Monday, August 24, 2009

How do I get off this darn post?

14 comments:

brattcat said...

Isn't that what Abe was wondering the other day?

Ken Mac said...

question: do you shoot raw then convert to jpeg? I just began doing that and what an improvement. The clarity of your shots makes me ask the question...

Jacob said...

@ Ken - Nah. I have shot RAW, but it's too darn much trouble! I use a Nikon D300 of a D70, and do the usual stuff in Photoshop that I used to do in the darkroom - some cropping, bumping contrast, a bit of sharpening...dodging and burning (that's the Shadow/Light thingy)...

But, the photos are usually pretty much the way they come out of the camera.

Ken Mac said...

nice! I try to shoot (canon 5dmk2 or canon xs) and then blog with no fixes at all. But my shots are never quite this sharp.

Jacob said...

Well, Ken, I think most photos need some fixing. Almost always need a crop. Some need color adjustments (not so much the D300, though). And it would be hard to find a photo that didn't need a bit of sharpening.

Now, I did all that stuff for years in the darkroom. And much more. The machines to which you took your film to be processed did it automatically. So, I don't understand when people say they think digital photos have to be just as they come out of the camera. They seldom if ever thought that about film photos.

Furthermore, none of what we do captures "reality." It captures what our eye sees of a particular moment in time which may or may not be a valid representation and changes the second we snap the shutter.

I consider photography an art, and thus want my photos to not only express what I think I've seen, but to be as technically perfect as they can be.

cieldequimper said...

After all this technical photography talk, I'm just going to say that this is a beautiful photo. He really does look like he's looking at several options.

Per Stromsjo said...

Now this is one fellow who could easily make a point in any context.

Cezar and Léia said...

Interesting reflections about photo making, I agree with you about the "reality" of pictures...
God bless you!
Cezar

Frank said...

Your pelican hardly looks real. Like one of those carved, perfectly painted wooden statues. He is a beaut!

bfarr said...

I love pelicans. The are so ungainly on land, but so graceful when coasting on the breeze and diving for lunch. thanks for a great shot.

Antjas said...

I find pelicans simply adorable.

amatamari© said...

A pelican beautiful (and even talking!)
Wonderful moment, wonderful capture!

JM said...

Love this one! Fantastic capture!

Mirela said...

Wonderful! The first thing that came to my mind was Nemo after seeing this photo :-D