The Rllmuk Photography Thread

[Loik V credern]

On 02/06/2022 at 23:27, Naysonymous said:

Jubilee gubbins, the soldiers garrisoned at our local barracks marched through town earlier. Quite happy with a few of the photos I got, gonna post a little gallery on Insta but I’m wrestling with how to crop this one. Thoughts? 

 

I'm against cropping so maybe i'm not one to comment but to me the top one is more balanced than the bottom one, i think it's fine as it is,

[Naysonymous]

Yeah. I prefer the wider shot so I went with it. I just like the shit eating grin of the guy at the front was worried it would get lost on a tiny phone screen.  

 

Why are you against cropping btw?   

[Monkeyspill]

I often compose photos with a mind to cropping, especially when I want a different aspect ratio. 
 

I sometimes go back to older photos I’ve taken and crop a bit off. It’s amazing how much difference it can make.

 

Also, I rarely get photos composed as straight as I want so I have to straighten and crop.

[Sidewaysbob]

I've always worked on the principle that the original shot is just the starting point for what you create. Especially with digital, I want as much in the frame as possible and I'll find the picture in lightroom 

[Loik V credern]

5 hours ago, Naysonymous said:

Yeah. I prefer the wider shot so I went with it. I just like the shit eating grin of the guy at the front was worried it would get lost on a tiny phone screen.  

 

Why are you against cropping btw?   

 

I like the consistency of having every photo the same size rather than changing to suit the subject, I get what you mean about not being able to see his grin on a tiny screen though. I want photos to breathe and be honest. 

 

I'm always looking at overall framing first in how shapes cut up the frame so my first reaction to the wide shot is I like his dead straight left leg being chopped off because it provides some dynamism with the other soldiers set back and works because his root foot is visible. So compositionally I like it, when you remove the width he's less of an anchor. I take a lot of shots based on seeing anchors, and if the subject spots me they're confused, if they have a bald head and in profile and there can be some silhouette there's enough strength for everything else to revolve around them. 

 

To me the legs are the interesting things there, how they cut up the road in repetition, one straight the other bent in shadow, the tiny shadows, the darker block patches on the ground which are clearly visible and not messily conflicting with legs which could easily happen, the double yellow lines in the background cutting behind them, all layering to me. 

 

Not perfect framing with the wall because it needs to come down further up his shoulder. I don't like the white part of the building there either, just hanging above them, neutralising the white parts of them from standing out, the silver shine of the sword handle, the shirts, the medals. 

 

I don't know, are others likely to think first that they'd prefer to see him full and not that his left foot is cut off because that's what I like, the dead space being entirely cut graphically by his legs, long horizontal space and him being a long vertical shape. 

 

Most people are just interested in the focus of the image I guess, not shapes or framing. But in a walking shot you've still got to get the right frame of the foot planting haven't you? 

[Monkeyspill]

Speaking of cropping, this is the full frame, but I can’t help thinking it would be a bit better with the pillar on the right cropped out.

 

 

[Sidewaysbob]

Well my OCD head says you need to have a symmetrical image.  So if it was me, I'd crop the left out and frame the hole with the two uprights. 

where you are cutting the leg on the right makes my skin itch  

 

[Monkeyspill]

7 hours ago, Sidewaysbob said:

Well my OCD head says you need to have a symmetrical image.  So if it was me, I'd crop the left out and frame the hole with the two uprights. 

where you are cutting the leg on the right makes my skin itch  

 

I deliberately took it off centre. The lens isn’t wide enough to get both sides in frame. I’ve actually tried cropping the left off but it didn’t work. I can’t be arsed now anyway. The exposure’s a bit much too.

[Monkeyspill]

Portra 800 pic:

phone pic of the same:

 

It’s odd how the film completely misses all that stuff going on in the sky.

 

edit: not that I’d want that - it’s distracting.

[Naysonymous]

Probably as much to do with the exposure as anything.  The phone looks like it's metered for the sky, the detail beneath the pier is less and the windows are almost entirely obscured by reflections.   I much prefer the film shot, though a lot of it is to do with the focal length and aspect ratio too.

[FishyFish]

 

A few photos I took while briefly walking through Manchester Picadilly station a few weeks back. The light was great but I didn't heve enough time to take better advantage of it.

All shot with my Olympus 35 RC film rangefinder on HP5+.

 

 

[Monkeyspill]

50 minutes ago, FishyFish said:

 

A few photos I took while briefly walking through Manchester Picadilly station a few weeks back. The light was great but I didn't heve enough time to take better advantage of it.

All shot with my Olympus 35 RC film rangefinder on HP5+.

 

 

I really like the light coming through the windows on the top shots.

 

Do you home develop black and white?

[FishyFish]

7 minutes ago, Monkeyspill said:

I really like the light coming through the windows on the top shots.

 

Do you home develop black and white?

 

Thanks.

 

Yeah, I develop it at home (colour negative and E6 still go to the lab though). I started doing it when the first lockdown hit and the lab I use temporarily closed for furlough. I was nervous about somehow cocking it up and ruining rolls of film, but it's really easy to do and works out cheaper too (once you've got the equipment).

[Monkeyspill]

1 hour ago, FishyFish said:

 

Thanks.

 

Yeah, I develop it at home (colour negative and E6 still go to the lab though). I started doing it when the first lockdown hit and the lab I use temporarily closed for furlough. I was nervous about somehow cocking it up and ruining rolls of film, but it's really easy to do and works out cheaper too (once you've got the equipment).

