Morgan's Raid characters

[D Thompson]

I shot these today at the reenactment of Morgan's Raid on Georgetown. These are just a few of the characters that caught my eye. I would really appreciate any comments on these. I'm trying to be a better 'people' photographer. None of these have any post processing, (1 was cropped a little) other than converting from the RAW files and resizing for here. Criticism's welcome. Thanks.

Dennis

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f6.3

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f5.0

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f4.5

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f5.6

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f8.0

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f4.5

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f5.0

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF85 f1.8, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f6.3

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF85 f1.8, ISO 100, 1/640 @ f3.2

[D Thompson]

Had to slip a non-people in :D
Canon 20D, EF85 f1.8, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f10.0

[D Thompson]

I really would appreciate comments, good, bad, or otherwise as that is the only way I can improve. Thanks.

Dennis

[Q B@LL]

I think they look great D :D The first and fourth pic are a little blurry, but overall they are appealing to me. I especially like the guys with the "camera"...that is a camera right?

Were you holding the camera or using a tripod?

[D Thompson]

I think they look great D :D The first and fourth pic are a little blurry, but overall they are appealing to me. I especially like the guys with the "camera"...that is a camera right?

Were you holding the camera or using a tripod?
Thank you Q Ball. Yep that is a camera and he used it there to make the 'old time' photos. All shots were hand held.

Dennis

[Bluedog]

Most are very good D Thompson ... on the out of focus ones a steadier hand or faster shutter might would've done the trick but you knew that already ... ;)

[phistio]

great shots...

they really vividly depict history quite well.

the flag one seems to be my favorite. that and some of the character shots. the side profile of lincoln cold have been sharper...but some times we don't realize how much sharp/in focus a shot like that is or isn't when viewing it through the LCD on the camera. (one of the draw backs of 1.8" screen with 1,000,000 pixels...everything tends to look perfect.)

anyhow, seems like most all of the exposures were correct, and the end result was next-to-perfect balance...unless of course photoshop helped. ;)

[D Thompson]

Most are very good D Thompson ... on the out of focus ones a steadier hand or faster shutter might would've done the trick but you knew that already ... ;)
Thank you for the comment. I shot @ 1/125th but was zoomed @ 300 on the 2 out of focus shots. Momentary lapse of remembering the old zoom/shutter speed rule :(

great shots...

they really vividly depict history quite well.

the flag one seems to be my favorite. that and some of the character shots. the side profile of lincoln cold have been sharper...but some times we don't realize how much sharp/in focus a shot like that is or isn't when viewing it through the LCD on the camera. (one of the draw backs of 1.8" screen with 1,000,000 pixels...evertying tends to look perfect.)

anyhow, seems like most all of the exposures were correct, and the end result was next-to-perfect balance...unless of course photoshop helped.
Today 12:57 AM

Thanks, I took a total of 115 shots of the reenactment. It was amazing. No PS on any of these, only converted from the RAW file and resized to fit the limits here. The first one of the boy was cropped just a little, other than that - nothing.

I've never really felt comfortable shooting people, but figured the only way to learn is to start doing it and your comments will help me. Thanks again to those who have commented and those who hopefully will :)

Dennis

[Wombat]

Great shots D Thompson - much admiration for your photographic skills and for the authenticity of the clothes and whiskers. :)

My favourites are number 2 and 8 - really characterful portraits. If they were mine I would clone the backgrounds to remove a a few distracting "bright spots", for instance the people in the background, above the hat of the gentleman, in Number 8.

regards
Wombat

[D Thompson]

Great shots D Thompson - much admiration for your photographic skills and for the authenticity of the clothes and whiskers. :)

My favourites are number 2 and 8 - really characterful portraits. If they were mine I would clone the backgrounds to remove a a few distracting "bright spots", for instance the people in the background, above the hat of the gentleman, in Number 8.

regards
Wombat
Wombat - thank you very much for your nice compliment. #2 was a character and so was the photographer. Definitely would need some cloning work to remove some of the distractions, but anything I post here I try to not post-process. If I do, I always put what I did on. I'm going to add a couple more and hope you like them as well. Thanks again.

