Photo Interview: SDommin

Okay...I hope you're game, Scott...

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Scott, please tell us about this photo:



How did you come to take this shot?

What camera settings did you choose, and why?

What post processing, if any, did you do, and what did you use?

Are you happy with the result, did it turn out like you had expected? Would you do something different next time?

--
G3...depriving me of sleep since 7.12.02
http://www.pbase.com/g3dan (more pics at last, and more on the way!)

D.A.N. said:

Okay...I hope you're game, Scott...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott, please tell us about this photo:

Click to expand...

Hi D.A.N., I was surprised to see my name as part of a forum subject!

This shot was taken in Hackberry, AZ, which is on old Rte. 66 about 25 miles northeast of Kingman. Since the interstate highway came through to the south, a lot of these old towns sort of dried up and died. I was on vacation and looking for old Rte. 66 stuff to take pictures of and came across this bonanza. Its an old gas station that someone made into a gift shop, to attract tourists like me. I had my trusty G2, set on Program Mode. I don't recall the actual settings (I'm at work now so I can't get to the EXIF yet), but I handheld the camera and just clicked away for maybe an hour. During that time, probably 3 or 4 cars passed by, which tells you how deserted this old road is.

I like to find and photograph old, decaying reminders of the past. Maybe its my way of preserving them before they're gone forever. Usually, the stuff that I find is way out in some uninhabited area, not collected and presented like they are at this gift shop. I almost felt a little guilty, because it was so easy to take "nostalgia" pictures like this - like shooting fish in a barrel!

And yes, I did go and buy something from the shop when I was done. It was the least I could do.

--
Scott

G3 Disney Gallery
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/disney_usa

My 'Favorites' Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/favorites

Hi Scott,

Love your work. I'm interested to know how the same photo taken with a G3 under identical conditions and camera settings would look.

I suspect this is not an easy question to answer, but your thoughts would be very useful to people such as myself who are about to purchase their first serious digital camera.
I'm wondering about things such as sharpness, colour and saturation.
Also, do you find the G3 as solid as the G2? How does build quality compare.
Cheers from Aussie Land,
Greg

Enjoyed the interview. Hope to see more of these type postings. Also enjoyed seeing the pegasus.
CJR

SDommin said:

D.A.N. said:

Okay...I hope you're game, Scott...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott, please tell us about this photo:

Click to expand...

Hi D.A.N., I was surprised to see my name as part of a forum subject!

This shot was taken in Hackberry, AZ, which is on old Rte. 66 about
25 miles northeast of Kingman. Since the interstate highway came
through to the south, a lot of these old towns sort of dried up and
died. I was on vacation and looking for old Rte. 66 stuff to take
pictures of and came across this bonanza. Its an old gas station
that someone made into a gift shop, to attract tourists like me. I
had my trusty G2, set on Program Mode. I don't recall the actual
settings (I'm at work now so I can't get to the EXIF yet), but I
handheld the camera and just clicked away for maybe an hour. During
that time, probably 3 or 4 cars passed by, which tells you how
deserted this old road is.

I like to find and photograph old, decaying reminders of the past.
Maybe its my way of preserving them before they're gone forever.
Usually, the stuff that I find is way out in some uninhabited area,
not collected and presented like they are at this gift shop. I
almost felt a little guilty, because it was so easy to take
"nostalgia" pictures like this - like shooting fish in a barrel!

And yes, I did go and buy something from the shop when I was done.
It was the least I could do.

--
Scott

G3 Disney Gallery
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/disney_usa

My 'Favorites' Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/favorites

Click to expand...

