Experiments

[Nike]

I though it can't hurt to start a thread for my experiments. Experiments with cameras, new lenses, filters, motives, techniques - whatsoever. Finally I have some time at my hand for learning and experimenting.

Yesterday I spotted a wonderful second hand makro lens - an old 105 Nikkor AF Micro that I could afford - and I also found a tripod. - and so I've started experimenting with it... here are a few of the results:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/natureisabstract-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/orchidee2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/_DSC0004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/_DSC0012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/_DSC0017.jpg

[purplerose]

Oooh, nice moods! :)

Nice work on the macros. I think the first one could be sharper, the second one is nice. :) The third one has a nice painterly feel to it. I think the last 2 macros would fare better as an abstract for the challenge though. Just play around some more with the cropping.

The landscape with the lights is really cool.

Reflecting my first thoughts, I really love the mood in the last one, the specks of light really add to an inherent loneliness. I think the highlights in the sky could be pushed a bit brighter to help the contrast. Attaching an edit I did. I also cropped out the little light that was on the left edge.

[Nike]

Thanks for your comment and the suggestions! I'll keep that in mind. I'll definatley play a bit more with the last one, as far as I have my monitor calibrated.

Here are two I took doday... again with the 105 lens.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/natureis-abstract2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/blatt.jpg

[purplerose]

Nice ones, keep at it! :)

[Jason Manley]

yep...some nice shots.

I wonder if there is a way to get a few shapes of fill light to show up in your dark dark shapes of the night scenes. Another option that might be interesting to try is amplifying the flat shapes to focus on the graphic quality of the composition. Right now they are sort of inbetween those qualities, compositionally. Is that on purpose? However..I did enjoy the pics a lot. Thanks for showing.

Jason

[Nike]

purplerose: thanks, still a lot to work on though :)

Jason - thanks a lot for your input and suggestions. I'll both options. Was this on purpose - well, I've tried to shoot it the way I saw this that night - to get the same impression - I actually made a couple of different shots here. But as so often, I didn't really think about it, but worked it out with intuition, which isn't always the best way to go. I'll try to work out both your suggestions soon :)
Thanks for showing.
Thank you for providing us this great places for sharing and learning :)


I have tried something different today. I have tons of old raws on my disk that I haven't even looked at since I've downloaded them, because I've been lacking the time. I've started to dig out my Turkey fotos from last summer.
Some of them, I thought, might work better in b/w - and since I've never spent much time with b/w convertion in capture.nx, I thought that might be a good exercise.

innocent preparations for games wih guns
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0423.jpg

2 am
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0361.jpg

oh, well, this one. This man came by the museum I was working with his horse every day, screaming Merhaba or Salam aleikum. I'm working at this place for three summers now, and he was always there. Most time I've only heard him and his horse from the inside. Only once I've got a chance for a quick foto, but I was in a hurry, so this was more like a snapshot. I tried to make an a bit at least more decent picture out of that to keep him visually in my memory, who knows if he'll still be there next summer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0205.jpg

Fortress of communication - the three towers
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0470.jpg

And to add some contrast - another macro I did yesterday.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/_DSC0009.jpg

[Gentile]

I really like the one of the guy on his horse.
Looks like he's looking straight at you :]

[Nike]

He did, he was actually quite fond of the idea that I was taking a photo of him. I hope I'll see him again this summer. He's quite an original.

I've been to the local zoo last Friday because I wanted to try animal photography again...
didn't have much time to look through my photos this weekend, but here are a few of the results. I've cropped the duck shots a bit,but I'm not sure if I like the crops.Might ork on these two next week.

Tristan
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/tristan.jpg

this was a challenge - they came out to play in the water in the evening - and they are soo quick! Funny fellows, though. They're so curious. They are obviously used to cameras, but they were quite intrigued by my sketchbook.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/otter.jpg

and a duck, enjoying the water

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/_DSC0057a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/_DSC0059a.jpg

[purplerose]

"Fortress of communication - the three towers" is a brilliant and graphic photo. :)

Nice work with the animals too.

[Nike]

thanks a lot, purplerose!

Today I've tried to work on the nightshots again - having yours and Jason's suggestions in mind.
Above they were straight out of cam (cause I couldn't wait)...
that's what they look now after some capture.nx "developement... Actually I didn't do all that much. Color contrast, a little sharpening, a little noise removal.

