May 5, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP4725.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
These afternoon thunderstorms are kicking our butts. Tonight we headed to the beach with skies promising to perform. Ha! There is probably nothing more frustrating then to watch great clouds just fade away to zip.
I was sucking dirty pond water trying to make something happen. I ended up using HDR again trying to pull some character out of the clouds as they flattened out. You win some, you loose some.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP4808.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
Photos captured by D3, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
May 5, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP4324.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
Holly crap, what a morning! On our scouting we found this way cool out of the way fishing hub that just oozes great images. Well we arrived this morning just as the thunderheads were breaking and great light was warming up. Looking to the east, I was lucky to be in the right place as the sun burned through. It was a great scene that there was no way could be captured with a single click. This is a 9 image HDR image and I’m quite happy the way the feel of the sun burning through comes through in the image.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP4256.swf, 396, 600 [/swf]
Shooting beside my good friend Tom, we turned to see this killer light on this boat I expected to sink any moment. The light from the shadow side of the boat to the blue holes in the sky was 8stops, HDR again. This time just a 5 image set to bring in all the detail in the scene.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP4496.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
Here’s the shot of the morning for me. I’d seen this on our scouting but didn’t have the time or light to explore it. When I saw the clouds disappearing, I buzzed over to see if my mind’s eye could be matched up with reality. I got in place just in the nick of time. Again, HDR had to be used to capture the range of light. This is a 8 image set. Then I simply went into Silver Efex Pro to finish it. It was just a great morning, one that rewards you for getting up so bloodly early!
Photos captured by D3, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
May 5, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3719.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
After working the Currituck Lighthouse, I headed over to the Whalehouse. It’s a cool, old building that with the morning light and clouds just grabbed my attention. The range of light in the scene was 7.5 stops so I had to use HDR to capture the detail in the clouds which were what really made the whole scene. I also used the 24PC-E because the drama of the architecture was lost using a straight 24mm lens.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3822.swf, 500, 402 [/swf]
After I finished the above photo, my good frinds Scott Kelby and Jeff Snyder came around from the backside of the Whalehouse. They told me there were some real cool rocking chairs on the backside. I went and checked them out. They were cool but even though I played with them for a while, I just couldn’t make anything come to life. That’s OK, I really like the overall shot of the Whalehouse.
Photos captured by D3, 24 PC-E / 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
May 4, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3511.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
DLWS Outer Banks (OBX) started hot and heavy today at Currituck Lighthouse. This is a cool lighthouse built very untypically, pretty far inland and is unpainted brick. It’s a neat lighthouse and with the success I had the other day, I decide to stay on the track and shoot off in the distance to include the trees surrounding it. I started by shooting underexposing -2 to make sure the scene was looking nightish because I knew I would be adding the light beam (yes, that was done in PS). That underexposure created noise which was easy to deal with using Dfine so the rest was a cake walk.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP3592.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Then we had the briefest touch of color which I exploited in NX2 and then finished in PS by adding the beam. What’s a lighthouse without a light, just a house!
Photos captured by D3, 24-20AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
May 4, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DLCNCHL0078.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
The challenged continued, how to make the best possible photo of this cool lighthouse. The challenge is to have a “normal” looking lighthouse, not have it tilting over or disappearing into nowhere while removing unwanted elements around while still including those that are important. Up close didn’t work for the lighthouse but did for removing unwanted elements. What happens when we move back? Walking back so now we’re 150 yards from the lighthouse, it is perfectly straight but yuck, look at all the crap to the right! I’m still not happy with this. More to come.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DLCNCHL0447.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Now here’s a photo I like. The interior of the lighthouse is just got the most juicy light, every candle just dripping with romance, mystery and depth. Just frame and click.
Photos captured by D3, 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film
May 1, 2009 | Landscape Photography
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/DLCNCHL0037.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
The DLWS staff started its scouting (what we call goofing off together) today for our upcoming DLWS Outer Banks event. We headed down to the tallest lighthouse in North American, tallest brick lighthouse in the world, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. It’s one very cool lighthouse! It’s also a challenge to photograph with its 265′ height and surrounding landscape. To eliminate the “stuff” one gets really close to the light house. You get close and then….
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Photo captured by D3, 14-24AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
