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Activity - dark_lord

dark_lord

Thank you for looking at my portfolio. I hope you find some images you like.
I read all your comments and look through the gallery, but I may only vote rather than comment.
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A quick view of dark_lord's recent activity.

  • The reality of Christmas by DaveRyder

    Clearly people hav plnty of money despite the cost of living 'crisis'. Or perhaps they don't care (or even don't realise) until the credit card bills appear next month. Or perhaps some are just going there to find a warm space..
    • 29 Dec 2022 11:39PM
  • Castle on the Hill by canam

    Welcome back, and I'm late to this too.

    I have to agree that there aretwo imaes here. My eye is constantly pulled between the castle and the passageway. When that happens it's an indication the composition isn't effective. It's something we all do from time to time and the trick is to spot it when setting up, though sometimes it only becomes apparent when viewing on screen later. Th ery dark area separating the two parts of the scene only adds to that effect.

    However, I think Pamela's mod shows that a satisfactory outcome is possible. That's because the crop has made the castle more prominent, the bright wall on the left edge is reduced and much less of a distraction, and importantly the increase in shadow detail helps to bring the two ineresting parts of the scene together.. The street lamp also then isn't so dominant as the relative brightness of it and the background is less. If the lmp is there it should play a supportng role

    So while it is worth going back and taking two imges, with a little adjustment to position and post processing your original idea does stand up.
    • 14 Dec 2022 11:10AM
  • Couleurs d’automne by Gildas26

    Welcome back from metoo, it's been a long time since you werelast here.

    Moira has added her comment while I've been looking at this.
    I agree the vegetation in theforegound is scruffy and not attractive, and is a distraction from the main scene. Using foreground interest is good, o provide depth. However, I'm guessing that if there is more to include here it will be quite messy so in that situation if you can't adjust position to include omething less distracting or more complementary, such as a wall or gate or animl, thencropping the image is the best option.

    Are you happy with this?
    John makes a good point about this lacking something. The colour balance is cool, it lackssome 'punch' (a small increase in contrast would be welcome) so it's not so eyecatching and the colous would benefit fom greater saturation. Pastel colours are attractive of course, and you may like the rendition here but generally we'd expect more vibrance, especially as the light is good.

    So really, it's a decent record of the scene, and if that's what you wanted then that's ok.
    All photographers will interpre ttheimagein their own way so my mod is just a suggestion

    I reduced the overall brightness so it wasn't so pale and incrased Vibrance as well aa warming the Colour Balance. This made the colours richer. I cropped a lot of foreground to concentrate on the vistaand cropped off the half tree on the left edge. A small brighter spot at the edge is a distraction, so either include it fully or remove it. I then darkened the sky more in order to make good use of the texture of the clouds.
    As I say, my interpretation but hopefully some ideas to consider.
    • 12 Dec 2022 3:30PM
  • Yeah, yeah. by woolybill1

    Open but not inviting.
    • 11 Dec 2022 6:30PM
  • Earthstar by cats_123

    I've never seen one of these, quite fascinating, great find Jeff.
    • 11 Dec 2022 6:26PM
  • Decisions, decisions by saltireblue

    Hope you're getting over that bug.
    Looks like they're hiding the food in the darkness so you don't know what you're getting for your mystery lunch.
    • 10 Dec 2022 12:31PM
  • Ant on a Daisy by BrianSS

    I wouldn't say this is abstract in the truest sense.

    I take abstract to be something extracted from the greaterhole, uch as details that may or may not be immediately recognisable, and may or may not be sharp. Think shadows of stairs on a wall or ICM, one sharp the other not but abstract in their own way.

    I say extracting a detal, and as n illustration we 'abstract' water from an aquifer or write an 'abstract' summarising an academic paper.

    But as ever there are degrees of abstract.
    Then we can consider 'abstract interpretation' which I would put this image as. It's definitely not a record shot. The essentials are there but not the detail so there is an element of abstraction here. It's perfectly valid of course to say that an extreme close up of the daisy centre and partofsome petals is absract, even eith all the fine detail visible.

    That may or may not have helped, this has abstract qualities so I'd be happy enough to include it. Impressionism is also appropriate I think. There's no reason an image is exclusively in one category.
    As for competition, it depends on how narrow or wide the judges cast their net.

    All that said, yes it's an attractive image, no question ther.
    But as you mention the composition, I think this would suit a square crop very well. Single flowers do lend themselves to that.
    • 10 Dec 2022 12:01PM
  • Posted on: When 'Enough' Is Not Very Much At All...

