My Acadia Photo Album Thread - DPChallenge Forums

09/06/2005 02:19:02 AM · #1

This summer I went to Acadia with my family, and was inspired by all the beauty to actually get up and out by 5:00 am TWICE to photograph the sunrise and take advantage of the beauty and light.

But alas, I have my usual problem--too many photos and not enough time to go through and process them all. I was surveying the problem tonight--just browsing the RAW files--and was thrilled to see a few of them actually were (almost) "ready to go" as is.

So I decided I would try to do at least one a day, and starting with this easy one, I will post them in this thread (hence the thread title ;) ) Hopefully, having "my own thread" for a photo album will inspire me to keep up with it till I've got some nice final shots from the heap!

Also, I will post some like this, pretty unprocessed, in the hope of getting suggestions for finishing touches!

Here's the first, taken at 6:36 am along the rocky coastline at Otter Point in Acadia. No crop, default quickie processing from RAW to JPG in Thumbsplus, reduced there, and leveled by eye without benefit of the histogram. Just to get me started!

09/06/2005 02:23:52 AM · #2

Ah! My kind of shot :-) Good to see you with a 10mm in your hands, dude... I LOVE Acadia national park. I plan to gbet back up there this coming spring, finances willing...

I look forward to more pix.

Robt.

09/06/2005 02:42:40 AM · #3

Thanks Robert--yes, I have decided that if I had to go for a hike and shoot with only one lens, the 10-22 would be it!

I have another one I can post with minimal (and lazy) processing and then it's off to bed for me!

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

09/06/2005 02:47:13 AM · #4

On that latest-posted image, looks like you missed the hyperfocal. It pays to pay attention to that with the 10-22mm lens. Rack the infinity focus mark over the aperture selected and get a LOT more up-close DOF that way. Outstanding shot regardless. Damn, I ove that lens.

R.

Rikki

Canon EOS-20D

09/06/2005 02:51:42 AM · #5

I'm salivating at the prospect of purchasint his lens. The images that both of you have taken are absolutely stunning!

Bear, I'll be needing some advice on these terms you use. I'm a bit lost. Hyperfocals, racking the focus etc.

Now if I just pull a few hours of OT, I might just be able to afford this bad little puppy

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

09/06/2005 03:16:22 AM · #6

Originally posted by rikki11:

At any given aperture, the hyperfocal is the distance you focus at so everything from infinity to as close as possible is in focus. If you focus a lens to infinity, the infinity mark will be on the focussing line and part of your DOF extends beyond infinity (so to speak) at the expense of foreground DOF.

Let's say you focus at infinity at f/11, and this gives you DOF from, say, infinity to 4 feet. But if you focus at, say, 12 feet then the DOF might extend from infinity to 2 feet. On the old lenses, where you set the aperture on the lens, there were little hash-marks to show the DOF range on each side of the focal point at the different apertures. It was easy to focus these lenses to the hyperfocal. The new lenses that set paerture from the camera's circuitry unfortunately usually don't have that mark. You can find DOF calculators online that show you DOF at specific focal length/aperture combinations, and you could print one out for each of yoiur focal lengths. I just wing it, and I do fine, with this lens. I don't even use autofocus with the 10-22mm.

At any reasonably small aperture the DOF on this lens is so extreme it's stunning. I just rack the infinity mark over to the right a little and leave it there for my scenics. At f/11 and focused at about 1 meter, everything from about a foot and a half to infinity is in focus. If I focus at infinity, everything from about a meter to infinity is in focus. See?

"Rack" is just my terminology for "place", I guess; like "Rack 'em up, dude..."

Robt.

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

09/06/2005 06:09:06 AM · #7

nice work, neil. looking forward to seeing more!

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

09/07/2005 01:18:57 PM · #8

Thanks everyone for your comments (and encouragement) so far. I took a harder one to do last night, as I have many variations, and my vision of this (lighting wise) was not realized in the direct exposure, so it took some processing to get there (not to mention to fix lens distortion. FWIW, I am going for the "David Muench" look in these (well, trying anyway).

Please feel free to be critical with any of my work--I take many shots of the same thing, and hopefully, I can fix and/or do improvements either by processing or by starting with a different exposure (and or composition).

After playing with it to get my effect, I wasn't sure whether I liked the color or B&W version, so here's both:

Let me know what you think.

Message edited by author 2005-09-20 00:18:05.

LevT

OM System OM-1

09/07/2005 01:49:38 PM · #9

Neil,
I like the color version a lot more in this case. At least on my screen and with the 640 resolution it look much more dramatic. Great shot!

Message edited by author 2005-09-07 13:49:55.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

09/07/2005 04:51:56 PM · #10

litte bump! I'd like a bit more feedback on the lighthouse so I can figure out what (and how much) to edit later tonight! Thanks in advance.

agrimace

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

09/07/2005 04:57:25 PM · #11

We went to acadia last summer and I only got up once to go to the top of cadillac mountain for the sunrise. It was gorgeous but even at the end of august I was freezing. It is a very picturesque park. I look forward to seeing your take on it.

xtabintun

Fujifilm FinePix 2800Z

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

09/07/2005 05:06:22 PM · #12

Wow, definitely a place I have to go now.

