Monthly Archives: January 2009
1/21/2009
Mangrove Marsh
Taken from the platform in yesterday’s Pic of the Day. The elevated position, 12 feet off the waterline, provides an interesting perspective for this traditionally composed landscape. Traditional because the horizon at the upper Rule of Thirds horizon line. The strong diagonal of the mangroves along the dike at the left, and the gentler, less geometric land mass at the right, lead the eye toward the horizon. Weedy growth in the foreground adds interest, without masking the cloud reflections, which add a feeling of just how big the landscape is. And the clouds themselves recede to the true horizon beyond the mangroves making the landscape huge!
Now, if you think I thought all that while taking the pic, then you give me credit for a level of cognition that I just don’t possess. I was conscious enough to place the horizon where I wanted it, and I suppose I must have seen the bold diagonal on the left…other than that I just knew I liked what I was seeing in the viewfinder.
But I like the image more than its content might warrant, so I have to think about why…and that first paragraph is me analyzing why.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide (31mm equiv.) F5.6 @ 1/320th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom, the image required some Recovery for the sky to recapture cloud detail, a bit of Vibrance and Clarity for overall effect, and the Sharpen Landscape preset. The image really came alive though when I applied a bit of Fill Light to open the shadows under the mangrove hedge on the left and to pick up the intensity of the dark green mangrove leaves on the right.
A word on the Sharpen landscape preset. I use it all the time, not because I am lazy, but because it works really well, and because it is a combination of the Sharpen sliders (Amount, Radius, Detail, and Masking) that I would never have hit on if left to my own devices. (And maybe I am a tad lazy. When it works I don’t feel the need to fix it.)
The image is from the Space Coast Birding Gallery.
1/20/2009
Blind
Fresh from Florida and not orange juice. This is a blind (or hide as our British friends call it) at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I was attracted to the color of the wood, the geometry of the structure, and the contrast with the amazing vista behind it. The wide angle end of the Sony’s zoom framed the corner nicely and by the second shot, I was seeing well enough to carefully place the horizon in the viewing ports.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide angle (31mm equiv.). F5.6 @ 1/500th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom I applied a bit of recovery for the texture in the wood and to darken the sky from its exposed value. I moved the black point up a bit for contrast. Added Clarity and Vibrance, and used the Landscape sharpen preset. Since the stark geometric shapes of the wood are set off against the background, I blew up the image and checked for Chromatic Aberration and Purple Fringing (two common artifacts in digital cameras. The first a lens flaw, and the second a sensor flaw). There was no CA, but there was some Purple Fringing in the corners of the image. Lightroom’s CA sliders took it out.
The image is from the Space Coast Birding Gallery.
1/19/2009
Pelican Sunset
I am in Florida, and will be out and about taking pics over the next few days, so here is a transition shot from a trip to Destin FL last winter.
A friend had a tip from a local about this harbor at sunset, so we left our convention and drove down to see what was to be seen. The pelicans against the sunset offered lots of opportunities. This shot also catches a boat moving in the harbor behind the outer dunes. Composition is critical here, with the pelican carefully placed…even though “he” is facing the wrong way in the frame. Swinging him to the other side would caught hotels on the outer dunes. Still, I think it works.
Exposure was another issue. I exposed for the clouds and sunset, which left the pelican too much of a silhouette. To me silhouettes too often look unnatural…dramatic, yes…but in nature there is almost never a true silhouette. We see some detail even against the sun, or the sunset in this case. I knew while taking the image, just home much “fill light” I could apply in post-processing to bring up at least some detail in the pelican.
Sony DSC H9 at appoximately a 100mm equiv. F4.0 @ 1/200 @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Processed in Lightroom. Moderate Recovery, Clarity, and Vibrance to bring up the sky color, then a good deal of Fill Light for the pelican. Standard sharpening.
The image is in the Emerald Coast Gallery.
1/18/2009
Shadow fence
Minimal. This would work just as well in black and white. Now that I look at it more closely, there are almost enough distracting elements, protruding sticks, etc. to make it unsatisfactory. Almost. I still like it for the simplicity of the graphical design…even with the warts.
The trick here was framing and exposure. I wanted the highlighted texture in the snow, as well as the shadows.
Sony DSC H9 at almost full tel (400mm plus). F7.1 @ 1/2000 @ ISO 200. Programed Auto.
