[Max]

I recently made a lot of random photos at my place and thought I should share them with you guys.
I tried to play with values and light. All of them are closeups actually.
I love the depths of field effect and the color variation. I touched up some of them in PS though.
I think I made about 200 photos of that kind. These are the ones I liked most.
I spent a whole day just going around searching special forms and lightning.
I am extremely fascinated of reflections, radiosity, global illumanaton etc.
I Haven't done any special photography before so comments and critique are very appreciated.
Dude, there's alot of "I"s in that text...

Anyway, hope you like them!





























































Have a nice day!

[Ranath]

nice photos...

[[Shizo]]

Those are great photos!
Hey, that pic with a girl's sketch, is that yours? It's amazing

[B0b]

some nice pics

like the hand, lego, rough surface and map

thats a well exposed bulb

i experimented a few years back with shutter speeds on a bulb and came out with this

[Gort]

Those are all very, very nice. Well done and thanks for taking the time to upload, post and share.
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[The Insane Lemur]

great pics, ussually im not so into photography, but yours are very interesting

[Naeem]

hey max
i've done some but not enough. what camera do you have
and as everyone said, very beautiful and interesting pics!
_________________
http://www.annisnaeem.blogspot.com/

[Nilwort]

An awareness of light and composition is really important in taking compelling photographs. These photos are definitely taken with an artist's eye. Good stuff.

[Lunatique]

You have a good eye for composition. I'm not sure how serious you are about photography, where you want to take it from here on..etc, but since you asked for critique, I'll give a fairly generalized one.

At this point, you already know you have a good eye for composition, but now you have to ask yourself--where do I go from here? One of the best things about photography is that you can either play the part of the hunter, or play the part of the creator. You can walk around the house and take photos of random stuff, or you can conceptualize and actually setup a scene. You can use whatever lighting is available at the moment you take the shot, or you can create your own lighting by adding/removing/accesorizing/filtering your lights. To go to the next step, you have to start playing the part of the creator, not just the hunter.

I'm not sure how much knowledge you have on lighting principle, but in case you don't have a lot, I would highly recommend picking up a good book on photography and lighting--they'll open your eyes to a lot of knowledge that's very practical not just for photography, but for art in general. Once you have a firm understanding of different light qualities and how to use them to manipulate your scenes/subjects, your photography will improve by leaps and bounds.

[Yarik]

Max, the pictures alone are enough help for my photography hunt. Those are incredible.

[gLitterbug]

Very nice photos. I just hope those barbies aren't yours.

[[Shizo]]

[Godwin]

Very nice photos
_________________
Derelict Studios|Godwin's Space

[Ragnarok]

Nice photos

Lunatique, how expensive can be trying the creator part? Are you referring mostly to indoors? I like your photos, so any knowledge you have is useful to me
_________________
"Ever forward, my darling wind." -Master Yuppa
Seigetsu

[Lunatique]

[Yarik]

Lunatique, advice much apreciated!

[Yarik]

Ok, taking some tips, I made a new set of photos. Took longer, but results look better. Hopefully.

http://www.yarikapple.com/Gallery/Edits/index.html

[Impaler]

Great post, Mr. Chang. Your hunter-creator analogy was especially apt.

Max, these are all very nice photos, but they're kind of like that sketch of a girl there. It's a beautiful sketch, but it's a long ways off from being a fully realized painting. It's the same with these photos. All the elements of a successful photograph are scattered throughout this series: lighting, composition, color, mood, texture. There's just one thing missing that would tie these photos together: artistic intent, meaning, ethical value.

As they stand, these photos don't represent anything higher to me than "a guy ran around his house with his camera set on macro for an hour and a half." Granted, you came up with some nice looking photos, and you could certainly do worse with an hour and a half, but they don't tell me anything about you, the artist. Obviously, these things belong to you, yes? So why did you take the picture of the plastic duck? And the lego pieces? The carpet and wall? You like eggs and ketchup? At best, you could assume this is sort of a non-sequitur collage of your life, an aspect-to-aspect transition of random items that constitute your material collection.

