wud
Senior Member
But wow! That shot is amazing - your second are too, but it's more clear what we are looking at, in this one.
Never seen solar panels like this. Thanks for showing us!
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Jake's Backdoor Hippie-palooza, 2014 Edition
- Thread starter BackdoorArts
- Start date
But wow! That shot is amazing - your second are too, but it's more clear what we are looking at, in this one.
Never seen solar panels like this. Thanks for showing us!
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Cherry picker, fantastic idea, hopefully the police would be busy towing your car and not see you! B&W version is fantastic as well.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Here's a shot from Google Maps. The field in color is now covered completely in a solar array. The closest legitimate parking is at the very bottom. The businesses at the top are all gated lots with warehouses (note the tractor trailer parked there for size). The 'X' is where this shot is taken. The field is lowest at the bottom left corner, which is also where there's a farm that has tall trees running as a barrier between it and this field, and the top right corner is the highest elevation.
Looking up the field from the bottom can make for some phenomenal perspective shots, but that's where I really need some height to see it. Unfortunately, long lenses from a distance can't do it justice because of other things in the way, and even if I could convince the farmer to allow me into his second floor bedroom there are trees in the way. Best I could hope for (outside of spending serious money on a cherry picker that I have no way of trailering there) would be to get on the roof of the white barn across the street at the bottom left. Alas, without height, these are the best perspectives I can get on partial areas of the field from a latter at ground level (unedited photos)...
This is the upper left portion of the field (not even 10% of what's there). I'm going to figure it out this year, but my push was to get something for the DEDPXL April assignment and I at least have something there. The rest might take some negotiating.
Looking up the field from the bottom can make for some phenomenal perspective shots, but that's where I really need some height to see it. Unfortunately, long lenses from a distance can't do it justice because of other things in the way, and even if I could convince the farmer to allow me into his second floor bedroom there are trees in the way. Best I could hope for (outside of spending serious money on a cherry picker that I have no way of trailering there) would be to get on the roof of the white barn across the street at the bottom left. Alas, without height, these are the best perspectives I can get on partial areas of the field from a latter at ground level (unedited photos)...
This is the upper left portion of the field (not even 10% of what's there). I'm going to figure it out this year, but my push was to get something for the DEDPXL April assignment and I at least have something there. The rest might take some negotiating.
I definitely prefer your first shot of the solar panels and think it meets all the requirements of DEDPXL's contest. When looking at their site, I find your first photo best meets the criteria of their definition of rhythm. I will admit it is the first time I've ever heard the term rhythm being applied to photography.
Since you are a musician, you are a natural when it comes to identifying rhythm!
Good luck with the contest! Please let us know if you win or place in the contest!
Since you are a musician, you are a natural when it comes to identifying rhythm!
Good luck with the contest! Please let us know if you win or place in the contest!
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
I definitely prefer your first shot of the solar panels and think it meets all the requirements of DEDPXL's contest. When looking at their site, I find your first photo best meets the criteria of their definition of rhythm. I will admit it is the first time I've ever heard the term rhythm being applied to photography.
Since you are a musician, you are a natural when it comes to identifying rhythm!
"Naturals" come in many sizes and shapes, and not where you'd always expect them. Let's just say that you should never confuse someone with an instrument in their hands as someone who knows rhythm until they can prove it to you. LOL
What I like about the DEDPXL thing is that it's not a contest, and there are no winners. Zack and his wife go through the photos at the end of the assignment, pick a subset of them and then grade them on their own scale against the criteria specified in the assignment...
A = DAMN! Excellent execution of the assignment theme as well as the image being executed very well technically.
B = Nice. Well seen and nicely done. Slightly above average.
C = Met the minimum requirements for the assignment. This could also be called the “Meh” grade. It’s ok. It’s not bad but it’s not great either. Yes… you met the assignment but the photograph doesn’t go further than that. Could have investigated the subject better, waited for better light, found a better composition, done something different with your post production, etc.
D = Ugh. You have some element of the assignment in your photograph but it was so poorly executed that it’s a rather boring photograph. These photos seem like very little, if any, thought was put into making the photograph. These photos have poor composition, light, post production, subject material, etc.
F = FAIL. EXIF or upload data shows that you pulled images from your archive and placed them into this group that is reserved for NEW work. You won’t become a better photographer looking through your old work. The point of these assignments is to get off your ass and shoot new stuff. You can also get an F if we feel the image didn’t meet the assignment criteria or it was so poorly shot that it doesn’t even deserve a D. Did you not have your camera set to the proper date? Too bad!
B = Nice. Well seen and nicely done. Slightly above average.
