Posts in Category: weather
6/26/2009
Off Cadillac's North Sholder (Frenchman's Bay)
Leaving Jordan Pond and the Bubbles behind for the moment, we make our way to the top of Cadillac Mountain, one of, if not the highest point on the East Coast (that is to say, directly overlooking the Atlantic). Reputed to be the point of first contact in the US for each sunrise. There is an excellent paved road to the top, and it has been a major tourist attraction for more than a century.
It is always dramatic, but there are still days when it looks like you can see forever, the clouds provide a sense of infinite depth, and the sea is deep blue to the horizon. This was not quite one of them. You can see, looking north here that there is a haze over the landscape…but still…those clouds, that sky. Who could resist?
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Cropped in Lightroom from both top and bottom to improve composition. Recovery for the sky (which also cut some of the haze). Some Fill Light to compensate. Blackpoint to the right. Added Clarity and Vibrance and Landscape sharpen preset.
6/23/2009
The Bubbles
I think I must have a hundred images of the Bubbles across Jordan Pond taken over the years. The fact is, they are never the same any two days, any two years…and on a good day, with weather making or actually happening…any two moments. The shift and angle of light, the sky and cloud background, and, of course, the season all change the view dramatically. Point of View variations are all but infinite…though all my images are captured from one of 4 vantages where you can get down close to the water.
Then too, the lake itself changes. The shoreline is never the same twice as levels rise and fall, and the water depends on the wind and wind direction for its texture.
All in all, the ideal subject. Which is, of course, why I keep going back to it.
This shot is taken fairly low to the water using the flip out LCD, and the clouds are as interesting as the mountains themselves, which is why I zoomed out for tighter framing.
Sony DSC H50 at about 65mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/800th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
In Lightroom, heavy Recovery for the sky and clouds. Recovery, again, attempts to recapture dynamic range by pulling back the highlights, but it does it in such a way that differences in high grays and whites are also emphasized. It is ideal for this kind of complex cloud detail, and allows me to expose for the foreground, using standard Programed auto, without worrying about the sky too much. Without Recovery in my post processing toolbox I would have to work the exposure much differently for a shot like this, and then do some levels and curves work in post. Recovery is one of the most powerful of Lightroom’s tools, at least for my style of shooting.
I also added Clarity and Vibrance, moved the blackpoint slightly to the right, and used the Landscape sharpen preset. Total post processing time under 2 minutes.
6/22/2009
Jordan Saddle
Going even a bit deeper into the view, still from the same location as the Pic of the Days from the 18th and 19th, I found the cloud on cloud effect over the saddle to the southeast of the Bubble very interesting, and experimented with various framings to bring it out. This, cropped in Lightroom for better composition, is the most successful.
The various shades of white to gray in the cloud on cloud layers was not easy to render. In Lightroom I used a graduated filter from the top, reducing exposure just slightly and increasing contrast. The whole image received a boost in Vibrance and Clarity, and a bit of extra contrast (the shoreline in the image is at least a mile away and there is a lot of air between me and it). I used the Landscape sharpen preset.
Sony DSC H50 at about 300mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/640th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
6/19/2009
Overlooking Jordan Pond from the Pond House Lawn
The Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park is justly famous for two things: its popovers (gotta be eaten to be believed) and its view. Lunch or dinner on the Jordan Pond House lawn (seating for a hundred or more at tables with individual umbrellas), on any day when it is not actually raining, is, like the popovers, an experience not to be missed. Jordan Pond stretches away below the lawn and the blueberry patch and the Bubbles (two smallish mountains by Acadia standards…big rocks by western standards), rise up behind. Weather comes down the deep valley of Eagle Lake behind the Bubbles and makes for interesting skies. Scenic or what.
