dougiemeat's Gallery

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dougiemeats

dougiemeats

Racing in the Rain
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1. DP1 Shakedown (below)
2. DP1 Color Examples
3. Coolpix
4. Blurry Forest
5. B&W Beach
6. Turtle Bay
7. Shasta Dam & Caldwell Park
8. Small Sensor Showcase

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I've been taking photos for quite some time now but I've never considered it a serious hobby. Recently, however, I've become very interested in the subject and since there are several photographers in this forum, I think it's a good place to ask for comments and criticism. :)

I bought a Sigma DP1 a week ago. It's a 4.7 megapixel compact camera (though it's advertised as 14.1MP) with a 28mm (equivalent) lens. Here are some photos from my first batch. I've adjusted curves and cropped some using Paint.NET and the B&W conversions were done using the updated version of the camera's bundled software:







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The first two were taken in the hallway of my apartment building. The rest were at my parents' house. They are all ISO800 (hence the B&W conversion). Hopefully, I'll have a chance to take some nice color shots outside soon.
 
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I really like the second and third shot. They work very well as black and white images, good call. Congrats on opening up the gallery, its good to see more people in this sub-forum.
 
Very nice set, I like the shots you did in the hallway and I love the b&W, although b&w is probably not showing off the full capabilities of the camera's Foveon sensor touted to be the next best thing since sliced bread, if what Sigma is saying is anything to go by. Keep the shots coming 👍
 
SweetshopUnion
I really like the second and third shot. They work very well as black and white images, good call. Congrats on opening up the gallery, its good to see more people in this sub-forum.
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Thanks! I've enjoyed browsing through other members' galleries though it was during my "absence" from GTP so I never posted comments.

Syntax error
Very nice set, I like the shots you did in the hallway and I love the b&W, although b&w is probably not showing off the full capabilities of the camera's Foveon sensor touted to be the next best thing since sliced bread, if what Sigma is saying is anything to go by. Keep the shots coming 👍
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Ah yes, the "holy grail" of sensor technology. We'll see if it lives up to the hype when I take shots around campus soon. I know the DP1 has issues with rendering bright reds. Apparently Sigma released a fix for it; though they're charging $649 and call it the DP2. :lol:
 
I love the pictue with the cat peering over the top of the box :)
 
Aldo001
I love the pictue with the cat peering over the top of the box :)
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Thanks, it's amazing how they will try to fit into any box place in front of them, no matter how small.

S-Line Audi Fan
Congratulations on opening your own gallery :) Your pictures are good so far 👍 Keep it up!
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Thank you. :) I'll be posting more pics soon; I'm planning to walk around the university campus today.
 
It's been a little over a week now and my only gripe with the camera is the lack of image stabilization. I bought it because it's compact so I don't really want to carry around a tripod, monopod, or homemade string contraption. Anyway, here are a few color examples:







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What format does the DP1 shoot in? JPG, RAW etc

The colours do seem good. I tend to find that images from most point and shoots seem to have colour oversaturation but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
 
Syntax error
What format does the DP1 shoot in? JPG, RAW etc

The colours do seem good. I tend to find that images from most point and shoots seem to have colour oversaturation but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
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It shoots RAW (X3F file format) and various qualities of JPEG. However, there is no option for shooting RAW+JPEG.

As for the colors: The modern building was shot with auto white balance while the colors were tweaked a bit on the photo of the abandoned building. Many users seem to tweak the colors due to the Sigma software's unsatisfactory results. I'll have to look into that.

[Edit] I have another gripe with the camera: its LCD is terrible. I didn't notice it at first because I shot mostly indoors, but I found that it's almost impossible to see the image in bright sunlight. Obviously, this is an issue for most LCD screens, but this case is particularly bad. I'll be purchasing a viewfinder in the near future.
 
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semilife
Real nice work especially the first few shots in black and white, very atmospheric sort of like old horror movies.
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Thanks semilife :) When I get Flickr Pro, I'll be able to post the original images so people can have a better look at the noise. Some really like the grainy look though I'm still undecided. I experimented a bit this weekend with some daylight photos with high ISO that I'll post later.