Greg McConnell said:

Hi Scott,
Love your work. I'm interested to know how the same photo taken
with a G3 under identical conditions and camera settings would look.
I suspect this is not an easy question to answer, but your thoughts
would be very useful to people such as myself who are about to
purchase their first serious digital camera.
I'm wondering about things such as sharpness, colour and saturation.
Also, do you find the G3 as solid as the G2? How does build quality
compare.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Greg! First and foremost, you can't go wrong whether you choose the G2 or G3 - they're both excellent cameras, with only minor differences. Build quality, color, and saturation seem to be pretty much equal. Some people say the G2 is sharper, but I disagree - I think the G3 is slightly sharper (or at worst, equal in sharpness. You have to use post-processing to get the most sharpness out of it, though). The only areas where the G3 is clearly superior are in things like menu settings (i.e. the custom settings where you can have your own presets) and startup speed. I also think the the G3's "Digic" processor does a better job of giving you properly exposed photos. I find that my "keeper" ratio is maybe 99%, where the G2 would be about 95% (by this, I mean the number of properly exposed and focused photos compared to the actual number that I take). Even at 95%, the G2's numbers are better than most cameras I have used, including the Sony 707 and 717.

--
Scott

G3 Disney Gallery
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/disney_usa

My 'Favorites' Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/favorites

D.A.N. said:

Okay...I hope you're game, Scott...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click to expand...

I have to admit that when I saw the 2nd Photo Interview thread starting, I thought it was kind of hokey, but I WAS WRONG.

Thanks for finding these unusual photos and inviting us to see them through the photographer's eyes. Scott's explanation was so interesting, perhaps especially to those of us who are at the beginning of the learning curve.

Regards,
Patsy
http://www.pbase.com/patsysj

...in case you missed the original post here's an explanation of the interview thing:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=4144494

I'm glad you're up for the interview. I felt a bit funny - after it was too late - about posting your pic to the forum without asking you first, but then I figured that since a) you've posted the pic for anyone to see anyway, and b) you provide the link to the site, it was okay...I'm glad you don't seem to take issue with it!

I'd like to hear more about this pic (and photography in general) when/if you get the time...EXIF info, post processing, stuff like that. And in that hour of shooting, how many good shots did you get, and how many were run of the mill (if any!)? And what was the weather like that day? It looks quite bright, but it seems as though the sky is threatening to change that.

Again, thanks for playing!

Cheers,
Dan

SDommin said:

Hi D.A.N., I was surprised to see my name as part of a forum subject!

This shot was taken in Hackberry, AZ, which is on old Rte. 66 about
25 miles northeast of Kingman. Since the interstate highway came
through to the south, a lot of these old towns sort of dried up and
died. I was on vacation and looking for old Rte. 66 stuff to take
pictures of and came across this bonanza. Its an old gas station
that someone made into a gift shop, to attract tourists like me. I
had my trusty G2, set on Program Mode. I don't recall the actual
settings (I'm at work now so I can't get to the EXIF yet), but I
handheld the camera and just clicked away for maybe an hour. During
that time, probably 3 or 4 cars passed by, which tells you how
deserted this old road is.

I like to find and photograph old, decaying reminders of the past.
Maybe its my way of preserving them before they're gone forever.
Usually, the stuff that I find is way out in some uninhabited area,
not collected and presented like they are at this gift shop. I
almost felt a little guilty, because it was so easy to take
"nostalgia" pictures like this - like shooting fish in a barrel!

And yes, I did go and buy something from the shop when I was done.
It was the least I could do.

--
Scott

G3 Disney Gallery
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/disney_usa

My 'Favorites' Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/favorites

Click to expand...

--
G3...depriving me of sleep since 7.12.02
http://www.pbase.com/g3dan (more pics at last, and more on the way!)

...at first I thought the Photo Interview might be a bit hokey, but I thought about it and decided it could work out really well. Both the photographer and the other forum members get the opportunity to learn something, and we get to see pictures, and not just obsess on techical issues or flame wars.

Cheers,
Dan

Patricia S. Jones said:

D.A.N. said:

Okay...I hope you're game, Scott...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click to expand...

I have to admit that when I saw the 2nd Photo Interview thread
starting, I thought it was kind of hokey, but I WAS WRONG.

Thanks for finding these unusual photos and inviting us to see them
through the photographer's eyes. Scott's explanation was so
interesting, perhaps especially to those of us who are at the
beginning of the learning curve.

Regards,
Patsy
http://www.pbase.com/patsysj

Click to expand...

--
G3...depriving me of sleep since 7.12.02
http://www.pbase.com/g3dan (more pics at last, and more on the way!)