So here's where the part about making a photo comes in. When lunatique described making a photo, he wrote about aesthetic lighting, about not just relying on natural light. That's certainly a big part of it, but it's not everything. Making a photo is about actively selecting the elements of your picture and tying it all together. In a sense, it's about framing, viewpoint, lighting, exposure, focus, but it's also about WHAT you take a picture of, WHAT you're trying to say about it.

You can take pictures of stuff around the house. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Realize though, that photography is much, much different from painting. In painting, your subject can be total fantasy. You can paint dragons and castles and spaceships and whatever else your imagination can come up with. In photography, nothing (.. usually..) exists in a vacuum. Everything you take a picture of exists in real life, with its own connotation and weight. So, if you're going to take pictures of things in your house, realize that the pictures will be a miniature autobiography, your own record of your own life.

So here are a few simple steps that you might consider the next time:

1) Take a step back! Digital cameras can focus very close (4 cm!!), but that doesn't necessarily make a great picture. If you're going to shoot up close, make sure your subject will benefit from the treatment. Flowers? Great! But a radio will still look like a radio from 6 feet away. Show us how your plastic duck fits into the surrounding scenery.

2) Turn your aperture down (if possible). Along with shooting everything up close, new photographers tend to favor a razor-thin depth of field. This is not always good! Why is the ketchup bottle the only thing in focus in your refrigerator? What makes the grip holes on your santoku handle more interesting than the entire knife? Again, if you're going to go for a specific look like shallow depth of field, make sure your subject will benefit from it. How is the viewer supposed to read the rest of the scene when only 10% of it is in focus?

3) Always shoot in spot metering mode. Aim for something that you want to be middle grey, and the camera takes care of the rest. It's hard to misexpose when you're doing this accurately.

And as a more general roadmap for the serious pursuit of photography:

The best and first investment you can make for your camera isn't lighting or a tripod or new filters or lenses. The first 100 bucks (or euros, or whatever) you spend on accessories should be books. You can learn more from one good book than you could in a year of shooting. So, what should you buy? Here are three absolutely essential books for any photographer.

The Complete Guide to Photography, by John Hedgecoe.
60 bucks cheaper than a student textbook and almost as comprehensive (almost...), this book should teach you the in's and out's of the technical side of photography.

The Photo Book, published by Phaidon.
This book is a must-have for anyone interested in photography. Basically a compendium of 500 photographers who have materially advanced the art. It spans the entire history of the medium, covering every style. It features one signature image by the artist, a quick analysis of the image (very helpful!), a small biography, and a listing of similar photographers. This book will help you find your own personal style, teach you about the various movements in photography, and make you appreciate just what makes a great photograph. I cannot understate the importance of owning this book.

A monograph by a photographer you particularly appreciate
Let's say you like fashion photography or portraiture. You would buy Richard Avedon's Portraits. Landscape photography? A book by Ansel Adams or Edward Weston. Street photography? Robert Frank's Americans. Contemporary photography? Andreas Gursky is a must. Owning the work of an artist serves inspiration and information.

A few more small asides (i'm even more long-winded than lunatique );

--A cheap source of lighting? Go to your home improvement store and pick up a set of work lights. It'll only set you back 20 bucks, they're bright, and they come with a stand. The setback is that your lighting will be very contrasty. Use a table lamp (the kind with a bendy arm is best) as your fill light (the light that subtly illuminates the shadowed side of the face). All the poor photo students I know use them.

--After you buy books, save up for a good tripod. Don't bother with anything that costs less than 250 bucks (cheap tripods tend to drop cameras...) The heavier, the better. A good tripod will allow you take full advantage of your camera, meaning that you can use every shutter speed, every aperture speed, in every lighting condition.
_________________
QED, sort of.

[Nilwort]

[Lunatique]

Yarik - Good use of soft lighting. The color noise is really high on these. You should probably set your ISO to as low as possible and then do longer exposures. You'll need a tripod or other ways of keeping the camera very still for that though.

Impaler - now we're getting somewhere! What you posted is similar to the original long-winded version that I took out.

