:56 am

Hunh. I have multiple settings on my camera, including one specifically for sunrise/sunset, that's supposed to allow all those colors to display in the photo. It doesn't.

I found the white balance and I'll play with it for a bit, thanks!
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!
Minofagal
Sojourner
Posts: 224
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2005 11:32 am
Contact:

Postby Minofagal » Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:17 pm

out of curiosity, what camera do you have?
Kaisi tells you 'get smirn, he's better than me'
--HELP! My legs aren't long enough!--
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Re: Picture This

Postby Ashiwi » Sat Dec 16, 2006 12:09 am

Ashiwi wrote:My camera's nothing fancy, but I love it; it's just a Nikon CoolPix L1,
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Ashiwi » Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:43 am

Okay, now what am I doing wrong? See the shot below... I fiddled with my camera until some of the really beautiful pinks and oranges came through just fine on this for my camera, but once I downloaded it, I lost them. The shot on my camera is lavender and cotton candy orange with pink highlights overlaid on deep gold, but once I uploaded it into my computer it lost all those subtle shades and all I see is the gold.

So here's the question... is that what everybody else sees, or can you see the pinks and oranges, too? If the color is visible to others, then it's my monitor. If not, then why do I lose the color in the translation from camera to computer?

Image
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!
rylan
Sojourner
Posts: 2903
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Hudson, MA

Postby rylan » Thu Jan 04, 2007 4:00 am

I see a little bit of pinks and oranges on my old CRT monitor... however it is mostly golds. Looks quite a bit different on my LCD monitor... can only see the gold.
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Ashiwi » Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:39 pm

TA DAAAAAA!!!

My old monitor was shot, and I guess the red was going out on it. I bought a new monitor today, and apparently since I fiddled with the white balance on my camera, I'm in the PINK!

How's that for some pink and orange pizzazz!


Image
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!
Oghma
Staff Member - Admin
Posts: 327
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2003 6:25 pm

Postby Oghma » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:06 pm

Wow, you sure get some nice sunsets there.
Oghma The Lord of Knowledge, God of Bards
[ Administrator ] of TorilMUD
Ashiwi
Sojourner
Posts: 4161
Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2001 5:01 am

Postby Ashiwi » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:45 pm

The last one I posted is a sunrise. I looked out my window and almost fell over myself getting outside to take those pics.

And no... they're not touched up at all.
Gormal tells you 'im a dwarven onion'
Gormal tells you 'always another beer-soaked layer'

Inama ASSOC:: 'though it may suit your fantasies to think so, i don't need oil for anything.'

Haley: Filthy lucre? I wash that lucre every day until it SHINES!

Return to “General Discussion Archive”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 26 guests