Pictures

[wgray8231]

So far, all of my pictures have been taken with my phone (640x480 VGA). I've been cropping them down. Others are uploading the whole picture--often larger when taken with a digital camera. What's everyone's take on the issue?

Don't worry, I still have all the originals.

[ConqSoft]

The software will size it down automatically when you upload it, and it will also keep the full size version available (by clicking the image) for those that want to see the high-res detailed version.

[bobolito]

I like the way it is handled right now, as you said it allows you to see the full version if you want.

[Fire14]

Originally Posted by bobolito

I like the way it is handled right now, as you said it allows you to see the full version if you want.

I agree, it gives you options, which is nice.

[WiggyFife]

I'm cool w/ whatever!!!

[wgray8231]

I also think it's especially important to see some surroundings for camouflaged towers. An unusually tall pine tree-like tower is rather funny.

When it makes the "thumbnails", does it use the middle section of the pic? Some of my towers are off-center or hard to see with the surroundings.

[ConqSoft]

The thumbnail *should* be the same as the full image, only smaller.

[wgray8231]

Shows you how much I've been paying attention.


Side note: I think I've finally moved onto page 2 when the user list is sorted by post number.

[Gamer03]

Originally Posted by WiggyFife

I'm cool w/ whatever!!!

I will have to agree with WiggyFife.

[MOTOhooligan]

I live in Kansas, there isn't very much scenery so I tend to crop the pics so that the part of the tower with the antennas/panels is visible... for those towers that do have interesting scenery I mostly posted two pics, a close up and a wide. I'm an artist, what can I say?

[DarrylLeeOHS30]

i think that if I took them, especially here in the very wooded areas of east tennessee, all the cell phone towers i'd put up would look the same!!! Lol. There are like 10 or 12 here in town that I've seen, and when cropped they look like exactly the same so I probably wouldn't crop them because they'd look the same.

[ShoresGuy]

Personally, I like seeing what's around the tower. Here in Europe, cell phone antennas are mounted on rooftops and most of the time, every provider places their antenna on the same building. Due to the size of the "towers" in Germany, they normally allow people to see what's around them. Furthermore, towers are constructed as masts with a round platform on top on which the antennas are then mounted.

[Jay2TheRescue]

The pics I uploaded today I cropped out my dashboard and mirrors.

[Jonathan Kramer]

I believe that the photos should be large, high quality, color and parallax-corrected. But then again, I shoot for consumption primarily by government planners who need the photos to explain to applicants and planning commissioners why they hold out for better quality sites.

I find that I shoot at least 10:1. That is, I shoot 10 photos hoping to get one that is of the quality and composition that I'm looking for. Only then do I start editing the photo in PhotoShop.

Each photo that I upload here, or to my cellularpcs.com gallery, goes through Photoshop for rotation, sharpness, color correction, and parallax correction.

For those of you who don't know about the impact of lens parallax on a photo, here are examples of before/after parallax correction. Look at the vertical lines in the before/after photos to see the most dramatic impact. Notice that the after impage is slightly cropped due to the de-parallax process, and I've slightly sharpened the after image.

BEFORE (as shot):


AFTER (as corrected):


Anyway, it's the small stuff like parallax correction, cropping, and sharpening that makes a big difference to the effectiveness of the photo.

-Jonathan

[Fire14]

That's a great picture, I have never seen the flagpole antenna's without the outside covering on & how they set them up on the inside.
And yes I see what your saying on the difference betweent the 2 photo's, I guess for me to post here that would be alot more involved for my driveby pictures, but in your line of work I can see the importance of going the extra mile to make them look as sharp & clear as possible.
Keep up the excellent work & posting these great pictures both here & on your site.

[chuikov]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Kramer

I believe that the photos should be large, high quality, color and parallax-corrected. But then again, I shoot for consumption primarily by government planners who need the photos to explain to applicants and planning commissioners why they hold out for better quality sites.

I find that I shoot at least 10:1. That is, I shoot 10 photos hoping to get one that is of the quality and composition that I'm looking for. Only then do I start editing the photo in PhotoShop.

Each photo that I upload here, or to my cellularpcs.com gallery, goes through Photoshop for rotation, sharpness, color correction, and parallax correction.

For those of you who don't know about the impact of lens parallax on a photo, here are examples of before/after parallax correction. Look at the vertical lines in the before/after photos to see the most dramatic impact. Notice that the after impage is slightly cropped due to the de-parallax process, and I've slightly sharpened the after image.

BEFORE (as shot):


AFTER (as corrected):


Anyway, it's the small stuff like parallax correction, cropping, and sharpening that makes a big difference to the effectiveness of the photo.

-Jonathan

It's a beautiful site with or without the correction.

[walkguru]

Originally Posted by Gamer03

I will have to agree with WiggyFife.

yeah me too, whatever works for me.