Monthly Archives: April 2009
4/20/2009
Storms Over the North Sea
Driving down the east coast of Scotland, looking from the high shelf where the A road runs, out across the machair (fully cultivated along here), the storms were impressive. We were in and out of them all day, wet and (more or less) dry. Here they stand off the coast contrasting sharply with the tilled fields below us.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide (31mm equivalent). F4.5 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed auto.
On the first pass in Lr I used Recovery for the sky to good effect. Since then though, I have learned to use the graduated filter effects, and like what they do for a sky like this. I went back this morning and reworked the image. One GF from the top to darken the sky, and one up from the bottom to pick up the foreground (added exposure and contrast). With GFs I use less Vibrance than I have in the past, and slightly less Clarity in Presence panel. Landscape sharpen preset. There was some noise in the clouds, which I filtered out with the Noise Reduction sliders.
From Scotland.
4/19/2009
Another Donnattor View
If you were with me yesterday at Donnattor Castle, you’ve already heard the story of this rainy day (just hit the 18 in the calendar to the right). You know it was hard to keep the rain drops off the lens, and if you look closely you will see the evidence of some I missed in this shot. Still, the waterfall and the Castle have to be caught in the same shot. Mandatory. Wasted visit if not.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F6.3 @ 1/40th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto with program shift for the smaller aperture (and increased depth of field).
This is another, that required more than the usual post processing. The castle and cliff edge standing right up against the brightest band of the sky, and the water in the air even at that short distance leaching out the contrast, as well as the range of light…it was all well beyond the ability of the H50s sensor to record. In Lightroom I used 2 graduated filter effects: from the top to darken the sky by reducing exposure, and from the bottom to brighten and increase contrast. I also used the Adjustment brush to paint an adjustment mask over the Castle buildings and the cliff face immediately below. I increased exposure there, and added as much contrast as possible. Globally I brightened the whole image, added some Fill Light to open shadows, moved the black point to the right to deepen definition and colors, and used my normal Vibrance and Clarity settings for the H50. Landscape sharpen preset. Because of the angle of the lens to the horizon (tipped down radically) there was fairly severe vignetting in the top corners. I applied the Vignetting tool in Lr to remove that…and then had to unsaturat the specific blue that was still left in the corners. Finally I cropped out part of the sky to get rid of most of it. The crop actually helped the image by eliminating what turned out to be a distracting area of dead gray at the top. Win win.
From Scotland (and my last Donnattor Castle shot, I promise).
4/18/2009
Dunnattor Castle
Our host in Aberdeen put us on to this castle, as it would be on our way when we left, so we watched for the signs as drove down the east coast of Scotland in the morning. It was well signed but still not easy to find, being well off the main road. And, of course, when we got there it was raining. Not hard but hard enough to make it a dampish walk the quarter mile or so from the car park, protecting the camera all the way. Ah, but what a beautiful place. Dramatic. Rushing streams pouring down over moss covered cliffs. Straight drops to the gray sea, and the Castle ruins standing alone on a promontory so deeply carved it was all but an island. Add the brooding sky and a band of light along horizon where the storm broke and you had the makings of quite a scene. Unfortunately you also had a very difficult photographic challenge. The moss and turf was so dark, and the horizon so bright, with the castle pushed right up against it. Lots of water in the air (not to mention on the lens if not careful) sucking the contrast out of any distance. Still, you have to try. I took maybe thirty different shots, quick grabs when I whipped the camera out, got the shot off, and the camera back in its bag before it got too wet.
Of course, I would like to get back here with more time and better weather. I would like to spend a day, or a week, or a year photographing this scenery…but, in fact, I may never get another chance at this landscape. The pictures I took that day in the rain may be my only images of this place. If so, let it be so, and I will make the most of the shots I managed to get.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide (31mm equivalent). F4.0 @ 1/250th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
This shot required a lot more post processing than I normally use. I spent a good ten minutes on it. First a Graduated Filter effect from the top down to the horizon to darken the sky. 2) graduated filter effect from the bottom up to brighten the foreground and add contrast. 3) Adjustment brush applied to the two foreground castle structures, where I applied some exposure and brightness to lighten, along with some added contrast and some sharpening. 4) a second adjustment brush along the length of the low building to pull back the brightness (since at flat wall stood out too much). 5) a third adjustment brush along the bright horizon to pull back the exposure there a little. 6) general increased Vibrance and Clarity, and the Landscape sharpen preset. 6) moved the black point to the right to deepen the colors and added a bit of extra contrast to the whole image. 7)the yellow had become too bright with the exposure adjustments, so I pulled back the saturation of the yellow band in the HSL panel. 8) finally, I used the mouse selection tool in the HSL panel to select the gray of the water and darken it (luminance control).
