Adventures in Driving: The "Point and Shoot"

Cameras today are so good that even a schmuck like me can puke out some half-decent shots. There's a reason they describe newer cameras as "point and shoot"--that's all ya gotta do! Point the damned thing at the subject, and shoot it. Simple, right?

And what fun it is to point and shoot! You can do it anywhere--even while you're driving! In fact the shot you see below is a simple driving point and shoot I did a couple of weeks ago! You can do it too! Just hold the steering wheel with one hand, and the camera in the other. (Don't ask me which hand for which--are you stupid!?). While you're driving, just stick your camera arm out the window, point, and shoot! (Note: it's usually a good idea, for what should be obvious reasons, to roll down the window before you begin pointing and shooting--a good point and shooter is always prepared!)

Now, the shot here is not exactly a standard driving point and shoot. No, this one is a *reverse* driving point and shoot. (No, it doesn't mean the car was in reverse--that would be the reverse forward reverse driving point and shoot. Today we're only talking about the basics. The reverse forward reverse driving point and shoot is like the ninja-level of driving point and shooting.) So, the car is going forward, but your subject is behind you. It sounds simple, but it takes quite a bit of concentration and more than a little eye/hand co-ordination, because you have to line up the subject in your rear-view mirrors. See?

Easy as pie!

I Learned a New Trick

Today I decided to find out how to do a couple of things in GimpShop that I've never tried before. Here's one of them. Hard to believe that I've never worked with multiple layers before.

[Original version of this pic here.]


I'll try not to overdo it!

Weekly Photo Challenge: "Juxtapose"

For Glenn and Dave's Weekly Photo Challenge this week, Dave has randomly selected the word "juxtapose" (to place close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast).

I hadn't really given much thought to what I was going to do with this one, but last night as I was looking over a bunch of disappointingly crappy photos I'd taken at the beach in the afternoon it came to me: why not take a few of these pics and see if I can improve them, or at least make them a bit more interesting, and then juxtapose the "raw" images with the "finished" ones?

A couple of things before getting to the pics. Firstly, I'm not a professional photographer (and there's a very good chance that many who see this aren't either). The biggest problem I have with my shots these days are usually related in some way to lighting. There's a lot of freely available software out there that can help people fix problems with their pics. I use something called GIMPshop (it's like a freeware version of Adobe Photoshop). I'd put myself somewhere between novice and intermediate at using this stuff; this software has a lot of features and functions, so it takes a bit of time, patience, and practice to start getting the hang of it--don't give up! I first started with basic things like rotating pics (to "straighten" them out) and cropping (useful for getting rid of peripheral stuff and/or centering the subject, etc.). I think generally the most serious lighting problems on typical shots can be fixed by tweaking the brightness and contrast (duh!), but you can also do a lot with "curves." The only other function I use (I'm still trying to figure out all the other ones!) is color balance. Get the hang of this one and you're on your way!

As I said, I'm no pro (far from it!), but believe me, it is possible to save a lot of pics that you might have thought were shit. Whether or not I've "saved" the pics below I'll leave up to you to decide. Hell, maybe you like the "before" shots better!

Please click shots to enlarge them.

Before 1

After 1

Before 2

After 2

Before 3

After 3

Before 4

After 4