Photography Experiments - Show Us Your Shots (Ongoing)

[shutterspeed]

So some of us got to talking and thought it might be a good idea to have a thread where we post our "experimental" shots...the ones that turned out great, and maybe the ones that didn't turn out so great.

You can post to tell others how you achieved a certain effect or you can ask for help on how to improve a photo or just to show off a photo that was a complete surprise to you. The photos posted here don't have to be or pertain to any of the current CAP challenges.

This thread is meant to inspire, to teach, and to be constructive.

Please try to include the photo info such as: f-stop setting, shutterspeed, ISO setting, white balance, or any other details that might help others, etc.

So ladies...show us your experiments!! :)

[shutterspeed]

so i saw this photo on Tumbler the other day:
http://10.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kueo9wz4cU1qaruh4o1_500.jpg

and i thought...how pretty and i'd never thought to purposefully blur or unfocus a photo before.

so this morning i had to give it a try myself....
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4189722049_ea59312872.jpg
F4.5 (exposed 1/3 step over exposed), shutterspeed = 1/13, ISO 1600, auto white balance, manual focus left completely blurred

ok so it wasn't as "artsy" or spectacular as the inspiration shot. but i'll keep working on it and see if i can't achieve better results! :)

[MissMint]

OOOH What a GREAT idea for a thread AND what a COOL PHOTO!!!!
I feel inspired to try weird things. LOL...photographically speaking of course.

[AlliJ2008]

I love that inspiration shot. Just gorgeous.

[KirstieGai]

cool lights photo

[ingridfasquelle]

How spectacular ! This is such an unusual technique ! I myself always try to get crisp piccies so... But the end result is very artsy !

[ingridfasquelle]

And i'm glad about this new thread ! I need to be inspired ! :yay:

[BansGran]

ohhhhhh.. I love the inspiration photo.. and I love your photo.. the colours are fabulous...


funny.. this was me last night...so this came at a great time.. just wish I had seen this before...
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs232.snc3/21974_242800261943_573486943_4218195_5161697_n.jpg

I was playing with light too.. but I was trying to add a "moonlit" look to my scene using a little flashlight.. but it was a little too cool.. so will try something different to warm things up a bit...
f/4
shutterspeed 1/6, 200 ISO (which I never changed :( .... but will, 'cause that will probably help a little as well) auto white balance, and a little under exposed as well -0.7, so I will adjust that as well...

this is a great thread.. I need a lot of help!!!

[ingridfasquelle]

WOW ! Totally love this one of yours ! The bokeh is really cute !

[AlliJ2008]

I took this today...didn't notice that I am in the reflection of the ornament. Annoying or cool? I have no idea--LOL!

http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt114/AlliJ2008/Ornament09WEB.jpg

[nina81]

Allie, that´s cool!!! And your outfit-colors fit perfectly!!! It´s not the stinking boring pic of an ornament...it´s YOUR pic!!! I love it!

[ingridfasquelle]

i love the reflection in the silver bauble ! i think it's cool !

[MissMint]

ohh ALLIE! That is a great shot! ;) Kinda cool that you are reflected in the shot. A little distracting if you JUST want to look at the ornament but I love it. Really crisp and great colors too!

Kim I LOOOOOVE your pics of the xmas scene. WOW. The colors are wonderful and the blurred lights are FANTASTIC!

[shutterspeed]

BansGran - that photo is amazing. i love how you made it all "moonlit" over the "village" and the bokeh of the tree in the background.

Alli - WOW such vivid detail. i think it's cool we can see your reflection. your green shirt blends in with the tree branches! :)

[shutterspeed]

last night as an after-thought i yanked out my camera real quick to shoot a few photos of the kids playing with their sparklers.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4233280813_638ca362b9.jpg

shutterspeed is 4 seconds, f29 (apeture), ISO 1600, AWB

i didn't use a tripod. i tried to stand as still as possible. i totally spazzed and forgot to get my camera out so then i was rushing to capture something. Megan says she was writing words with hers but i couldn't ever make out what they were. LOL

this one is straight off the camera...no tweaks. when the 4th of July comes around i'll try and do a better job of remembering to have my camera out and ready before hand and maybe the photos will turn out better and i can experiment a little more.

[joscie]

okay, so at Christmas time I did some heart shaped bokeh...
http://www.cutchens.com/joscie/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/IMG_7397-copy.jpg
here is a blog post with more examples of it: http://www.cutchens.com/2009/12/honolulu-city-lights/#comments
and a how to post on how to make bokeh shapers:
http://www.cutchens.com/2009/12/how-to-make-a-high-tech-bokeh-shaper/#comments

[shutterspeed]

i remember seeing your blog post about this and thought it was a great idea...i will have to try this and see how it comes out. too bad all the holiday lights are taken down....and i'm definitely gonna have to wait until it gets a little warmer. :)

thanks for sharing...i'll have to post my try when i'm done!

