Posts in Category: lake
9/5/2009
Late Light Across Rutland Water
Being limited to the early evening all my shots of Rutland Water (Leichestershire UK) share a similar light. This was not taken on the same day as the sheep shots, and you can see it was a bit later. Could not resist the view though. This is a mild telephoto shot, and the perspective is flattened by the lens setting, and you can see the effects of the atmosphere (never completely free of moisture in England) between me and the lake.
Sony DSC H50 at about 120mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/500 @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
From Rutland Water.
9/4/2009
Rutland Water with Sky!
A brooding sky over Rutland Water. This one is all about atmosphere. Raining on and off. Dark earth, dark water, dark sky.
Sony DSC H50 at 31mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom for the sky. Punch and Sharpen Landscape presets. Blackpoint to the right.
From Rutand Water.
9/3/2009
Late Light and Sheep along Rutland Water
We leave the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, and 2005 for that matter, but we stay in England. While at the British Birding Fair this year, I had precious little time for anything non-work related, but I did get out for an hour or so between the close of the fair and gathering for dinner each day…when the English light is liquid and flows over the landscape like honey.
Okay, a bit much…but it is special light, and when, as on this early evening, the sheep are out on the shore and the clouds are piled over the hills, and the water is blue in the mid-ground it is irresistible. I took way too many pics.
Sony DSC H50 at about 60mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/320th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Punch and Sharpen landscape presets in Lightroom. Blackpoint just to the right.
From Rutland Water.
8/29/2009
Along Grasmere
This meadow is maybe 7/8s of the way around the Grasmere-Rydal Water loop, and what I remember vividly is how tired I was by this point. We had to hike down a side path and climb back up to the road (we were off the end of the path and back on roads by then) and at the time I was not sure it had been worth the side-trip. Of course, now, looking at the image, I can say it was worth it.
(As an aside…it was at the end of this circuit that I discovered Apple/Melon J2O for the first time…)
Minolta A1 at 28mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/200th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Punch and Sharpen landscape presets in Lightroom. Blackpoint slightly to the right, and Recovery for the clouds.
From England 2005.
8/28/2009
Grasmere from a Turner Overlook
The Lake District Painters and Turner in particular are everywhere you go in the Lake District. You have seen these views on museum walls and in art books, and it is constant deja vue all over again. There are plaques. “Turner painted this.”
And little wonder. This view of Grasmere might have been better if the day had allowed a view deeper into the mountains behind the lake. There are higher peaks under the clouds. But it is still atmospheric and all too typical of a summer’s day in England. We actually made it all the way around the lakes without getting wet that day, but it was a close run thing.
Minolta A1 at 28mm equivalent. F5.6 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Punch and Sharpen landscape presets in Lightroom. Blackpoint to the right just slightly. Recovery for the sky.
From England 2005.
8/25/2009
Foot of Rydal Water
We hiked the circuit of Grasmere and Rydal Water, starting from Grasmere and going across the ridge above Rydal past two Wordsworth dwellings and then back on the other side, catching views made famous in hundreds of paintings, Turner’s among them. Totally amazing! One of the best days of my life despite doddgy weather that closed the more distant views of the mountains behind Grasmere, and very tired feet.
This is a shot from the very foot of Rydal Water where the bridge crosses the the stream looking north up the lake.
Minolta A1 at 28mm equivalent. F7.1 @ 1/320th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom for the sky. Punch and Landscape sharpen presets. Blackpoint to the right.
From England 2005.
6/25/2009
Bubbles Unconventional
I have tried shots like this many times…trying to catch the Bubbles from an unconventional angle. After all, I have hundreds of shots from the end of the pond. Somehow they just never have enough drama. This one is different. The play of light and shadow on the foreground rocks, echoed as it is by the cloud shadows on the slope behind, and the wisp of clouds overhead, make it a satisfying shot, and a worthy tribute to the Bubbles. Of course, from this angle they are much less bubble like, but we still know what they are.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery for the sky in Lightroom, then added Clarity and Vibrance and Landscape sharpen preset. I may have moved the blackpoint to the right a little.
6/24/2009
The Length of Jordan Pond
Jordan Pond is reputed to have the clearest, cleanest water in the east, and images like this tend to bear out the claim. This was taken from the small check damn at the southeast corner of the pond where, this day, water was flowing into the pond from the marshy area behind the dam. (I always assumed it was an outlet, but I guess not). It shows the full length of the pond, though the Bubbles are somewhat hidden behind the east shoreline. This is another low angle shot, taken squatting close the flowing water from the middle of the dam.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F5.6 @ 1/400th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
Recovery in Lightroom effects the clouds and sky, as we were mentioning yesterday, but it also does a really good job of clearing a layer of surface reflections from water…making the water look more transparent. Added Vibrance and Clarity, and Landscape sharpen. Cropped at bit a the top for better horizon placement.
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.