First Snow

[ScoutR]

Hi everyone, I'd love some C&C on these. New camera, new software, high ISO, and trying a different sharpening method. Let me know what you think. I'm mostly worried about artefacts that I might be missing and whether they are oversharpened.???

#1. Nikon D7000; 17-200mm; f16; 1/200s; ISO 1600; 200mm;+2 EV

First Snow 2011 by Wendy FS, on Flickr

#2. Nikon D7000; 17-200mm; f16; 1/500s; ISO 1600; 112mm; +2/3 EV

First Snow by Wendy FS, on Flickr

#3. Nikon D7000; 17-200mm; f16; 1/8s; ISO 1600; 200mm; +2 1/3 EV

Snow & Silo by Wendy FS, on Flickr

Wendy

[Dizzy]

Beautiful shots Wendy..especially #1 with that light vignette.

I've looked though them all, and can't find a single artifact from your new
sharpening process.

That first one should be printed, framed and hung on your wall!.....

[jeeperman]

Have to agree with Mike...that #1 is quite nice. Geat light and nicely composed. Well done.

[Bobobird]

Same here about #1. You did well to add a bit of colour into an otherwise drab scene.

#2 is nice.

[jambin]

Realy nice shots Wendy. We are getting our first snow this very minute (6 weeks behind schedule) What was the new sharpening method you were trying out?

[Rob Douglas]

Great work Wendy. Left you comments on Flickr. Also fav'd # 1 & 2.

[Harpo]

Nice, Wendy. Agreed… #1 is something that reminds me I've seen on Christmas Cards. We had our first freak snow back in october, now its december and 50 degrees… guess I have to wait for my turn!

[FrankMi]

Hi Wendy! The browns and whites work very well in the first shot. The subject is less obvious in the other two. Nice shots!

[ScoutR]

Thank you everyone. I'm so glad that they look OK on other people's screens. This was my first import using the new version of Lightroom and I also tried the "New and improved" sharpening in Lightroom. I usually do all my sharpening in Elements but thought I'd play around with the new version of LR. When i did them I liked what I saw, BUT the strangest thing when I viewed them 1:1 they looked just plain weird. Sort of like the "Curly" effect in Topaz. At normal size I thought they looked fine though. I'm very bad at picking out artefact's so I figured I just was not seeing it. I'm also having a couple other issues that I need to try and get resolved soooo I just wasn't sure (more on that in the future if I can't get it figured out)

Seems like #1 is the favourite. I like that one the best too. So sad that no one likes #3 though, I kind of like that marshmallowy look. and I thought the silos added a bit of interest. All in all though, considering it was such a dull day, I'm pretty happy.

Rob Douglas
Great work Wendy. Left you comments on Flickr. Also fav'd # 1 & 2.

Yay, Thank you for being the first to comment on my recently set up Flicker page. I was wondering when that would happen.

jambin
Re: First Snow
Realy nice shots Wendy. We are getting our first snow this very minute (6 weeks behind schedule) What was the new sharpening method you were trying out?

Hope you get a chance to get out and get some shots. I always love the first snow. Fog and Snow are my favourite conditions for shooting.
As mentioned above, I tried sharpening in the new version of Lightroom. I think it works much better than the old version, BUT it's giving me a few issues when it comes to viewing. When I get that figured out, I think I will like it. New software! Probably an improvement, BUT always takes awhile to get things set up right, and I'm sure there is something a little wonky, because the view at 1:1 is just weird and also the sharpening changes do not carry over to the Library mode.
Anyway, I have something I want to try out on the next import, if that doesn't work, I'll be back with questions.

Thanks again everyone, the feedback is appreciated and very encouraging and helpful.

Wendy

[dulceza]

So sad that no one likes #3 though, I kind of like that marshmallowy look

I think I'm a little late with my reply, but #3 is my favorite. winter=blanket,woolies, warmth, just some thoughts that have crossed my mind when I saw the picture. Wonderful

[Kathy O]

Gorgeous Wendy!!! Would love to have your talent!!

[Donald]

Lovely set, Wendy.

The first one is just an absolute stunner. Gorgeous composition. You nailed it beautifully. My compliments.

One question - Why did you go up to ISO1600? Was that just to get a shutter speed that you wanted?

[Kathy O]

Wendy, I love #3, I am very intrigued with silo's and I love snow . . . It's like you took that Picture just for me!!

[JohnC]

First one is a great composition and I really like the last one.

Donald..I'll bet when Wendy gets back she'll tell you she didn't realise it was on ISO1600 - all three are on that setting.

[ScoutR]

Thanks to everyone for the latest replies. I really do appreciate the feedback and it's always nice when the feedback is good.

Thanks again
Wendy

[ScoutR]

Lovely set, Wendy.

The first one is just an absolute stunner. Gorgeous composition. You nailed it beautifully. My compliments.

So it was worth almost tumbling down a steep slippery slope to get the point of view I wanted? Just kidding, but I did have to do a bit of manoeuvring to get this one.

One question - Why did you go up to ISO1600? Was that just to get a shutter speed that you wanted?

It was a pretty dull day, but right now I'm shooting almost everything at ISO 1600 just to see what kind of results I get. When the sun comes out, I'll lower ISO and see what kind of results I get with this camera when there are a lot of shadows and highlights. Still experimenting right now. So far I'm pretty happy with results at ISO 1600 and it's good to know I can crank it up when I need it.