I've come to this now - I'm not sure - too "polished"?
#a
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/_DSC0014a.jpg

and tried both amplifying the dark areas and the idea with more fill light (for that version though (#c), I took another photograph with longer exposion.

#b - looks a bit too artificial, maybe? I've looked at it for too long now, don't really like it anymore.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/_DSC0017b.jpg

#c
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/_DSC0016a.jpg

[Nike]

some new from today, all animals again (captive)

bearded vulture. They bath in orange mud that contains ironoxyd to dye their feathers. It's not yet known why. Anyways, I love these birds. They're so huge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/bartgeier.jpg

common mergaser catchig a fish
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/commonmergaser2a.jpg

... and... after 15 minutes fight with many escapes...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/commonmergaser3a.jpg

his female partner was diving a lot, too.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/commonmergasera.jpg

a fresh water blenny.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/freshwaterblenny.jpg

little bittern tipping it's piece of fish into the water before eating it
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/littlebittern.jpg

and a bear, playing with water.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/baer2a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/baer1a.jpg

[purplerose]

#a is a great revisit to the photo. :)

I like the picture of the Blenny, I think a little more work with contrast and maybe B/W would make it really great.

[darkchild]

Your macros are amazing! I want to do more of those type of photography but I don't have any add on macro lens yet.

[Gentile]

Nike you take REALLY good animal pictures. I'm quite jealous. :]

[Nike]

purplerose - I'm glad you like it, I'm more satisfied with this one now, too. Thanks again for your input - it's really appreciated!
And you're right about the contrast in the blenny - I'll revisit that again, soon.

darkchild - thanks! I didn't have a makro les for a long time, too - actually I had very few lenses. I've discovered the second hand market for me now, sometimes there are pretty nice things to get for a very moderate price.
I enjoy the makro experiments more than I though I would - I'm a bit blemished, because I had to take thousands of makro photos of sherds, sherds, and sherds for my work - but with all this freedom to experiment I've really come to like it.

Gentile - thanks a lot :) I like animals and I like to take pictures of them. I'm still practicing, though. I've had some troubles with animal photography before I had a SLR camera, because my bridge cam was way too slow. The DSLR helped me a lot to improve with animal photography, because it reacts so much quicker.

Here's a small update. I've been on holidays for the last few days and had time to go outside a lot. I've only converted very few pics from there yet - the one for the photochallenge and these two - I took too many and now I don't know where to start.

#1 - I liked the dark athmosphere that evening and the odd color of the sky.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/abendlicht.jpg

#2 - sky on fire
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/skyonfire.jpg

and here are some from today - experiments with pol-filter and narrow apertures.

#3a
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Osttirol1678.jpg

#3b
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Osttirol1678a.jpg

#4
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Osttirol1688.jpg

#5
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Osttirol1689a.jpg

[Nike]

Well, now I know where that lack of contrast and that pale colors in my web-jpges comes from.
Silly me, I've always forgotten to convert them to sRGB before saving for web.
I hope that'll work better now.

Another update:

when you start to see yourself double...
self portrait (reflection in a window)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Osttirol0567.jpg

ice
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/ice.jpg

frozen
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/icebranches.jpg

I was asked to take a foto of my blue neon fish, par. simulans, for an aquarium fish database:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/paracheirodon_simulans.jpg

a more creative attempt (I know, the background needs some more love)-
movement
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/movement.jpg

[darkchild]

Wow, thats some nice fish. I like that "Sky on Fire" photo. I wish the reds were a bit richer. I still love it!

[WoodstocK]

Hey, very nice photos here...
love the B/W snow landscape... wish we have some snow here too :( but what the heck can´t complain that much.. hehe

nice work :)

[Mr. Mu]

your #c version of the night shot mountain ridge is a great remix!

#5 mountain landscape has a great Ansel-Adamsy feel about it.

I really like the pic with the duck half under water and that last fish shot ("movement").

Out of curiosity: Are the mountain shots from the Alps? They looks so... un-bavarian somehow.

[purplerose]

I really like #1 and #5 from the mountain update. They both could use some play with levels to get the contrast on the snow just right though.

