My 2013 Weekly Photos - Part 3

[rudi]

Hi Geoff,

Couldn't open the Original rosebud, so I tried from your first picture.
Maybe a bit overcooked...
Kr, Rudi

[Letrow]

I like your alternative edit Geoff, nice colours and sharpness.

[Geoff F]

Don't know why the original (as shot) image of the rosebud won't open. It was 1200 pixels on wide side as a jpeg but that should have been OK.

The original Raw file is a DNG format but I set everything to zero adjustments and saved as a Jpeg.

I have just downloaded it and transferred to my editing computer via a memory stick without problems.

One of those strange computer glitches I suppose.

I find it is always more difficult trying to re edit something which has already been edited.

Still a week behind with these weekly images; so went for a walk in the woods today when it was a bit brighter, although muddy underfoot. Started with a couple of common insects then finished with fungi as the sky became overcast.

Looks a bit uncertain weather wise for now, so I'm going to have to get inventive in order to catch up!

[John 2]

Just for fun Geoff. I liked your original.

[Geoff F]

That edit has also worked well, John.

[Geoff F]

Week 45 - A grey day at the Fish Quay.

As I have mentioned previously, and here Local History Society Project

Other commitments are causing me to slip behind with these weekly photos.

Now I am starting to panic about getting something for my local Fishermen's Association Christmas Cards.

So I went to the quay today, which is a 'landing day' for the bigger vessels. But a very overcast sky was a limiting factor. However I did what I could with what was available.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens. 1/160 F8 Iso 400. A combination of two Raw edits with different exposure settings.

This boat is landing crabs into a floating store box. And from the other angle.



1/500 F8 Iso 400 and another merge of two Raw edits.

Turning around and facing 'inland'.



1/200 F8 Iso 400. I shot them all in Av mode at F8 and let the shutter speed find its own level.

And finally some crab store boxes. This view, and the first one, would have been impossible on a sunny day due to the light angle.

[Geoff F]

Week 46 - Another Day at the Fish Quay

Still searching for that perfect Christmas Card photo for the Fishermen's Association.

Slightly better light but getting late in the day now, with low hazy sun from the wrong angle.



7D with Tamron 24-70. 1/500 F8 Iso 800. Iso 400 might have been better but there was some movement to also consider.



1/160 F8 Iso 400. Reduced the Iso this time. Possibly going a bit on the wide side here with too much foreground water but I wanted to show as much as possible of the quayside activities.



And this time I wanted to show other sides to the quay activities, with some merchants loading crab from a store box.

After this shot the light became too bad so I gave up.

[Sergio M.]

Geof, you did very well considering the limiting factors you encountered. I read somewhere, "if the sky is not cooperating, limit it's inclusion in the frame". You did that beautifully here focusing our attention on the quay, the boats, and the inhabitants. I really like the colour and activity shown in this post and the previous one.

Sergio

[Geoff F]

Sergio. There are a couple of tricks with uncooperative skies and tricky scenes.

Ideally, shoot 2 or 3 shots with different exposures then merge them together to produce a HDR image. I usually do the merge manually with layers and masks.

When multiple shots aren't possible due to a handheld camera or subject movement, I expose to capture the sky and main subject without loosing too much from either by doing a little bit of exposure compensation. But they are usually both slightly incorrect.

Then create two separate Raw conversions one for the shadows and another for the brighter areas. Then combine the two images together with layers and masks to produce one image with an expanded tonal range.

I used that method with all these Fish Quay shots.

[John 2]

You do live in an interesting place Geoff. Enjoyed this last batch.

[Geoff F]

Week 47 - Salcombe Castle

A couple of fishermen wanted some Christmas Cards showing their boats and I have been waiting for some good weather.

Today was clear and sunny; and the tide was right, so I went to a beach near the harbour entrance. Only one boat was at sea, and some very heavy cloud started blocking the sun.

However, while rambling about on the rocks looking for possible shooting vantage points I had a go at the old castle which was constructed on this headland. Last used in the 1640's. Then mostly blown up by Parliamentary forces and left until a little bit of repointing and strengthening work was down around 20 years ago.

Of course, I had the wrong lenses because I was intending to photograph boats at a distance. But I moved back as much as possible and used the 70 mm end of my 70-200.



