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Please comment when you 'fav' pictures.
1 min read
When I first joined dA, my deviations attracted almost as many comments as favs. As time has gone on, the habit of leaving comments has dropped off considerably. These days I'm lucky to see one comment for twenty favs.
So...
If you do like a picture enough to add it to your favourites, please also leave a comment so I know what you liked about it.
So...
If you do like a picture enough to add it to your favourites, please also leave a comment so I know what you liked about it.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
The problem with favs and collections...
4 min read
Many of my images include an element of nudity. Fortunately dA has a very liberal policy on nudity and sexually themed deviations. The problem arises when one of my artistic and carefully crafted images appears embedded in (for instance) a collection of crude self-shot close-ups of genitalia. Currently that collection and my image within it would be visible to all. I would like to have an element of control over my work being included in a collection I would rather not be associated with.
Here is my suggestion for a way to solve of this problem.
Can we please have a check box on submitting each deviation that, when checked makes the thumbnail visible to anyone when viewed on the artist's own gallery, but in another deviant's favourites or collection, only to the owner of the collection (and the owner of the devaition) can see it?
This 'private thumbnail' function would be to allow artists to control (allow / deny) the appearance of their work in other deviants 'collections' without interfering with the ability of collectors to collect, as the 'private' thumbnail of the fav WOULD be visible in the collection to the deviant who collected it, just not to anyone else. Of course, if the 'private' box is left clear, current normal dA functionality still applies.
For clarity, here is a table of who sees what.
'Public' Thumbnail in a collection.
Visible to - Owner of the collection + Owner of the deviation + Everyone else
'Private' Thumbnail in a collection
Visible to - Owner of the collection + Owner of the deviation
('Collection' in the context above refers to a collection not created by the original owner of the deviation)
What the 'private thumb' feature would do is allow collectors to collect and view their collection in it's entirety, but other deviants would not see the thumbnail of any deviations that have been marked as 'private' by the artist, just a place-holder icon.
An extension of this idea would be to allow your 'Friends' to publicly collect your 'private' deviations, as they are trusted not to put them alongside images you would not want to be associated with.
In that case the visibility matrix would look like this;
'Public' Thumbnail
Visible to - All deviants
'Private' Thumbnail in a gallery or collection of the owning artist, or in a collection created by a 'Friend' of the owning deviant
Visible to - All deviants
'Private' Thumbnail in a collection or a favourites list of a deviant who is not a 'Friend' of the owner.
Visible to - Only the creator of the collection and the owner of the deviation.
I know I'm not the only person to want such a simple element of control.
This 'private thumbnail' function would be to allow artists to control (allow / deny) the appearance of their work in other deviants 'collections' without interfering with the ability of collectors to collect, as the 'private' thumbnail of the fav WOULD be visible in the collection to the deviant who collected it, just not to anyone else. Of course, if the 'private' box is left clear, current normal dA functionality still applies.
For clarity, here is a table of who sees what.
'Public' Thumbnail in a collection.
Visible to - Owner of the collection + Owner of the deviation + Everyone else
'Private' Thumbnail in a collection
Visible to - Owner of the collection + Owner of the deviation
('Collection' in the context above refers to a collection not created by the original owner of the deviation)
What the 'private thumb' feature would do is allow collectors to collect and view their collection in it's entirety, but other deviants would not see the thumbnail of any deviations that have been marked as 'private' by the artist, just a place-holder icon.
An extension of this idea would be to allow your 'Friends' to publicly collect your 'private' deviations, as they are trusted not to put them alongside images you would not want to be associated with.
In that case the visibility matrix would look like this;
'Public' Thumbnail
Visible to - All deviants
'Private' Thumbnail in a gallery or collection of the owning artist, or in a collection created by a 'Friend' of the owning deviant
Visible to - All deviants
'Private' Thumbnail in a collection or a favourites list of a deviant who is not a 'Friend' of the owner.
Visible to - Only the creator of the collection and the owner of the deviation.
I know I'm not the only person to want such a simple element of control.
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Notes to aspiring photographers 4
5 min read
Capturing subjects in motion.
Ten random tips for getting better results with 'action' photography.
1. If your subject is moving and your intention is that the subject is sharp in your picture, putting the camera on a tripod is a bad idea.
2. There are only two ways to capture a moving target; panning/following the subject, and maximising shutter speed. (Using flash is essentially the same as raising the shutter speed.)
3. If you use flash to arrest movement, make sure that the contribution from the flash is significantly greater than ambient light, and don't try to use shutter speed AND flash at the same time or you'll run into synchronisation problems.
4. Blurry can be beautiful, so don't delete 'failures' in camera. They may be buried treasure when you see them full size.
5. When you are panning to freeze a subject, make sure you 'follow through' like a golf stroke, and make sure your stance is comfortable.
6. Panning/tracking at low shutter speeds will give you pictures that have a greater sense of movement, but don't be dismayed if you only end up with a small percentage of usable images. Even professionals don't have a 100% hit rate.
7. Remember that studio strobes can have quite long 'on time' compared with on-camera flash, so you can't always count on them to give you a crisp result with a fast moving subject unless you back them off a bit to maybe as little as 25% of maximum.