Thanks a lot for the feedback especially on composition, I'm really trying to work on that too. I'm going to try and get more serious this year. Don't know how long that will last though before I start thoughtlessly clicking away again.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Wendy, I love #3, I am very intrigued with silo's and I love snow . . . It's like you took that Picture just for me!!

Hey hey, should be lots of silos and snow in Nebraska. Looking forward to seeing some shots from you. I'm always taking pictures of silos. Maybe I'll start a thread later for the two of us - and anyone else who wants to join in of course.

I've looked at some of your shots Kathy and I think you are on the right track - just need some fine tuning and practise. You are getting lots of good advice here, I hope you stay with us because I'm looking forward to seeing what you are doing in a couple months with a bit more practise and experience under your belt. Right now you are learning new software too, if I'm not mistaken so give yourself some time and you will be very happy when things start falling into place. BTW, I read in one of your posts about the flat spaces that you find so boring. Please, get out there and take some pictures of those flat spaces. You have the opportunity for some wonderful unique shots. i would love to get out to the prairies and have wide open spaces to photograph, but I guess we always want what we don't have.

Wendy

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Wendy,

If I know you, you're waiting to hear from me

My favourite is #1

Honest opinions?
With all three scenes I have a feeling they were shot at slightly too long a focal length from slightly too far away, I don't feel part of the scene if that makes sense?
However, it may not have been physically possible to get the views I have in mind.
Also, I may be influenced by the feeling I'd like to see all three much bigger (twice height and width) - I have always felt this about your pictures (they are so good I always want to see more of 'em) and wonder whether;
you are working on a smaller pixel size/resolution monitor, or
you don't want to 'give away' such high quality images.
Either are valid reasons.

The small size does make it hard to comment accurately/constructively on the technical side though, I don't feel sufficiently sure of my suppositions to air them. I don't see any consistent halos or artefacts from your new process, just an odd thing in one or two places, but not enough to base an opinion, much less a suggestion, upon.

For me, #3 could be improved with more space between the fore/mid ground bush elements for the silos to be viewed through and positioned slightly more to left.

I do hope that's helpful (after a 3-4 day wait),

[ScoutR]

Hi Wendy,

If I know you, you're waiting to hear from me

Always!! with fear and anxiety

My favourite is #1

Honest opinions?
With all three scenes I have a feeling they were shot at slightly too long a focal length from slightly too far away, I don't feel part of the scene if that makes sense?
However, it may not have been physically possible to get the views I have in mind.

It makes perfect sense, and as usual you've picked up on another big problem that I have. COMPOSITION. I just can't seem to get a lot in a scene without it becoming chaotic. Of course the environment plays a part. For instance in the first shot I really couldn't get any closer and there was a lot of Stuff around that I did not want in the scene, so it is what it is.

The last 2 I had lots of room, but I always end up on the telephoto end of things, I can't seem to frame things right when I zoom out. It really bugs me and it's something I'm trying to work out in my head right now - so far I can visualize a scene when I drive by or stop to look, but I can't frame it right in the camera. It will take some time for me I think to be able to compose a wide angle scene. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Also, I may be influenced by the feeling I'd like to see all three much bigger (twice height and width) - I have always felt this about your pictures (they are so good I always want to see more of 'em) and wonder whether;
you are working on a smaller pixel size/resolution monitor, or
you don't want to 'give away' such high quality images.
Either are valid reasons.

The small size does make it hard to comment accurately/constructively on the technical side though, I don't feel sufficiently sure of my suppositions to air them. I don't see any consistent halos or artefact's from your new process, just an odd thing in one or two places, but not enough to base an opinion, much less a suggestion, upon.

For posting here I always make a copy with the long edge under 700 pixels, I thought that was what worked best quality wise, and also I was worried about online storage as my space here is almost full and I know I'm way over my limit at my ISP. I recently started a flicker account so space isn't limited anymore. I will post a larger size later today (or tomorrow) so you all can have a look and do some pixel peeping and see if you see what I see when I view the full size DNG file at 1:1 in LR.

For me, #3 could be improved with more space between the fore/mid ground bush elements for the silos to be viewed through and positioned slightly more to left.

I do hope that's helpful (after a 3-4 day wait),

I'll have a look at this next time I go that way. I won't have the same snow conditions but I can check out the composition. What you are looking at is the far side of a very steep bank. If I back up I'll start to include foliage from the near side but I might be able to crawl down the bank on my side and shoot up, just not sure I'd still be able to see the silos. I'll be thinking about this next time I go over, it's only 5 minutes away, I'll make a project out of it to see if there is a better angle that would include the silos.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll get the larger versions up later so you can peer deeper into the pixels and let me know what you see and possible causes.

Later then
Wendy

[Donald]

It makes perfect sense, and as usual you've picked up on another big problem that I have. COMPOSITION. I just can't seem to get a lot in a scene without it becoming chaotic. Of course the environment plays a part. For instance in the first shot I really couldn't get any closer and there was a lot of Stuff around that I did not want in the scene, so it is what it is.

I've been reading and re-reading this paragraph, trying to understand it because, for the love of me, I can't think how you could improve the composition on this one

First - Why do you want a lot in a scene? Less is more. Keep it simple. Your best ones always have been.

In this one the branches on either side create the perfect tunnel that take us through the image to the background. It's got gorgeous subtle colour, along with good tone and texture. It grabs the attention and then let's you wander around it exploring the scene.