Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: AJMorris on February 22, 2012, 12:01:58 am
-
Hey all Im new here! I thought id introduce myself. My name is Anthony I currently Live in Kodiak Alaska. Here is one of my favorite photos from Chiniak Bay on Kodiak Island. I wanted this image to look as close to what I had seen when I took this photo so I combined multiple images into an HDR and then into a Panoram. I cant recall how many images were used in this one. Either 9 or 15. Taken with a Canon 5DmkII, Canon 17-40f4L @17mm f18, circular PL, tripod of course and remote shutter release. I would appreciate any comments and feedback! thanks all!
(http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/297020_305883896090181_100000057195997_1302440_425321587_n.jpg)
-
Hi, Anthony. It's a pleasant seascape. The striking colors of sunset have been muted considerably by the HDR processing -- I guess it's hard to have everything. I question the use of a polarizer on a wide-angle view, especially with the sun at the center. The polarizer will have no effect in the direction of the sun, but it will have a significant effect on either side of your photo, which can be easily seen in the relatively dark sky that appears quite suddenly. So that's where I'm at: why HDR, and why a polarizer?
-
To be quite honest I didn't have my ND4 in my bag and I wanted to lengthen my shutter speed a bit more to give the water more of a soft look. I suppose i could have stopped down the aperture a bit more bit I didn't want to sacrifice sharpness either. Youre right it is hard to have everything! I also didn't have any Gradients with me and wouldnt have used them becasue of the cliffs on the left. ive had bad results with darkening parts of the landscape that extend upward above the horizon. It looks weird to me so i decided to throw some tech at it. I do, in retrospect, wish i had my ND. Now i have the perfect tool to explain to my wife why i needed that expensive filter that "does the same thing your polarizer does! I see your point about the muted sunset colors and thank you for pointing it out. i may have to liven those up a bit! Thats one thing i hate about my computer screen...it always shows images brighter at the top than the bottom. I never know if my brightness/contrast or even colors are right sometimes.
-
Hi Anthony, and welcome to the list!
Mike.
-
Anthony, I agree that a GND filter is often not the best tool, and digital approaches offer a lot more flexibility. I've never done it myself (yet), but I've seen some impressive results with manual blending of two exposures, one taken for the sky and the other for the foreground, perhaps along with some dodging and burning. It's more involved than turning the job over to an HDR software program, but it might be worth checking out for scenes like this where you want to preserve those brilliant sunset colors. I have a friend in Australia who took a photo trip with Hans Strand, and manual blending received a lot of emphasis; he's sold on that approach.
I essentially have two different camera systems with common filter sizes but only one set of filters. I know the feeling when you're out in the field and realize the filter you need is at home in the other bag. This has happened so many times that I'm going to get a second set of the key filters, probably a 77mm polarizer and a ND filter; the variable ND filters are intriguing.
You're fortunate to have such beautiful places like this to photograph. I hope to see more.
-
Welcome Anthony. A beautiful location!
I like the image but the lightness of the bottom third of the photo bothers me.
The processing seems over done.
Thanks for sharing.
-
There's something about the balance of whites in this shot that bothers me. If it was a bit darker and more saturated throughout, I think you'd have a winning shot.
-
nice shot