8. In addition to (7), studio strobes also recycle more quickly and overheat less often when running at lower power. If you have a model jumping around in a floaty dress you may need to take a LOT of pictures to be sure of a winner.
9. At sports events, always get a few shots at a reasonably fast shutter speed 'in the bank' before you start getting creative with 1/60 and below. You don't want to risk going away completely empty-handed.
10. Shooting movement means that you will almost certainly be shooting either full manual exposure or shutter priority auto.
Finally... A bonus tip: Sports photographers use monopods because 'pro' 500 and 600mm lenses are big and heavy. If you can comfortably hand-hold your lens, then do it. You will have more freedom of movement and will be able to pan/follow much better. Putting a monopod on something like a 200mm f/4 is worse than pointless for sports photography. All it does is restrict movement and get in the way. I hand-hold my 500mm quite often for difficult shots, but it is too heavy to hold for long periods.
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Notes to aspiring photographers 3
3 min read
Ten tips for better composition (not in any particular order of importance).
1. Avoid 'centre fixation', in other words, don't always put the subject (or the area of interest) plumb in the centre of the picture. Familiarise yourself with 'the rule of thirds'.
2. Keep your horizons horizontal. Many beginners (and even some more experienced photographers) seem to have a permanent slight tilt in almost every shot.
3. Don't always shoot from a standing position, and keep in mind that very small changes in camera position can make a big difference to a composition.
4. Turn the camera 90 degrees and shoot one or two 'portrait' frames, even when it is not strictly a 'portrait' shot, and vice versa.
5. Take as much care with the edges of the frame as you do with placing the subject, and always include a little more in the picture than you need to allow for a small crop-down or adjustment of aspect ratio.
6. Don't always try to maximise depth of field and sharpness. Putting a background out of focus or motion-blurred can draw the eye to the subject, even if the subject is small in the frame.
7. Keep it clean and simple. Avoid crowding your image with distracting or irrelevant objects. This is particularly important for stock images.
8. Keep in mind these two questions before you shoot: What does this picture say? What is this a picture of? Seems obvious but it is well worth remembering. If you are finding difficulty in coming up with a name for an image, it is probably because you don't have an answer to one or both of those questions.
9. Balance your composition, and remember that moving subjects need 'empty' space ahead of them.
10. You have to know the rules of composition before you can break them effectively.
1. Avoid 'centre fixation', in other words, don't always put the subject (or the area of interest) plumb in the centre of the picture. Familiarise yourself with 'the rule of thirds'.
2. Keep your horizons horizontal. Many beginners (and even some more experienced photographers) seem to have a permanent slight tilt in almost every shot.
3. Don't always shoot from a standing position, and keep in mind that very small changes in camera position can make a big difference to a composition.
4. Turn the camera 90 degrees and shoot one or two 'portrait' frames, even when it is not strictly a 'portrait' shot, and vice versa.
5. Take as much care with the edges of the frame as you do with placing the subject, and always include a little more in the picture than you need to allow for a small crop-down or adjustment of aspect ratio.
6. Don't always try to maximise depth of field and sharpness. Putting a background out of focus or motion-blurred can draw the eye to the subject, even if the subject is small in the frame.
7. Keep it clean and simple. Avoid crowding your image with distracting or irrelevant objects. This is particularly important for stock images.
8. Keep in mind these two questions before you shoot: What does this picture say? What is this a picture of? Seems obvious but it is well worth remembering. If you are finding difficulty in coming up with a name for an image, it is probably because you don't have an answer to one or both of those questions.
9. Balance your composition, and remember that moving subjects need 'empty' space ahead of them.
10. You have to know the rules of composition before you can break them effectively.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Notes to aspiring photographers 2
4 min read
After such a positive response to my 'tips' in December, here are a few more words to the wise
Dave's top 10 tips for January 2012
1. Some lens hoods can be 'reversed' for storage, but never have them that way when the lens on the camera. Unless of course you are deliberately shooting for low contrast and flare. Don't forget that a properly designed hood will not vignette your image and is valuable in enhancing contrast even when you are not in full sun. A correctly fitted hood also performs a useful function in protecting the front element of the lens.
2. Shoot slightly 'looser' than your intended composition. It will give you more crop-down options.
3. The best Photoshop processing is as little Photoshop as possible, unless photo-manipulating for its own sake.
4. Don't be frightened of using high ASA/ISO ratings in low light. A noisy/grainy image is better than no image at all.
5. When shooting digital or slides, if in doubt, shoot a quarter stop under. Remember, once you blow out your highlights there is no getting them back.
6. Use on-camera daytime fill flash sparingly, or better still, not at all. Shoot back-lit or open shade, it looks more natural.
7. The fish-eye lens is a bit of a one trick pony. Rent one if you need one, and buy yourself a super fast 50mm prime instead. You'll get tons more use out of it.
8. When shooting digital, don't get into the habit of stopping to review every single frame, it breaks the rhythm when shooting in the studio, it can cause you to miss a better shot if you are shooting an event, and in some circumstances it can even be hazardous to your safety.
