Sunsets....

[miketaylor01]

The following are a couple shots I have taken over the past 7 months. Im kinda partial to sunsets and there are some nice ones to be seen in the desert. Just wanted to see what some others thought of them. These were all taken with a sony DSC-T1. Not the most sophisticated camera but capable of taking some great photos. Let me know what you think..

Doha, Qatar Sepia
http://miketaylor01.smugmug.com/photos/8615258-M.jpg


Doha Skyline
http://miketaylor01.smugmug.com/photos/8609702-M.jpg


Apaches Going To Bed
http://miketaylor01.smugmug.com/photos/8647395-M.jpg

This one is my favorite... What do you think about the fact that it is a the just barely out of fucus? I really think it adds to the overall mood of the picture. By the way this was taken at an FOB outside of Tikrit in Iraq.
http://miketaylor01.smugmug.com/photos/8654201-M.jpg

[Andy]

who ever said a n00b could come in a brighten up the place like this? yer s'posed to jump in, ask dumb questions, and post garbage for a while. you are giving n00bs a bad name :lol3

i really like that last one, very very much. impressive for a digicam like the t-1, congrats on it. sunsets are very fun, very challenging scenes to photograph - you've done well here.

thanks for sharing some of the rest of the world with us, i'm certain that these are the first sunsets i've ever seen in iraq. thanks for being there, too.

i have an 18 yr old son who is a pilot. he's actually wants to get into the navy flying progam (did i just say that to an army aviator??) anyhow, i'd love to hear more about what you do, how you do it, and of course, more pics!

[ginger_55]

Very impressive shots, to me, Mike. I like the last one best, too.

I did look at the airplane shots. Considering the subject they are the best I have seen. Then you do have a "rare" opportunity to be up there, rather than down "below".

You are the person in Tikrit. I am interested in that, so I will just watch your posts, see what you have to show me.

Stay safe, you are the only person I know who is there, you are my eyes now.
Keep them safe, please.

ginger

[miketaylor01]

Thanks for all the nice comments. I have been surprised a couple times by the level of detail the T1 gets.. but then again this forum is what has made me jump into the DSRL realm.. I looked at all the pics since ive been here and realized they all sucked and I could do much better like I used to with my minolta x700. Only problem is I didnt bring it with me. So what better time to get back into it and learn the digital ropes.

Now I will be able to show all you cannon Nikon guys what the Sigma Fovean tach is all about. Hope I get some good pic with it. Too bad it takes like 2 weeks to get stuff delievered to us over here. Until then I appreciate you all taking a look at what I have done with the T1....

Mike

[ginger_55]

Mike, I didn't notice before I posted, re the sunset shot, there is a lone man on the left side, isn't there.

Can you bring him out a bit. That could be a contender in The Challenge.

Also, what are those things, the hump like things? I didn't understand.

But I do understand lone men, etc. in a shot like that. There is emotional involvement.

I am not a fan of airplanes, some of these people really know that stuff, I will never be able to comment on the stand point of an airplane, unless it exists besides as an airplane, if that makes sense.

But can you bring that lone man out a bit, or are my eyes playing tricks on me.

ginger

(where is the focus bad, speaking of eyes?)

[miketaylor01]

the man in the left of the last photo is just a soldier riding his bike down the road.. the big hump things in the background are old iraqi hangers that we are using now. I guess its not that eveident in the scaled down version of this picture on here, but when you look closely at the larger image everything seems to be just little out of focus... not horribly, but its there. I think if I tried to sharpen one specific part of the image it would throw the rest of it off.

Also for clarification... do the pictures for the challenges have to be taken during the time period of the challenge. Or can older photos be used also? Could I enter a 35mm photo that I have scanned in and touched up?

Mike

[ginger_55]

No, the idea is that we learn on a topic, so we have to do the things fresh for the Challenge. It is a good idea and usually Andy will, if it is taken for the topic let a few hours slide, but only that. Sorry.

Can't be retroactive, either, like my concert shots can't now be entered for After Dark, darn.
ginger

[miketaylor01]

Thats what i figured... Also figured i needed a stupid question for andy that could have been answered if i had read the challenge rules better :deal ...

[GREAPER]

I really liked the skyline one.

If I were going to find a minor neg comment to make it would be that the horizon on all of your shots seems to be in the middle off the frame. The rule of thirds (made to be broken, but not all the time) Explained here (http://asp.photo.free.fr/Composition/photoProgramCompClass23.shtml) suggest putting it on the line of the top third or the line of the bottom third, but I dont know if following the rule would make these shots better, or worse.

Either way, I like them, and think you for being there for all of us.

Be careful and be safe.

[miketaylor01]

Not sure which of the two I like better now. Was a little bored and decided to mess around with the last photo to see if I could make it a little better. I think I like the cropped version better as it makes the sky stand out more by bringing the sylike below the middle of the shot...

What do you all think?

Cropped
http://miketaylor01.smugmug.com/photos/9105933-M.jpg

Before crop and post work
http://miketaylor01.smugmug.com/photos/8654201-M.jpg

[GREAPER]

Cropped, also whatever that little white spot in the lower right is, I would clone it out. You cant tell what it is and it is a bright spot that draws the eye for no reason.

[Andy]

i like it just fine. i think you have about 2.77 degrees of rotation to fix though. then, it's perfect! congrats again, fine work.

Not sure which of the two I like better now. Was a little bored and decided to mess around with the last photo to see if I could make it a little better. I think I like the cropped version better as it makes the sky stand out more by bringing the sylike below the middle of the shot...

What do you all think?

Cropped
http://miketaylor01.smugmug.com/photos/9105933-S.jpg

Before crop and post work
http://miketaylor01.smugmug.com/photos/8654201-S.jpg

[miketaylor01]

:encore Ok I think this is about is good as I can get this photo with the original pitcure that I had to sart with and the toold I have here. Using Adobe

Elements 2.0...

Hope you all like..
http://miketaylor01.smugmug.com/photos/9136216-M.jpg

[miketaylor01]

Andy... I was just looking back at this thread and realized that I never asked you some questions that came to my mind when I read your post on here the first time. You said your son is a pilot, what does he fly? Also, you said he wanted to get into the Navy flight program, Is he already in a navy ROTC program or something similair already that will give him the opportunity to get into the program at some point? I know it is very selective and dont know all the answers on how to go about doing this, but I have a couple friends who are in the navy and are pilots that might be able to help answer some questions if he is not already on track for this. Let me know if you you or he, or both of you, have any questions about this as I would be very happy to help in any way I can. You can PM me or just answer me in here, whichever you prefer.

Also, did you ever recieve my PM with the directions to the location near West Point that I was telling you about in another thread? Can resend if you didnt.

Mike

[ian408]

Mike, these are some very pretty sunsets!

The hanger shot is especially nice.

Ian