Nov 8, 2017 | Landscape Photography
“What lens should I use?” “What exposure comp should I use?” “Where should I put the horizon line?” Where should I put the sun?” These and many more are all essential questions you MUST ask yourself before you take your photo because you can’t “fix” them in post no matter what file format you use. What’s the guide you should be using in answering these and more questions about your photograph? It’s the light, the light is what makes or breaks your photograph and moves the eye through the frame! While the answer might be just one word, light, it’s a helluva a word that has all the complications and power challenging our photography. Here’s an example that might aid you in the future.
There are a lot of elements going on in this photo. The first thing you might notice is the sun, the subject, is dead center. Oh no … I broke that rule so many say you can’t do! Guess what, centered is our strongest composition, when, when all the elements in the frame support it. In this case, the light all brings the eye down to the center of the frame, from the top and the bottom. But the bottom had to be brought to life in post (see before image below). Even though the D850 has great dynamic range, it still has a limit (this is a 8stop photo) but knowing that about your camera it’s a snap to overcome. I simply used Luminar 2018, my own ProcontactSplit preset which with one click, produced what you see. But knowing all the tools in play, from camera to post, are essential when you organize your elements in the frame and go click. I feel it’s essential to know all of this when you make that photo because when you do, you’re using light to move the eye through the frame and therefore, telling your story. Interested in learning more about this, perhaps intrigued and confused at the same time? Well, I just so happen to have a KelbyOne Class on this very topic which goes through it all much deeply. You need to have this in your head and heart before you go click.
Nov 8, 2017 | Landscape Photography
I have many sayings, this one is one of my originals. The Worst weather can make for the best photography! I’ll admit I’m really odd but shooting in bad weather is something I actually seek. There are lots of reasons for this, the main one is I love the mood, drama and romance mother nature creates without our having to do anything other than witness it. And in that process, connect with the light, the romance so we bring that into our photographs. This is where it gets difficult for some because there is first the fear for their camera gear and second, the discomfort for themselves. I have a really simple rule of thumb I use when making this all work. If I can tolerate the rain, so can my gear. So it all starts with ourselves. My go-to jacket in this scenario is the Carhartt Shoreline Jacket because it is bulletproof and has giant pockets. After that, it’s up to gear and shooting.
It’s really quite simple now with the D850 with its ability to easily focus through the Breakthrough 6D filter (in this case with the 24-70VR). It had no problem working with the 6stop ND filter nor the rain. I wanted to tell the story of the storm so went with the long exposure. This meant the rig was in the rain for over an hour getting soaked. Care was simple, I continually plotted the rig dry, DID NOT WIPE it dry, plotted with a clean, dry, white towel. I used the same towel to constantly dry off the water drops on the filter because removing those spots in post is a bear. The last bit of this equation is the knowledge that after you capture those amazing photos, you have a warm, dry place to savor the victory over the weather. But if you never venture out, you’ll never know if the worst weather can …
Nov 2, 2017 | Landscape Photography
The pulse of the sea, it’s so romantic it constantly draws me back! How to bring its sea spray, coolness, sounds, and smells to my photograph? That is always the challenge I feel. I think I got closer this morning.
I started with the D850 / 70-200f4 / WR-R10 on a tripod. I then turned to an old friend, Multiple Exposure. I shot about fifteen images to get one with the “life” I wanted in the waves. Then I ran the image through ACR, Luminar 2018 and Tonality (using my own Presets) and boom, I got an image I really love. I can smell it now!
Oct 27, 2017 | Landscape Photography
The photo was all T’d up, all I had to do was get down the slippery boardwalk to make the click. The warm colors of the thermal set against the cold blue sky just suck me in. Not the most powerful of photos, I still love it because in one click the warmth that comes from being in Yellowstone inside your heart hits the reality of the cold air freezing your finger tips. Perfect morning!
Oct 11, 2017 | Landscape Photography
So we were shooting at Kent Pond at this hillside across the pond that had great color and texture but the light was, nasty! Not only the light was high in the sky, it was shooting through the thinnest of cloud cover. It had a haze to it so I took the shot wondering if, if since it had a “haze” if Dehaze in ACR might not help. Whenever I have an “if” moment in photography, I tend to follow it until it blows up in my face, or has a promising outcome to move forward. Well …
Above you can see the outcome and it ain’t too bad! The bottom photo is what was captured and the top is the Dehaze afterwards. Like normal, whenever I use Dehaze I move the Blue Saturation slider down to desaturate the blur (HSL Panel ACR). But with this kind of light hitting the fall color, the Dehaze slider did a nice job. Who would have thunk it?
Oct 3, 2017 | Landscape Photography
Clouds are such an easy subject to bring wow to your photograph. Now because clouds are so universal, everyone can relate to them. This can be a good or bad thing depending on how you bring them to life in your photograph. This is because we’ve all seen amazing cloud formations sometime in our life. The key here that many miss in their photographs are the relationship of the clouds with the earth. Remove the earth and they are just big white cotton balls and a lot of their drama and wow evaporates. So therein lies our photographic challenge.
This is where the landscape becomes so important to our clouds! The clouds need a visual anchor, a means to compare their size with something that we can relate to yet be so insignificant that visually we don’t give them any importance. This is where lens selection plays such a huge role in the photograph. Capturing the right slice of the earth and at the same time bring drama and importance comes down to focal length. Shooting with the D850, it was easy to capture minute detail in that small slice captured in this case using the 70-200f4 at 200mm and the 14-24AFS at 20mm. You can’t loose sight that the subject is the cloud and making sure your viewer knows that, use scale by focal length!