C = Met the minimum requirements for the assignment. This could also be called the “Meh” grade. It’s ok. It’s not bad but it’s not great either. Yes… you met the assignment but the photograph doesn’t go further than that. Could have investigated the subject better, waited for better light, found a better composition, done something different with your post production, etc.
D = Ugh. You have some element of the assignment in your photograph but it was so poorly executed that it’s a rather boring photograph. These photos seem like very little, if any, thought was put into making the photograph. These photos have poor composition, light, post production, subject material, etc.
F = FAIL. EXIF or upload data shows that you pulled images from your archive and placed them into this group that is reserved for NEW work. You won’t become a better photographer looking through your old work. The point of these assignments is to get off your ass and shoot new stuff. You can also get an F if we feel the image didn’t meet the assignment criteria or it was so poorly shot that it doesn’t even deserve a D. Did you not have your camera set to the proper date? Too bad!
After sitting through the 90 minutes of them going through assignment one I believe I have a good idea of what he likes, as do a lot of other photographers, and you can see it in the submissions for assignment two. A's are rather hard to come by, even with what I'd consider a wonderful photograph, and that's probably the way it should be. I'm not sure that either of these are worthy of, "Damn!!", and that's OK, because as fond as I've become of them I also know that they're still a compromise of what I wanted to take. With the hundreds of photos that get submitted through Flickr, 500px, Instagram and Google+, I am just hoping to get a critique. I love the more abstract nature of the B&W, and I think it has more potential for a "Damn!!" on first sight compositionally, while the color photo may have greater impact if they're weeding through hundreds of B&W images. I find the color image mildly reminiscent of the old Windows background image of the rolling hill and blue sky - like a high tech version of that shot. LOL
Even if someone has no desire to participate in the assignments, I think that watching the assignment video and then the critiques can be very informative, particularly as you recognize what could have been your photographs in the first assignment. I've learned that I've taken an awful lot of "C" shots in my day, and within their comments is a wealth of information about what the photographer could have done as they shot in that location. How they could have explored the scene a little more to take it from a snapshot to a photograph. Made me realize that some days I'm just lazy and I grab something OK, but don't work for the best possible shot.
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BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Oh, if only it were so easy with energy companies in a post-9/11 US. That said, I am sure that if I took the time to knock on the door of the farmer at the base of the field, show him these shots now that I have them and ask if I can stick my car in their driveway for a couple hours and possibly walk the perimeter of their property with a ladder they would say, "Yes". The closest I have to a workable plan is to take a pickup truck along the edge of the fence (technically off road and on energy company property - or at least their easement) and stand a 6 foot ladder up in the back of the truck and stopping it along spots to shoot. Here's the thing I don't know - once I get high enough where the panels flow better do I now wind up with all this background stuff I have to deal with?!
At this point I'm really not that worried. I wanted to execute something by the end of the month, and I managed that. The rest I can take my time for. I'd almost rather wait for leaves to get on the trees so I at least have color in the background.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
As long as I can test drive it with your camera.
As long as I can test drive it with your camera.
Sure. I got home owners insurance. I'll just say some hippie came through the back door and broke it.:smiley_simmons:
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
There's an awful lot of photography I'd like to do that would be greatly simplified by that kind of setup. Don't know that I'd put $4K of camera and glass up there, but I'd surely stick a mirrorless in it. Until I can get someone to commit to having me do some serious real estate shots for them, it's not worth thinking about.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Yeah, that's a lot cheaper than a drone. I have a friend with a small plane, but my life insurance forbids me, not to mention my wife. LOL Besides, even at minimum altitude he'd now have me too high.
I REALLY like this one. Good work!!!
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
A new bird for our yard yesterday (one of these days I'll get an official count on the number of specific birds we've seen there).
Green Heron decided to perch a while on a tree in the back.
Green Heron decided to perch a while on a tree in the back.
wreckdiver1321
Senior Member
Thanks for giving us the bird, Jake
Hire a "cherry picker" for a day
You must live down the shore somewhere. I lived in Sussex county most of my life before moving to TN 7 years ago, and I never seen one like that.:eek-new:
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
I'm in Warren County near the Water Gap (closer to Hot Dog Johnny's, if you're familiar). These little guys will settle in around lakes and streams and ponds. I've seen 'em on golf courses and at reservoirs up here, but they tend not to stop anywhere dry, and that's usually us. With all the snow this year, however, a retention basin in the field behind our property has held a bit of water for over a month now, and some geese and ducks have become daily visitors, bedding down for the night there. I'm guessing this one was checking it out.