Documentary photographer Akshay Mahajan shot today’s selection on Aug. 24, 2007, using Nikon D200. With nearly 48,000 views, the image certainly is popular. Vitals: f/4.5, ISO 100, 1/50 sec, 18mm. He is from Bombay, India, but lives in New Delhi.
Akshay joined Flickr in November 2004. While active on the service, you will find more photos on Instagram.
A magazine advertisement inspired today’s selection. My wife marveled over the Eiffel Tower, snapped using iPhone 6, on the back of a magazine cover. Hours later, on Flickr, I spotted this stronger shot that Jeroen Bennink […]
Today’s selection is another lesson in perspective, and also composition. July Pastorello focuses on a partial subject, yet enough for us to understand the activity, while using the people watching as background canvas that compels you […]
Drama and composition make this pic, by Dave Lansley, our pick. Interestingly, his Peru 2007 album includes about a dozen photos from the same location. Today’s selection was the one I first saw and stand-out choice […]
Our selection compliments Day 108. Both photographs use different techniques to split the viewpoint between subjects. Here, the mirror image creates dynamic perspective and leaves anyone looking closely wondering. Because to the far right, there is a man’s partial face in the reflection, watching her. The questions raised by his presence make the image more interesting—even more so with self-title “Two Seconds of Hesitation”.
Thibaud Saintin used Nikon D700 and 50mm f/1.4 lens to shoot the pic on Jan. 1, 2013, at the “Edelweiss cafe, Georgetown, Penang”. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand, where he teaches French. Vitals: f/2.2, ISO 1000, 1/40 sec, 50.4mm.
Early Micro Fourth Thirds and oddballs like the Sigma DP1 led affordable, mirrorless cameras to popularity. Among the key benefits: Convenience of a rangefinder, like the one used on Day 87, but for much less cost; physically smaller size; and lenses that are less bulky. The DP line, like the Fuji X100 series or the Leica X1 and X2, stand out for being compacts with fixed lenses and APS-C sensors common among digital SLRs. Another, the Sony Cyber-Shot RX1, and companion RX1R, up the ante by offering something more: full-frame sensor.
A full-frame sensor is typically 24mm by 36mm with an effective focal point of 35mm. APS-C is cropped, by comparison, adding an effective multiple of around 1.5 times (depending on the camera) to the lens’ focal length. Full frame captures more detail, suffers from fewer visual artifacts, and produces better results in natural or low-light. You pay more, too. Either RX1 retails for around $2,800—for camera with fixed, non-interchangeable lens.
Justin Kern used the RX1 to shoot today’s selection, which I chose for its detail, rich color, and stark contrast—perspective smartly split between the bus interior and the road outside. Vitals: f/2, ISO 125, 1/80 sec, 35mm.
When choosing photos for this series, I weigh many considerations, such as: Image quality and appeal, composition, and story behind the image or the one about the shooter. Today’s selection is soft and doesn’t represent the high IQ typical of Matt MacGillivray. But it’s a great shot superbly composed (or cropped) that is interesting. Bird and bricks? WTH?
Matthew works for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as a web application system architect. But birds are a passion, as his photography shows. He shot self-titled “Snowy” on Jan. 4, 2009, using Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi and Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 lens. Vitals: f/7.1, ISO 200, 1/400 sec, 400mm.
Today’s selection comes with a question: Does the effect appeal to you? Computer scientist by day, photographer the rest of the time, Pedro Szekely is a fan of HDR—high dynamic range—techniques for shooting and processing images. Done right, the method can add great depth to the final photo, particularly when taken in unfavorable conditions, such as low or harshly-mixed lighting.
Self-titled “La Nave de Juan Diego”, captured on July 10, 2013, is one of Pedro’s better photos using HDR. On Day 105, we saw example of a photographer who years later decided the original was better than the HDR composite. By contrast, given the high view count of this photo, more than 22,000, and that of other renders in the photostream, many, many other people presumably prefer Pedro’s punchy style.
File today’s selection under category “less is more”. Joe Dammel borrowed a friend’s Nikon D3000 to shoot self-titled “Mickey’s Dining Car” on Oct. 26, 2011. The original was a “7-shot HDR image” that nearly two years later demanded re-processing “to better-reflect my editing tastes today”—June 2013, according to the metadata. “I realized that the original single image kept all of the tones I’d ever need”.
Hence, we have “Mickey’s Diner Take 2”. He adds: “My workflow now is about isolating the subject in a more natural way, emphasizing the tonality of the image rather than tone mapping the hell out of it”. Please compare to the original; I, too, prefer the second take. Vitals: f/8, ISO 100, 1 sec, 18mm.
In making today’s selection, I set out looking for a dramatic view of our planet—perhaps surging storms below. But self-titled “Sun Over Earth” wins the Day for composition, perspective, and sense of being there. NASA […]
Today’s selection is good example where black and white makes an image that color could ruin. I generally like the energy and enthusiasm of self-titled “La Course”, which Franck Vervial captured on Aug. 19, 2011, […]
Our pick uses similar technique as Day 101: Selective color highlights one subject while subtlety drawing attention to another, in black and white. Both photos were also captured in 2008, this one on May 25 (the […]