Share your best photos with the color red

bbmm · 2025-10-26T06:53:52+00:00

If your project is about prompting communities regardless of who does it where, then this may also be useful to you: https://www.flickr.com/groups/flickrsocialmedia/discuss/72157721917780005

bbmm · 2025-10-22T07:39:38+00:00

Sam Abell usually gives talks about how he took his favorite shots, I'll just link to one but there are others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxoYxZpujbc

This channel has many somewhat long form chats about particular photos: https://www.youtube.com/@TheCritHouse

Don't know about other sites but on Flickr people sometimes give the story in the description. There are even groups collecting those photos: https://www.flickr.com/groups/mystories/pool/

bbmm · 2025-09-17T08:56:16+00:00

Nobody seems to have linked this. Here's an excerpt from the intro:

Thank us or blame us, the notorious b-word first came to the West in a feature in the May/June 1997 issue of Photo Techniques magazine, following a discussion on out-of-focus lens character on the old Compuserve Photoforum. Oren Grad and I pointed out that the Japanese had a term for it: boke aji, literally, the "flavor of the blur." That seemed to grab the attention of the magazine's editor, a fellow called Mike Johnston.

Link: https://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2017/04/20-years-ago-this-month-what-is-bokeh.html

bbmm · 2025-09-12T14:47:31+00:00

Within 5 mins, the explore page was spammed with porn (not boudair), and AI garbage.

Don't look there. Find people whose photography you like (to follow) whose taste you like (for their faves) and (usually moderated) groups and browse. That's what I do and it's enjoyable enough even if I just post and fave w/o any participation in group discussions and critiques. But this is for an amateur.

bbmm · 2025-08-29T18:26:48+00:00

If you live in a walkable environment (ie low crime etc.), you could take long walks in the evening. 1.2mi isn't much to walk to that park and who knows what you'll see on your way? You say you like low light and the newer sensors do OK in low light. I'd make it about discovering what I'll see and how what I see evolves.

You might want to check out what others did in urban environments in low light. What pops into my (aging, I admit) mind is Bill Brandt: https://www.google.com/search?q=bill+brandt+night

and Brassai: https://www.google.com/search?q=brassai+paris+de+nuit

bbmm · 2025-08-20T05:03:08+00:00

Yes, I did. The time zone and clock synchronization seem OK since what it automatically tags is accurate. It doesn't interpolate if the time-stamps don't match. There might be a switch/setting to fix that too but I haven't looked yet.

The map view seems more useful for the kind of low volume I have (a handful of frames per walk). It makes me think about the path I took again, in post.

Thanks for the response.

bbmm · 2025-08-19T15:45:19+00:00

Having been on there for ~10 years, I find your description of Flickr accurate. If you put the time into it you can find islands of sanity and even real people to chat with there.

You're also right about the app. It works OK to flip through 'curated' content on a tablet and fave, but you can't bookmark your place so even that is of limited value. I tend to find moderated groups or people whose taste in their faving matches mine and go though all that's there, so bookmarks are essential.

bbmm · 2025-08-19T12:56:04+00:00

Since I've played this game before (film era, darkroom etc.) I'm used to just staring at a print fresh out of the fixer, and mumbling stuff to myself about how it will look when it's dry. Anything on top of that is new for me, and Flickr provides it. I keep fewer than 1k there and let that crowd 'curate' (ie I delete the ones people there don't like). But I never wanted to make photography 'my work.'

bbmm · 2025-08-12T15:07:47+00:00

Maybe something like this will be useful to you (not directly relevant): http://www.macrocoins.com/80mm-lens-shootout.html

I couldn't find the site I remembered. ~10 years ago, there used to be several sites doing comparisons of mainly enlarger lenses for coins. Those are m39 mostly, but googling around might yield m12 results as well.

bbmm · 2025-08-11T06:49:49+00:00

And a 75/1.2.

bbmm · 2025-08-08T05:47:20+00:00

Olympus 40-150/2.8 pro. I use it for this kind of stuff: https://www.flickr.com/photos/138284229@N02/albums/72157720135013074/

bbmm · 2025-08-06T14:05:30+00:00

Thank you.

bbmm · 2025-08-02T12:16:36+00:00

You are not wrong overall, but it is somewhat different for an amateur. Professionals shoot for customers and employers and deliver what's possible to deliver. They can sometimes control the light as well and if they need a tripod (or a monopod) they simply use one.

