Rideau Canal at Hog's Back

[Round Tuit]

About three weeks ago, I posted photos taken at the Hog's Back falls on the Rideau river on this thread. I went back this morning at sunrise and got these shots.

#1 is a retake of the last photo posted on my previous post. What a difference the light makes! I haven't done much pp on this but will try to clone out the photographer who photo bombed my shot. Could it be one of you?



#2 I tried a portrait orientation of the same scene. It worked better than I had expected.



#3 Finally I tried a shot from much closer to the water level to get the reflection of the trees on the other side of the canal. The high rise building detracts a lot in this shot. Would it be worth it to clone it out?




As always your C & C will be most welcomed.

Andre

[NorthernFocus]

The first shot is excellent. IMO the portrait version isn't as good because you lose the lines of the wall/path. Regarding the question on no.3, no it's not worth cloning the building. Cropping would be just as effective without losing anything that makes/breaks the image.

[Shadowman]

Nice set.

[bnnrcn]

My fav is #1 with very nice composition and colors Andre I would crop #3 as cloning would be a tedious job.

[Rebel]

I like all the shots Andre, I would expect a bit more colour in the sky at sunset though?

[dje]

Nice shots Andre. Like Dan, I think the portrait loses something without the leading lines of the path. You could try cropping the first to get a portrait that included more of the path. I wouldn't worry about the photographer in shot 1, he's not very intrusive. I'd have a word to the line markers who did the path though, looks like a dog's hind leg !

Dave

[IzzieK]

Dave -- thanks for phrase...and the morning laugh. I think the guy who did that line drunk heavily the night before he did the job the next day...either that or he was still groggy on meth.

Anyway, Andre -- I like #1 very much. Forget about cloning the photographer. He has now become part of the environment of the shot. Actually, I think he is just being cute about it ... I am no fan of #2 either...and #3 -- cloning is a hard job there. It looks good as it is right now. You got your reflections and it rocks!

[FootLoose]

I think you nailed it with the first shot, Andre. You could clone the tog out if you it bothers you. That centre line looks like the work of the bloke who puts up the streets signs around here - they all have a lean on them.

[John 2]

Definitely the first for me. Forget the photographer but it might be worth cloning out the yellow line, it's easier. It's the line that leads my eye to the photographer. Without it he is not so immediately apparent.

[Round Tuit]

Thank you Dan, John, Binnur, Matt, Dave, Izzie, Greg and John 2 for your comments and suggestions. The consensus seems to be to ditch #2 and I am OK with that. As for #3, I must have been having one of my senior moments when I suggested cloning the building out. In my defence, I had gotten up very early that morning to get those shots. Cropping is the obvious solution and there are actually several good crop options that work well. I settled on this one.



As for #1, I will leave the photographer in but remove the yellow line. It is distracting.

Matt - I too am disappointed with the blandness of the sky. The three photos were taken within half an hour of sunrise. The sun was behind me and to the right. The sky was clear - no clouds and no pollution. I might have been able to use my polarizing filter but that would have reduced my exposure by two stops and I was afraid to introduce motion blur. Any suggestions on how to handle this the next time would be most welcomed.

Again, thank you all for your comments.

Andre

[bnnrcn]

When you use a polarizing filter , you can increase the ISO in order to keep the same shutter speed as the one without a polarizing filter . Or you might take bracketed shots and blend them with PP

[Dave Humphries]

~ I haven't done much pp on this but will try to clone out the photographer who photo bombed my shot. Could it be one of you?

If I had to guess Andre, I'd suggest it was Manfred, since he's shot here several times over the years - but it can't be, because I believe he's on (one of many) trips at the moment.


I would actually consider a crop off the bottom of #1, if it were mine - I don't think the foreground contributes much, I'd crop so the stones along the top edge of the wall goes in to the corner. This also moves the domed building (forgive my ignorance) lower in the frame, which I think improves the composition too.

I think a polariser, or just a bit less exposure, could help with sky colour in these (if they're not too wide an angle).

[Manfred M]

If I had to guess Andre, I'd suggest it was Manfred, since he's shot here several times over the years - but it can't be, because I believe he's on (one of many) trips at the moment.

I must have done a bit of a time shift. The last time I shot the leaves at Hog's Back was around five years ago. Got photobombed by a couple of people walking at just about the same spot...





Now that I'm back home, I might have to think about getting out taking some shots at this location....

[jcuknz]

Maybe the line has an affinity to photographers?

[Round Tuit]

When you use a polarizing filter , you can increase the ISO in order to keep the same shutter speed as the one without a polarizing filter . Or you might take bracketed shots and blend them with PP

Binnur,
With my camera (Canon t3i), anything above ISO 400 is too noisy to be of any use. Blending bracketed shots however would probably have worked.
Thanks for your comments.

Andre

[Round Tuit]

If I had to guess Andre, I'd suggest it was Manfred, since he's shot here several times over the years - but it can't be, because I believe he's on (one of many) trips at the moment.


I would actually consider a crop off the bottom of #1, if it were mine - I don't think the foreground contributes much, I'd crop so the stones along the top edge of the wall goes in to the corner. This also moves the domed building (forgive my ignorance) lower in the frame, which I think improves the composition too.

I think a polariser, or just a bit less exposure, could help with sky colour in these (if they're not too wide an angle).

Dave,

The domed building is a Ukranian Church. I tried the crop that you suggested and it does improve the composition. Thanks for the suggestion.

I was out before sunrise again this morning, nothing to to do with photography, but I took the opportunity to observe the sky as the sun rose. For the first half an hour or so, there is very little color to the sky. It is predominantly white! Something I had never noticed before. I used my polarized sunglasses to check for signs of color and at the right angle it is possible to get a bit of light blue. So I think that a polarizer would have helped but I doubt that less exposure would have been effective.

Andre

[Round Tuit]

I must have done a bit of a time shift. The last time I shot the leaves at Hog's Back was around five years ago. Got photobombed by a couple of people walking at just about the same spot...





Now that I'm back home, I might have to think about getting out taking some shots at this location....

Manfred,

Beautiful shot as usual. I like your choice of focal length for this one.

Andre

[Round Tuit]

Maybe the line has an affinity to photographers?

John,

Could be so. I counted at least five other photographers in the area. Most were aiming their cameras at the falls which were in deep shadows that early in the morning.

Andre