D.A.N. said:

I'd like to hear more about this pic (and photography in general)
when/if you get the time...EXIF info, post processing, stuff like
that. And in that hour of shooting, how many good shots did you
get, and how many were run of the mill (if any!)? And what was the
weather like that day? It looks quite bright, but it seems as
though the sky is threatening to change that.

Click to expand...

Well, here's the EXIF info at the bottom. If I remember correctly, that morning was kind of chilly (for Arizona, at least!). Somewhat cloudy, but with a few sunny breaks every now & then. This was good, however, because some subjects are better in cloudy conditions, and some are better in the sun. Here's a shot from that same place, taken while the sun was behind a cloud. It would have been quite different (i.e. more contrasty) in the sun.



Here's another taken during a cloudy break. The lighting is more even and would have been different if the sun was out.



As far as post-processing, I look at each one and determine what it needs. The Canon G2 does a good job at accurate color and exposure, so most shots don't need too much tweaking. Sometimes I'll boost the contrast and/or intensity just a little, taking care not to overdo it. Occaisionally, I'll do a little dodging and burning (to make local areas brighter or darker, like in a regular darkroom).

File: D:\Photos 14\IMG_1024.JPG

Tag Name Value
010f Make Canon
0110 Model Canon PowerShot G2
0112 Orientation 1
011a XResolution 180.0
011b YResolution 180.0
0128 ResolutionUnit 2
0132 DateTime 2002:03:24 10:27:11
0213 YCbCrPositioning 1
8769 ExifOffset 196
829a ExposureTime 1/640
829d FNumber 5.6
9000 ExifVersion 0x30 0x32 0x31 0x30
9003 DateTimeOriginal 2002:03:24 10:27:11
9004 DateTimeDigitized 2002:03:24 10:27:11
9101 ComponentsConfiguration 0x1 0x2 0x3 0x0
9102 CompressedBitsPerPixel 5.0
9201 ShutterSpeedValue 298/32
9202 ApertureValue 159/32
9204 ExposureBiasValue 0/3
9205 MaxApertureValue 131072/65536
9206 SubjectDistance 65535/1000
9207 MeteringMode 5
9209 Flash 0
920a FocalLength 400/32
927c MakerNote

Macro Mode Off
Self Timer Not Used
Flash Mode Off
Drive Mode Single
Focus Mode Single
Image Size (?)
Program Manual
Contrast High
Color Saturation Normal
Sharpness Normal
ISO 50
Metering Mode Evaluative
AF Point Selected Center
Exposure Mode Program
Lens Attached 7-21 mm
White Balance Auto
Sequence Number 0
Flash Bias 0 EV
Subject Distance Infinite
Image Type IMGowerShot G2 JPEG
Firmware Firmware Version 1.01
Owner Name
--
Scott

G3 Disney Gallery
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/disney_usa

My 'Favorites' Gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/favorites

I agree, it SEEMS a little hokey at first but really, I think most people are very willing to share their knowledge and experiences and I figure that by looking at a specific photo, we can learn more and have more interesting dialog than if we just talk in generalities.

Thanks for kicking this one off, Dan, and thanks to Scott for being a great victim! ;-)
The shot is very interesting and the sharpness is terrific.

Who's next?

--
Eric
Disclaimer: Snapshooter, and proud of it ;-)
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde

Patricia S. Jones said:

D.A.N. said:

Okay...I hope you're game, Scott...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click to expand...

I have to admit that when I saw the 2nd Photo Interview thread
starting, I thought it was kind of hokey, but I WAS WRONG.

Thanks for finding these unusual photos and inviting us to see them
through the photographer's eyes. Scott's explanation was so
interesting, perhaps especially to those of us who are at the
beginning of the learning curve.

Regards,
Patsy
http://www.pbase.com/patsysj

Click to expand...

Nice photo, Scott, lots of things to keep the eye interested. I noticed in your EXIF that your had contrast up a notch. Is that something you normally just leave on or do you change the setting in different situations?

--
Eric
Disclaimer: Snapshooter, and proud of it ;-)
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde