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Photo of the day: February 2014

My first try at an HDR photo...

image.jpg
 
Phrasikleia said:
Apropos of nothing: For anyone who doesn’t follow Photocascadia, you may be interested to see this article on “Female Landscape Photographers Who Inspire.” I was delighted to see them devote an article to women and feel honored to be included. Check it out to find some great photographers whose work may be new to you: LINK.



TheChillZone.jpg
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Comgrats! Awesome image!

Phrasikleia said:
Good questions, themumu. The amount of processing I do varies a lot. Some types of scenes require a lot of tonal and color work to emphasize what I want to express about them, or just to overcome the basic limitations of the camera. Controlling eye movement and the hierarchy of elements is really 90 percent of what I might work on in post. The one thing I won’t do is add anything that didn’t exist to begin with (so no compositing). So even when a photo has required a lot of effort in processing, it never looks radically different from the raw file(s) with their basic conversion settings applied (a raw file itself looks like nothing because it’s just data, of course!).

As for the second question, about pre-visualization, that too varies a little bit. For the most part, when I’m actually shooting a scene, I have a very clear sense of where I’ll be going with it, and I shoot my frames accordingly. I might need to shoot multiple focus points for a focus blend or shoot bracketed images for exposure blending. If I’m shooting water, I might shoot with different turns of the polarizer to combine those in post. Sunstars typically require an extra shot with my finger covering the sun. I might shoot in multiple directions for a big stitch. And so forth. You have to know where you’re going to know how to get there. Nonetheless, some photos just stop speaking to me until I take them in a new direction. Translating the idea into visual elements that actually work together can be tricky business, and I sometimes have to reprocess an image numerous times to be happy with it. I’m very fortunate to be in an excellent critique group that helps me to get out of the woods in those cases.

Anyway, for the photo that I just posted, I wanted that light hitting the mountain in the distance to take priority while still allowing the sense of light splashing across the icy features of the lake and snow. That was a difficult balance to pull off, requiring an overall dark presentation. I’m still not sure that I nailed it 100%, but I think it “puts me there” well enough when I look at the photo now.

I hope I answered your questions!
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Love reading about the process and thought that goes into your images as much as looking at them. I've said this before but I wish I had (=admire) your patience, persistence, vision, and skills.

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Cheese&Apple said:
Great Grey Owl

PHD_3323-L.jpg


Finally some success this past weekend after numerous trips out of the city and countless hours out in the bitter cold. For me, it was worth every moment.
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Another demonstration of patience and persistence! Amazing! :)
 
Rowbear, Alex, HantaYo, AlaskaMoose and VirtualRain, thank you as well for your kind thoughts regarding my Great Grey Owl shot.

Much appreciated. :)

~ Peter

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MCH-1138 said:

No Rush by MCH-1138, on Flickr
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This is a really nice shot MCH-1138. Great colours and use of depth of field. You get the feeling he's ancient and probably is.
 
Lately I've been yearning for a change of scenery, thinking how lovely it would be if I moved to Europe (something on the south end), or some tropical island. Looking at my archive of photos I realize that's because I have already seen so much that my location has to offer, and while it's no longer new and fresh, it's still beautiful. But... new is always better. :D

Webster's Falls.


Untitled by FriskyFreeze, on Flickr
 
Cheese&Apple said:
This is a really nice shot MCH-1138. Great colours and use of depth of field. You get the feeling he's ancient and probably is.
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Thanks -- if I recall correctly, this little guy was 33, which I understand is about middle-aged for him.

And thanks, Cheese&Apple and Apple fanboy, for the kind comments yesterday on my bald eagle shot.
 
themumu said:
Lately I've been yearning for a change of scenery, thinking how lovely it would be if I moved to Europe (something on the south end), or some tropical island. Looking at my archive of photos I realize that's because I have already seen so much that my location has to offer, and while it's no longer new and fresh, it's still beautiful. But... new is always better. :D

Webster's Falls.


Untitled by FriskyFreeze, on Flickr
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Great shot themumu and thank you...I had no idea Webster's Falls existed so it'll be new and fresh for me.

- and -

When thinking of southern Europe think…Algarve coast of Portugal.
 
So back to the library, but inside this time. I was shooting off the balcony upstairs and I liked the repartition of the hand rails and the pattern of the floor. But this lady was leaning back taking a picture of me taking a picture, so I thought I would return the compliment and shoot her.


Comments always appreciated.
 
Apple fanboy said:
So back to the library, but inside this time. I was shooting off the balcony upstairs and I liked the repartition of the hand rails and the pattern of the floor. But this lady was leaning back taking a picture of me taking a picture, so I thought I would return the compliment and shoot her.
[url=http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7366/12414637925_2931bd758b_b.jpg]Image[/URL]

Comments always appreciated.
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I like the composition very much! very Escher-like

I'd content-aware though that black box at the bottom left corner.
 
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Back to the Lotus Pond at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. I didn't get into the city last night, it was way too hot to be traipsing around with all my gear. There is always next week...


Lotus Pond by playswithlight, on Flickr
 
Well it's gone past midnight so technically its another day now! Another one from the Library. Although it only opened last year, the lift was broken already! But then what do you expect for £150,000,000.


This is basically the balcony I was on when I took yesterday's shot. Comments always welcome.
 
Apple fanboy said:
Well it's gone past midnight so technically its another day now! Another one from the Library. Although it only opened last year, the lift was broken already! But then what do you expect for £150,000,000.


This is basically the balcony I was on when I took yesterday's shot. Comments always welcome.
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Über cool. I can see this being used as a set for the next Bond movie!
 
Photo of the day: February 2014

Sometimes if you over process an image skin tones can look a bit plasticy so this one is straight out of the camera to avoid that...

12409819394_e74d8a4105_b.jpg


Fujfilm XE1 with Rokkor 50mm 1.4, F4, 1/80, ISO1000
 
MacRy said:
Sometimes if you over process an image skin tones can look a bit plasticy so this one is straight out of the camera to avoid that...

Image

Fujfilm XE1 with Rokkor 50mm 1.4, F4, 1/80, ISO1000
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You've really captured her natural beauty with this one. Thank goodness you didn't over process it!:D
I assume you used a really fast shutter speed to avoid any movement she might have been making?:D
 
apple fanboy said:
so back to the library, but inside this time. I was shooting off the balcony upstairs and i liked the repartition of the hand rails and the pattern of the floor. But this lady was leaning back taking a picture of me taking a picture, so i thought i would return the compliment and shoot her.


comments always appreciated.
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I, too, like the repeating pattern of the handrails.

To me, the left-hand side of the shot seems a bit cluttered with the seating, signage, etc., and it competes with and distracts from the (again, to me) more interesting right-hand side of the shot. It would be interesting to see what you get if you isolate the handrail portion of the shot, perhaps either reframed vertically or shifted horizontally to follow the handrails further around to the right.

Another idea might be to move a little further around to camera-right in order to try and open up the concentric arcs of the handrails just a little more. It looks from your balcony shot like that might be feasible. Seems like a great location!
 
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Apple fanboy said:
So back to the library, but inside this time. I was shooting off the balcony upstairs and I liked the repartition of the hand rails and the pattern of the floor. But this lady was leaning back taking a picture of me taking a picture, so I thought I would return the compliment and shoot her.
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Isn't that a bit drastic? :)
 
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