Jun 17, 2015 | Landscape Photography
Feeling and Seeing the final photo when the camera is pressed against your eye is important. One thing we talk about a lot when we’re out shooting on our workshops is “How will you finish the photo.” There are times that part of that conversation is removing the “touch of man” and a very common removal are wires. This morning at a favorite pond of mine, we were shooting sunrise. Shooting with the D4s / 18-35AFS at 20mm, the two wires stretching across the pond were very obvious. These are actually incredibly easy to remove!
To remove the wire, you need your Spot Healing Brush tool. Make sure its Soft Edge and that you’re Sampling All layers. I prefer doing this in a Empty Layer. Click on one end of the wire you want to remove. Then move down to the other end of the wire. Hold down the Shift Key and click again. You’ll see Photoshop draw a line between the two click and the wire disappear. That simple! One other finishing tip to add here. Photographing a reflection in water, water “sucks” up a stop of light so it’s exposure and color is richer than reality, in this case the sky. So in ACR, a Split Grad is used, dialed down -1 and saturation brought up to 25. This evens out the exposure top and bottom. So knowing these tools when you go click at the camera makes going click at the computer quick and easy.
Jun 15, 2015 | Landscape Photography
When I started, it was film days and there was no Photoshop. In those days, we did everything we could to never include the “touch of man.” This is a prime example of what I’m talking about. Up at Many Glacier in Glacier Nat’l Park is this amazing waterfall at the outflow of the lake. I can stand there for hours watching it. This morning, wanted to use my new technique (this shot was taken handheld with NO filters) to capture the flow. In the process, this building was incorporated in the shot with is kinda abynormal for me. That old school thing. I’ve been changing slowly to include more when the “touch of man” brings something to the story. Now if this building were pink, it would not be in the frame. But in the Nat’l Park browns and where it’s located, I decide to include it. Shot with D4s & 18-35AFS, I very carefully included the building and not the van parked in front. I’m still pondering whether I’m “In love with it” but it’s growing on me. Can’t you teach old dogs new tricks? Perhaps.
May 28, 2015 | Landscape Photography
One of the sweetest way to grab a viewer’s attention to our photograph is a kiss of light. Also known as dapple light, I offer up these two photos as examples of what I’m talking about. The top one is a favorite of our recent K&M Adventure to The Smokies. Both were takin on the Roaring Forks road where you drive for a forest just chuck full of this kind of light. But stopping at the right spot to make the shot takes a critical eye. Here’s some thoughts on what to look for.
These were shot with the D750 / 14-24AFS cause lots of detail while going wide was important to me. Taking that all in, you have to be careful and watch the “spots” of light in the viewfinder. The mind’s eye goes to light and bright. If you have more than one “spotlight” of light in this type of scene, they all need to lead the eye to one thing and not multiple. “The” spotlight of light needs to be what the mind’s eye goes to first and then, led through the rest of the frame and back again. This is where the critical eye is so important because often emotions grab as, as they should, but more dabble light confuses the eye and that’s not good for our photograph. Does this mean you should only have one spotlight of light? No! It means you have to have a critical eye and “feel” the light as much as measure it. They are special when you find them. Make them special in your photograph.
May 22, 2015 | Landscape Photography
One aspect of The Smokies I love this time of year is its green! The number of shades of green that carpet The Smokies mountains is so numerous, it takes the eyes miles and miles to see them all. That celebration of spring is an element I search for but on a smaller scale. There are many small roads and trails that take you into the forests and that’s where you can accomplish this.
Cruising with the D750 / 14-24AFS, I look for amphitheaters in the forest to visually talk about this explosion of spring. What do I mean by amphitheater? I want a curve to the trunks in the photo with no trunk dead center in the frame. This provides a visual depth and therefore an visual expanse to the grove and the green. The one addition to the photograph which you might think is unusual for me is the bright sky. It pulls the eye through the forest. Wanting a “bright” photo, a celebration of spring, I didn’t want a dark sky. It definitely limited the number of photos I took this morning but those I found, I really liked.
May 19, 2015 | Landscape Photography
Not that it’s just a Smokies thing, but in thinking about telling that story, I wanted blurred water. We all know the song, “Smoke on the Water.” If you’ve not been to the Smokies, you might not know that water is everywhere! It’s a prominent feature that truly helps define The Smokies as The Smokies, the water itself and its effect on all the foliage. So in photographing the water, I think in telling the story, The Smokies has to be in the photo, all of it.
So with that in mind, there is only one of these three images that to me, says “water in The Smokies.” While all three were shot in The Smokies, at the same locale at the same time, only one says Smokies. Now does that make a difference? No, not when it comes to taking purty pics. But to me in wanting to be a storyteller, it does. Two of the photos could have been shot anywhere and they say that visually.
The photos were taken simply with the Df / 14-24AFS / 70-180mic with no filters, just slow shutters speeds and something new. But the gear or technique isn’t what’s really important here. I feel passionately it’s the story that needs to be told. Cause blurry water is blurry water and can be shot anywhere and for the most part, look like its from anywhere. But once you complicate it by adding place, telling the story of where that water is, that’s when the photo comes to life. And as the week continued, we found better locations to accomplish this storytelling. Those really are the successes but I had to build to it. mtc
May 18, 2015 | Landscape Photography
Spent the last few days in the Great Smokies looking for the story “Great Smokies.” Summing up such a gorgeous locale as this in just a photo or even a series of photos was a challenge for me especially going after just the “smoke” aspect. To this story, I offer up these from our first morning.
I’ve not spent nearly as much time as I would like exploring The Smokies. It’s got lots of mysteries within its borders and lush forests. I’m fortunate to know a couple of cool locales for sunrise, this being one of them. The ground fog which forms easily here is of course the subject and what we chase. It comes and goes so quickly while defining the story. Capturing it just right, that’s the trick!
Shooting the Df / 24-70AFS, I jumped from spot to spot as the fog would dance about the field. I love this kind of action where no matter how fast you click the shutter, each image is different. While these are a good representation of the morning, I don’t think they are for The Smokies.