9. If you are shooting sports, don't go mad with motor-drive on film or continuous shooting on digital. In the first it will waste money and in the second it will cost you the time taken reviewing and managing all those unnecessary extra images. Pick your shot carefully and snipe it at the exact moment, rather than holding the button down and hoping for the best. You can almost guarantee that the perfect moment will be lost between frames.
10. It pays dividends to learn the principles of optics. Get to know the simple mathematics behind those strangely random-looking aperture stop numbers.
Dave's top 10 tips for January 2012
1. Some lens hoods can be 'reversed' for storage, but never have them that way when the lens on the camera. Unless of course you are deliberately shooting for low contrast and flare. Don't forget that a properly designed hood will not vignette your image and is valuable in enhancing contrast even when you are not in full sun. A correctly fitted hood also performs a useful function in protecting the front element of the lens.
2. Shoot slightly 'looser' than your intended composition. It will give you more crop-down options.
3. The best Photoshop processing is as little Photoshop as possible, unless photo-manipulating for its own sake.
4. Don't be frightened of using high ASA/ISO ratings in low light. A noisy/grainy image is better than no image at all.
5. When shooting digital or slides, if in doubt, shoot a quarter stop under. Remember, once you blow out your highlights there is no getting them back.
6. Use on-camera daytime fill flash sparingly, or better still, not at all. Shoot back-lit or open shade, it looks more natural.
7. The fish-eye lens is a bit of a one trick pony. Rent one if you need one, and buy yourself a super fast 50mm prime instead. You'll get tons more use out of it.
8. When shooting digital, don't get into the habit of stopping to review every single frame, it breaks the rhythm when shooting in the studio, it can cause you to miss a better shot if you are shooting an event, and in some circumstances it can even be hazardous to your safety.
9. If you are shooting sports, don't go mad with motor-drive on film or continuous shooting on digital. In the first it will waste money and in the second it will cost you the time taken reviewing and managing all those unnecessary extra images. Pick your shot carefully and snipe it at the exact moment, rather than holding the button down and hoping for the best. You can almost guarantee that the perfect moment will be lost between frames.
10. It pays dividends to learn the principles of optics. Get to know the simple mathematics behind those strangely random-looking aperture stop numbers.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Featured
Please comment when you 'fav' pictures. by DaveAyerstDavies, journal
Please comment when you 'fav' pictures.
When I first joined dA, my deviations attracted almost as many comments as favs. As time has gone on, the habit of leaving comments has dropped off considerably. These days I'm lucky to see one comment for twenty favs.
So...
If you do like a picture enough to add it to your favourites, please also leave a comment so I know what you liked about it.
The problem with favs and collections... by DaveAyerstDavies, journal
The problem with favs and collections...
Many of my images include an element of nudity. Fortunately dA has a very liberal policy on nudity and sexually themed deviations. The problem arises when one of my artistic and carefully crafted images appears embedded in (for instance) a collection of crude self-shot close-ups of genitalia. Currently that collection and my image within it would be visible to all. I would like to have an element of control over my work being included in a collection I would rather not be associated with. I feel so strongly about this issue that, if not resolved, I will have take the only course of action open to me, and remove all my pictures from deviantAR
Notes to aspiring photographers 4 by DaveAyerstDavies, journal
Notes to aspiring photographers 4
Capturing subjects in motion.
Ten random tips for getting better results with 'action' photography.
1. If your subject is moving and your intention is that the subject is sharp in your picture, putting the camera on a tripod is a bad idea.
2. There are only two ways to capture a moving target; panning/following the subject, and maximising shutter speed. (Using flash is essentially the same as raising the shutter speed.)
3. If you use flash to arrest movement, make sure that the contribution from the flash is significantly greater than ambient light, and don't try to use shutter speed AND flash at the same time or you'll run into synchroni
Notes to aspiring photographers 3 by DaveAyerstDavies, journal
Notes to aspiring photographers 3
Ten tips for better composition (not in any particular order of importance).
1. Avoid 'centre fixation', in other words, don't always put the subject (or the area of interest) plumb in the centre of the picture. Familiarise yourself with 'the rule of thirds'.
2. Keep your horizons horizontal. Many beginners (and even some more experienced photographers) seem to have a permanent slight tilt in almost every shot.
3. Don't always shoot from a standing position, and keep in mind that very small changes in camera position can make a big difference to a composition.
4. Turn the camera 90 degrees and shoot one or two 'portrait' frames, even when
Notes to aspiring photographers 2 by DaveAyerstDavies, journal
Notes to aspiring photographers 2
After such a positive response to my 'tips' in December, here are a few more words to the wise
Dave's top 10 tips for January 2012
1. Some lens hoods can be 'reversed' for storage, but never have them that way when the lens on the camera. Unless of course you are deliberately shooting for low contrast and flare. Don't forget that a properly designed hood will not vignette your image and is valuable in enhancing contrast even when you are not in full sun. A correctly fitted hood also performs a useful function in protecting the front element of the lens.
2. Shoot slightly 'looser' than your intended composition. It will give you more crop-d