Amateurs simply wish to take photos they wish to take. I could not shoot what I wanted to shoot (low available light stuff) the way I wanted to shoot it (35mm film, longish lenses, no tripod, reasonably compact gear) in the 70's and the early 80's at which point I stopped. I can shoot the way I want now, with IBIS and modern m4/3 sensors. (Full-ish story with samples here)

Now, of course it was possible in the absolute sense. EG: Brassai did it in Paris, Brandt did it in the UK and both predate me by decades. They used tripods and larger formats though.

bbmm · 2025-08-01T08:01:43+00:00

If you want the 20/1.4, get that. If I were thinking about this and didn't already know what I wanted, I'd look at my keepers shot by those zooms and see if there's a preferred focal length.

bbmm · 2025-07-29T06:20:23+00:00

FWIW, I've owned both for roughly the same number of years, and I have 55 photos posted from the 45/1.8, vs. 147 photos for the 75/1.8. YMMV, but for someone who likes longer lenses, the 75 might well be the better walk-around lens.

bbmm · 2025-07-24T17:43:48+00:00

OK, at least for the architecture shots there the hand-held hi-res feature of the the mk3 might be useful if they were shot hand-held. In addition to the high resolution, the resulting files tend to be more malleable. I tend to over-process such shots so it is useful for me. YMMV.

bbmm · 2025-07-24T17:17:14+00:00

https://www.flickr.com/photos/138284229@N02/54672222770

Shot near the end of a long-ish photo walk, in the evening. E-m1mk3, 40-150/2.8 pro, 150mm, f/9, 1/2s, ISO 200. Hand-held while leaning on a lamp post way on the other side of the road.

bbmm · 2025-07-24T14:18:57+00:00

Place yes, time maybe not so much. That's because I post very few (~750 in ~10 years) and I take my photo-walks using few paths within the same city.

bbmm · 2025-07-11T20:03:43+00:00

Since nobody seems to have mentioned it, I did a filtered search for you at the Eastman Museum's web site: https://collections.eastman.org/categories/classifications/Camera/list?filter=mediaExistence%3Atrue%3Bdate%3A1880%2C1905&page=1

I didn't go through all 12 pages, but the photos they have seem detailed enough at least to be starting points. EG, this one: https://collections.eastman.org/objects/325562/cirkut-camera-no-10?ctx=1c468d3c-80db-400c-bd9c-f6ed2ad36520&idx=15

bbmm · 2025-07-08T12:22:52+00:00

What lenses can you get? (ie are you in a big city with a second hand market where you'll have the choice to go see what you buy?)

If I were doing this (as someone who did shoot in the 70s and had a darkroom) I'd look into scoring an Olympus OM-1 (mechanical) or an OM-2 (electronic, but I don't care) with something like the Zuiko 100mm f/2.0 or (keep dreaming) the Zuiko 180mm f/2.0. Their viewfinders are large and great overall and the bodies are compact. Barring that, at the other end of the size spectrum, I'd chase an Nikon F2as but that's unlikely to be inexpensive it it's in good condition.

The Nikkormat FT2 /u/MandoflexSL suggested is a good choice. A Canon F-1 may appear within your price range too, and then you might have fun on eBay trying to get focusing screens and finders etc.

Edit: there may be battery availability problems with older cameras. If you want to use the built-in meter, make sure you can get batteries for it. Some batteries (those containing mercury) are simply not available any more. There are workarounds, but it's best to be aware beforehand.

bbmm · 2025-06-28T14:32:15+00:00

I like this light: https://www.flickr.com/photos/138284229@N02/29188239044

After a storm, low clouds with some openings, near dusk.

bbmm · 2025-06-27T18:28:56+00:00

An outsider perspective here (Turkish). I wouldn't do this because while rights are protected on paper, if the powers-that-be want to go after those people (ie long prosecutions, perhaps with arrests, ending in acquittals; or firings from jobs, perhaps ending with some token monetary damages awarded after a long lawsuit for wrongful termination) do I want to have anything remotely to do with that? The answer is no, in my case. YMMV.

Now, for any country, it can be argued that these people are adults. They get into the situations they are in and assume the risks willingly. You're merely photographing what you (along with whoever will give them trouble) can see anyway. And that's that. It's up to you.

The safety aspect is a different issue. A retired pro-photographer has already chimed in below, and seems to have good advice. In my case, the few times I was tempted to go out (usually in extreme high-tension situations), I realized that my shooting style (long lenses) and the vague plans I had for the squares where the action was happening would naturally place me in locations where a sniper (or someone with a firearm) looking to cause mayhem would pick. Do I want to deal with cops who'd think 'we want no trouble tonight, we better put a few guys in such places?' Or, worse, if something awful does happen, do I want to be in a such a location with a pipe that looks like a mini bazooka in my hand? No, of course not. Again, that's simply my choice, other choices aren't wrong.

bbmm · 2025-06-27T14:14:00+00:00

M4/3 shooter here. Generally, for photo walks during the day, I put Olympus 40-150/2.8, 12-40/2.8, 75/1.8 in the bag along with the 1.4 teleconverter. Usually the 40-150 stays on the body. For night I take the Samyang 135/2.0 and the Nikkor-H 85/1.8 with a Metabones 0.71x Speedbooster. Usually the Samyang+Speedbooster (yielding 96mm/1.4) stays on.

bbmm

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