Heavy Recovery in Lightroom for the highlights. Removed some Chromatic Aberration that showed along the fence post in the corner. Cropped for composition. Clarity and Vibrance and sharpened.
The image is from the Winter Weather Gallery.
1/17/2009
River of Ice
A cold, cold day at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. The Little is still heavily tidal at this point, so it rarely freezes. The image is, of course, about the contrast of the rich brown water, the white snow/ice, the green of the trees and the blue of sky…all very intense. Composition is important in a shot like this, because it determines the balance of the elements and their importance to the visual effect. This is a classic 2/3rds, 1/3rd landscape, with the trees on the horizon placed at the upper Rule of Thirds horizon.
Sony DSC H9 at wide angle (31mm equiv.). F5.6 @ 1/800th @ ISO 80. Programed Auto.
Recovery in Lightroom to reclaim some color in the sky and bring out the white wispy clouds. Clairity and Vibrance to enhance the colors and slight sharpening.
The image is from the Rachel Carson Seasons Gallery.
1/16/2009
Fog Lights
This is one of those images that attempt to capture an illusive and subtle effect of light…with more or less success. Fog over the beach with the sun playing in and out.
A fairly straightforward Programed Auto exposure, but with more than usual post processing.
Sony DCS H50 at full wide (31mm equiv.). F5.6 @ 1/1000 @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom I used full Recovery to pull back all but the highest highlights in the fog, and then Clarity to reinforce the transparency of the fog. Between them, they got me back very close to the naked eye visual effect. Moderate Vibrance brought out the blue behind the fog, and I used the Sharpen landscapes preset.
From the Around Home Gallery.
1/15/2009
Red Light
Walking back and forth to the SHOT Show in Orlando Florida where I am for a week working, I keep my eyes open and my finger on the shutter release, of course.
This mass of Begonias was planted in front of a hotel…and I was struck by the light and shadows, by the textures, and by the range of reds. I tried both wide and more close-up shots and liked this moderate tele shot the best.
Sony DSC H50 at about 80mm equiv. F4.0 @ 1/320th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
The image is from (actually the only image in, so far) the Orlando and Titusville Gallery
1/14/2009
Door
Still in rainy Orlando and spending my days pretty much inside, so this is from the archives, as they say. The door of St. Anne’s Church in Kennebunkport Maine. This particular denomination build a series of these rustic rock churches all up the coast of Maine at one point, maybe a hundred years ago. St. Anne’s is among the largest and most beautiful. It sits on a point of land at the mouth of the Kennebeck river, overlooking open ocean on one side and the beaches and harbor of Kennebunkport on the other. It is a very popular wedding venue.
It is also very well maintained. This shot of the door and flowers by the door catches all the amazing range of textures involved in a stone building of this vintage, and is really a study of the way light interacts with the various materials, angles, and shapes. Close cropped for composition, straightened a bit for perspective. An overcast day, so the light was gentle and diffuse, molding the shapes without casting heavy shadow.
Sony DSC H9 at about 70mm equiv. F3.2 @ 1/80th @ ISO 125. Programed Auto.
Cropped and straightened in Lightroom. Vibrance and Clarity and Sharpened.
The image is from the Around Home Gallery.
1/13/2009
Ice Painting
From earlier this winter. Out taking images after an ice storm, this pool of interestingly frozen water in among the trees caught my eye. I took several shots from various angles, but I like the close cropped tele shots best. They seem to capture the effect of the ice patterns best through contrast with the leaves. These are good examples of using the zoom on your camera for composition. From one spot, I took a whole series of images, from wide to various tele crops.
Sony DSC H50 at about 160mm equivalent. F4.0 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Just the most basic sharpening and Clarity and Vibrance in Lightroom.
The image is from the Winter Weather Gallery.
1/12/2009
Winter
I took a short walk in the woods in the fresh fallen snow…still falling snow actually. Not much to see. The light was subdued to say the best, but I wanted to get out in it before flying to Florida this morning.
I took some shots of my tracks in the deep snow, and a few of the river, but this tree really caught my attention. Something about the texture of the bark and the clinging snow, and the arrangement of the trunks.
Sony DSC H50 with the zoom at about 40mm equiv. for framing. F4.0 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom, I was experimenting with the Auto Tone button. It increased exposure slightly, and raised the Black point, and decreased contrast. All in all I liked the effect. I increased Black point slightly more. Added Clarity and Vibrance, and used the Landscape sharpen preset.
The image is found in the Winter Weather Gallery.