Learning Landscapes - Another Try

[Brownbear]

Foggy Day landscapes. All feedback appreciated, especially focus/DOF and composition and if I have a strong enough subject matter. I realize they are rather dreary and the next time around I will try for sunny and bright.


SS 1/13 and 1/20 Aperture F13 ISO 320

Edited in LR and then I added a soft light reverse gradient in Elements to darken the sky, rather than burning and dodging.







Thank you.

[Mike Buckley]

It's immediately obvious in both photos what the subject and mood are. Huge improvements! I especially like the second one for its simplicity, which is an ideal candidate for black-and-white. Consider cropping to eliminate one-half of the foreground in that one.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Mike... Good to hear about the subject and mood...

I do find these dreary but very nice to hear your positive feedback. I will look at these again tomorrow and play with the B&W and crop and see what that does to them.

Thank you.

It's immediately obvious in both photos what the subject and mood are. Huge improvements! I especially like the second one for its simplicity, which is an ideal candidate for black-and-white. Consider cropping to eliminate one-half of the foreground in that one.

[batmura]

Christina, is there any chance you could shoot again at sunrise or sunset? Is there a foreground element behind the wavebreaker in the furst image? If so, I would shoot from there getting really low to the ground.

[TonyW]

I like these a lot. Probably the second one especially, because of its simplicity, balance and composition. A really nice mood, not really dreary at all. The variation in brightness in the water adds interest. It was only after I had looked for a while that i realised that what i saw in the water was the reflection of the trees and the rocks rather than a shadow. I can't imagine it being better in black and white but it might be worth a try. The soft colour of the rocks is really nice.

[Brownbear]

Hi Murat,

Yes, and I think that is a wonderful idea. I'm not sure if the foreground element would work as it is a steep rocky riverbank hill, but I will check it out a low tide and give it a try. It will also have to be low tide and although I can't lie down I could crouch low in the water.... Alas no more fog.

For sure I will try this but it will have to coincide with low tide. Thank you for sharing.

Christina, is there any chance you could shoot again at sunrise or sunset? Is there a foreground element behind the wavebreaker in the furst image? If so, I would shoot from there getting really low to the ground.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Tony.. This is interesting. And no doubt I will learn more from these shots. Thank you for pointing out what you like, very helpful to know.

I like these a lot. Probably the second one especially, because of its simplicity, balance and composition. A really nice mood, not really dreary at all. The variation in brightness in the water adds interest. It was only after I had looked for a while that i realised that what i saw in the water was the reflection of the trees and the rocks rather than a shadow. I can't imagine it being better in black and white but it might be worth a try. The soft colour of the rocks is really nice.

[nimitzbenedicto]

Hi Christina,

Nice "moody" shots.

Maybe, precise DoF and focus not really needed because it's the
"foggy - moody" aspect of the scene that counts.

I agree with Mike, it may have more impact in B&W.

Perhaps, crop #1. From the top down to the tips of the bridge.
for #2. Crop down to tip of trees at the top, then a corresponding crop till tip of tree water reflections. Evoking a feeling of "vanishing point" from left to right.

Just sayin...

HTH

[Polar01]

Christina if I may make some suggestions with shots with fog, use that tripod, for a good DOF try f/18, do not worry about diffraction you are shooting into fog anything more than 10ft in will be soft. Set your ISO to base which in the D7100 is ISO 100
let that sensor work for your. Now remember that the camera wants to make everything neutral gray in most digital cameras that is about 12-14% with film it was closer to 18% most of us still refer or say 18%. Now also remember that the scene is very light so the camera will want to set a faster shutter as it thinks it is brighter than it is, so the image will be darker. So you will need exposure compensation to lower the shutter speed. when you focus find something close best is to use manual focus as auto works on contrast, with fog you have very, very low contrast.
In post get a good black point to start with it works easier when you have one, and I find that the yellow slider works to help tune the shades of the fog itself for a better image.
You should see me when I try to shoot critters it is not a pretty picture, both of me trying to do it and the end results.

Cheers:

Allan

[AB26]

Hi Christina,

Lovely shots but when I say to you I miss the “punch” in it you will ask me what I mean.
No need to lose the fog or make it look less than a foggy day. Just reducing that hazy flatness.

To explain to you I took the liberty of doing this.





I really hope you don’t mind. Just trying to help you. (If you do mind, just say so and I won't do it again.)

[batmura]

Christina, are you using a tripod? If yes, you don't have to lie down. Thst would be unnecessarily low unless the foreground leading line is really interesting. With a trippd, you would set it up without spreading all its sections and shoot from about 50 cm or so including an immediate foreground subject with the beautiful bridge in the background. You should really wait for the sunset, though.

Here is one such photo of mine:


Cengelkoy, Istanbul 2 by batmura, on Flickr

[batmura]

By the way, I envy the fog in your city. Wish we had some of it here...

[Mike Buckley]

I would just like to mention that though sunrises and sunsets are gorgeous, the same can also true of images of fog without them.