Dennis

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO100, 1/125th @ f5.6.

[D Thompson]

I thought this fellow had a great look. I could only catch a few shots of him as they were passing by on parade after the battle. I would've loved to catch up with him later and taken a few more.

Dennis

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f9

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f7.1

[phistio]

this is a fantastic shot!!! and very dramatic. can i assume you used a sport setting?

the one previous is great in terms of character. again, nice shot.

and the calvary in a line with flgs is a great shot...but one thing threw it off for me...right smack dab in the middle you have a soldier with sunglasses. call it anachronoligically petty, but IMO it ruins the period. but a very nice shot nonetheless! ;)

[D Thompson]

this is a fantastic shot!!! and very dramatic. can i assume you used a sport setting?

the one previous is great in terms of character. again, nice shot.

and the calvary in a line with flgs is a great shot...but one thing threw it off for me...right smack dab in the middle you have a soldier with sunglasses. call it anachronoligically petty, but IMO it ruins the period. but a very nice shot nonetheless! ;)
phistio - thank you very much. Actually I was shooting in tv mode (1/125th) and had switched to AI Servo and focused on the rider in the brown outfit. Most of the participants were very careful of how they looked. Unfortunately a few had sunglasses on! They were just ahead of their time :D and maybe I need to use a little PS magic. Thanks for your nice comments.

Dennis

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ 5.6

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f6.3

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f9.0

[phistio]

this Kentucky Vol's shot is probably my favorite of your series thus far! fine work!!!

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f5.6, USM applied. I have found on some that were @ 300mm a little USM helps. Comments always appreciated.

Dennis

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f5.6, USM applied.

[D Thompson]

I applied a little USM on these 2. Let me know if this helped these 2 that were a little out of focus. Thanks.

Dennis

[TheObiJuan]

Wow Dennis, great job. Putting the 20D to good use, I see. :D

[phistio]

the last few you have posted go really far in terms of creating history...IMO they are some of the best in the series thus far. the two you've "USM'ed" are certainly much crisper now...but the lincoln side profile is still too blurry. (it's unfortunate...cause it's a really great shot!) but the flag boy above it looks awesome! keep up the good work!

[D Thompson]

Wow Dennis, great job. Putting the 20D to good use, I see. :D
Thank you. I'm trying although I don't get to shoot as much as I would really like. :(

the last few you have posted go really far in terms of creating history...IMO they are some of the best in the series thus far. the two you've "USM'ed" are certainly much crisper now...but the lincoln side profile is still too blurry. (it's unfortunate...cause it's a really great shot!) but the flag boy above it looks awesome! keep up the good work!
Thanks for all you nice comments, I appreciate them! I can't seem to get the Lincoln profile the way I would like, but the flag boy did turn out better with the USM applied.

Dennis

[D Thompson]

OK, let's go the other way with the Lincoln profile. Convert to b/w and add some film grain.

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f6.3, Levels adj and USM applied in PS7.

[Bluedog]

I applied a little USM on these 2. Let me know if this helped these 2 that were a little out of focus. Thanks.

Dennis

It did the first one and looks quite nice ... good job!

[D Thompson]

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f5.6. USM & cropped.

[D Thompson]

This will be my last of this series. I appreciate all of your comments, they have all been very kind. Any other suggestions are welcome also. I need to watch when I'm zoomed @ 300mm :o . I hope you have enjoyed these and thanks again.

Dennis

Canon 20D, EF75-300 f4-5.6, ISO 100, 1/125th @ f7.1, USM applied

[phistio]

the sepia tone side proflie of licoln is much better now IMO. good use of creativity here!

[Bald Eagle]

All of these shots have great appeal, aside from minor focusing issues, i would say, you have captured some excellent photos. I also like the side profile in the sepia tones. All the photos show great composition and attention to detail.