I love the first blue neon fish one. :) The second one would make a great abstract with the right crop. :)

[Nike]

Darkchild - thanks! And yes... as all the others until the post with the fish fotos I forgot to convert it into the right color profile - that's why the colors get paler and the contrast lower.

Woodstock - thanks! And snow is fun sometimes, but cold winters can be a pain, too :)

Mu - thanks a lot for your comments! The mountains are in Austria and Northern Italy (Südtirol). The night shot close to Innsbruck, the one above sky on fire is Osttirol (Hohe Tauern), and the last ones from the very North of Italy - it's actually 15 minutes drive from Innsbruck.

purplerose - thanks, and you're right about the contrasts. They look different in Capture.nx - I will convert all these photos into sRGB and upload them again... slowly - I'll start tomorrow.

Not much to offer today -
my 1st attempt for the still life challenge:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/hardware.jpg

And another fish foto
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/coryhabrosus.jpg
These critters are very little, 1,2 cm long (the neon fish are about 2,5-3 cm), iuvenile Corydoras habrosus. Funny, very social fish :)

[kawaiku]

Good pictures there. My fav is the bearded vulture. That's a great shot. And the old man on the horse and the fortress of communications are also very nice.

[purplerose]

Lovin the fish photo. :)

[Mr. Mu]

hey,

and the last ones from the very North of Italy - it's actually 15 minutes drive from Innsbruck.

that is actually quite stunning. Must be nice to be able to travel between the two countries...

About your still life:
I very much like the choice of subject matter. It looks both like a commercial shot and tells a story of what you can do with this stuff (shoes are very talkative like that, in my opinion).
It is too dark, though. I have trouble keeping the background and the dark parts of the gear and shoes apart and it's kinda tiring to the eyes.

As my monitor is not properly hardware calibrated, however, it might be that it's just on my part.

[carolupus]

wow, i really like the bearded vulture pic! it would be perfect if you couldn't see the net of the cage in the background... ;)

I also love the 'polished' pic of the rangger köpfl (it is that mountain, right? I used to go skiing there). I really miss the mountains...

and how do you get such good shots of your fish? I'm really having a hard time with these, cause they're so fast!

[Nike]

kawaiku - thanks! :)

rose - thanks! I've converted the 2 b/w snowmountain photos again and also converted them into sRGB this time. I think the contrast is a bit better than before now? I've also played with some other shots I've shown here before (results below).

Mu - well, the travel between 2 countries feeling is not that evident, however, because there isn't that much of a cultural difference between the very North of Italy (Südtirol) and Nordtirol :)
And thank you very much for the crit on my still life. I thinkyou are right, it is to dark. I've "remixed" it, not sure if it's not too light now?

carolupus - thanks! And yes, heh, the cage in the background kind of destroys that wow - stones and grass and vulture feeling. I've concidered blurring the background, but concluded that would be cheeting. I'd give a lot to see a bearded vulture in wildlife context. They're such awesome birds. Some live in the Hohe Tauern National Park, but I've never seen one, unfortunatley. Regarding the fish photos, I've answered in your thread :)

so, here are the remixes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/blennymorecontrast.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/blennybw.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Osttirol0065a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/hardware2.jpg

and here's some new stuff: I got some shrimps for my fishtank! They're very small (fortunatley, because when I look at the macros I wouldn't like the to be bigger :D)

shrimp #1
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/garnele2.jpg

shrimp #2 - not sure if I like it - not too good framing with the cut-off end, but I think I like the colors.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/garnele.jpg

Now you know every species living in my tank, besides the bigger catfish - they hate DSLRs. They smell it when the lens is focussing them and disappear in a second. I have an old photo of them, though (looking at these they have grown quite a bit in this 2 years). They didn't really mind my bridge cam:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/l134a.jpg
Well, the aqua experiment is closed for now, I'll move on to new things with my next post :)

[purplerose]

I like the Blenny update. :) The mountain one feels like it could still use a highlight push.

I really like the composition and use of negative space in the second shrimp photo. Would play around with contrast on it though.

[WoodstocK]

i agree with purplerose bout the montain one...
huhuhuhu... funny little shrimp!!
:)

[darkchild]

That shrimp photo is very nice!!! Shrimp #1 is my favorite. I love that rich green underneath the transparency of the creature.

