A few pictures with my new lens

[sparkie1263]

Here are some pictures with my Tamron 70-300


S 1/500 f/8 iso 400 eV 1.00



S 1/160 f/8 iso 100 (original)


Crop of above



S 1/2000 f/8 iso 400



S1/1000 f/8 iso 400

[DonSchap]

Frank, I'd say you doing great with that copy of the 70-300mm. The images are robustly sharp ... and there is the slight warming color shifting in the image, that I can see.

TAMRONs are notoriously warmer looking lenses, but those last two images seem to be more neutral than usual, in that respect.

Here is a before and after color cast correction for your butterfly:

B4


AFTA

[sparkie1263]

Looks great Don what did you use. I just cropped them. How should I have shot the train tracks? I don't like the way they look. I didn't know what to do so I just snapped off a few.


Don I went and picked up my lens in NY at Adorama. What a place I didn't have time to look because I had to make my sons football game. I have to get back to look around. I think it is 6 floors.

[DonSchap]

Butterflies in my gut:
I used the curves layer ... in Photoshop, using the "white" in the butterfly's wing spots as my whitest white. It's really a simple correction, if you have a "white" area to work with.

Concerning railroad shots:
I did some track shots, back in 2006, seeings that Des Plaines is literally surrounded on all sides by railroad tracks and those "untimely" freight trains. It makes a hell of a wall of steel, when they get going, in two directions.

I'm not sure if you sense what I do when I look at this composition, but note the "balance" in the framing of it. How the rails come in from the sides and not entirely from the bottom. Note how the horizon settles in at mid-frame and the tracks go off to a vanishing point, nearly dead center. The tracks draw you in ... and make you wonder: "Where do they go?"

The METRA rail, which these tracks belong to, services Chicago and all points North, West and Northwest. They love to paint the locomotives with this obnoxious red-striped pattern, so when they give you lemons ... make lemonade, right?

I came up with this grid composition, instead.

[sparkie1263]

Nice images Don How about B&W

[DonSchap]

So Frank ... what do you think of my B&W? Compare them ...



You have to "work" that image ... milk it for its hidden qualities.

[sparkie1263]

I have alot to learn.LOL It look real good. I use all the preset plug-ins.

[DonSchap]

There are ways to correct colors in Photoshop, that allows you to shift the primaries and secondaries independently. It allows you to recover the sky, when you convert to B&W. If you took some of the Photoshop classes, these techniques would be soon revealed and you could have a lot more fun with your photography.

[sparkie1263]

I have seen a few online tutorials I just need to take the time to read.
Thanks
Frank

[DonSchap]

This stuff doesn't just happen overnight ... it does take a little investment of time and experience. I have been at it for many years ... and I am still acquiring and practicing techniques, trying to get it looking right. Half the fun is in the experimental aspects of photography ... because after you get it down, it's just workflow and routine. I feel the real "creativity" still takes place in getting that shot looking as close to perfect as you can, when you trip the shutter.

As you well know, the photographer often struggles with interference, timing and position. Our arsenal of lenses are part of the solution to each challenge, but then again ... making sure you are there, when the "event" takes place is just as critical.

I think of post processing as "tying up loose ends." Minimizing those, at the time of the shot, is the real challenge, then you don't have to work so hard in front of the computer patching things up. Knowing what I want to acheive BEFORE I take the shot is invaluable. If I have to figure it out, afterwards, well ...

things can get ugly, real fast.

Good luck with your new lens, Frank. Most of all, enjoy it.