[joscie]

i remember seeing your blog post about this and thought it was a great idea...i will have to try this and see how it comes out. too bad all the holiday lights are taken down....and i'm definitely gonna have to wait until it gets a little warmer. :)

thanks for sharing...i'll have to post my try when i'm done!
you can use it with candle light or whatever you want!

[MissMint]

WOW! Both pics are totally AMAZING!

[shutterspeed]

ok so tonight i finally got a chance to try your little technique Josie!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4278091054_a3b7831dd5_o.jpg
this is 3 different photos...kinda hard to tell even with the text. and the last photo is the same distance away as the 2nd i just blurred the lights even more if that makes sense...gives the effect that i'm closer when i wasn't.

it was fun! i'll definitely have to try it this coming Christmas on all the holiday lights! :)

[shutterspeed]

i was over at the ILP board (ilovephotography) about a month ago and saw a thread on water droplet macro techniques. i decided to try it out today as part of my P365...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4282575886_3a6ab7f424.jpg

ISO 400
f 5.6
1/160
fired onboard flash no diffusion
used my 70-300mm zoom w/ macro

i took about 75 photos and only about 5 of them turned out halfway decent. this was the best of the bunch. i'm pleased considering the conditions...but i need to find a kitchen sink that has a natural light source next to it to aid in the lighting.

for members of the ILP board go to this link: http://ilovephotography.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=291872 to see what i was talking about! :D

[KirstieGai]

very cool Sarah

[MissMint]

REALLY neat!

[tkeetch]

I was just messing around with these.. and a moving 16 month-old is NOT easy to capture! Justin was holding Harvey up to "dunk" a little ping pong ball. He was loving it! I was trying to catch the moment he threw the ball so it would be in the picture, but that never worked out.

I have to admit, I'm SO disappointed this one isn't in focus... does that totally distract from the photo?
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/images/external/1648468_4592138_95513993_Web_3/0_0_3dabfc31e41d9a2fca85beb4d2557a18_1

And these were the others... I didn't know how to get my camera (P&S) to focus on Harvey instead of the rim.
http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/images/external/1648468_4592138_95513969_Web_3/0_0_e0a5783b82599c6d92153f6883181639_1

http://cdn-2-service.phanfare.com/images/external/1648468_4592138_95513971_Web_3/0_0_19fdae7e4c00b73fc6c3b0fd638cc75c_1

I liked the idea of the net/rim in front of him, but after looking at the pictures on my computer, I'm not sure... What do you think? How could I make these better?

Oh.. and I'm pretty sure I was in Auto mode. (LOL.. there's my specs.)

[shutterspeed]

hey Tiff, not sure how i missed your post on this one.

i think the 1st photo is really cute and the baby out of focus isn't that big of a deal however i understand you wishing it weren't. i have a lot of photos that turn out that way.

not knowing the specifics of your camera it's hard to say exactly what to do to get it to focus on the child and not the rim. get your manual out and see if it addresses that issue. maybe there's a way to change your auto focus.

if you had an SLR camera i'd say put it in manual focus and do it yourself. auto focus tends to focus on what's closest to the camera lens. a lot of times when it comes to shots like these i use manual focus to avoid such problems.

and of course any photo of a baby is adorable even if it isn't technically perfect!! :)

[wisdomandgrace]

This pic was taken on a windy day and I thought what a good pictures can my point and click camera can take and I got this one. I think It's neat. Right now I'm saving up for a DSLR but I be trying to just experiment on my point and click camera. I'm surprised when I focus on lighting, a point and click camera can take really good pics.

http://www.peppermintcreative.com/gallery/data/506/DSCN07625.gif

[glumirk]

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6112/6216209572_48369f2936_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36238713@N06/6216209572/)
IMG_4042 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36238713@N06/6216209572/) by glumirk (http://www.flickr.com/people/36238713@N06/), on Flickr

Ok, I'm playing. Let me know what else I can do!

f/1.8
1/100 s
ISO 1600
50 mm

I mostly did curves adjustments in ACR, with some noise reduction (because I had to max out the ISO on my camera to get a fast enough SS). I also added a slight contrast mask over the eyes with a light brush to clarify those luscious lashes. Any suggestions? Did I pop the curves too much? What's the best method of sharpening? I know it depends on what size you are viewing or printing, but I find clarity to be my biggest issue, and I'm sure much of that has to do with a shaky hand, moving subjects, and never enough light for a faster SS.

p.s. I should probably get more creative about the backdrop besides my ugly couch pillows that I've been meaning to cover for over a year. :)