[Nike]

purplerose - thank you a lot for the crits! I'm not happy with that mountain shot, either, and you're right about the highlights not being satisfying... but I think I'll put that aside for a while. When I push the highlights more, I either get a daylight-eeling or the noise is getting awful. Here's my last attempt:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Osttirol0065b.jpg

The second shrip photo - I'm trying to reshoot this one. The cut off end is bugging me, and they look much less pale now. I think they feel more comfortable now than on the first day in their new home. :)

woodstock - thanks for your comment! Yes, these are funny little creatures... when they move, they remind me of spaceships ;)

darkchild - thanks! I like the green of that moss a lot, too. I hope I'll be able to make more interesting shrimp photos, though, with more action and/or interacting. :)


little update:

little princess in the wind (experiment with wide - open aperture)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/littleprincess.jpg

wild flowe meadow (this is an experiment. wind wind wind and high aperture and shaking the cam. Mum said not to delete it ;))
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/windflowers.jpg

a gaze in the crystal ball
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/agazeinthecrytalball.jpg

Looking at the evening clouds, the old woman said, tomorrow it's going to snow (and of course, she was right.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/0616.jpg

Innsbruck - old town and the brand new train, when the weather was still nice.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/ibk1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/hungerburg.jpg

[darkchild]

The "crystal ball" and mountains are very interesting to me. I've always been a huge sucker for mountain range photos. Love where the mountains meet with the clouds in the horizon. I like the direction of the "crystal ball" photo, kind of makes me wonder what those blurred dark spots are in the background. Very nice work as always!

[Ment]

I like your macro's, especially your Blenny, it looks so cute :)
The colors in the neon fish are great, I really like it.

The crystal ball photo, has a good atmosphere, I'm wondering, what are those black stripes in the air?

Placing the two Innsbruck photo's next to each other makes them almost blend in each other, very cool. I wonder how the train in color next to the other photo looks like.

[purplerose]

Play around more with the image your mom told you not to delete by cropping certain areas or making a collage, diptych or triptych out of it. I think it could really shine. :)

[Nike]

darkchild - thanks! The blurred dark spots are branches in the background. The crystal ball is one of those things people put into their gardens, this one is placed in the middle of a bush actually :)

Ment - thanks for your comment! the dark spots in the crystal ball photo are branches (see my answer to darkchild :) ). I wish the blenny was mine, but I took that photo in the local zoo, in which they only have animals that are or have been living in the alps. They're amazing fish, though :) And thanks for the suggestion for the Innsbruck photos - I might try that - placing both of them in color next to each other. Not sure if it works, cause they're so different from each other.

purplerose - thanks a lot for your suggestion wih that photo. A triptych or something like that sounds ike a great idea - I'll definatley going to try that.

I'm sick today, so I continued looking through the pile of untouched raws from last summer.

Here are a few from Greece:

#1
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/gr1.jpg

#2
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/gr2.jpg

#3: kids with guns (plastic guns, of course, but that pic still gives me a strange feeling.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/kidswithgunsa.jpg

and a few from Turkey:

#4:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0236a.jpg

#5a: prayer
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/prayera.jpg

#5b: another crop of the same image. I've taken it in a place of pilgrimage on the Bülbül mountain close to Ephesos, it's a chapel for Maria, who s said to have stayed there during her stay in Ephesos and drank of the healing water of the fountain there. Both Christians and Muslims visit the site. It's usually full of tourists.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/prayerb.jpg

#6: close to the chapel there's also a "wall of wishes", where people place all kind of wishes they write on tissues. Sometimes other small objects like baby clothes, too:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0180a.jpg

#7: this is a detail - these people obviously prayed or a healthy child
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0182a.jpg

Next time I hope I'll be able to show some portraits - I'm just awaiting the ok of my "victims". :)

[Nike]

Time for an update again :)

First, let me show off my cat :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/katzi2-1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/katzi1.jpg

and then, a few attempts with portraits...

