Pentland Firth Sunset.

[Mystical Potato Head]

Stunning photo

Thanks Kara,all down to luck.Right place,right time.

[donnick]

Stunning photo MPH.

cherokee - If you like the image does it matter how it was produced?

Your implication is that it would lessen your appeal to an image just by knowing if it had been altered in some way. I'm not clear where this mentality originates from or why.

Whether film or digital, original or filtered / altered, the resulting image has been produced using a man made device that captures light and stores it artificially (on plastic silver coated film or a digital storage card).

If the end result pleases the viewer, surely that is all that matters?

DEEMAC do u think that your out burst would put people off commenting on photographers pic. It was a innocent enough question that cherokee asked to his/her own admittance they said they were not knowledge enough before you were not clear about there mentality .Surely its best that we all don't like the same thing BORING WORLD

[Aaldtimer]

Donnick, I think you should read MPH's post #13 before ranting yourself!

[Mystical Potato Head]

A portrait version.

[wifie]

The only thing wrong with that pic, MPH, is I canna fit it all on my monitor! Even using F11 (one of the best tips I ever got btw!)

[nirofo]

To my mind if it's sharp, well composed and looks good to me, then I don't care what you did to it in Photoshop. What I don't like is shots being presented as straight from the camera when it's obvious they are not, or natural history shots being presented as true wildlife when it's obvious that they're captive animals/birds etc, (zoo shots).

The vertical format works well for your Pentland Firth Sunset MPH.

nirofo.

[Kenn]

What happened to all the glorious sunsets we were supposed to get as a result of all that volcanic dust?
So far there has been two feeble attempts where I'm living.

That vertical sunset would make a fabulous, if very annoying jigsaw MPH

[Sporran]

I love that version too, MPH!

[Mystical Potato Head]

What happened to all the glorious sunsets we were supposed to get as a result of all that volcanic dust?
So far there has been two feeble attempts where I'm living.

That vertical sunset would make a fabulous, if very annoying jigsaw MPH

Especially if you have a few pieces missing.

[donnick]

Donnick, I think you should read MPH's post #13 before ranting yourself!

and you point is , i think you will find it wasn't a rant .just an observation that it may put people of posting when innocent questions were asked thats all

[Aaldtimer]

and you point is , i think you will find it wasn't a rant .just an observation that it may put people of posting when innocent questions were asked thats all

My point is that Deemac made a perfectly reasonable comment to Cherokee, Cherokee seemed to think she was being "lambasted", MPH pointed out the reasonableness of Deemac's post, and you decided to be the knight on the white charger!
You obviously didn't read the whole thread.

[Mystical Potato Head]

and you point is , i think you will find it wasn't a rant .just an observation that it may put people of posting when innocent questions were asked thats all

I think you'll find Deemacs wasnt a rant or a lambast either,just a honest opinion,a honest comment,free from personal abuse or insult.
What is wrong with that??

Trouble with honesty on here is, that in certain circles, if you criticise someones comment or their photograph then some of their mates,who used to comment on your photos before, will take the huff with you and not comment any more.Even if you posted that photo of a lifetime you would still get nada,zilch.

This leads to comments based on who the photographer is,irrespective of the content/quality of their photos.Even an avarage photo sometimes gets a reaction that must make the poster think that their on a par with Colin Prior.I find that more objectionable than taking offence at someone's abuse free honest opinion....Must be the nature of photography because i havn't come across a forum yet that doesnt have its obvious cliques.

[Kenn]

Now that would be an achievement to be on a par with Colin Prior but most of us can only dream of reaching such a standard of excellence although there has been more than one picture posted on this forem that I suspect he too would be quite proud of.
It is of great interest however to get day to day views of the county whether they are of people,flora,fauna or the ever changing sceenery and with this is mind, I do not expect them all to be perfect.
Would it not be possible to have a question and answer thread so that those of us who have neither the expertise or the equipment can seek assistance regarding various aspects of the hobby?
I have found folk very helpful and friendly despite having made a few criticisms myself over the years and surely it is better to ask rather than be put off because one feels one's standard is too low. It might also avoid some of the comments that cause friction which I feel should be left to the general forem, as in all things we each have a differing opinions which could be expressed in the way of advice rather than appearing as a rebuff.

[Mystical Potato Head]

Now that would be an achievement to be on a par with Colin Prior but most of us can only dream of reaching such a standard of excellence although there has been more than one picture posted on this forem that I suspect he too would be quite proud of.
It is of great interest however to get day to day views of the county whether they are of people,flora,fauna or the ever changing sceenery and with this is mind, I do not expect them all to be perfect.
Would it not be possible to have a question and answer thread so that those of us who have neither the expertise or the equipment can seek assistance regarding various aspects of the hobby?
I have found folk very helpful and friendly despite having made a few criticisms myself over the years and surely it is better to ask rather than be put off because one feels one's standard is too low. It might also avoid some of the comments that cause friction which I feel should be left to the general forem, as in all things we each have a differing opinions which could be expressed in the way of advice rather than appearing as a rebuff.

I am not berating ppls standards at all,nor am i having a go at peoples rights to their own opinion.
Just wish some were a bit more honest,even if it did dent the posters ego a bit.

[dragonfly]

I am not berating ppls standards at all,nor am i having a go at peoples rights to their own opinion.
Just wish some were a bit more honest,even if it did dent the posters ego a bit.

I agree, we are all on a continuous learning curve, some more advanced than others granted but I do think that those with more knowledge skills could help by giving constructive critisism.......instead of saying "nice" it would help if someone were to say "nice however with that image you could have done this that or the other" and give food for thought to the poster and next time they might consider doing x, y or z either while taking the image or while processing it

[Mystical Potato Head]

I agree, we are all on a continuous learning curve, some more advanced than others granted but I do think that those with more knowledge skills could help by giving constructive critisism.......instead of saying "nice" it would help if someone were to say "nice however with that image you could have done this that or the other" and give food for thought to the poster and next time they might consider doing x, y or z either while taking the image or while processing it

Trouble with constructive critisism,even when given with the best of intensions, is that it is sometimes met with a "who are you to criticise" attitiude.

Well here's a link that should help everyone,no matter where they are on the learning curve.
Its a sunrise/sunset calculator which tells you what angle,height the sun is for any given time for any given location.Obviously if theres a dirty big mountain between you and the sun then the rise and set times will be wrong but at least it will let you know that if you wanted to catch the sun low behind Castlehill harbour tonight for example,roughly when and where you need to be standing to catch it.

http://www.iesmith.net/tools/solarcalc.html

Remember to tick the daylight savings or you'll be there an hour early.

[golach]

MPH, your photographs are good, may I suggest you close this thread and stop the whingers having a soapbox to climb upon.

[Kenn]

Thanks for the link MPH very useful but think I will pass on the dawn!

[Mystical Potato Head]

Thanks for the link MPH very useful but think I will pass on the dawn!

I usually do as well Lizz.

[wifie]

OK I tried using the multi-quote thingy but it all got a bit much!

Here's my tuppence worth - with apologies to golach for jumping up on the empty soapbox!

Some of the alleged slagging on here, I feel, has come about because of how someone has taken a particular post!

I don't think that cherokee meant they wouldn't like MPH's pic if he had "tweaked" it. They said it was a beautiful pic no matter what! I would say this was obvious from the consequent dialogue between the poster and MPH!

I think Deemac was wrong in his inference of their implication and he can be brusque (I hope you will agree Deemac). (Oh and I also apologise for my pith take re the "savage" comment - but you know I canna help myself).

Donnick and Aaldtimer - you both have a point - I think a lot of us are guilty of jumping in with both feet if we feel moved enough! Does that make us wrong or just passionate?

Nirofo, I do hope you were not taking a dig at anyone but merely expressing an opinion. I think most pic posters on here are honest enough to say whether their pics are "tweaked". Let's be honest tho, with today's available technology, would we all not be guilty of some manipulation, even if it is just to crop out something we did not spot in taking the image? I have to say tho that at least you made a comment about the photograph which was the intended subject of this thread which is more than Donnick and Aaldtimer did (tsk tsk ).

Dragonfly, I notice you did not comment on the pics either and whilst I agree with what you said there will be people who comment only because they did or did not enjoy the image and will not be able to say - "nice, but perhaps you could try this" - this is not a photography site and the viewers come from a diverse cross section of society tied together by the common link that is Caithness.

"Must be the nature of photography because i havn't come across a forum yet that doesnt have its obvious cliques." MPH it is the nature of forums I think - unless one is a very special person it will be natural to side with a friend and make cliques seem like the cause. I have to say tho that I agree with what you have said many times that there does seem to be a tide of change in what used to be a very friendly section with a huge diversity of abilities posting. I did make comment about surfing pics being posted on general when normally there would have been a link to this section. I hope this was not deliberate but who knows?

I love this photo section and it is in part responsible for me trying to get more into photography (somewhat slowly). I have gotten tons of encouragement and advice thru PM from many photographers on here and I really am grateful. I have also received rep for pictures (I even got some from Deemac for an architecture shot I tried - nearly fell off my seat like but it was a proud moment!) which I do value. Some people do not like rep - I am not too bothered by how many points I have but I love the fact that someone has taken the time to comment on something I have posted!

Soz this is such a long post but I just felt moved to construct it!