    I think we've all been through the phase of packing too much kit, whether for a day out or longer trip.
    I soon came to realise that I nust needed to take what was going to be used.
    When I used to walk the fells in the Lakes, a standard zoom of 28-70 mm would suffice.I can't say I missed anything by not having anything longer even though I like to use longer lenses for some landscapes (your suggestion of just trying an 85 mm is a good one).
    Similarly when dicumenting work projects on Skokholm, while an extra lens may have crept in, a 16-35 lens catered for pretty much all occasions, but I also took a 500 mm because of the wildlife. Not exactly travelling light but certainly with a minimal amount of gear.
    • 30 Aug 2022 8:35PM
  • Posted on: Improve Your Black & White Landscapes Instantly By Following 1 Simple Rule

    It's not so much 'rules' as good practice for an effective result.
    Let's see some of your images Steve.
    • 5 Jan 2020 11:21AM
  • Posted on: AFP Chief Photographer Among Those Killed In Double Afghanistan Blasts

    Photography at the sharp end.
    People like this put their lives on the line to document conflict and let the world know what's happening.
    Sad day.
    • 30 Apr 2018 7:51PM
  • Posted on: Free ePHOTOzine Plus Membership For 1 Month!

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all on epz Smile
    • 25 Dec 2017 11:32AM
  • Posted on: How To Choose The Right Lens For Creating Blurry Backgrounds

    Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the out of focus areas, not out of focus areas per se.
    Not an easy concept for those in the West or those without an insight into the Japanese.
    • 20 Nov 2017 3:48PM
  • Posted on: Canon EOS 500D


    Quote:the price is hardly competitive


    My thoughts entirely. Checking out the prices of others in the range in the epz shop, the 500D will have to be between £500-600 body only.
    • 25 Mar 2009 12:35PM
  • Posted on: Nikon ramps up DSLR production

    Sandal manufacturers will be upping production too then, but Gillette may suffer a loss of sale Smile
    • 5 Jul 2007 6:24PM
  • Posted on: Guide to Great Photography gains award

    Excellent stuff.
    • 25 Jan 2007 5:21PM
  • Posted on: Nikon speakers announced

    The headline makes it look as if Nikon are branching out into hifi Smile
    • 23 Jan 2007 7:50AM
  • Posted on: digiCover screen protectors

    Of course, you have to rip them off the camera back when you need to replace them Smile
    • 12 Oct 2006 9:01AM
  • Posted on: Jessops buy out 20 new stores in Scotland and Northern Ireland

    This is a sad day for photographers in Scotland. Either PhotFactory were finding it hard and so were glad of the chance to sell, or, more likely, they were doing well so looked a 'good buy' to Jessops who will then ruin it all.
    • 5 Oct 2006 6:53AM
  • Posted on: EOS Discovery demonstrations

    Perhaps londoners are more in need of help to get their Canon's to work properly Smile
    • 13 Jul 2006 6:46AM
  • Posted on: Batteries that recharge in seconds

    Oh, the responses really made me smile!
    The use of carbon nanotubes in a vast array of different technologies is already well underway. There are some really interesting applications. there is a lot of Japanese research too, not to mention other countries, and quite a bit by the battery manufacturers themselves.
    Really, seeing what developments there are in the manufacture of these molecules, they aren't going to go away. Having access to the largest database of scientific and technical information and intellectual property, I can assure you of that!
    • 9 Jun 2006 9:01AM
  • Posted on: Annabel Williams Pure Photography event

    Pretty standard corporate training rates.
    • 18 May 2006 9:54PM
  • Posted on: OpenRAW survey aims to establish a standardised Raw image format for photographers

    An excellent idea, it's really annoying having a multitude of different formats. It would have to be designed so that it can be easily 'upgradable' to take account of any future enhancements yet always be backwards compatible, rather like you can open a text only file in the latest word processing programmes.
    • 3 Feb 2006 12:40PM
  • Posted on: Pentax announces *istDL2

    Competent spec for an introductory camera, but nothing special. This is symptomatic of Pentax and has been for the last 20 years or so, they haven't really come up with anything to challenge the likes of Canon and Nikon.
    • 29 Jan 2006 11:05AM

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  • Posted on maures53's profile

    You do have some amazing images in your portfolio.
    • 10 Mar 2006 12:57PM
  • Posted on Gary_Williams's profile

    Just had a scan through your portfolio, some really nice images there. I see there are some big gaps between posting, but hey, quality rather than quantity eh!
    • 8 Aug 2006 12:10PM
  • Posted on edrhodes's profile

    You've a really stunning landscape portfolio here. I thought I'd comment here rather than individual images. I really enjoyed looking.
    Keith
    • 9 Jan 2007 12:56PM
  • Posted on SueWB's profile

    Yo've got a great portfolio here, some lovely bird images. I can even forgive the fact that the squirrels are grey ones as the images are good lol!
    • 15 Mar 2007 6:20PM

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