Again, all of this manipulation is only to bring the image back to something like what I saw with my eye.
From Scotland.
4/17/2009
Making Hay by the Sea
Another picture from the long Scottish glooming. I just walked up the lane from the house we were staying at in Drum (a friend of my friend the intrepid driver on this journey). The house faces the North Sea across some agricultural fields…a truly beautiful setting. I saw these bales on the way down the lane and could not resist them. The warmth of the hay against the cold of the sea on the horizon, the shapes, the soft light. Magical stuff. There was just a touch of ocean haze, but the softness may have added to the magic.
Sony DSC H50 at about 65mm equivalent. F4.0 @ 1/125th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Though I adjusted the exposure to try for a balance between sky and foreground in the camera (by tipping the camera up to read more sky than ground and then locking exposure), the sky still needed a graduated filter effect in Lightroom to bring out details in the clouds. I used to use the Recovery slider to do this, but the graduated filter effect has the advantage of leaving the highlights in the rest of the image unaffected. Recovery, if overused, can make the whole image a bit flat. I am using a reversed graduated filter from the bottom quite a bit these days, to increase brightness, but mainly to increase clarity and contrast where there is a lot of detail without adding a lot of noise to the sky. Then my usual Clarity and Vibrance settings in the Presence panel and the Landscape sharpen preset.
From Scotland.
4/16/2009
Evening River
We arrived in Drum, just north of Aberdeen Scotland, late in the day, or early in the long Scottish evening. We were staying with a friend of my friend the driver on this adventure, who had a house facing the North Sea across agricultural fields. We drove out to this river, a quiet spot, looking for wrens. This was taken from a footbridge across the river. The light was that glooming which you only really get in the far north in summer, when the sun never goes far below the horizon, even late in the evening. If you have been there, you know that the light is warm, despite the late hour. The problem is that the camera does not see the light as warm. Then too, with the generally low light levels, if you expose for the foreground, the sky goes white. Not what you want.
Actually, this shot would have been impossible without the H50s built in stabilization. The low light brought the shutter speed down to 1/6 of a second…much longer than I should have been able to hand hold.
And, as always, but especially on this trip, I was working against time, out with other folks who were not their to see the scenery, and I did not want to keep them waiting while I played with exposure. Just one shot, on Programed Auto. Which is, of course, where Lightroom comes in.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F4.0 @ 1/6th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom, I used two graduated filters, one pulled down from the top to darken the sky, and one pulled up from the bottom to reduce the brightness there as well, and to increase contrast. Then I went to the HSL panel and did some selective brightening of specific colors. I placed the HSL tool over the purple reeds and slide it up to increase the luminance. I did the same over the sandy hill in the background. Added Clarity and Vibrance and Landscape sharpen. A bit of Luminance Noise Reduction to counter the mottling caused by the selective color brightness changes.
The result is something very close to what I saw that night…certainly much closer than the original file, which I include here for reference.
From Scotland.
Original file:
The original, resized fresh from the camera
4/15/2009
Fiddlehead
Not quite here this year, but this shot from last year reminds me of what is to come. And it is somehow works for tax day. I took a series this day as the fiddleheads were just at, imho, their most attractive stage. Again, this is the H50 with its articulating LDC, which allowed me to get right down on the ground with some comfort and shoot from below fiddlehead level. Makes for an interesting perspective. There had to be a balance between a small enough aperture for sufficient depth for the subject, and wide enough for interesting bokeh. Happens the H50’s Programed Auto chose just such an aperture.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide and macro. F4.0 @ 1/125th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
Minimal processing in Lightroom. Some Recovery for the background highlights. Added Clarity and Vibrance. Landscape sharpen preset.
From Around Home.
Bonas shots…
4/14/2009
Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness
I took this, and other pics of Urquhart Castle literally between raindrops. I had my hand and hat shielding the camera the whole time, wondering just how wet I could get it before something shorted out and I fired the camera. We were considerably damp by the time we got back to the car.