I keep meaning to get round to it. I have actually done it before, but it was years ago at school and then college so I can’t remember much about it.

 

We used HP5 I think (or even HP4).

[FishyFish]

1 hour ago, Monkeyspill said:

I keep meaning to get round to it. I have actually done it before, but it was years ago at school and then college so I can’t remember much about it.

 

We used HP5 I think (or even HP4).

 

Thanks to the internet, it's much easier to figure out nowadays. There are countless guides / videos available.

 

I find the actual process itself a bit of a chore - it probably takes me an hour in total (including getting the film into the tank in the changing bag, getting all the equipment and chemicals ready, developng the film and hanging it to dry, and then washing up all tank and measuring jugs etc.) but there's always a nice sense of satisfaction when I pull the roll of developed negs from the tank.

 

I shot and developed a roll of HP5 (no Plus!) that had expired in 1980 recently and that was very satisfying when I got a bunch of decent images from it.

 

Not too bad for film that's over forty years past it's use by date...

 

 

 

 

[Monkeyspill]

Removing the orange mask is still a bit hit and miss. Sometimes it just comes out alright without any effort. I've got no idea if the colours are accurate to the film though.

 

 

 

 

Skies often come out a bit green but I think that might just be the nature of film.

Edit: edited it. I still think the colour balance looks a bit off.

 

[Hewson]

Hi all - haven't posted in here before but have been an interested lurker for some time. I love seeing your work. I've been getting back into photography recently and trying to improve my landscape work. I'm no expert and I really struggle with composition but was fairly pleased with these after I carved out a rare couple of hours to go out on my own and just focus on taking some pictures last week.

 

[FishyFish]

Yashicamat 124G
Fujifilm Acros

 

 

[FishyFish]

On 23/06/2022 at 21:40, Monkeyspill said:

Removing the orange mask is still a bit hit and miss. Sometimes it just comes out alright without any effort. I've got no idea if the colours are accurate to the film though.

 

 

 

 

Skies often come out a bit green but I think that might just be the nature of film.

Edit: edited it. I still think the colour balance looks a bit off.

 

 

I've come to realise that there's likely no such thing as accurate colours when it comes to scanning film. There are so many variables - even if you get them professionally scanned - that it's probably best just to get something you're happy with. The shot of the pub looks like it might have a hint of magenta, but nothing that I'd be concerned over - some films do lean to magenta a little.

[Monkeyspill]

4 hours ago, FishyFish said:

 

I've come to realise that there's likely no such thing as accurate colours when it comes to scanning film. There are so many variables - even if you get them professionally scanned - that it's probably best just to get something you're happy with. The shot of the pub looks like it might have a hint of magenta, but nothing that I'd be concerned over - some films do lean to magenta a little.

Yeah - I shifted it a bit towards magenta to try to remove what I thought was a green cast in the sky.

[Naysonymous]

Took my camera up to the TCGS live show in Sheffield this weekend, it was fun taking photos of the show in somewhat challenging conditions.  It was dark in there, no natural light whatsoever so I was shooting at very high ISO (6400-12800) and wide open with a 56 f/1.2 and 23 f/1.4.  It hunted for focus a bit but people weren’t moving around much so that wasn’t a huge problem.   There’s a little gallery here. 

[Monkeyspill]

Ha. Taking a photo through blinds pretty much simulates my astigmatism.

 

A few more from the Netherlands:

 

 

 

 

 

[FishyFish]

A few from a vintage rally I went to the other week. I have no interest in vintage vehicles as such, but they make for nice photos.

 

[Monkeyspill]

Portra 800 at night (hand held - I don't have a tripod):

 

 

Long-ish exposures on Ektar. I still don't have a tripod - I just plonked the camera on the side of Kew Bridge. There was definitely some wobble from when lorries went past:

 

8 minutes:

 

 

18 minutes. The light meter actually said 1.5 hours when taking an overall rating for the scene - with reciprocity failure probably several times that. My wife was with me and got a bit fed up waiting:

 

[Naysonymous]

Maybe a bit of heresy here, but emulating Kodak Aerochrome digitally.  Shots taken at Rowley Way in Camden.  I’ve formatted them for Instagram (haven’t actually posted them there yet) hence the white borders.  

[Monkeyspill]

Harrods Furniture Depository at sunrise on Ektar. Apparently, my great uncle worked there. Can't be arsed to straighten it.

 

iPhone pic:

 

[p1nseeker]

Recently came back from a trip to the US, going through my pics slowly. Might put a couple in here as I go 🙂

 

[Hewson]

13 hours ago, p1nseeker said:

Recently came back from a trip to the US, going through my pics slowly. Might put a couple in here as I go 🙂

 

Love the Edward Hopper vibe of that!

[mrben09]

Don't think I've been in here before. However, I used to be massively into photography, but as phones got better, lugging a a DSLR around became less appealing. Anyway, I got back on the wagon recently on a trip to Arizona.

 

Quick question as well. For organising and cataloguing photos with some editing, is Lightroom still the way forward ? How can I get it relatively cheap ?

 

 

[milko]

@mrben09 Lightroom's still the obvious one, but I don't know if there's a particularly cheap way to do it. They have also got complicated splits with 'Classic' version and the cloud-based one. I use Classic but mostly because I have a full creative cloud licence through work anyway.

 

There are alternatives as well! I've not used any myself but I'm sure they must be at least OK by now.