Oct 27, 2011 | Landscape Photography
Over a matter of 18min, the sunrise blossomed and lots of pixels died! Our Tuesday morning shoot last week was in the gorgeous little town of Westport, NY and the photo gods were smiling on us. The clouds to the north were killer and the water, the perfect mirror. But how to make the photograph? First was placement of the tripod. There were actually many options, I went with this on the gamble the clouds would end up as you see them, making a great shaped especially when reflected in the water. Now there are two elements you can’t see that I saw in the viewfinder. There was a green lawn on the left and part of the dock structure in the bottom right corner. As you can see, they have both been dealt with in post. Next was the range of light, about 8 stops. The only way I know of dealing with that really easily is HDR, these are five image HDR images. But then there is that magic ingredient I tend to use in about every photograph I take. Time! yeap, I had faith looking at the wind and clouds that if I hung in this one spot, I would a set of images I really like. And water like this that is just a mirror, I can shoot all day and never get bored!
Photos captured by D3x, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 26, 2011 | Landscape Photography
OH HELL YA!
But here’s the problem that rages inside my head. I’m a competitive SOB and I hate to loose. I hate to have a location beat me, I hate for another photographer to get a shot I didn’t because of a mental attitude and I hate not shooting. So, while I get bored with water pretty damn fast, its’ then I dig down and go into the super secret, highly trained, not known mode of, artsy fartsy photography! What’s the difference? First, I’m not a artsy fartsy photographer, not much fluff in the ol Moose. So when I start looking for that kind of photograph, I’m really pushing myself. It’s the same transformation I must make if I’m going to, shudder just thinking about it, shoot flowers! I wouldn’t like put these images in my portfolio (the in thing at the moment) but they will work themselves into a slideshow, some slow piece of music that’s real sappy. These are really simple clicks and other then ACR, nothing done special to finish them. Now how many of these “types” of shots did I take this morning to come up with two I like? A lot which speaks to my inability to make them. Will I push myself to get better at these? Not any time soon!
Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VRII w/TC-17e on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 25, 2011 | Landscape Photography
Coming up with just one click that expresses all you are seeing and feeling can be a real challenge! I can’t say I push myself to tell it all in one photograph, but I try to edit while shooting so I’m not approaching a scene shotgun style. The question comes to my mind then, “What has grabbed my attention?” In the top shot I like the three waterfalls for sure but I also like the feel of the water in the foreground. But it’s not a strong enough like to stay with that so I zoomed in closer. I would have loved to be physically closer and shoot across the top of the water to the falls but since we were on a bridge, getting closer wasn’t an option. I zoomed in but it wasn’t strong enough. A piece of the pump house and a bridge were in the frame (been removed here) was part of the problem. But more was the fact that I wasn’t smacking you, the viewer of my image with the subject. The bottom frame, that’s the one I like the best. It’s tight on the subject with much of the unneeded elements removed. And the subject, that Milky Way Caramel in the water comes out.
Finishing was pretty straight forward. In ACR I worked the Highlights, the whites to make them as clean as I could. That makes the “caramel” visually pop more. After that, I used CEP4 Detail Enhancer to pull out the detail in just the rock. If your wondering about shutter speed, it’s real fast, 1.5sec. That water is ripping! mtc…
Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VRII w/1.7x on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 25, 2011 | Landscape Photography
“So, what do you see here?” I was hit with that question a lot this morning and rightly so! This is Ausable Chasm, a gorgeous geological feature that mother nature has graciously filled with a river. Back in time at this spot the energy of the water was tapped, hence the seen before you. Now the water has this really cool look to it, what I call the “Milky Way Stretch.” With all the fall leaves in the system, the water has a stretched caramel look to it. That instantly got my attention and upon that I built my photography. This top shot is a wide image of the gorge from the bridge that spans it.
The top shot was taken with a 24-70, the bottom with a 70-200 with a 1.7x attached. The photos I saw this morning are these two extremes, from wide to long. All image finishing done in ACR, mother nature didn’t need any help here! mtc…
Photos captured by D3x, 24-70AFS / 70-200VRII on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 24, 2011 | Landscape Photography
With such a rich and gorgeous area, we took the gang to Giant Mtn Roaring Brook and it was a huge hit! I came back with a lot of images I like from this one locale, from shooting straight up, across the brook and then up the hillside. I didn’t even photograph all this short trail has to offer but I got in the licks I could.
These are two simple clicks I took while walking up the trail. I went up with just the 14-24AFS lens but these two scenes needed more lens. So what I do quite often with the D3x is to go into DX Crop mode. This crops the image right at the point of capture and makes the lens attached a little more versatile. Then the post was pretty simple. In just layer I used CEP4 Detail Enhancer and Tonal Contrast to finish the images. Total fun!!! mtc….
Photos captured by D3x, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Oct 24, 2011 | Landscape Photography
Probably as much as railroad tracks, photographers flock to moving water. The allure is obvious, you can create motion in a still photo. But just “milky” water doesn’t make a photograph. There is more to it then that and during our DLWS in Lake Placid last week where we had three water shoots. I’ve received a number of compliments on my images from the shoots with a follow up question of, “How did you get that?” If there is one “trick” to this is what my bud Joe McNally loves to make fun of. I realize I’m photographing bubbles!
The first thing you need is a slow shutter speed. You can do that in a number of ways from lowering Aperture and ISO to attaching a Polarizer or ther filter. Or my favorite way, no light! These shots were taken in the rain at the time the sun was officially setting. It was dark! So getting a slow shutter speed was easy. Now what we’re recording as “flowing water” is actually the bubbles in the water created as it tumbles over rocks. Rocks then are the next key to making this kind of shot. You need rocks to create the bubbles and you need them visually as a sharp element. Without this, everything is blurry to the mind’s eye and that ain’t good. After finding these two prime elements I then personally take a bunch of test shots. I find it hard to predict what the design element of the water will be in advance so I shoot possible candidates and once I find one I like, I go to work.
I normally go through five or six test locations before I find one I like. Once I have the one, I shoot a bunch with varying shutter speeds to look at the final effect of the blur on my LCD. Blur is a combination of water speed vs shutter speed. Once I have the shutter speed dialed in for the particular shot, I will shoot at least a dozen of the one scene. Later at the computer I will select the one I like the best on the pattern of the “bubbles” and finish it.
Finishing can be any number of steps based on the image. You have here everything from dust removal to CEP4 Detail Enhancement, White Neutralizer, Darken/Lighten Center and Silver Efex Pro 2 to a simple Adjustment Layer > Curve. The before and afters are here so you can see where I started to where I ended. mtc…
Photos captured by D3x, 70-200VRII on Lexar UDMA digital film
