Posts in Category: storm
3/5/2010
Little River Marsh in Winter Dress
I am hoping this particular view, dressed as it is, is soon a memory I won’t have to revisit for at least 6 months…and of course, this particular combination of storm clouds, snowy landscape, snow frosted trees, and cusp of spring light is unlikely to ever occur again. This is another shot I took too off. The other view is at the bottom and I can’t really decide which I like best. Though they are the same exact vista, the are very different images. To my eye at least.
Canon SX20IS at about 85mm equivalent. F4 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programmed auto, biased just slightly for the sky.
Some Recovery for the sky, and Fill Light for the foreground. Only a touch of Blackpoint right. Added Clarity and a tiny amount of Vibrance. Exposure increased slightly for the snow.
From Around Home 2010.
And here is the other view.
This one is at 28mm equivalent, F4 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programmed auto as above. Processing as above. In this one the sky is more the subject than the land.
3/4/2010
Waves and Sky
On the “why take just one” theory (see P&S Landscape), after taking yesterday’s shot of the waves and amazing sky, I zoomed in for some closer views. Sometimes, especially with sky shots like this, you loose the subtle play of light by zooming in…but sometimes you don’t. It is still here in the clouds and the sea foam highlights: well captured by the Canon SX20IS.
Canon SX20IS at about 90mm equivalent. F4 @ 1/500th @ ISO 100. Programmed auto, biased for the sky by tipping the camera up and locking exposure.
In Lightroom, Recovery for the sky and Fill Light for the foreground. Blackpoint right. Added Clarity and just a touch of Vibrance. Sharpen landscape preset.
From Around Home 2010.
3/2/2010
Storm Coming Up the Coast
Another of those amazing sky days along the coast. I have taken this view of Parson’s Beach 100s of times, and, as the cliché has it, being the ocean, it is never the same twice. This day, a major storm had passed through the day before, and there was still plenty of drama in the sky. I composed this both ways, with the beach as 2/3s and with the sky as 2/3s and like this one marginally better.
Exposure was weighted toward the sky by using Exposure Lock…but I am finding that I need to do less of that with the SX20IS, since the built in iContrast mode does a good job of balancing the earth and sky in this kind of shot: Especially when the earth is well lighted.
Canon SX20IS at 28mm equivalent. F4 @ 1/640th @ ISO 100. Programmed auto, biased for the sky by tipping up and locking exposure.
Recovery in Lightroom for the sky. Fill Light for the foreground and to pick up detail in house on the point. Blackpoint quite a ways right. Overall exposure adjustment toward the bright side for the snow. Added Clarity and just a touch of Vibrance. Sharpen landscape preset.
From Around Home 2010.
9/18/2009
View from Marblehead Light
Lake Erie was showing a good chop on my visit to Marblehead. Truly grey water. Massive clouds. Stick a little bit of tree in one corner for scale, and you have an interesting (imho) lakescape.
Sony DCS H50 at 31mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/1000 @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom to pull back the clouds and sky. Added Vibrance and Clarity in the Presence panel. Blackpoint just to the right. A touch Fill Light for the tree.
From Lakeside OH.
7/25/2009
Storm Surf
Taking a break from out coverage of the Coastal Main Botanical Gardens…
Last night my wife and I and youngest daughter went for a walk on the beach. It was the end of close to 24 hours of petty steady rain from a classic noreaster gale, and the ocean was muddy brown in the late light and the clouds still impressive. And, of course, this being Maine, the surfers were out. To be a surfer in Maine means you haunt the edges of storms and surf in a wet-suit even in July and August.
I did not take my H50. I have a new little HD camcorder with a 10mp CMOS sensor that also takes stills. It has a 16×9 wide screen mode at 7.5mp, and I am still experimenting with it as a pocket, all purpose, always on me, camera.
I have taken a few shots with it in better light than the evening offered which have showed promise…so…
If you blow the image above up to full size so you can peek at the pixels it begins to break down. It is, in fact, more like a painting of the scene than it is a photo. That is undoubtedly the result of over-agressive noise reduction which kicked in to compensate for the light levels. Even though the exif data says ISO 50, the sensor was clearly starved for light, and the camera did its best to overcome its limits.
Still, at normal screen resolution, and even in a 5×7 or possibly 8×10 print, it is a dramatic image. I could have gotten better with my H50, but the only camera that counts is the one you have with you.
Sanyo VPC CG10 at about 190mm equivalent. F4.2 @ 1/400th @ ISO 50. Auto.
Recovery for the clouds in Lightroom. Added Clarity and Vibrance. Blackpoint to the right, and added Contrast. Landscape sharpen preset.
From Around Home Kennebunk ME.
And just for fun…the video: