The Shore

Ray Sachs

Legend
Location
Not too far from Philly
Name
you should be able to figure it out...
I spent most of the last week and a half at the Jersey Shore - Long Beach Island for those who know the area. Photography wasn't the point but, as usual, I did some anyway! I shot with a combination of the X100 and GRD3. Between these two cameras, I think I may be able to shoot 90% of anything I care to shoot - at least one of them was pretty much always with me. I thought about splitting this out into existing X100 and GRD3 threads, but that would be an arbitrary splitting up of the images, so I'm putting them here and I guess I'll link to this in those threads. Did some color and B&W. Some low light and some very high light.

The whole set can be seen here, if interested:

The Shore - a set on Flickr

-Ray
 
And some B&W - mostly GRD3, only the fourth is the X100. I used the GRD3 in Hi Contrast B&W scene mode for several of these, and several in RAW. I don't like to eliminate the latitude I get with RAW, but that particular jpeg scene mode gets it right so often and I can still tweak them in Silver Efex more than I thought I'd be able to.

A soldier's prayer. This guy was on leave before shipping out to Afghanistan. A very nice young guy enjoying the beach with his girlfriend. Extremely gung-ho about shipping out. I liked him and lot and fear for his enthusiasm. I hope to see him back at the shore in a couple of years...
View attachment 38526

NY tough guys:
View attachment 38527

Sister in law:
View attachment 38528

The best burger and shake joint in the WORLD! I've been going there for 20 years and my wife's been going for about 40 - a real institution...
View attachment 38529

Sunrise:
View attachment 38530

Glass table:
View attachment 38531
 
Thank you Ray - and good idea about posting them in here. I'll also make my way over to Flickr at some point later on today. Always enjoy looking at your photos, Ray. This time in this group, your first of the two, young and innocent in color...and the young man with the soldier's prayer etched on his back are my two favorites.
 
What do you use for pp? I've been looking for something like this but Lightroom does not have it. I'm loving thse pics, especially the beach one.

Those are all Color Efex Pro. Each has a couple of filters run in sequence. Usually either the "glamour glow" or "brilliance/warmth" to start and then the "Polaroid" effect they have for a bit more smearing, texture, and the jagged borders. I haven't really gotten comfortable with a lot of the filters in that program, but I've found a handful I can work with.

Got the case BTW - thanks again.

-Ray
 
ugog, that is one heck of a beautiful place! As stunning as the first is, I really, really like your second - I posted on Flickr. Great color and those girls and their dogs...with the stones and clouds all worked out just right!(y)
 
Quick question, I have the student edition of Nik software, the lightroom version....wht's the difference with the student version and the pro?
 
Quick question, I have the student edition of Nik software, the lightroom version....wht's the difference with the student version and the pro?
They're identical. I initially bought the student version of Silver Efex Pro for my daughter and then bought the full suite for myself. Its all the same software. As long as you keep it up to date. There are (or were?) a few levels of Color Efex Pro you could buy though and the more you paid, the more filters you got. There was some other technical limitation with the cheaper versions too, but I can't remember what it was. I just ended up getting the full package. I use Silver Efex Pro ALL the time, Color Efex Pro often enough to be glad I have it, Define from time to time, and haven't touched the other components. But maybe someday...

-Ray
 
Ray don't you find the X100 makes the GRD III redundant?

Not at ALL. The GRD3's snap focus and nearly infinite depth of field makes it the best "from the hip" street shooting camera I've ever used. The LX5 can come close, but its not as quick or easy to get set for the shot where the GRD3 seems like it was completely customized and made for that. Its also as pocketable as my old S90 was so I have it with me more of the time. And I'm coming to love the high contrast B&W "scene" mode on occasion - its the only OOC B&W I've ever liked at all. I still shoot raw with it mostly, but sometime that mode just insists on being used and helps me see in a way that I might not otherwise.

Every camera I've had has a slightly different feel and personality and I seem to see and shoot differently with each. The X100 has the best low light ability and best overall IQ of any camera I've owned (for more than a few days - the Sony A33 with a Zeiss lens that I bought and soon returned was pretty astounding as well). And I enjoy the OVF for some situations. But it almost feels like a big heavy Mercedes compared to the GRD3, which feels like the lightest and most nimble little sports car ever.

Oh, and some people think 28mm and 35mm fields of view are too close to worry about the difference. But I find them very different. The 35 is almost like a standard FOV, with just enough extra width to get more into the shot. But it doesn't feel like a wide angle to me. Everything I see with a 28mm feels wide to me and that seems to make a huge difference in seeing and composing a shot. As much as I like 35mm, I think 28mm is more of a sweet spot for me and if I had to choose, I'd prefer 28mm. But I'm really happy having both!

-Ray
 
Those are all Color Efex Pro. Each has a couple of filters run in sequence. Usually either the "glamour glow" or "brilliance/warmth" to start and then the "Polaroid" effect they have for a bit more smearing, texture, and the jagged borders. I haven't really gotten comfortable with a lot of the filters in that program, but I've found a handful I can work with.

Got the case BTW - thanks again.

-Ray

The "film effects" filters are some of the other great filters to look out for in Color Efex.
 
We were back at Long Beach Island for a few days again earlier this week. I shot almost exclusively with the EP3, which I'm enjoying immensely. Not quite the IQ or low light of the X100, not quite as unobtrusive as the GRD3, but my goodness its versatile. I can do just about anything I'd want to with it and with a few lenses available. The weather was very volatile and dramatic again. This post starts with one very dramatic shot from June that I know I posted here somewhere but, to my surprise, it wasn't in the original post in this thread. And then several from this week. In the first few, the end of the world seemed to be approaching yet AGAIN as we went about out bathing business! About a half hour after these shots were taken, the heavens did, in fact, open and everyone on the beach scurried back up to shelter. Quite interesting viewing beforehand though.

First, one from June, for context (this was shot with the Fuji):

View attachment 40328

And a few from this week, with the EP3 - btw, these are NOT with an art filter, but are processed similarly to the dramatic tone filter:

-Ray

View attachment 40329

View attachment 40330

View attachment 40331

View attachment 40332

View attachment 40333

And a couple from a less dramatic moment:

View attachment 40334

View attachment 40335

View attachment 40336
 
Back
Top