My LE Project "Pic a month"

[roundball]

Scrolling through my rejects is a humbling experience. I take a LOT of really lousy images.

What's worse is going back through my 2013 KEEPER images from when I got started with manual lenses and an NEX-7. I look at some of those images now and cringe that I ever thought they were good enough to keep...have freed up a lot of disk space in the past few months, LOL.

Participating on this forum has been good for me in several ways, one of which is I now cull pretty ruthlessly by asking myself a simple question:
"Would I post this photo on the Forum"?
If not, it goes in the trash.

 

[Ad Dieleman]

"Would I post this photo on the Forum"?
If not, it goes in the trash.

That would be too drastic for me. More than once I go back to older pictures and sometimes I reprocess a few because I see something in them I didn't see before. I throw away a lot but I also keep many more than I post on the forum, show to family members etc.

 

[kevistopheles]

What's worse is going back through my 2013 KEEPER images from when I got started with manual lenses and an NEX-7. I look at some of those images now and cringe that I ever thought they were good enough to keep...have freed up a lot of disk space in the past few months, LOL.

Participating on this forum has been good for me in several ways, one of which is I now cull pretty ruthlessly by asking myself a simple question:
"Would I post this photo on the Forum"?
If not, it goes in the trash.

I gotta sort through my keeper images at some point but I think I'm going to have to have a glass of whiskey on hand.

 

[WoodWorks]

...but I think I'm going to have to have a glass of whiskey on hand.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[LoFi]

i think i like the jittery boat from week one best... it makes me think its coming in from another dimension or something

 

[roundball]

That would be too drastic for me. More than once I go back to older pictures and sometimes I reprocess a few because I see something in them I didn't see before. I throw away a lot but I also keep many more than I post on the forum, show to family members etc.

I understand, and I do keep a few that have some sort of uniqueness or are special / hard to come by...but was really replying in the context of looking back over a lot of my old images...in general, my IQ wasn't there compared to having inched up the learning curve a bit 24 months later.
At the beginning of this year 'davect01' posted a thread asking about 'new year's resolutions' and mine was 'improving IQ' and with the occasional exception mentioned above have become very critical of myself...experimenting with some basic post cleanup, etc.
And nothing emphasizes my need to keep pressure on myself more, than when I spend an hour opening up old 2013-2014 folders, LOL

 

[NickCyprus]

This is the only ok-ish photo from the disappointing excursion last weekend, and only able to kinda "rescue" it after few hours of post processing (I prefer minimal PP and usually don't spend more than 15 minutes on a photo...)

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Not a good day for long exposures... by Nick Corrado, on Flickr

On another note, I've found two very promising spots for long exposure photos and hoping to be able to visit and photograph during my August vacations

 

[WoodWorks]

Vacations? Suddenly I'm not so sympathetic about your disappointment.

But I think that last image rocks!

 

[NickCyprus]

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DSC07241 by Nick Corrado, on Flickr

Also during my scroll today, I found a few more spots to photograph at this place

 

[WoodWorks]

Love the pastel colors in that one, Nick, and the composition.

 

[WestOkid]

Love the pastel colors in that one, Nick, and the composition.

Yep

 

[NickCyprus]

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DSC07252 by Nick Corrado, on Flickr

 

[roundball]

This is the only ok-ish photo from the disappointing excursion last weekend, and only able to kinda "rescue" it after few hours of post processing (I prefer minimal PP and usually don't spend more than 15 minutes on a photo...)

   ---            

Not a good day for long exposures... by Nick Corrado, on Flickr

On another note, I've found two very promising spots for long exposure photos and hoping to be able to visit and photograph during my August vacations

Nice shot as far as I'm concerned.

PS: Is that sort of 'barrier' formation in the distance the one we discussed a couple weeks ago?

 

[NickCyprus]

Nice shot as far as I'm concerned.

PS: Is that sort of 'barrier' formation in the distance the one we discussed a couple weeks ago?

Thanks!

Yes, that's the one

 

[NickCyprus]

This one is from last week and it's NOT from the same place, but instead, from a near city where I spend a 3-day vacation with the family.
The wife gave me a hour permit to do some photography and of course I had to shoot my favorite seascapes

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DSC07308 by Nick Corrado, on Flickr


Also, today I scouted for the other promising place I mentioned earlier in my post and boy am I glad I did!!!
Its an amazing seascape scenery (definitely of the most beautiful places I've seen here and still can't believe there's a place like that only 30 min from where I live) and took a few test photos that I'll post next week

 

[roundball]

".....The wife gave me a hour permit....."

And a very nice, well composed scene there !
If it wasn't for the run of rocks on the left, the ones poking up out of the smooth surface could be mountain peaks poking up through overcast.

 

[NickCyprus]

So, this is my first attempt from the other place mentioned above.

I borrowed a round screw-in ND1000 filter from a friend to try out and the results as far as (retaining) sharpness are much better from my previous cheap Chinese stacked square NDs and there is less color cast too. I still prefer the square type system as its easier to use (adapter ring and holder attached, MF and compose and then just slot in the filter rather than screw in the filter and having to unscrew if needed to recompose etc).

Also, its was a difficult day to shoot cause 1) it was very windy and I was literally standing 1 meter from the shore - had to deal with severe water and sand spray and 2) it was my first time at this place so was rather unfamiliar with it Nevertheless, I like the results and definately going to re-visit to try different compositions!

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Stand alone by Nick Corrado, on Flickr

Looking forward hearing some CC

 

[roundball]

So, this is my first attempt from the other place mentioned above.

Looks good to this neophyte...colors, exposure, and the detail on the scattered rocks (or shells) to the left are an interesting combination with the smooth surface of the water.

What is that large square thing out past the main rocks...shipwreck?

 

[NickCyprus]

Looks good to me...the detail on the scattered rocks (or shells) to the left are an interesting combination with the smooth surface of the water.

What is that large square thing out past the main rocks...shipwreck?

Thanks!

Yeah, that's a shipwreck - I thought it was pretty obvious that's why I didn't mentioned it in my post

 

[roundball]

It just struck me as being so "square" I wasn't sure if it might have been remnants of some old weather station or something