Max
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/max1_bw.jpg

and, inspired by Phil Holland, a few experiments with light. Actually, I trashed a lot of pictures from this shoot yesterday, here are some of the more interesting (?) results, I really need to spend more time for experiments like that :)

a
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/1021a.jpg

b
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/1027c-1.jpg

c
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/1001a.jpg

[Crimson Dark]

some awsome photos.
I personally like max and B the most very nice light play.

looking forward to seeing more

[darkchild]

I was wondering when an update would come:)

I like the cat photos very much. But the Max photo is excellent. Nice blurring of the background. Very nice experiments as well. I would be interested in seeing more experimentations of this kind. Keep them coming!

[carolupus]

very cute cat! she looks a bit introverted, a bit like a lynx (one of my favourite animals).

from the portraits I like c best, your skin looks so fresh and clean and the shiny eye and the smile... good lighting and a natural posing talent :)

[purplerose]

The cat photos are really great.

I think the one with Max could use a bit more work on the contrast though.

[Nike]

Crimson Dark - Thanks for taking a look! Glad you liked some of them!

darkchild - thanks for your visit and your nice words again :) I made more experiments, I think I need some stronger light and more space in my room. Maybe next time I'll try with a doll or something - self portraits are good exercise but I don't really enjoy to show them :S (exspecially the lighter ones)

carolupus - thank you! y cat is introverted indeed, in fact, she's pretty wild. Her hobbies are sleeping, eating, scratching and biting :) About 5 minutes a day she's friendly. I love her :) And I like lynxes a lot, too. Thanks for your nice comment on the sp, too - well, it was one out of 60 and very friendly light.

Purplerose - Thank you! I tried to increase the contrast on Max a bit, but it made his clothes melt together a bit too much - you're right, though :)

Here's a spring update - today was very warm and beautiful in the garden, so I took a few pictures with my macro lens there.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/schwebfliege1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/bluemchen-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/ribiselbluete.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/schwebfliege2.jpg

and more experiments with artificial light... (bad collage, I'm sorry):

...I looked into my mirror and met a monster, a monster that pretended to be me...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/monster.jpg

[Ment]

Nice macro's you got there, I really like the first one where he looks almost straight into the camera.
Your last one is succeeded as experiment, though the background is a little disracting.

[darkchild]

I hear you about the self portraits. I have some real troubles with setting them up.

Very nice macros. I want to get into that myself. But I don't have the lens for it yet. What lens are you using and how far away are you standing from you subject? I love the very first macro of the last post, my only crit is that it could be slightly brighter. The second macro of the purple flower has some very nice blurring in the background:)

[purplerose]

First two are nice. :)

[Athma]

Hi, Nike! Nice thread! I like your post №40 a lot! That pics are very limpid and fresh, good work! I like your mountain photos as well. They`re make me think about long travels=) Keep sharing and thanx for visit my thread!

[Nike]

Ment - thank you for your comment! You're right - the background is much too chaotic - actually, I'm not too fond of the whole experiment :)

darkchild - thanks for your visit and your crit! :) - I think you're right with the second one being a bit too dark - the eye melts a bit too much into the background, I think.
I'm using the Nikkor 105 AF-S 1:2,8 Micro lens - a very good lens, I was very lucky to find that second hand and rather cheap. 105mm is quite nice to play with. I use it as a tele, too. It's my best lens, I think. The distance - good question - 10-20 cm? I don't think I was closer, otherwise the insect would have left for good :)

purplerose - thank you :)

Athma - thanks for your visit and for your nice words :)

Update:

I didn't intend to take any photos today, but when I went outside in the evening, it just had stopped raining and the sky was crystal clear. Nice, I thought, and grabbed my cam.

landscapes 01

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/40489155.jpg

I looked into the other directions and the light seemed very nice, so I decided to make a little walk. It started to rain, but the light got so beautiful that I didn't want to return so early :)

landscapes 02
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/c74a5c02.jpg

landscapes 03
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/cbdc2539.jpg

landscapes 04
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/401f0271.jpg

landscapes 05
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/2825c027.jpg

landscapes 06
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/8bf97f0d.jpg

landscapes 07
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/5dd086e4.jpg

All of these were shot with the 105mm lens - it rained too much to change the llens.

[scientuslatens]

I really like landscape 03. Maybe if you could crop that tiny sliver of dark at the bottom and then work with the contrast a little more. I think this would help this one out a little. :)

[daedicurus]

i love the feelings in your new landscapes, the colour of the clouds have that sleepy town feel to them.

