Random Photos

Point Conception · Jun 22, 2023

From the Southern most place at end of Jomtien Beach Rd.

Cappuccino in a white cup on a saucer at a beachside café table with a blue cloth, overlooking a sandy beach, calm sea and distant hills.

Laminated Soup Menu card for a seafood restaurant on a blue tablecloth, with food photos, beach and sea behind it, and a spoon in the foreground.

Sandy beach at low tide with calm sea on the left, eroded sand bank with rubble on the right, and a high-rise skyline in the distance under a blue sky.

DennisN · Jun 23, 2023

Happy Midsummer!

Here's a red admiral on a yellow flower:

Red admiral butterfly with open wings resting on a pale yellow dahlia with an orange centre, against a blue sky.

(Lens: Canon nFD 50mm f/1.4)

Point Conception · Jun 30, 2023

Hard photo to follow above ^

Drooping clusters of pale purple flowers hanging among dark green leaves against a clear blue sky.

Sea waves breaking near a beach with a white bird gliding over the water; hills and a large ship on the distant horizon under a hazy blue sky.

A white egret with a long neck and legs standing at the edge of the shoreline, with small waves washing over the wet sand and boats on the distant water.

A white bird with long legs flying low over choppy blue ocean water, with white breaking waves in the foreground near a sandy shore.

A white egret wading in shallow surf on a sandy beach, with small waves breaking behind it and hills across the blue sea in the background.

View from inside a vehicle looking down a busy city street with cars, a bus and motorcycles, flanked by multi-storey buildings with signs including DREAM HOT and White Rose.

gmax137 · Jun 30, 2023

I like these kind of chaotic asian street scenes

pinball1970 · Jun 30, 2023

Hoping to get some images in Carlisle today. Clouds and rain again though.

DennisN · Jun 30, 2023

pinball1970 said:

Hoping to get some images in Carlisle today.

Nice! We passed Carlisle when we visited Hadrian's Wall.
There are multiple historical landmarks of the wall quite close to Carlisle.

The Birdoswald Roman Fort is only ca 15-20 km away from Carlisle:

Screenshot of Google Maps showing the Birdoswald Roman Fort - Hadrian's Wall listing, with a photo of stone ruins at sunset, and a map of Carlisle and the surrounding area of Cumbria.

...and some more sites in the same area:

Dark-themed map of northern England showing the River Irthing, roads including B6318 and A69, and labelled markers for Hadrian's Wall sites such as Banks East Turret, Harrows Scar Milecastle, and Matthew's Honesty Box, near Gilsland, Triermain and Upper Denton.

(Google maps link: here)

pinball1970 · Jun 30, 2023

It's a newish Levono pad and my picture taking has not been great so far. Hoping we get to the venue before dusk.
This was ok.

Photo of a sunset over a road, with dark clouds lit orange and red at the horizon, silhouetted trees and two tall street lamps.

DennisN · Jun 30, 2023

pinball1970 said:

It's a newish Levono pad and my picture taking has not been great so far. Hoping we get to the venue before dusk.
This was ok.

A lovely sunset, very nice, I think!

Better quality than at least I would expect for a pad.
The camera(s) on my pad (Huawei Mediapad T5) are absolutely terrible

and I don't think they would be able to achieve that quality (though I'm quite satified with the pad otherwise, good value for money).

jtbell · Jun 30, 2023

A tall thin green plant with a small yellow flower cluster at its top, growing from a white bucket on a wooden deck beside a wooden railing.

Maybe this plant should try out for the NBA. After it grows some arms, of course.

pinball1970 · Jun 30, 2023

A wash out. Tried to get some images but wet grey and misty. There is a castle in the centre. EDIT Apologies, the images are uploading as thumb nails.

DaveC426913 · Jun 30, 2023

pinball1970 said:

A wash out. Tried to get some images but wet grey and misty. There is a castle in the centre. EDIT Apologies, the images are uploading as thumb nails.

Dunno. Doesn't seem so bad.

Red sandstone castle keep with crenellated battlements and a flag on a pole, rising above a grassy mound and curtain walls under an overcast sky.