And of course, finding a view from the parking lot was next to impossible. They have planted hedges along the edge, on purpose one suspects, to discourage casual enjoyment of the grounds. If you want the view they expect you to pay the fee and walk down to the castle. We had no time, and were not so inclined considering the weather. So I was scrambling to get something, anything, worth taking home here.
Still, it is a magnificent vista, out over Loch Ness and the Castle, and I did find a gap in the hedge deep enough so that I could tip the LCD out and hold the camera high and get a few views. Next time I will pay the fee (if there is a next time).
Sony DSC H50 at about 80mm equivalent. F4.0 @ 1/160th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto. I tipped the camera up to read more sky than foregound, used the exposure lock, and reframed.
Still, it needed some help in Lightroom. Graduated filter from the top over the top third of the image to darken the sky to its remembered bleak rainy self, and graduated filter from the bottom over the whole image to brighten and increase contrast. Added Clarity and Vibrance. Landscape sharpen preset. I also touched the blackpoint slightly to the right to deepen the colors and did a minor color temperature adjustment to tame the yellow that brightening the image brought out.
From Scotland.
4/13/2009
A Valley on Skye
Another shot from the few hours I spent on Skye coming back from the Hebrides. Typical weather and scenery from what I saw, though I am certain (pretty sure) they have brighter days. Every shot in this light was an exposure challenge.
Sony DSC H50 at full wide. F4.0 @ 1/80th @ ISO 100. Programed Auto
In Lightroom, my usual Presence adjustments (plus Clarity and Vibrance). On the first pass I used Recovery for the sky and moderate fill light for the foreground, but on a second pass, I used the Graduated Filter effects to darken the sky (pulled down from the top) and to brighten and increase contrast in the foreground (pulled up from the bottom). I also used the Adjustment brush to tone down the brightness of the light areas of the clouds.
From Scotland.
4/12/2009
Happy Easter: He is Risen!
Really, the crocus is a more appropriate Easter flower than the lily. First in the spring yard (at least in Maine), bursting out of winter will color and life well before our trees are even budded. Such a joyful bloom. Like Easter. And a promise, as it rises in our day-lily and daffodil beds, of more to come.
For my own satisfaction, it was necessary for me to go back with better light (the next morning) and rework the crocus, to get some shots that where the stamens are sharper. Impressions are well and good, and have their place, but I do like a flower macro where you can see the pollen pores. Within the limits of the Sony H50, this is about as good as it is going to get.
Sony DCS H50 at full wide and macro. F5.6 @ 1/250 @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom, only my standard Presence adjustments for the H50 (added Clarity and Vibrance) and a bit of fill light to open the shadows. Touched the black point slightly to the right. Sharpen portrait preset.
From Around Home.
And the bonas shot, and that finishes with the crocus (I think) for this season.
4/11/2009
Lichen among the Moss
I did go out yesterday in better light and rework the crocus…but I will save one of those for tomorrow. Today we have a shot from later in the day, from a walk around the never fails me trail at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. It is only a mile, but I find something interesting to photograph on every visit.
The moss this early spring is the brightest thing in the forest, so vibrantly green and lush that it has to draw the eye. This shot is right down at moss level, with a cluster of lichen breaking though for interest. I left enough background to, hopefully, supply some scale. This is tiny, tiny stuff shot at the closest 2 cm macro of the H50…which is one of the things I really love about this camera (I don’t love everything about it…just enough to keep me carrying it).
Sony DSC H50 at full wide and macro. F5.6 @ 1/125 @ ISO 100. Programed Auto.
In Lightroom I used a graduated filter pulled up from the bottom to pop up the foreground with added clarity and contrast. You could not apply the kinds of levels I used here in standard processing, or to any area without a lot of detail, but as a graduated filter over appropriate areas of the image it gives a pseudo-hdr effect. After applying it I always find I have to increase the brightness of the whole image. That is in addition to my normal Presence adjustments for this camera, plus both Clarity and Vibrance applied globally and the Sharpen portrait preset.
I always feel a need to remind readers that while the above sounds like a lot of processing, Lightroom makes it easy (you can see your effects applied in real time) and fast (all of that took only about 2 minutes, start to finish).
From Rachel Carson Seasons.