Hazy Days

[xahu34]

It is (to some extent) informative to read the recent posts in the thread "Comments on slide shows" by ABD/deskjet1uk. My question is: Wouldn't it be more helpful to leave the meta-level (the discussion on the discussion of slide shows) and study practical examples instead?

I have uploaded my recent show (http://www.mediafire.com/?zhy2s9k3dc92clj) which may serve as an example. As Xaver does not really exist, there will no risk that someone will run into trouble with him, no matter what his/her comment may be.

The pictures were taken on some hazy days (German: Trübe Tage) in (and around the) Vosges, France. I have to admit: The title and the narration are given in German.

Best regards,

Xaver

[mhwarner]

Xaver (or whoever you are since you say Xaver doesn't exist),

I very much enjoyed your Hazy Days slideshow, in spite of the fact that I didn't understand any of the German titles or narration. The pictures pretty much spoke for themselves and the voice of the narrator (yours?) was quite pleasant, even though I have no clue what was being said. I particularly liked the stork pictures and those of the narrow streets with the colorful house fronts. I'm not sure that the "disappearing" people added anything to the show, though. Some of the architectural angles were interesting and I suspect a few were caused by either the lack of a wide angle lens or the inability to move away far enough to capture the buildings regardless. I did like the vertical panorama of the one church building. Perhaps you might consider editing a few of the photos to slightly remove the "keystoning" effect.

I was also impressed with the introductory slides. I liked the title animation and I thought the whole map sequence was a good addition to the show and well done.

My only real negative comment was that I thought a few of the photos were a bit too heavily processed in that HDR-like (sort of metalic) manner that seems to be so popular these days.

The show is definitely a keeper for me and sometime I'd love to read a brief translation of the title, location, and narrative in English. Thanks for sharing this and I hope it will bring many comments as I will be interested to hear what others think of it as well.

[dadou]

Hello Xaver's inspirator

Happy to read what Mhwarner says ! I think that I approuve all !

I do not understand german , and english is difficult for me .

I imagine that you did this slide show for friends ?

Good representation of a hazy day ; happy if you will do the same a sunny day because all this area is colourfull .

I also find that the HDR is too heavy ; I think that if you put more contrast it will be more realist : blacks are deep black into a church for me .

I understand the necesity of the use of grand angular lens ....Perhaps I should have corrected a little the verticals ? It is only a personal preference .

I think that you did a good "souvenir" for friends or family !

Thanks to have show us this part of Europe .

daniel

[xahu34]

Mary, Daniel,

Thank you for your remarks on the images of my slide show.

A remark on my equipment: I use 2 EOS cameras with the typical crop factor of 1.6, and 3 zoom lenses (10-22, 17-70, 70-300), so there isn't a lack of a wide angle lens. I do not like to have people, cars, traffic signs etc. on my images, so I tend to choose my perspectives appropriately.

Key stoning / Converging lines: I know that a lot of people think that vertical lines of buildings should be strictly vertical on images, as well. I normally make perspective corrections, but often not 100% in order to avoid the images to look top-heavy, which does not look natural in my eyes.

HDR / Contrast masking: Mary mentions that she does not like the "HDR-like (sort of metallic) manner that seems to be so popular these days". This is not the first time that I hear this, in particular friends with a long experience in photography (often with less experience in Photoshop) do not like this manner, either. I am a friend of Barry Beckham's position, to use image manipulation techniques in order to bridge the gap between what the camera captures, and what the human eye is able to see (See Barry's recent show on "Exposure"). The attached images show 2 "originals" of images of my show (exposed while preserving the sky), and the corresponding manipulated versions using contrast masking in one case (based on 1 image), and HDR+PS in the other one (based on 3 images). It is surely a matter of taste which version you prefer. (The uploaded images have size 1200x800, and may not look sharp in the browser!)

Again, many thanks for your remarks!

Additional remark: The comments of Mary and Daniel mainly concentrate on the images which are only part of the show. AV should be regarded as more than a sequence of images with some music in the background. There are other aspects such as: The choice of the music; the synchronization of the transitions with respect to the music; the question if the show "tells us a story" instead of being more or less a random concatenation of images, and a lot more ... Comments in this forum often read like "Nice show", "Love it", "Wonderful images" etc. This is polite and friendly, but does it help the author? If there are some substantial remarks, they often concentrate on the images, and not on AV in general. An exception here is Peter's (fh1805) contribution to the recent Le Mans Show of Ralph (deskjet1uk). This is the way I would like to read comments.