[Brownbear]

thank you to all. No time to reply properly as I'm heading out to catch the sunrise... We only have a day or two before it starts raining... Andre, thank you for your edits... very nice and truly appreciated... Thank you. Murat, I'm using a tripod.... I think the sunset will be in the wrong direction for light but I will check it out too.

[Karm Redland]

Hi Christina. I think the composition of the second image has a lot of potential. Look at Andre's rework of your second image. He's definitely headed in the right direction. I would eliminate part of the bottom of this image.

karm

[AB26]

I would eliminate part of the bottom of this image.

karm

Hi Karm,

I am going to agree with you. I just did what you suggest and it looks good. Just a bit.
Thanks for thinking I am heading in the right direction here.

I had to do an edit as I was not going to agree with you on this.

I might add: cropping out the "open" space in the trees in the top left corner as well.

[Polar01]

Christina now Andre has done a nice job with his rework, however to my way of thinking it has gone too far and has cleared up the foreground to much. I submit this rework of your second image, I used a levels layer to fine a good black point along with resetting the white it was about 235 out of 256, added a layer mask to the levels and inverted it then used a brush at 35% to revealed just the rocks, then finished with a colour adjustment layer with just a touch of blue added.
Just another way of looking at the same theme.

Cheers:

Allan

[Brownbear]

Hello everyone,

I'm back... Unfortunately I'm really mad at myself because I lost my 28-200 mm lens. It either fell out of my unsecured camera bag (my fault) or I left it lying somewhere on the beach in which case it is likely underwater somewhere. I walked for hours combing the beaches and trails after I realized I lost my lens but had no success. Needless to say I'm feeling as moody as these images because I can't afford to replace that lens right now, but better that lens then my 300 mm lens... Something bright to see if you look at it a different way...

Anyway, I'm going to give myself a few days to recuperate from the loss of my lens before I try tackling another sunset or sunrise.

Murat...

Tthe bridge was backlit this morning and I had a heck of a time setting my camera to account for the dynamic range (started with Alan's suggested settings but neg. exposure compensation, as no fog was present)... I was going to return this afternoon to try for sunset but I learned that the sunset would not be setting over the bridge, so to manage a sunset capture of the bridge I will have to scout another location. I will do just that once I'm over the loss of my lens.

The foreground was not very pretty but I tried to include some of it. My tripod does not go that low but I set it as low as it goes, and once I'm up to tackling those images I will post them here, bad or good. Anyway the important point is that the next time I try something like this I will have learned a few new ways to approach landscapes. Thank you for that.

We rarely have fog in Vancouver, but I learned that I adore the light of the fog... So the next time we do experience fog I will be out there looking for photo ops. If I could send some fog your way, I would.

Victor and Karm...
Thank you so much for the extra tips and cropping advice. Truly appreciated.

Allan...

Thank you for the detailed tips on taking photos in the fog. I did read the tutorial here so the above photos do have exposure comp + .7 or +1 in them, but all your extra tips will stand me in good stead for the next foggy day. Also thank you for your beautiful edit and the how to tips alongside your edit. Truly appreciated as I'm still get a little lost in post processing. I'm going to try your edit in a few days. Also thanks for the suggested camera settings... I started with these today but still had blinkies at F18 and had to keep trying a smaller aperture, faster shutter speed, exposure comp, etc...

Andre...

Thank you for taking the time to demonstrate an edit... Truly appreciated and very helpful as I'm trying to learn to post process, and as all my images are raw now instead of jpegs I'm on a huge learning curve. When I try my edit I'm going to follow Allan's tips but if you did something different then him please let me know. I like your edits a lot, they made my images less dreary.

In summary..

It will likely be a while before I try another sunset or sunrise, but I will... Learn from my mistakes and be more careful with your camera gear. I was a little distracted because a heron was hanging about and as soon as the sunrise was over I was in too much of a hurry to find the heron and change lens, and then I walked everywhere looking for birds (so who knows where my lens is) and we all know what happens when we hurry too much...

[batmura]

Sorry about the lens, Christina. I myself dropped my ultra wide angle right into the Black Sea about three weeks ago. Since I can't live without that lens, I had to buy a new one when finances were really tight, but what can you do, right?

Do you havevany test shots of the brifge with the ugly foreground?

[Brownbear]

Thank you for your empathy... Far easier to take as a loss then an ultra wide angle lens... I would've dived into the Black Sea to recover that. And yes, i will have to find a way to purchase another lens.

I have tons of test shots, with clipping at one end or the other, including the foreground... And some I managed with no clipping, eventually. I'm a little behind on things now and the photos are still in my camera, but I will get to them in a couple of days and post, I promise... I learned a lot from trying this, and I'm sure my next try will be a lot easier.

Thank you for all your help. I adore your landscapes so lucky me to have you helping me out... Truly appreciated.

Sorry about the lens, Christina. I myself dropped my ultra wide angle right into the Black Sea about three weeks ago. Since I can't live without that lens, I had to buy a new one when finances were really tight, but what can you do, right?

Do you havevany test shots of the brifge with the ugly foreground?