7D with Canon 70-200. 1/640 F8 Iso 400. Shot all images using Av option but varied the actual amount slightly.



1/800 F11 Iso 400. Maybe I should have reduced the Iso but the light kept changing; and I was now backed up against the sea while standing on rough rocks and attempting to fit everything into 70 mm, so I had other things on my mind.



1/200 F8 Iso 400. Another angle and a totally different light.



1/500 F11 Iso 400. A close up of the outer tower. Just enough room inside for one man with a musket.

[Donald]

The light in this is wonderful. All mood and atmosphere. And wonderful detail in the building and the rock.

[ajohnw]

Just for fun really but I came across a technique for cutting the effect of mist and bringing things up generally as well. Basically brightness is flatten and then tone mapping used to restore the contrast. I would be curious to know what others think. On some "normal" photo's it tends to make them more natural. I have no way of knowing if there is any colour shift in this one.



I should add that this technique wont work out unless the package uses floating point colour.

John
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[Sergio M.]

Great images, Geoff. Considering the circumstances, wonderful light on some of them. High iso doesn't seem to be a problem, at least not to my eyes.

Sergio

[John 2]

Nice comp in the first Geoff with that bit of spray bottom right helping the balance and nice light in 2 and 4.

[Geoff F]

If I had a smaller lens with me, Donald, I would have liked to show a little more of the rocks below the castle. To the left there were some items which needed to be excluded; but I could have shown a little bit more on the right and/or cropped to 5 x 4 ratio.

Now that I have worked out some angles, I will take a smaller lens with me next time. But I will probably never again find that combination of low angle afternoon light against such a dark sky.

John, that result seems rather similar to strong Local Contrast Enhancement, possibly with a duplicate layer and a change of blend mode to something like Hard Light. Some people use LCE on all their images but I tend to leave it alone unless it is essential. But I usually do include a little bit of Clarity adjustment with the Raw conversion which works in a similar manner.

Sergio, When possible I like to keep the Iso down to 400 or below; although 800 usually works OK with the 7D. I find that you can get away with higher Iso settings if you are using it to increase shutter speed in good light. It is when you are attempting to shoot deep shadows in poor light that the problems become severe.

One tip that I often use for noisy areas, particularly with backgrounds, is to lightly go over the problem area with a light Blur Brush.

John 2. Yes I tried to get a little bit of sharp movement in the waves but there was so little to see on that sheltered beach. That one image was the only one of 10 shots which came anywhere close to what I wanted.

[Geoff F]

Week 48 - Rock amongst the leaves

Nothing very exciting. I was walking deep in the woods and liked the various textures of this rock amongst fallen leaves.



And some nearby fungi.



7D with Tamron 24-70 lens; on tripod with fairly long exposures, so I used mirror lock up.

[IzzieK]

I'm just catching up with this thread, Geoff (apologies) and am enjoying it greatly. Living as I do, within a rural, agricultural community, I've often felt I should be making a project out of the farming life of our area. I did fire off a few frames of a tractor ploughing at the weekend, but was not happy with any of them. So, they're now history.

Have you tried changing your shots to B/W? It might have helped your cause...just asking... Being an amateur, I seldom get rid of any of my shots -- for me it is a study of what I might have done wrong thinking along the lines of 'how can I do better'?

[Sergio M.]

I really the colors, Geoff, they are very pleasant and appealing. Those fungi sure look like sea shells to me.

Sergio

[Geoff F]

The fungi are actually Many-zoned Polypores which come in quite a few colour forms. This is a small group. There were other areas of the same fallen tree which were totally covered.

Whenever possible, I try to use a Custom White Balance for this sort of shot, particularly when in difficult lighting situations; such as in dark woodland. Bright sunshine can also be problematic for certain flowers.

Shooting Raw does enable the white balance to be changed during conversion but I find it is better if I can get fairly close during shooting so only a slight tweak is necessary. Otherwise, I am attempting to remember what were the correct colours.

We did recently discuss this in greater detail.

Sometimes I do make B&W conversions, but usually during the winter months when I have more time.

Good monochromes do require the right sort of image though. Donald does a lot of B&W work.