Love Taking Stills
- Thread starter mmccurdy
- Start date
I go back to my original comment on this post.
An image with poor composition no matter how technically perfect will always be an uninteresting image, it's called a snapshot. The P3 gives an unbelievable opportunity to create new and interesting photographs that express a feeling for a place, not a snapshots that simply records what's in front of the lens wherever it is pointed.
Once you have composition sorted out, then it is time for post processing. Sadly a soft image with chromatic aberration, noise, artefacts, barrel distortion and poor dynamic range are all functions of the lens and sensor. Now a days many of these limitations can be corrected in post processing, but if the data is not there or has been modified, good luck. Try to sell that image to a micro stock agency, or enlarge it to a 2 metre print regardless of composition, your rejection rate will be depressing.
The P3 is capable of producing great raw images. It is so refreshing to be able to have raw images that are capable of being enhanced. Having spent over 12 months trying to "recover" manufacturer's processed images taken from very well known "action" cam where much of the original image information has been changed/deleted, suddenly a whole new world has been opened up.
Guess I won't be happy though until I can host aloft a full frame sensor (like in a real helicopter) and have plenty of time to sit back and contemplate what's in the view finder (a luxury not afforded unless you have a very good sponsor) before clicking the shutter. In the meantime the Phantom and its ilk are opening exciting new possibilities.
Meta4
Premium Pilot
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2014
- Messages
- 15,301
- Reaction score
- 9,243
There's nothing special, pure or correct about "the original still from the camera".
A huge number of untouched original photos don't portray the scene or subject of the photo at all well.
There's nothing misleading about enhancing or tweaking an image to get the best out of it.
You wouldn’t say that Van Gogh's Starry Night or any of Monet's Water Lilies look fake or are doctored images and thinking that way about photographic images is just as wrong.
The comments about images being "doctored" or looking fake say more about the person making those comments than about the image.
Wow! I post a picture and a debate on photography pops up! I feel like I tweaked a nerve in some people or something. To me, photography is art. I love natural photos straight from the camera. I have a ton of them for portraits and even landscapes. But sometimes, a photograph might be missing something that "I saw" when I took the photo. Something that "I felt" when I took the photo. When that happens I will manipulate the photo to make it look like something I felt or feel it represents. This has always taken place since the dawn of photography. Photographers had dark rooms and would "dodge" and "burn" photos and manipulate them to be something other than what they originally took. There is no difference in todays photography than that we simply have more tools at our disposal and we can push around points of light and manipulate the data. I can just hear the old photographers debating this very topic when the manipulated pictures in the dark rooms.
In this photo, the sun was starting to set and the sky and bridge where simply amazing to look at from above. I had never seen this from above. It looked very surreal even from the camera lens so but it was getting very dark with the sun setting and of course I knew that I would be taking this picture from pointing towards the sun which would be bright and make the bridge darker. I decided to do an HDR shot from the camera by taking three pictures at different exposures using the iPad I set up the camera for a bracket shot.
When I got back to the house I combined the three photos together in Lightroom and now I had my HDR shot straight from the camera. It really looked great! I was impressed. One thing you don't know about me is that I love to paint. I love to brush color on to a picture and make it stand out in multiple areas. Photography to me is just like painting. With today's technology I can brush on extra color. I can brush in more light or pull light away from an object. So I began to paint on this picture until I got it the way I felt when I first took the photo. It was a beautiful moment in the sky and the picture I posted represented that moment to me.
To you it might look fake, but if you were with me when I took the photo I think you would agree that it was an awesome and beautiful moment to be flying a quadcopter in the sky at sunset here in Texas. So, say what you will about it being "fake". It is very real to me. I was there and I feel like I captured what I felt at the time.
Sorry you took my original posts wording so serious. I do like the stills that come from my cameras. The P3 is no different. The original picture is very good. Obviously it captured the light that was needed to make this photo. I mean, if it was not in the original photos when I combined them together, I did not add it. I just brought out the colors and details that the P3 camera captured. All of this was done using Lightroom 6.
Mike
In this photo, the sun was starting to set and the sky and bridge where simply amazing to look at from above. I had never seen this from above. It looked very surreal even from the camera lens so but it was getting very dark with the sun setting and of course I knew that I would be taking this picture from pointing towards the sun which would be bright and make the bridge darker. I decided to do an HDR shot from the camera by taking three pictures at different exposures using the iPad I set up the camera for a bracket shot.