[Nike]

scientuslatens - thanks a lot for your suggestion! - I will try to do that soon :)

daedicurus - thank you for the visit! Glad you like these - I like the atmosphere in these, too - was a very beautiful light situation - sun and rain gave a very soft feel to everything.

Went hiking today - In contrast to yesterday, the light was rather "hard" today. I'm a bit unhappy, because my left knee started a rebellion after having walked all the way down again :( Other than that, it was beautiful to be outside again.

It was only a little bit windy, but the chamoix were very shy today - I only got a few shot from far distance.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/5d8e4340.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/b7a44c5c.jpg

looking downwards you can see why it's not wise to walk into the gorges in spring ;)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/89e31fce.jpg

and a look down to Innsbruck
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/744edb33.jpg

[purplerose]

I'm sorry Nike..... I simply LOVE everything in your landscape update! :) Really nice tones and great compositions in all of them. "landscapes 07" could probably use a little boost in contrast. Great work dealing with those harsh conditions.

Last on in the most recent update is really nice. :)

[Ment]

Your first photo lacks sharpness, to capture a mountain and it's structure you need very sharp photo's, like nr. 2 with the tree. Adding some contrast would also be advisable.
I like nr. 2, great capture of the structure :)
The last one is a nice overview, just a little dark down, the trees are too dark.

[carolupus]

mmh, I really like landscapes 01, 04 and 05 - mountains! how I miss them...

I also like the tree stumps in your last post. I've always been a fan of dead trees somehow :)

[darkchild]

Beautful landscapes! Love 03 and 06. The DOF is incredible. Nice capture with the rainbow as well. Keep them coming!

[Nike]

purplerose - thanks! :)

Ment - thanks for your crits! You're right, the first absolutely lacks sharpness - I used a very small detail out of a picture here - and that's not a good idea :) Regarding the trees in the last - that's because of the pol-filter - I might try to do something like a HDR to help it, without the filter the sky would have become too pale...

carolupus - thank you! I understand you missing the mountains - happened to me, too, when I was living in Athens for a couple of months. :)

darkchild - thanks for visiting again and the kind words! :)

Here's a tiny update. I realise I become more and more lazy uploading work.


fairy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/ace44a62.jpg

white flower
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/79c1b418.jpg

forget-me-not
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/b28e1440.jpg

[Ment]

Great flowers and great colors :) In the second photo the dof is to narrow, try to get the whole flower sharp next time.

[purplerose]

nice update. :) I actually like the DOF in the second one, it makes the photo very soothing to look at.

I like the forget-me-nots as well, but I'm not sure if they are perfect matches for a diptych setup. The right side would be great as a standalone photo, but the left side isn't long enough to compliment the other one. Maybe give it a square crop and add another squarely cropped photo under it?

[Nike]

Ment: thank you for your comment! I actually shot the same with a more narrow aperture, too, but I didn't like that one so much - it lost the softness and I looked a bit too flat to me - but I can see your point :)

purplerose - thanks a lot for that crit and suggestion! I felt that this (my first diptych attempt) was somehow imbalanced, but I wasn't sure what it was - I'll try to redo it!

Another small update today, I was spending some time in the mountains again (the weather is just too beautiful to stay inside). :)

wastelands
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/sonnbergalm0061web.jpg

snowmountains 01
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/sonnbergalm0046web.jpg

snowmountains 02
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/sonnbergalm0043web.jpg

a valid path (paths are signed by these little stonehives - that you can find them, also when there's some snow).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/sonnbergalm0021web.jpg

and back home: (you saw these mountains before, but this evening the light made them look a bit like the dolomites).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/sonnbergalm0126web.jpg

[purplerose]

Really nice update.

I love snowmountains 01 & 02. nice contrast and composition.

I think "wastelands" would fit the title more if you really darkened the shadows and mid-tones while brightening the highlights a little.

Love the colors in the last one as well. Feel it could use more play with cropping though. Maybe a square crop?

[Nike]

Thanks a lot for your suggestions, purplerose!!! :)

It's been a while and I have plenty of new stuff, where to start?..

I'll start with the most recent ones.

