Apr 25, 2011 | Landscape Photography
Oh yeah, when the show is on at Mono, it’s on! You’ve gotta act quickly because it doesn’t last long. That color can’t be missed but often photographers get sucked into its warmth and focus nowhere else. And while the clouds and really make that an easy thing to do, I’m suggesting you go further, go past the obvious. (The obvious WB-Cloudy A6, Vivid, EV-2 1/15)
Yeap, back to those curves again. I want the viewer to feel in my click what I felt that morning on the bank of Mono Lake. Using that curve, we bring in that intimacy, we create visual depth and the tufas still pop in front of that great color. That last thing I want you to think that ever lakeshore or sunrise has to be photographed in this was to be successful, quite the contrary. I just want you to consider your options and keep in mind the viewer of your photograph when you make that click. Invite the viewer into your image, into your world, into your experience and you will start having more powerful images!
Photos captured by D3x, 24-70AFS (handheld) on Lexar UDMA digital film
Apr 25, 2011 | Landscape Photography
Mono Lake is a favorite of mine, been visiting it since 1959. I have been incredibly fortunate to visit many lakes over the years and none are quite the same as Mono. There are many things contributing to this from location to character. Most think of Mono for the tufa formations at South Tufa and rightly so since this is the only destination for most who visit the lake. I’ve walked the entire circumference of Mono over the years and the one thing you see at South Tufa which is indicative of the lake are the curves on the shoreline. This last week on our latest walk down to the tufas I was watching the photographers and noticed the curves got no attention.
The tufas tower up and are very unique shapes but prior to dawn, they are just shapes. The challenge as I see it is how do you tell the story of Mono Lake, Tufas, dawn and the experience in one click? The camera part is easy, WB-Cloudy A5, Vivid, EV-2 f/5.6 1/10 with all finishing done in ACR. It’s the arranging of the elements that is tricky. The wind was nuts the day before, a blizzard that prevented us from even reaching Mono Lake. It left massive banks of foam which was cool so it outlined the curve of the shoreline. What is it with the curve in the shoreline you ask? If we straighten out that shoreline or not even include, how intimate is the scene? Seriously, you do either and you don’t invite the viewer into the scene but include it and it brings the viewer into your world you saw and felt that moment you went click. Such a simple thing it is easy to overlook, not even consider. Once you do take this into consideration then the only option left is, vertical or horizontal and that is totally your call, there is no right or wrong. Next time you’re at a lake, take note of the shoreline and do a little experiment and take a photo of a cover and or a long stretch and see which one feels more inviting to you, and more importantly, to the viewer of your image.
Photos captured by D3x, 14-24AFS (handheld) on Lexar UDMA digital film
Apr 22, 2011 | Landscape Photography
I woke up at 04:15 to find a blizzard going on! All I say were stars five hours before, the radar showed the storm going north of us but by the time I got up, it had slipped south. There was two inches on the ground when I drove down to meet the boys for our morning shoot but half way there, the lighting started. That means the winds are blowing dangerously and we’re not going shooting!
We headed out at 1PM but the wind was still blowing. Remember that post a couple of days ago, the one with the video with all the wind? Well we ended up there for a little while and the wind was still blowing. These photos were all taken within a matter of minutes of each other. If I had had the time, it would have been a killer place to do a time lapse because the clouds were racing by.
The cool thing was, if you didn’t like the clouds or their shadows (which is why I change the image a little each time I clicked), all you had to do is wait a few moments. The bottom one is my favorite of the three because of the big puffy on the left, it’s a great anchor for everything else.
Photos captured by D3x, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Mar 23, 2011 | Landscape Photography
We’ve been working on this since leaving Kauai two years ago, obtaining access into the Koloa Sugar Mill. Long abandoned and in the beginning phase of being recycled, we were incredibly fortunate to have three hours in this photographic treasure! This is the mill for the most part, but it’s massive and this photo doesn’t do it justice!
I haven’t EVEN got all the images edited let alone finished but wanted to get a couple up just to show how cool of a locale this is. It’s not open to the public, there are no tours so the only way you’ll be able to experience it are through all the images captured by the gang this evening. These are a couple of the HDR shots I took while in the broiler control room.
There were more possible photographs then one could begin to capture spending a month at the mill. The play of light on the most simplest of object in this rusty paradise were at every turn. And if that weren’t enough, that crazy HDR junkie RC was doing HDR portraits of folks amongst all this rust. Wow! It was a great evening that we were so fortunate to have available to us and that I’m thrilled to be able to share with you!
Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Mar 22, 2011 | Landscape Photography
We are having a GREAT time, so good, and don’t take this personally, I decided to play at the Brew with a Crew then blog. We went up to Waimea Canyon for a grand show of light. Being a canyon and being sunset, the sky was much brighter then the bottom of the canyon. We have a number of options to deal with this large, canyonious void of light, split grad and HDR were the two tracks I went for the evening. With RC here coming off finishing the writing of his new HDR book, I went HDR (since I could follow the steps in the highnoon class). Here’s the results, pretty cool. It’s a gorgeous place and as long as you have the light in place, you have the image.
Photo captured by D3x, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
Mar 22, 2011 | Landscape Photography
This morning, we headed to Opaeka’a Falls for our shoot. This was my 3rd time to the falls and I was determined not to come back with the same crap I’d captured before. I looked at my images before coming over of the falls and they really suck. Too much PS used to make up for piss poor technique. It was pitiful!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP9327hdr.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
The light was kinda flat but the greens have all sorts of shades to them lending to lots of color contrast. So the trick was to first decide on the subject, include those elements that support it while excluding those that don’t. Then it was time based on that info to make the shot.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP9390.swf,404, 600 [/swf]
The top image is a 7 image HDR. It’s OK. The 2nd image is a single image clicked finished in ACR and then using Nik’s Color Efex Darken/Lighten Center.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP92571a.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
Next is a single image clicked finished in ACR and then using Nik’s Color Efex Darken/Lighten Center. With the next a 7 image HDR finished with a little Glamor Glow.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP96291.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
This last image which is my favorite (and vast improvement over my last visits) is a single click finished in PS using Darken/Lighten center.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP96461.swf, 595, 484 [/swf]
I moved about 80feet is total changing the view of the falls, including and excluding elements and working HDR. As I talked about with the DLWS gang, zooming in on the falls doesn’t talk about place. If you want a waterfall in HI, you need to include HI. That was the challenge and I’m glad I stuck to my guns to make an image happen. I always feel I’ve accomplished something when I’ve take a bad shoot from the past and erased it with the present. Might be a small step forward, but it’s going in the right direction.
Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