I have another John Hedgecoe book called "The New Manual of Photography," and it's very comprehensive. It's the updated version of his classic, adding digital photography into the lessons. Truth is, there are more good books on photography than bad, so you would rarely be wrong to pick up any recent book on the subject. Make sure you pick one up about photography, not about digital photo manipulation (essentially photoshop/RAW converting books).

I'm not too sure about the amount mentioned for a tripod. I think as long as the camera + heaviest lens in collection is not heavier than what the tripod is listed for, it should be fine for a beginner. It's always best to test the tripod out in person to make sure the legs lock firmly, don't bend easily, the feet don't slide easily, all the moving parts are sturdy and not flimsy..etc. Also make sure you know what the options are--from pan & tilt to ball heads to trigger release..etc, so you can try them all and get one you like the most.

I'm tempted to type more photography tips, particularly because I've made a lot of breakthroughs in the last year as I transitioned into doing what I feel are pro quality work for clients. However, you could get all that stuff from books written by more qualified photographers.

[Lunatique]

Yarik - Good use of soft lighting. The color noise is really high on these. You should probably set your ISO to as low as possible and then do longer exposures. You'll need a tripod or other ways of keeping the camera very still for that though.

Impaler - now we're getting somewhere! What you posted is similar to the original long-winded version that I took out.

I have another John Hedgecoe book called "The New Manual of Photography," and it's very comprehensive. It's the updated version of his classic, adding digital photography into the lessons. Truth is, there are more good books on photography than bad, so you would rarely be wrong to pick up any recent book on the subject. Make sure you pick one up about photography, not about digital photo manipulation (essentially photoshop/RAW converting books).

I'm not too sure about the amount mentioned for a tripod. I think as long as the camera + heaviest lens in collection is not heavier than what the tripod is listed for, it should be fine for a beginner. It's always best to test the tripod out in person to make sure the legs lock firmly, don't bend easily, the feet don't slide easily, all the moving parts are sturdy and not flimsy..etc. Also make sure you know what the options are--from pan & tilt to ball heads to trigger release..etc, so you can try them all and get one you like the most.

I'm tempted to type more photography tips, particularly because I've made a lot of breakthroughs in the last year as I transitioned into doing what I feel are pro quality work for clients. However, you could get all that stuff from books written by more qualified photographers.

[Yarik]

Thanks for the tip Lunatique. But my camera is like $100. Cheapest one I could find for the time being. I have a tripod, used that, and I also set ISO to 100. Unfortunatly, I can't change shutter speed, unless I change it to "Action mode" which doesn't help much. Since most of those shots were set to 'Macro mode.'

Sometimes seems like that I can make a clear focus only after trying to refocus the auto adjust like 10 times. Pain in the arse.

I set them to macro mode for the simple reason that I can't manually focus on the object I want to shoot. I have to press it half way and point at the object to get the best focus. A real pain in the arse. I'm waiting to get my hands on a more upscale camera, upwards of $400 with removable flash and lenses and lense filters.

[Yarik]

I wanted to add one more thing,

Lunatique, if you don't mind, please do write up an extensive tutorial. I would be more than happy to host it with images. Make it as big as you need to. Don't skimp on photo size and quality.
Pretty please!!!!

[[Shizo]]

I second that. Even i would be interested in a short, but comprehensive tutorial on photography. Because TUTORIALS RULE!!!

[Lunatique]

Ok, I made a seperate thread for advanced photography tips, as this thread already has a lot of images--didn't want to make life hell for all the dial-up guys. You can see it here:

http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?p=390993#390993

[B0b]

smaller the sensor is the more noise the camera will produce, thats why cheap comact's are cheap

[Max]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for all the input. I've been too busy (because of military) to reply earlier.

Ranath: Thanks mate!

[Shizo]: Thank you! Yes, that's indeed a skech of mine. It's part of a drawing I will use for my portfolio to attend an ID school this year. I'll show some of the stuff in a few weeks/months then you'll see the whole drawing.

B0b: I like your bulb too, very UFO like : ) Thanks buddy.

Gort: Thank you Tom, I am glad you like them!

Insane Lemur: Nice to hear that, thanks!

annisahmad: I have got a Canon Powershot G2, pretty old actually but I like it. Thanks!

