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.
And here’s a photo, the last one I took in 2013. I haven’t yet added it to my website. You’re getting a sneak preview here.
Click to enlarge…
Mine for today isn't a good photo by any stretch of the imagination but it has boggled my brain.
Is it a picture of a tree on a hill in front of a building......or an upside down picture of the reflection of a tree and building in a pond.....
It hurts my brain to try and see the real picture when it's upside down.
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.
And here’s a photo, the last one I took in 2013. I haven’t yet added it to my website. You’re getting a sneak preview here.
Click to enlarge…
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Your patience paid off -- great capture.
Bald Eagle by MCH-1138, on Flickr
D7000 • Tokina 50-135mm f/2.8
And heres a photo, the last one I took in 2013. I havent yet added it to my website. Youre getting a sneak preview here.
Whatcha been smokin' over there MacRy and if it's hurting your brain...for God's sake stop it.
Try as I might, I can't see anything other than a hill with a tree in front of a building with this photo. I had to drag it onto the desk top and rotate it before I could see what you meant! Nice
And thanks very much. 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 wont do is add anything that didnt 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 its just data, of course!).
As for the second question, about pre-visualization, that too varies a little bit. For the most part, when Im actually shooting a scene, I have a very clear sense of where Ill 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 Im 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 youre 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. Im 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. Im 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!
And thanks MCH-1138, Cheese&Apple, and MacRy for the kind comments.
Well thats easily achieved with the add to cart button on my website.
Thank you for such a detailed response!
I find that this particular photo you posted speaks to me in a more subconscious level than say, the majestic shot you posted as your best of 2013. The other one was visually stunning and brilliant in every measurable way, but this one allows me to reflect on things that are more about feeling than seeing. The light hitting the mountain is warm, but it's distant and you're just sort of peeking at it a little. The icy water in the lower part of the image really draws me in, makes me think of how it would feel to be under that ice, looking out.
It's one of those things that I bet are completely subjective to an individual viewer's perception. That overall darkness also makes me feel that if I were to have a print of this, I would really want to limit my exposure to it. Can't think about being stuck under ice for too long without going a little nuts. I once stayed for several days in a B&B with The Lady of Shalott reproduction on the bedroom wall, and I literally avoided turning the lights on in the evening to avoid getting creeped out by that thing
Thanks for the feedback. I will certainly take your comments on board. I totally agree that the building planners are off their rocker in Birmingham. This opened last year and cost around £150 million. The funny thing was the lift is already broken.First off, I am by no means an expert or skilled at architectural photography, I'm just keen on it. So take my advice with a grain of salt!
Think about what you want to illustrate, the building in context of its surrounds, the building itself or an aspect of the place. They are my three starting points. I don't actually try and capture it all in one go, I head to a place with a particular thing in mind, but if you are out of town, it's obviously not going to be possible, unless you are there for a bit and have the luxury of re-visiting.
For a contextual picture, it works. It shows the peculiar design of the place, set against its surrounds. I would take a few steps to the right to bring more of that building in the rear on the right into view. POV's for a building are peculiar to the individual places setting in its surrounds, so explore them with your viewfinder to your eye! I'd love to see this place with views from square on in front and also to the left. There's that sunken area in front that could be of added interest.
[Rant]Were the architects on acid or something, a wedding cake for a library! That has no bloody semblance of relevance from a design point of view. Maybe for a drive-through wedding chapel in Las Vegas, but for a library... really! There's a complete disconnect for the viewer, it just doesn't compute as "library."
Don't get me wrong, I like it as a quirky and unique architectural design, but really feel it missed the mark completely as a library design.[/Rant]
Back to your efforts, AFB. If you want to avoid converging lines, you need to be square to the building and level. Working from a far enough away distance to allow you the ability to crop into the image in PP as you don't have the ability to shift your image up with standard lenses. You could always achieve it in PP if you are only posting smallish web based imagery, then you won't ever notice the squishing or stretching of pixels. Whether you get everything perfectly square is up to you, my preference is NOT to! It looks really un-natural to my eye and quite disturbing visually, when I see images that are perfectly squared off, where the architecture of whole structures is concerned. People talk about the leaning back effect, but no one mentions the leaning forward, that getting things perfectly square achieves. The better architectural imagery, in my eye, is achieved with a modicum of convergence remaining.
You have nothing really upright or level here, which is a wee bit disturbing for the eye. Play with getting the corner upright or one of the bases level and see what that does to the image.
What I'm trying to get you to look at is, the difference of effect on your image, when you are square and level to the structure as compared to when you look up at the structure and even when you are not level. Which one pleases your eye for that particular place? It's different for me, depending on the individual place and its design.
Look at the use of light to highlight certain aspects of the place, sunlight on a certain face of a building and shadow on another can accentuate the buildings form wonderfully, bringing dimension to an otherwise flat visual representation, as photography is. Sunset, with a nice blend of interior and exterior light is magic!
Hope that helps a tad.
I feel the disconnect of the building stepping in here has messed with the shot. If you had removed that step from the scene it would have been much stronger imagery. With just two planes of dimension and pattern to lure us in.
Again, pinch of salt required. I am no expert, just a quixotic neophyte!
Apropos of nothing: For anyone who doesnt 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.
And heres a photo, the last one I took in 2013. I havent yet added it to my website. Youre getting a sneak preview here.
Click to enlarge
[url=http://www.phrasikleia.com/phrasikleia/TheChillZone.jpg]Image[/URL]
Great Grey Owl
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.
<snip> Check it out to find some great photographers whose work may be new to you: LINK.
Click to enlarge…
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Apropos of nothing: For anyone who doesnt 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.
And heres a photo, the last one I took in 2013. I havent yet added it to my website. Youre getting a sneak preview here.
Click to enlarge
![]()
Great shot! So simple! Feel better
I'm not following how a sheet of fabric would take up space, but it doesn't really matter. I'm sure you'll work something out.
Great Grey Owl
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.
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.
And here’s a photo, the last one I took in 2013. I haven’t yet added it to my website. You’re getting a sneak preview here.
Click to enlarge…
![]()
Great Grey Owl
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.