When I got back to the house I combined the three photos together in Lightroom and now I had my HDR shot straight from the camera. It really looked great! I was impressed. One thing you don't know about me is that I love to paint. I love to brush color on to a picture and make it stand out in multiple areas. Photography to me is just like painting. With today's technology I can brush on extra color. I can brush in more light or pull light away from an object. So I began to paint on this picture until I got it the way I felt when I first took the photo. It was a beautiful moment in the sky and the picture I posted represented that moment to me.
To you it might look fake, but if you were with me when I took the photo I think you would agree that it was an awesome and beautiful moment to be flying a quadcopter in the sky at sunset here in Texas. So, say what you will about it being "fake". It is very real to me. I was there and I feel like I captured what I felt at the time.
Sorry you took my original posts wording so serious. I do like the stills that come from my cameras. The P3 is no different. The original picture is very good. Obviously it captured the light that was needed to make this photo. I mean, if it was not in the original photos when I combined them together, I did not add it. I just brought out the colors and details that the P3 camera captured. All of this was done using Lightroom 6.
Mike
Don't worry, some people here have their opinions and anything that doesn't exactly fit that is horrible and needs to be bashed. And many can't post without saying something negative, and have no problem posting simply to say something negative. Their mothers never told them if they can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. But, when they hide behind a keyboard these days, they just don't care.
Anyway, I like the photo. I like HDR edits, and a lot of times I like the really "overdone" stuff - my wife does a lot of them that I post here, I'm surprised no one has bitched at me for it, yet. [emoji6] Nice picture. It would definitely look good on a wall.
Anyway, I like the photo. I like HDR edits, and a lot of times I like the really "overdone" stuff - my wife does a lot of them that I post here, I'm surprised no one has bitched at me for it, yet. [emoji6] Nice picture. It would definitely look good on a wall.
Thanks. I have been around the Internet since the early 90's using Archie and the early versions of Mosaic. I know how people behave and never take it personally. They can have an opinion, it is when they try to push it off as if they are the authority on a subject is when I roll my eyes at the lack of maturity.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
Last edited:
It is beautiful composition and the OP can be proud of the results of his work. Why are some so critical to postprocessing? When shooting video we edit a lot, even adding titles and music to it, just to express what we want express. All the lesser footage gets cut to create this perfect roll. How is that different to processing a still?
I would like to see some of the critical posters showing up to a formal black tie event! I am sure the "post process" their attire in front of a mirror until they feel it to be right for the occasion.
The OP preserved a scene they way he saw it at that moment and was able to recreate the feel of it for him. Only an artist can do so.
I would like to see some of the critical posters showing up to a formal black tie event! I am sure the "post process" their attire in front of a mirror until they feel it to be right for the occasion.
The OP preserved a scene they way he saw it at that moment and was able to recreate the feel of it for him. Only an artist can do so.
Nice image either way (native or post processed). I'm finding the P3P works great for stills when you need that special perspective.
I like what the OP did with his image. I use a similar technique quite often. It can take a bland image and make it POP! Good job mmccurdy
Nice!
Looks like we do have a lot in common. Quadcopters, Cameras, Ocean, Sunsets. haha. Thanks for the photo. Very nice.I can't wait to cause people to debate my photos. HDR!! didn't realize the P3P was a stable enough platform to take photos for use in HDR photos. BONUS!Nice!
You can do faux HDR by changing the exposure to create 3 or more different exposures from a single still photo. Ideally this is done on a tripod and not as well done from an aerial system unless it it highly stabilized. That being said I get results that I am pleased with (1 exposure then converted to 3 exposures) from my airborne cameras.
The P3 can do 3 and 5 shot AEB's. The only go 1.4 each way for the 5 shot, but the results can be good. If I am doing one, I usually let it sit in place for 20-40 seconds to settle down (stop drifting), and then snap. Much easier with longer distance, wide area shots as the ghosting isn't as tough to edit out.
Last edited:
I do that on occasion with my Nikon shooting in RAW. You have some neat pictures, thanks for sharing.
I wish I could carry my nikon up there! Although I can not afford to replace it should something bad happen.
I carry the Manfrotto backpack with the P3, and my wife carries the same backpack with her Canon gear in it. Her backpack contents cost waaaaaay more than mine. Haha