Stone castle keep with a flag on a pole, rising above a long curtain wall on a grassy mound under an overcast sky.

phinds · Jun 30, 2023

DaveC426913 said:

Dunno. Doesn't seem so bad.

I see what you did there

pinball1970 · Jun 30, 2023

DaveC426913 said:

Dunno. Doesn't seem so bad.
View attachment 328573

We are there for a gig and I am always looking for something image worthy. Tried to take pics from the back of van but it but it never works and by the time I arrive at the venue it is grey, raining and poor light.
I got lucky with the Castle, just round the corner from the venue.

DaveC426913 · Jun 30, 2023

pinball1970 said:

... wet grey and misty...

I try to go by the philosophy that every adversity is an opportunity by just changing my subject matter.
If grey and misty is what I have to work with, I try to lean into it.

(I'd likely go for an extreme closeup of a mossy wall or rain drops on a flower, maybe with the castle unfocused in the background, a little like this...)When it rained on my Caribbean cruise, I stopped trying to get sunny pics and went for a wet theme instead:

Close-up of bright pink bougainvillea bracts with small white flowers, beaded with rain, in sharp focus. Behind them, two women walk away under a blue and white umbrella on a wet path, blurred.

By the way, these pics are on the cruise ship - in the "Central Park Neighborhood" open to the sky and weather:

Rainy open-air atrium on a cruise ship, with wet tiled walkways, round tables and cushioned chairs, and a woman in a striped dress holding a striped umbrella.

Every time the ship gets near a new port, birds from shore come to visit and stay in the ship's park...

DennisN · Jun 30, 2023

DaveC426913 said:

I try to go by the philosophy that every adversity is an opportunity by just changing my subject matter.
If grey and misty is what I have to work with, I try to lean into it.

A good philosophy, in my opinion

.

DennisN · Jun 30, 2023

The recent adventures of my cat...

A couple of days ago one of my cats decided to rearrange a corner in one of my rooms...
...I don't know... I don't like the style myself... it's... how to categorize it? Avant-garde, perhaps?

Floor corner with scattered wooden shelf boards and dark panels, a tilted grey desk lamp, and two black cabinets against a wall, with a white cable on the floor.

And today I built a small box for reproducing developed photos (i.e. taking photos of photos).
I clad (is that the correct word?) the inside of the box with black paper, and the idea was to diminish light reflections which very, very, VERY easily appear in real photos. There's probably a name for such boxes, but I don't know it.

It seems to work rather well. But soon a problem appeared...

"What's this? I like it..."

A fluffy cream and orange cat sleeping curled up inside a cardboard box lined with black paper, with the box's walls rising behind it.

"...but I think it's too small, so I made it bigger."

A fluffy cream and white cat asleep on a light wooden surface, lying among black cardboard panels arranged around it.

"Now I'm comfy. You go sit by the computer instead, I'll rest here."

A fluffy cream and light brown cat asleep on a wooden surface, curled up inside a loose arrangement of black cardboard panels on a red background.

I guess there will be no photo reproduction going on here today

.

DaveC426913 · Jun 30, 2023

DennisN said:

There's probably a name for such boxes, but I don't know it.

Hm. Light box? Dark box?

gmax137 · Jun 30, 2023

B&H calls them "light tents"
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Shooting-Tables/ci/1409/N/4037060017

BillTre · Jun 30, 2023

DennisN said:

I don't know... I don't like the style myself... it's... how to categorize it? Avant-garde, perhaps?

Feline Discordance.

DennisN · Jun 30, 2023

DaveC426913 said:

Hm. Light box? Dark box?

"Dark box" was what I also thought.
But it is quite light since it's made of cardboard, so it could be called a light box.

DennisN · Jun 30, 2023

Ok, this is not a real photo but I just had to post it here...

Today a friend of mine who has been training his AI software to generate more realistic images sent
me an image. I was very, very impressed....:

AI-generated portrait of a young woman with long brown hair wearing a black cybernetic earpiece-like device on her left cheek and silver metallic body armor with black panels.

(image posted here with permission from my friend)

He said that training and rendering with the software is like dealing with an unruly camera...
...he also said he was complaining a lot over all previous unsuccessful attempts

.