I have photographed the Pond and Bubbles in just about every light, at different times of year, but this is actually the first image I have taken from the vantage of the lawn. I was actually sitting on the ground a the edge of the lawn when something about the sky and the bit of weedy grass in the foreground just caught my attention this trip and I took 10 or more exposures at various heights above the ground (between on it, and a foot off it) in an attempt to capture the depth of the view. The low angle was also necessary because there were people continuously walking down a path that runs along the trees on the left, below this near horizon, and people on the path along the lake at the foot of the hill. This shot works for me. You will see some other treatments of this view in coming days.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/500th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
In Lightroom, I used Recovery for the sky, moved the blackpoint to the right slightly, and added both Clarity and Vibrance. I added a bit of contrast, and used the Landscape sharpen preset.
6/14/2009
Marie Todd Emerging
A three masted schooner set up to carry tourists around Frenchman’s Bay, the Mary Todd here emerging from the morning fog.
Sony DSC H50 at about 70mm equivalent. F7.1 @ 1/2000th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
There was a lot of morning light caught in that fog, and it took all the Recovery I had available in Lightroom to pull it back to show the visual effect of the morning. Added Clarity and Vibrance, and Landscape sharpen preset.
From Bar Harbor 08.
6/11/2009
Prairie Lake with Storm
The North Dakota Prairie sometimes seems as much water as land. There are potholes, ponds, marshes, and fair sized lakes dotting the landscape wherever you look. This small lake is on the edge of Chase Lake NWR, again, on a day full of intermittent rain and glowering skies.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Dual graduated filters in Lightroom. From the top to darken the sky to its natural tone, and from the bottom to increase brightness and contrast. General Vibrance and Clarity and Landscape sharpen preset.
6/9/2009
Prairie and Pothole
The weather man said intermittent rain and gray skys. Not an ideal last day in North Dakota, but what I had to work with. And of course, seen rightly, the lowering sky only adds drama to the vast prairie landscape.
This is a classic Prairie and Pothole shot, taken where a road crosses a section of native prairie near Lake Louise and the Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota. The theory is that retreating glaciers left large blocks of ice on the landscape, which melted slowly and left these more or less circular depressions. They fill with water to form resting and nesting areas for wild-fowl, bringing the prairie to life each spring. Later in the season they remain wet, and provide habitat for many prairie species.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
In Lightroom, I used two graduated filter effects. One from the top to darken and bring out the detail in the sky, and one from the bottom to punch up (+ Clarity, + Exposure, and + Contrast) the foreground. Globally, I added Clarity and Vibrance and used the Landscape sharpen preset. I just slightly cropped from the bottom and top for composition.
6/4/2009
Big Sky over Boats
Okay, big sky again. This time over the boat yard at Wells Harbor, ME. Interesting shapes. Interesting light. Great sky. What more can you want?
Sony DSC H50 at about 50mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/1000th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
In Lightroom just the standard added Clarity, Vibrance, and sharpening. Oh, and a bit of Recovery for the sky and clouds.
From Around Home Kennebunk ME.
6/3/2009
Big Sky over Sea Rocks (with house leaning in)
Seaweed covered rocks and tiny tide-pools on the point at the south end of Parson’s Beach, with just a bit of house leaning in (due to the wide angle lens, should I fix it??) under that same huge sky from yesterday.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
In Lightroom, Recovery for the sky, Fill light for the foreground. Added Clarity and Vibrance, and sharpen. I was still not happy with the seaweed. It was too dull. I pulled a Graduated filter up from the bottom and added Brightness, Clarity, and Contrast to make it a bit more interesting and balance the image.
From Around Home Kennebunk ME.
6/2/2009
Big Sky Beach
Parson’s Beach, in Kennebunk ME is only two miles from our front door. I take a lot of pictures there. This was taken on the first day of sun after 4 days of rain, with more rain predicted by the day’s end. Get out while you can. Big sky.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Recovery in Lightroom for the sky (tried the Graduated Filter effect but it did not work on this image). Added Clarity and Vibrance. Brighness, and Contrast. Moved the blackpoint to the right and sharpened.
From Around Home Kennebunk ME.