I've got more to add to the gallery. My other camera is a Nikon Coolpix P80. I never could use it to its full potential since my photos were not nearly as good as others using the same camera. I relied on the GIMP to hide my lack of skills. I've linked to the photo page instead of the large-size image to abide by the Flickr rules:

Here are three which I edited heavily


I'm not skilled in post-processing but I found a GIMP tutorial and went a little crazy with it (I tried it on almost all my photos it seems). I found that they worked best on the fully-zoomed photos


Tower by the TV station; shot through the windshield


A couple of close-ups
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If only superzoom point-&-shoots had larger sensors (like a Canon G10 or Panny LX3). It would be an ideal camera to bring everywhere.
 
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I quite like the minimalism in that first bird shot, keep up the good work dude. :)
 
I have second what these guys have said. Your composition is excellent. I love the editing you've done too 👍. Keep up this quality man, it's great.
 
On a recent trip to California, we went off to see some giant redwoods. The lighting was poor under the trees and with a fairly slow lens (f/4 at its widest), I came out with some blurry hand-held shots. I was reluctant to shoot with a higher ISO since color degrades significantly with this camera. I managed to salvage some by applying negative SPP fill light. It's not an accurate representation, but it resulted in a "dreamy" sort of mood.

All three were shot with a Sigma DP1; Sigma Photo Pro was used to convert the RAW files; Paint.NET was used to straighten and crop the last image:





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May I suggest you pick up a Joby Gorilla Pod.....

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...ideal for a compact camera, and it would allow you to avoid camera shake in future.

The gorilla is a quality piece of kit and well worth the money.

Regards

Scaff
 
The second shot is quite good. It has a dream like quality what with the softness of the image. Works well.
 
Scaff - I had a look at the Gorillapod on Amazon and the prices are quite reasonable. Also, it would fit in my backpack (most of my shooting will probably be done during the walk to classes). Thanks for the suggestion!

Syntax - Thanks, it's a feature I've been experimenting with quite a bit lately. Here is another user's gallery of negative SPP fill light examples. Some are turned-off by it but I think it looks good if done tastefully (and sparingly).
 
Here are two from Crescent City, CA. It was too cold to swim, but I enjoyed the beach nonetheless. I want to live in the coast of Northern California (or Oregon and perhaps Washington) someday.

Escape from Alcatraz


...Action!


Pump 9
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[Edit] I added a third photo. This was taken through the window of our vehicle during a stop in Grants Pass, Oregon, after the redwoods/beach trip.
 
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The first one is really cool. It has a chrome feel to it. Actually that would look pretty impressive printed on kodachrome paper. 👍
 
Syntax error
The first one is really cool. It has a chrome feel to it. Actually that would look pretty impressive printed on kodachrome paper. 👍
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Thanks for the feedback :) I haven't experimented much with prints. The few that I have printed have been done at Walmart, but hopefully I will finally get a shot that I actually want to hang on a wall.

Here are three more photos from California. The first two are from a walk on the trail around Turtle Bay in Redding.



The last one is of the Sundial Bridge, a pedestrian bridge that spans the Sacramento River.

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I haven't visited this forum in a while! I've got an update to my gallery (though they've been up on flickr for some time now). The first four are of Shasta Dam, the middle three are of a train trestle bridge in Redding, and the last two are of the Diestelhorst Bridge, also in Redding. Enjoy!


















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Hi mate, you’ve been away for some time. Good to see you back. How is the Sigma standing the test of time?

I really dig 5,6 & 7. Good composition and the colours are great. 1 & 3 would be great positioned next to each other as a set. I always dig the b&w shots you do, the sigma seems to have a nice tonal range in b&w. Keep them coming 👍
 
Thanks for the comments, Syntax :)

The DP1 has been a joy to use. Yes, it's a slow camera to operate but I've actually enjoyed the fact that it's not a "snapshot" camera, but a camera forcing you really think about the shot. I hate attracting attention to myself when I'm shooting so its small size is perfect. I just estimate the hyperfocal distance, attempt frame with the terrible LCD, and squeeze the shutter button as I exhale. An optical viewfinder should arrive at my door in the next few days to address the LCD issue.
 
Thank you for the kind words, Nenad. :)

I'm working on the next update. It's autumn and the campus is gorgeous. That is, when it's not raining.
 
I rarely shoot with the Coolpix. I've mostly avoided heavy editing so far. My photos typically lack the "human element."
However, it might be good to depart from the usual once in a while. I hope a little noise isn't a problem ;)

Crescent City, California • June 2009 • Nikon Coolpix P80

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