Some more mountains from last week...

#01 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Erlerspitze10webjpg.jpg


#02 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Erlerspitze18web.jpg

#03 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Erlerspitze27web.jpg

and some from today. I met some friendly horses that were fun to play with :)

#04 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Dreiseenweg08web.jpg

#05 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Dreiseenweg07web2.jpg

#06 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Dreiseenweg20web2.jpg

#07 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Dreiseenweg27web3.jpg

[purplerose]

Really love the sense of depth in the landscapes of this update. Have you tried to do an HDR for any of them?

[Nike]

Thanks, purplerose!
in #01 the foreground is much darker on the original raw, I lightened that up and left the background merely untouched. I'm not sure if I like the result, though. I didn't try a HDR, though.
In general, I personally never really liked the feel of HDRs, and so I've never really experimented with that technique. But I guess I should give it a try to understand that technique better and explore its possibilities.
When I'm climbing, I can't take my tripod with me, it's too large for my rucksack, unfortunatley.


some new ones... been playing with clouds/light a bit...


clouds #01 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Wolken07web.jpg

clouds #02 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Wolken27web.jpg

clouds #03 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Wolken34web.jpg

[Nike]

forest#01 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Valsertal11web.jpg

forest#02 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Valsertal17web.jpg

forest #03 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Valsertal32web.jpg

[purplerose]

Really nice work in the first one. the last one looks great as well.

[MLlanes]

i agree with purplerose.

as for the second. it doesnt really have a subject.

[Nike]

thanks guys!

It's been a while...

#1 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0592bw-web.jpg

#2 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0311bw-web.jpg

#3 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0179-web.jpg

#4 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Milet0277-web.jpg

[incolorinred]

I really like the top picture of the most recent post. It has a really vast, empty feeling to it. Evokes strong feelings.

[Nike]

incolorinred - thank you!

Duh, I haven't posted for quite a while. Been abroad. Came back. Didn't post because of all the spam. The spam of course is still there. But I saw stine's still posting, and I think it's great she does.

I still like to experiment. Exspecially since I have photoshop cs 3, which I'll soon update thanks to the free update it came along with.
These are two photos I took in summer. I converted them to b/w in photoshop using an infrared filter. I always liked that effect with mountain photos when the sky's becoming black. And I also liked the effect on the cat's eye.

[Nike]

another little experiment with converting to b/w and using infrared filters.

This is the original file (not very spectactular, but I wanted one with trees for the infrared adventure):

treesexp. #1 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Kalapodi0054webori.jpg

location: close to Delphi, Greece
ISO 400
105 mm
1/250
f 14

and that's what I did to it:

converting to b/w, using infrared filter...
treesexp. #2 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Kalapodi0054web.jpg

and then going even further and using a soft light filter in combination with the infrared filter.

treesexp. #3 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Kalapodi0054weba.jpg

I don't know. Is that too much in the "final"? I'd love to hear some opinions.

[Nike]

and a few other more recent photos

fall08_1 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Herbst033.jpg

fall08_2 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Herbst112.jpg

fall08_3 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Herbst106.jpg

a rainy winter evening in Delphi, Greece
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Delphi_Panorama1.jpg

[Nike]

here's a small christmas update..

my cat loves the christmas tree. She's not really well unfortunatley, which is why her eye is looking strange, but she loves to sit right under the bowls, that there are between her ears.

christmas #1http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/Weihnachten08_0015.jpg

An attempt to shoot right through a straw star that decorated a window led to this result:

christmas #2 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/christmasphoto.jpg

and some summer memories that I was digging up as I was printing myself a poster of this "Throne of Zeus" (that's another name for the Stephani peak at the Olymp) shot. It's one of my favourite mountain shots this year, and brings up nice memories. I caught it in the first morning light, it was the view from my sleeping place outside the refuge there... What a cold night. Since my sleeping bag was too thin, I didn't miss any spectacular views that night and morning. ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/artofnike/throndeszeus.jpg

[purplerose]

In your tree experiments. I like the 3rd attempt. May want to look into trying to eliminate the noise in the sky though.

"fall08_3" seems like it would be a simple shot, but it has a certain magic to it because of the lighting and DOF.

Love the orange/blue colors in "Throne of Zeus"