Nilwort: Thank you very much for these nice comments. I appreciate it!

Lunatique: I am so glad you took the time to actually give me so much information and critique. I appreciate it especially because it comes from you, a photographer I really admire.
Photography is something I do for fun. I don't plan to make it a profession altough I would like to if I had enough time. As you know I more into drawing and painting. Photography is a way for me to study nature. I am in love with different forms and the way light works. I just like to capture that. However there are many conncetions between painting and photography. I learn alot on both sides and both influence each other. That's the wonderful side effect on all visual mediums. Well, I am, at least not yet, deeply serious about photography but I always love to learn new things. I read everything you said and I will definately try to keep that in mind for my next photosession. Some of the images I took like the ones with the cars or the duck were actually arranged. Not very special like you did with your food images however I took some time to get a nice effect. I'll try to be more of a "creator" for some of my next images.
All your tipps about light are extremely useful. I never thought about trying out these simple tecniques. I will definately experiment with that. Thanks again for sharing all that knowledge Lunatique, I truly appreciate it!!!

Yarik: Thanks! Glad you like them. You got some nice photos too. They are maybe slightly too soft imo. Keep it up!

gLitterbug: Muhahaha...lol nope, don't worry man. These are not my barbies. My sister collects all kinds of puppets and I wanted to bring some "human" life into my series therefore a made this quick shot. However,...what exactly do you have against barbies btw?

Godwin: Thank you!

Ragnarok: Thanks!

Impaler: Wow, thanks a lot for all that information. Your advice is very much appreciated. As I see you think alot about the "philosophical" background of photography. I have to admit that I really didn't thought about that when I made these images. As you said, they are random and just made out of esthetic reasons. Actually I think it's very hard to make a series of photos with a, let's say, deeper meaning behind them that conncets them. It's really interesting. It sounds as if you would talk about the soul of photography which goes beyong lightning and form. It will definately take me some time to understand that and actauly use it for my photography. I am not sure if I am even good enough with all the basic elements of photography to make this step...
I'll see if I can get one of these books. I sure I can learn alot of things that I can apply on my painting skills too.
You definately showed me a different way of thinking about photography and how it works. Thanks alot Impaler!

Let's see what I can come up with next time.

[Lunatique]

You're welcome. I always get requests for photography tutorials, but I never really sit down to write a comprehensive one--just some tips here and there scattered in different forums. Maybe one of these days I'll write a more formal one and put it in my website. I'm really impatient with explaining the technical stuff though--so it's awesome when others jump in and spell out all the mathematical stuff. No online tutorial can be a substitute for a good book though, so anyone who's interested in photography should just get a book (for example the ones we recommended)--it'll change everything--from your understanding of your equipment to how you approach taking photos. Even if you're not going to be a serious photographer, but just want to be able to take better photos in your daily life--your girlfriend, wife, children, friends, family, pets, vacation photos, your toy collection..etc--an easy to understand photography book will do wonders. Don't get one of those with lots of mathematical charts and endless text--get one with lots of example photos and easy to understand graphs/diagrams for lighting placement. Those books are a lot easier to digest for beginners than the hardcore technical ones.

[Ragnarok]

I just read the other photography thread and got into this one
Great tips as always, Lunatique and Impaler.

I'm more of a hunter, really. I'm not into professional photography, but sometimes some friends and me go out just to take photos, looking for something interesting.
I have a website were I show some of my best shots (or the ones I like more, maybe not the best). If you have time, maybe you could check it out and give some advise (http://www.naeros.net/Fotografia.htm).
The first set of photos is taken with a Canon EOS 500A, scanned afterwards from the negatives, so they have some grain and darker areas lack detail. I'm thinking about buying a nice digital SLR.
The second set are photos taken with a digital compact camera (Canon Powershot S30).
Not a great equipment, but not bad for an amateur like me.

After reading all this, I'm eager to go out again and take some shots
_________________
"Ever forward, my darling wind." -Master Yuppa
Seigetsu

[Max]

I am glad I got the ball rolling. : )

Nice images Ragnarok!