Best regards,

Xaver

[rick235]

I don't understand German but the images speak for themselves, well done.

Rick.

[dadou]

Xaver: I think as you about the taste about the images corrections ; I respect your choice for the verticals ; I have the same , perhaps with more intervention ...

About the HDR , I was thinking to the interior views ; I also think that the eye has more posibilities than our captors , but it is overall by the posibily of accomodation ....Other time , each one his taste .

For the audio part : the choice and synchronisation seems to me a very personal choice ; two posibilities : I appreciate or I do not ; in the second case , I say that I do not understand the choise of this piece of music or the synchronisation manner .

In your slide show , all the sound seems to be well done . I do not understand the commentary , but it seems perfect !

As you said earlier , a great time is necesary to do a correct comment ...

[trailertrash]

Xaver, I didnt understand the commentry but I didnt need to. The photography spoke for itself.

I really like the effect you applied to. Entirely appropiate. Good music at the right volume.

All together a very very enjoyable show.

Andrew

[xahu34]

This thread is to be seen as an addendum to the pinned thread of ADB and deskjet1uk on comments on slide shows. From my side, any kind of substantial commentary on my show is welcome. What is the result, so far: The show has been downloaded about 70 times. A few comments have been given, and I wish to thank those who provided a contribution.

The comments mainly concentrated on the images of the show. Again we may ask (as in some other thread): Is the A in AV not important for the majority of the forum members? This may not be the case, but I think that for most members the interaction of A and V isn't a subject at all!? Some people in this forum have expressed their interest to learn AV from the commentaries given in the forum, but regarding the comments that are typically given here, this seems to be difficult, in my opinion.

Members who want to improve their AV skills may search the web for other sources, such as the Ron Davies method on producing AV sequences ( http://www.theiac.org.uk/training/ron-davies/ron-davies-on-av1.html ), Doreen Pollock's notes on narration ( http://www.ibateman.co.uk/wcc/av-group/av-scripts.htm ), Achim Maier's Gestaltungs-Tipps ( in German, http://www.media-maier.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=95 ), and others.

Best regards,

Xaver

[mhwarner]

Xaver,

Since you asked, my primary interest in AV (as you call it), is strictly to present my photography in an interesting and pleasing manner to (1) my friends and family, (2) customers who have purchased a CD/DVD of from me of photographs of an event or activity that I have taken, or (3) others to whom I may be trying to sell one or more prints of my photographs. While I understand that they are a big deal in Europe, in the US, there are not many "AV Clubs" at least not that I know of (or maybe there are some in larger cities that I am unaware of). So I have no interest in preparing sequences to be shown at an AV club. While I can see that others may enjoy telling stories with an AV sequence or preparing a show just for the heck of it or because they have found a piece of music around which they would like to create a show, although I might enjoy doing so, my time is not unlimited and there are other activities I prefer to pursue.

When I download shows from the forum, I will have to be honest that I am primarily looking for good photography, interesting locations and scenery, pleasing transitions, and well-chosen music. The "A" as you refer to it, is for the most part, a very personal choice. If I look at a show and the music seems appropriate to the show and doesn't start or end abruptly, I see no reason to comment on it. I might not necessarily have chosen that piece, but hey, it's not my show. As for spoken commentary, I personally am not a big fan of it. I'd rather see subtitles or scrolling text (or even some street signs to indicate where the photos were taken). That's not to say it shouldn't be done, of course.

I guess what I am saying here is that it sounds as if you are looking for comments similar to those you would get if you showed a sequence at an AV club to a group of people who probably used to do this with multiple slide projectors and film cameras back in the day. That's not me (although I did use slide film and I owned a slide projector) and, I'd be willing to bet that I represent a whole bunch of other members here who are just trying to find fun and interesting ways to present their photography, whether it is vacation pictures, family photos, or other collections of shots. We like to learn and we certainly can benefit from the shows and comments posted here. However, you shouldn't expect to get the same kind of technical feedback from us. I feel qualified and comfortable commenting on the photography in a show, on the quality or the number of those photos or the order in which they are presented. If the music seems relevant to the show and I don't find it annoying, I'm not likely to say anything. Sorry, but that's all you're going to get from me and if it isn't enough, then I will refrain from making any further comments.