(no subject)
Mar. 12th, 2002 04:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sublimatedangelUgh...
I can't exactly say it was a bad day, but it didn't go as well as I would have liked.
Got up early, out the door with plenty of time due to traffic mess my bunny called to let me know about, got to school with plenty of time and was not late to class. Yay me. Read a bit more of the Changeling book because I was early.
Psych teacher did not show up so I had extra time during lunch. Headed to Jay's and had an early lunch and then came back to school with enough time to develop my film before Anthro. Got it loaded up nice and easy, developed it, dried it, everything is going peachy. I am done at about 15 min til my Anthro class so I head to class and review the current chapter.
We got our tests back and I did well... B on the multiple choice, A on the essay. Not alot of comments, but enough to tell me she was very pleased with the paper. Works out to a B+ which is doable, esp with the amount of extra credit work she offers. Had a good class discussion and then headed back to the photo lab to print.
This is where my day becomes less cheerful.
I don't really know why though. I mean, yes, the pictures are not ideal. Alot of shots are completely unusable (for a variety of reasons) and the ones that are usable are not looking very gorgeous. Sigh. I don't know what's wrong with them though. One of the motion shots is slightly blurry in places it's not supposed to be blurry. I used a tripod so I can't say it was camera movement. Another shot of a calla lilly is mostly gorgeous (this one for the depth-of-field assignment), I know the contrast, etc, is great. However, the stamen barely shows up at all in the print. It is more visible in the negative. Another shot looks pretty good but is very grainy looking. Rrrr... I am just frustrated. I was able to do some problem solving (when I knew I needed more contrast, etc.) but on alot of these I just don't know why it's doing what it's doing. Bah - I am disappointed, both with the pictures and with myself. I think I will end up turning in what I have with a list of questions (why they are how they are) and then just shoot another roll of film with plans to resubmit better shots.
Mike just called (he left 3 messages today) and will be over shortly, so that is all for now. Going later to take care of Stasha's kitties, I could use some purring goodness today.
I can't exactly say it was a bad day, but it didn't go as well as I would have liked.
Got up early, out the door with plenty of time due to traffic mess my bunny called to let me know about, got to school with plenty of time and was not late to class. Yay me. Read a bit more of the Changeling book because I was early.
Psych teacher did not show up so I had extra time during lunch. Headed to Jay's and had an early lunch and then came back to school with enough time to develop my film before Anthro. Got it loaded up nice and easy, developed it, dried it, everything is going peachy. I am done at about 15 min til my Anthro class so I head to class and review the current chapter.
We got our tests back and I did well... B on the multiple choice, A on the essay. Not alot of comments, but enough to tell me she was very pleased with the paper. Works out to a B+ which is doable, esp with the amount of extra credit work she offers. Had a good class discussion and then headed back to the photo lab to print.
This is where my day becomes less cheerful.
I don't really know why though. I mean, yes, the pictures are not ideal. Alot of shots are completely unusable (for a variety of reasons) and the ones that are usable are not looking very gorgeous. Sigh. I don't know what's wrong with them though. One of the motion shots is slightly blurry in places it's not supposed to be blurry. I used a tripod so I can't say it was camera movement. Another shot of a calla lilly is mostly gorgeous (this one for the depth-of-field assignment), I know the contrast, etc, is great. However, the stamen barely shows up at all in the print. It is more visible in the negative. Another shot looks pretty good but is very grainy looking. Rrrr... I am just frustrated. I was able to do some problem solving (when I knew I needed more contrast, etc.) but on alot of these I just don't know why it's doing what it's doing. Bah - I am disappointed, both with the pictures and with myself. I think I will end up turning in what I have with a list of questions (why they are how they are) and then just shoot another roll of film with plans to resubmit better shots.
Mike just called (he left 3 messages today) and will be over shortly, so that is all for now. Going later to take care of Stasha's kitties, I could use some purring goodness today.
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no subject
Date: 2002-03-12 07:42 pm (UTC)Basic blurriness problem- could be that the camera wasn't focused completely on what you were thinking you were focusing on. I'm not sure what you mean by "movement" shots... the camera was on a tripod, and you were doing slow-shutter long exposures while a subject was moving? In that case, even sometimes the movement of the shutter clicking shut to take the picture can cause the picture to come out blurry because it jogs the camera just slightly.
Or... and this is what I'm leaning to most (if you've made contact prints, and they look sharp through the lupe) that there's something going on when you're enlarging, possibly. Push-processing or over-enlarging can cause things to look grainy, and there can be a focus problem with the enlarger as well.
With the calla lily stamen... I dunno. Without looking at the picture and the negative, I couldn't tell you. Not that I could tell you even after looking at them, honestly. *grins*
Don't get frustrated or be dissapointed with yourself; the fault could be outside your hands entirely. I mean... I'm still PO'ed at myself for the whole yellow skin fiasco, but now I know better. And hopefully I'll take better pictures in the future.
no subject
Date: 2002-03-13 04:06 pm (UTC)Re: everything else... I was just frustrated, not because they were bad, but because I didn't know *why* they were bad or how to make them better. I will be getting teacher feedback and can hopefully do better on the next roll. I *like* depth of field. Expect to see lots of pictures of flowers and other stuff after I develop the next roll.
Also - I have a really hard time telling from the contact sheet if a shot is blurry, etc. And negatives I just give up on. When I enlarge the negative for a print, I can pretty much tell if the machine's focus is good (I get it out of focus in both directions and then find the 'focus-est' spot) but I can't tell even with it enlarged, if the picture is in focus. Is this something that will come with time, or just something that's always going to be that way?
no subject
Date: 2002-03-13 04:30 pm (UTC)I can't really answer if that's something that will come in time. I guess I was blessed with being able to "see" focus instinctively and don't really have to try one way or the other. You -should- be able to tell under an 8x lupe if a contact print is blurry before you print or put the negative in the enlarger. Maybe it's a skill that can be learned. Dunno.
I really like depth of focus stuff too. I tend to shoot with my fstop wide open and change my shutter speeds accordingly. Of the shots I did of you, I like this one (http://members.aol.com/winterhartprdctn/darkthreads/amy/amy-cute-4.jpg) the best because of the focus on your eyes and the pattern on your shoulder, the rest of your face soft focus and then your hands folded and blurred beneath you. I like especially your wedding ring in the shot. I like that short depth of field allows the ability to focus on one single detail, and yet gives an impression of a whole picture.
It'll be interesting to see what your teacher has to say as far as feedback, esp. on the focus problem. I wish I had more time to take pictures, and following that, I wish I had people to critique my work.
(The shutter may have moved the camera in the "movement" shot, but that's just a guess. I know that my cameras have a pretty hard "click" which seems to make them useless if I want to take long exposures. I just make sure that my tripod is as rock-solid as I can make it, and take several shots. It seems to be pretty random, and sometimes I'll get something worthwhile.)