But the work definitely paid off. I guess he will continue to finetune the software for realism.

DennisN · Jul 1, 2023

morrobay said:

Hard photo to follow above ^

I particularly like the sixth (last) image here.
I find there is a bit of a strange thing with "clutter" in photos. One, often good rule, is to minimize the clutter in photos. But then there seems to be a soft limit somewhere when the clutter gets so significant that it suddenly becomes very interesting and central to the photo, like in your last photo.

gmax137 said:

I like these kind of chaotic asian street scenes

Me too

.

BillTre · Jul 1, 2023

I think most interesting clutter has an order to it which is seen in its order.
In this case, its (mostly) the electrical infrastructure made to provide electricity.
The purpose structures the outcome.

BillTre · Jul 1, 2023

Here is a cluttery infrastructure example, looking up from the inside of a giant hedge in the LA area.
Its at least 20 feet wide and 30 feet tall.
The leaves are on the outside, its too shady for them inside the hedge where the picture was taken from.
The stems and branches connect the leaves and roots in a manner determined by their earlier patterns of growth, their opportunistic interactions with their environment, minus negative environmental impacts (like predators or storm damage).

Photo looking up from inside a dense hedge, showing a tangle of bare, gray-brown woody stems and branches with sunlight visible through gaps in the foliage above.

Here is an interesting one:

Roots growing where there was a substrate (a decaying log) which is now gone:

Panoramic view of several large trees with thick, buttressed trunks and exposed roots spreading over the forest floor, with ferns in the foreground and green foliage around.

Here is some depositional clutter (logs no longer moving in the river flow):

Panoramic photo of a beach and river mouth with many weathered driftwood logs scattered on sand, in the foreground and along the water's edge, with green shrubs and conifers at the sides.

Point Conception · Jul 1, 2023

Close-up photo of a dense pile of broken seashell fragments and small pebbles in pale cream, tan and brown tones, covering the whole frame.

phinds · Jul 1, 2023

morrobay said:

View attachment 328658

Reminds me of Stephen Wright's joke that he has the most extensive collection of sea shells ever ... you've probably seen it. He stores it on the world's beaches.

Point Conception · Jul 1, 2023

Sandy beach strewn with a dense band of broken seashells running along the shoreline toward the sea, with high-rise towers and palm trees in the distance under a cloudy sky.

phinds · Jul 1, 2023

Yeah, that's some of his collection all right.

Point Conception · Jul 2, 2023

Clutter City at Lam Pho seafood market

Busy covered seafood market at night, with a vendor in dark gloves arranging shrimp, squid and fish on ice under tables of price tags, and shoppers and vendors crowding the aisles.

Market stall with produce and condiments packed in clear plastic bags tied with red twist ties, including shallots, garlic cloves, tomatoes, onions and chilies, with bottles of sauce and stacked plastic bowls behind.

Market display of fresh vegetables including cauliflower, green cabbage, broccoli, bok choy, green, yellow and red bell peppers, a cucumber, carrots, and green beans, with packaged white mushrooms.

Shoppers walk past rows of blue trays at a market stall holding live spiny lobsters on ice, with piles of clams and scoops in the trays behind.

Woman in a black top and tan apron working behind a counter at an outdoor market, with a large pile of raw shrimp on ice in the foreground and blue market umbrellas overhead.

Cooked whole prawns with shells and heads on, piled on a turquoise ridged plate and garnished with fresh cilantro leaves.

Overhead photo of a white bowl holding broccoli florets, chunks of red bell pepper, sliced pale garlic cloves and cilantro leaves.

pinball1970 · Jul 3, 2023

Taking the advice of @DaveC426913 I have made an attempt to make use of the subject matter. Another disappointing weekend of lack of opportunity, glare, rain, mist and clumsy technique in Chester and Carlisle (bar a convenient castle) so I am trying closer to home. Manchester. The jewel of North West of England and quite possibly the world.

Shambles square.

Street scene on a cloudy day of a paved square with people walking, a stone bench in the foreground, and black-and-white half-timbered buildings with shaded outdoor tables and umbrellas.

Random Photos

Similar threads