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Water in motion

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June 12, 2008, 05:30:32 AM

I have a "Water in Motion" theme for a print competition coming up in a couple weeks. This is what I think I'll submit unless I find something better before then. Opinions?

Since you'll probably ask, it's part of a huge step style fountain in midtown Houston.

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-John
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wildmaven

Reply #1 - June 12, 2008, 10:08:46 AM

Were you handholding the camera when you took this, as it looks very shaky. The concept is great but this photo is a bit problematic. Would you mind posting the original?

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jkleb

Reply #2 - June 12, 2008, 11:20:58 AM

Not hand held, but not on a tripod either. I set the camera on a small wall next to this and set the timer. It's a 1.4sec exposure so a lot of what you're seeing is a mist from the water running down.

Here's the original, not sure how much you can get from it except that my camera needed a major cleaning.

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wildmaven

Reply #3 - June 12, 2008, 12:03:23 PM

Unfortunately, you are dealing with an image with very little contrast, mostly mid grays. You can play with the levels, but you'll never be able to pull enough out of this image. If you take a look at your histogram (see below), you'll see that there is very little black or white. What time of day was this?

Also, when you shoot moving water, you need to include some sort of visual reference that shows the viewer something in focus, otherwise it makes it look like your focus is off.

I shoot my waterfalls at 1/4 of a second. You might want to try that the next time. Is this location near you? Can you go back and try again?

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« Last Edit: June 12, 2008, 12:05:24 PM by wildmaven »

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Comments and Harsh Critiques gladly accepted. My photos are ok to edit.

My photos and art: http://wildmaven.org

Ryan Nutt

Reply #4 - June 12, 2008, 12:16:41 PM

Quote

Since you'll probably ask, it's part of a huge step style fountain in midtown Houston.

Is it the Water Wall by the Galleria? I've lived in Houston for 7 years and never made it down there to shoot.

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Ryan

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jkleb

Reply #5 - June 12, 2008, 12:23:37 PM

5:30PM middle of January. Set the white and black points in curves so that the histogram ran edge to edge then s-curved for contrast. The original is extemely flat; but I was trying to get a good pattern effect and show the light and dark of the shadow going across.

This might be working better as a pattern study than a motion study. Might be time to throw the hose over the roof.

Here's what the whole place looks like.

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-John
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Ryan Nutt

Reply #6 - June 12, 2008, 12:52:29 PM

I just spent the last half hour or so looking at Water Wall pictures on Flickr and now I'm kicking myself for never having been there. Looks like I may have to brave I-10 traffic Cheesy Grin

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jkleb

Reply #7 - June 12, 2008, 02:05:58 PM

Yep, it's the Water Wall. My daughter was in modeling school at the time (2006) not far from it, so we went by there one day after class.

Note: Security there are photography Nazi's. NO tripods, NO bags full of gear, NO obvious models, bridal parties, etc. Security there is known for turning off the water and escorting "Professional" photographers off the property.

We went in on stealth mode; one lens on a DSLR on a sunny January day in the afternoon toward sunset. Took the typical goofy kid snapshots while the rent-s-cops were looking.

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-John
Sarcasm, frustrating the clueless since 3000 b.c.

Ginnypenny

Reply #8 - June 12, 2008, 02:16:48 PM

Weird about the photo nazi's, why do they care?

Disneyland used to be like that. They used to stop people with pro looking camera's. That's one good thing about more and more non-professionals owning DSLR's, Disney doesn't stop anyone anymore because everyone has big black cameras now.

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Susie
www.charlesbarnardphotography.com
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wildmaven

Reply #9 - June 12, 2008, 03:28:19 PM

Quote from: Ginnypenny on June 12, 2008, 02:16:48 PM

Weird about the photo nazi's, why do they care?

Hahhaha...try birdwatching with big binoculars and a big camera at a water treatment facility nowadays! Grin

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Travis Minnig

Reply #10 - June 12, 2008, 08:03:12 PM

I don't mind, there aren't many people that can run as fast mad as I do scared. (Or is it the other way around?) Big Grin

They care because you are photographing private property that they own. This gives them rights to the control of published images of it. If you are doing it for personal reasons, they don't mind. If you are doing it for professional reasons, they feel entitled to some compensation (or at least approval of its usage). And often I would agree that they are within reason and rights to require professional photographers to buy their permits and get their permission. I do also agree that it gets out of hand sometimes, but legally you have no argument anyway. You can photograph nearly anything for editorial use if I understand the laws correctly, but even that has limits. When it comes to personal property and other works of art (including architecture), you are breaking laws without having the proper permits and/or permission. Especially with architecture and other works of art, we should be mindful of the people that created them because they most definitely are artists and do not want you infringing on their copyrights.

I didn't intend to get preachy about all this, but I feel like sometimes a lack of knowledge or education is the stem of hard feelings about this sort of thing. We wouldn't want anyone taking photos of something important to us and then either making inappropriate use of it, or selling it in some way without our permission (if not some additional compensation) either. At least I wouldn't.

Travis

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Ginnypenny

Reply #11 - June 12, 2008, 09:23:54 PM

I get it Travis. I just don't want to be hassled at Disneyland for wanting professional grade images of my daughter on the teacups for her photo album

But that's a non-issue anymore anyway. So I am happy.

It's the same reason I don't complain that a couple parks around here (Thanksgiving Point, Red Butte Gardens, etc) charge $50 to do engagements or bridals there. They spent the time creating gorgeous gardens and waterfalls and there is maintenence issues when we tromp through their flowers for that perfect shot.

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Susie
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jkleb

Reply #12 - June 13, 2008, 05:41:14 AM

I don't have a problem with trademarking/copyrighting locations and achitecture. But the people at the Water Wall have a reputation for going overboard. It also my understanding that they don't have any provisions for getting rights to use the location. It's their perogative to do so, but it's not good community relations in my opinion.

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-John
Sarcasm, frustrating the clueless since 3000 b.c.

jkleb

Reply #13 - June 21, 2008, 08:10:09 PM

Alright, we're trying this again. It's been hell day to get this shot.
Went to the Water Wall where I took the original shot. It was turned off.
Drove across town the the medical center where I knew a fountain was. It wasn't as impressive as I remembered it. We did stop at Star Pizza to eat lunch on the way there so all was ot lost.
Swung by the Mecom Fountain in the museum district. It's kinda boring during the day I realized. The girls had to use the bathroom so we stopped at the Contemporary Arts Museum since it's free. Killed an hour there since all the exhibits have changed since was there last.
Navigated to the other side of downtown. Was going to check out Discovery Green but it was super crowded so we did a drive by investigation. Went to northwest of downtown to the theatre district to try some of the little parks there down on Buffalo Bayou. Twenty minutes to find decent parking that wasn't $5-$8. Found a really good area down on the bayou and hung out there for about an hour and a half. Got some good shots, had a good walk, found some new areas I didn't know were there, and only had to dodge one pair of tweakers. Made it kinda worth all the hassle to find the place...
UNTIL we get back to the truck and find out that it's a no parking zone after 4pm and HPD leaves me a $65 parking ticket.
I hope ya'll enjoy this.

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« Last Edit: June 21, 2008, 09:24:10 PM by jkleb »

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-John
Sarcasm, frustrating the clueless since 3000 b.c.