Different Photos... Options

[stevealmighty]

To avoid hijacking another thread, it was recommended that I start a different thread so that we could share some of the really neat photos that we've taken over the years.

Really quick, I'm a digital photographer working for the government at an Army base. It's the 10th Mountain Division, located at Fort Drum, NY. It's also the most deployed division in the United States Army, and has been involved in every major deployment since the 80's, and even some minor ones that didn't really make the national or world news. I was stationed there for 5 long years while I was active Army. My job is to "document the Divisions history", but it entails more than just that (all other duties as assigned....those who served know what I mean ). I'll post a picture every now and again, some of my better shots, or just different shots. It'll be a lot of military stuff, so if you're prior service you might get a kick out of them. While the photos are digital, there are NO alterations to them, aside from color corrections and taking out dust/dirt/water spots on my lens.

Feel free to comment about them, or ask questions about them. I'll be glad to chat about any of the photos I took.

This first one here I just love! It's of some 10th Mountian soldiers who were deploying in support of the war on terrorism just after 9/11. These guys were some of the VERY FIRST troops to be deployed from the division.

Again, no digital adjustments made to this, although when I saved it for the web, it was considerably darker than the original.

[Rimmer]

I have some technical questions, if I may.

• When I download the image and open it I get a "Color profile mismatch" error which I've never seen before. Any ideas what that's about?
• It's an excellent image for only 93KB - did you do anything in particular to get it to that size?
• There's something odd about the way the camoflage comes out if you boost the gamma. Any comments on that?
• What did you use to remove the blemishes from the photos? Photoshop?

Thanks for posting the pic(s).

[stevealmighty]

I have some technical questions, if I may.

• When I download the image and open it I get a "Color profile mismatch" error which I've never seen before. Any ideas what that's about?
  
• It's an excellent image for only 93KB - did you do anything in particular to get it to that size?
  
• There's something odd about the way the camoflage comes out if you boost the gamma. Any comments on that?
  
• What did you use to remove the blemishes from the photos? Photoshop?

Thanks for posting the pic(s).

Well, the color profile mismatch is because I saved that one for printing (after I had printed it) and then changed it for web/email use. I use "Eye One" to calibrate my monitor to my printer, so that my colors are accurate. What happened was that it was given a profile, then printed. I then saved it for web/email and accidently saved the profile along with it. That's where the "Color profile mismatch" error comes from on your machine. You can try saving it with a different name as a .jpg and it may or may not get rid of that profile. It's nothing with your computer or you, so don't sweat it

As far as it looking good for only 93kb, I dropped the resolution to 100 pixels per inch and saved it at medium quality as a .jpg. I've found that saving things as 100-150 ppi at a medium .jpg helps them to look better on the computer monitors as compared to saving them at 72 ppi at a high .jpg. Even though most monitors only display 72 dpi, sacrificing the higher quality jpg setting at a lower resolution for a lower quality jpg setting at a higher resolution is usually better in the long run.

They way the camoflage (or BDU's rather) comes out when you boost the gamma is a little more technical. The information for the color and their BDU's is there, meaning that it's in the original image. It's just that it's so faint that the camera recognizes it as "near black" or "nearly no information". When you adjust the gamma and whatnot, you bring out the detail, but the program "guess's" what's supposed to be there, so it becomes grainy and looks crappy. It's the same reason why when you have a really dark image on your computer and you try to "brighten" it up, it becomes really grainy or pixelated looking. Now, with that said, I shot the picture at the highest resolution setting that the camera had, so it captured the image at 300 ppi! Meaning that the original image was of excellent quality. If I had shot it at the lowest resolution and only 72 ppi like most "point and shoot" digital cameras have, it probably wouldn't have picked up on that much detail.

Yes, I used photoshop to take out the dust/dirt that was on my lens. I believe that that camera also had a spec of dust on the imager itself, that always showed up. I don't have that camera any more, as it's outdated and Kodak doesn't make it any longer (it was a Kodak DCS 660).

Did this answer all your questions? If not let me know!

Thanks!

[Scarlett]

Hi stevealmighty

I think your photo is just wonderful!
The emotions that it convey's are just overwhelming.

Thanks so much for sharing.

This post has been edited by Scarlett: Feb 12 2006, 10:29 PM

[stevealmighty]

Thanks Scarlett! That photo went over well on post just after I took it. It was actually enlarged to about 2ft by 3ft and put on "display" at the divisions RDF (Rapid Deployment Facility), which is where the original picture was taken.






I put another picture on this website of a C-5 Galaxy plane with the nose of the plane "up" and the tail of it "down". You can view that image HERE. It's a pretty neat sight, not to mention that the plane itself is huge! I did that picture just a short while ago.

[stevealmighty]

Here's one that I did a few years back. I obviously set this one up. Simply had a soldier stand at attention and salute. Simple enough, but I like how the sunlight seems to be between the camera and the soldier, but his body and hand block part of the sun itself. Also a little lens flare to go along with the "cross" of the sun.

[stevealmighty]

Doing a 6 mile roadmarch.......1 blister.

Doing a 6 mile roadmarch in about an hour.......4 blisters.

Doing a 6 mile roadmarch in about an hour while carrying roughly 60lbs of extra weight......7 blisters.

Doing a 6 mile roadmarch in about an hour while carrying roughly 60 pounds of extra weight when it's 12 degrees outside with the wind blowing 15-20 mph all while snowing 3 inches per hour and still managing to give a thumbs up for a photo......PRICELESS

!

[Scarlett]

Wonderful shots!

God bless our men and women in the Armed Forces.

[Rimmer]

Great pic.

[boopme]

Excellent work..you have a great eye !!!

[stevealmighty]

Wow, thanks for all the compliments everyone! They're sincerely appreciated

[stevealmighty]

In talking with Pandy about blackhawk helicopters, I remembered that I did this photo a few years back. It's of a blackhawk hovering over the "10th Mountain Division Statue", which is somewhat of a symbol to this division. It was actually a roayal pain to shoot, due to the fact that I was only about 30 feet away, and the rotorwash (wind produced by the blades) is roughly 180 mph! Needless to say it's windy

The aviation commander actually started using this picture on Plaques and awards for soldiers, too.

[cybormoron]

wow steve...great pics. thanks from an old USAF veteran. if i may i'd like to enter the 6 mile march pic to a "picture of the week" thread that i belong to. it's purely for entertainment purposes only. it's located here. if not ok then i will promptly remove it.

[stevealmighty]

wow steve...great pics. thanks from an old USAF veteran. if i may i'd like to enter the 6 mile march pic to a "picture of the week" thread that i belong to. it's purely for entertainment purposes only. it's located here. if not ok then i will promptly remove it.

No no no, have at it Thanks for the curtosey link BTW These photos aren't copyright protected, so it's ok to use them elsewhere, although I do sincerely apprectiate the credit for the photos too! I know that I've got some of my pictures as wall paper on more than one computer....the one of the "sunset soldiers" is popular, specially among the troops!

USAF vet huh? Very nice, and thanks for all that you've done, from an Army vet to a USAF vet, it doesn't get much better than this Did you notice the link a few posts up that points to some planes? There's some neat shots, one of a galaxy plane, and another of a wart hog. Might bring back some memories from some younger years.......

Thanks and please enjoy the photos

Oh, and let me know how it rates

This post has been edited by stevealmighty: Mar 29 2006, 08:07 AM

[ockron]

Awesome pics mate!!