I think I like the B&W version better, though without the red light, the focal point would be lost. Maybe try getting the whitehouse a little brighter white to grab attention more?

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

09/07/2005 06:03:09 PM · #13

Left comment on color version. It's exceptionally beautiful. This would have been a fine entry in the "perspective II" challenge :-)

R.

downtherabbithole

Canon EOS-30D

09/07/2005 07:59:14 PM · #14

thats crazy, I love that area. I was in barharbor for a week this summer and plan on living there next summer. I had some photos on here for a long time from acadia/whale watch trip. It's a great area and maine is imho the best state there is

09/08/2005 03:48:27 PM · #15

Ok, last night I worked on one of the panoramics I took. This one's from Cadillac Mountain--a Sunrise I had to wake up very very very early for. Unfortunately, It's very hard to display on DPC. It's a 10 image panoramic, using my 10mm focal length (16mm). In order to use it online, I ended up cropping it at a 4:1 ratio. Still, it was hard to get down to a presentable size here without it looking like a "dot".

Please let me know what you think. I appreciate everyone's comments so far, and I know it takes time. While this is a generally giving community, I will try to show my appreciation over the next couple of weeks (gradually, since I am trying to spend time on my photo processing), leaving comment for comment on those who have been kind enough to leave a comment on any of the photos in this series.

Thanks again. (This is the DPC link, but be sure and check out the larger version linked from the comments there.)

Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8-4.0 Aspherical for Canon

09/09/2005 08:23:53 PM · #16

I have been working on another panoramic--they are time consuming. Meanwhile, I found another one I liked "as shot".

Here it is reduced with absolutely no other processing besides default conversion in Thumbsplus:

I'll be happy to return the favor for any comments on this and any other of my Acadia shots (again, I will do that ASAP but not right away!)

Rooster

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

09/09/2005 09:22:33 PM · #17

neil, great shot, really. Love the perspective, the colours, the sharpness. Good stuff, particularly the first one you posted.

Message edited by author 2005-09-09 21:23:53.

09/09/2005 10:10:53 PM · #18

That's one seriously original panoramic shot, Neil. Never seen one so devoted to the near insetad of the far. Fine work.

Just out of curiosity, did you even TAKE any lenses besides the 10-22mm with you? jejejeâ�¢

R.

09/10/2005 01:56:37 AM · #19

Thanks!

Here's tonight's installment. This is a two image panorama (camera was in portrait mode). As such, I went through great lengths trying to preserve it's "texture" while reducing it to the size of a pin (well, a 640x600 pin anyway).

Maybe I'll post the larger version on imageshack again.

09/10/2005 02:38:00 AM · #20

That otter point shot doesn't please me at all. The composition feels REALLY awkward:

1. The horizon bisects the image

2. The tree very nearly bisects it the other way

3. The relationship of treetip to clouds is very awkward

4. The foreground green mass is too massive & too dark & too central

5. Sky to left of tree looks blotchy & darker than sky to right

6. The arc of the clouds is very fey. It might work on its own, but with the tree pinning it liek that it's a freaking umbrella :-)

Dramatic shot though, for all of that.

Robt.

09/10/2005 02:41:52 AM · #21

Thanks Robert--see the 1800x1800 one I posted through the link. That should address issues 4 and 5 at least. The light should change more smoothly there--it was graduated across the horizon (it's not an artifact of the stitch, since it's present in a single image).

I composed it to put the "umbrella" of the tree in the sweet spot. Any other crop/compositional suggestions for it?

09/10/2005 03:04:41 AM · #22

It's still problematical to me. I think the bottom line is that I don't feel the tree itself is a strong enough or interesting enough element in the overalls cene to justify so much focus being on it, and even int he full scale version the foreground mass is very dark and heavy. Don't get me wrong, I can see the detail in it, but compositionally it just seems like a dark and unintersting blob to me.

The "good" part of the image is the sweep of shoreline and see. It's like you're forcing me against my will to look at this damned, ugly, sad excuse for a tree, and i resent it, you know?

It's hard to describe.

So it goes :-)

Robt.

09/10/2005 09:52:27 AM · #23

Good thing trees don't have self images or feelings. ;)

Thanks. Like I said, I appreciate all the constructive comments!

09/13/2005 01:59:49 AM · #24

This thread was supposed to get me to do one a day! I am falling behind!

Here's tonight's installment, from Otter Point again. Full crop. Lighting adjusted to balance between rocks and sun behind clouds. Intentionally a bit dark which brings out the suns rays (though you can't necessarily see them in this version) and the lovely tones on the rocks (but again, they don't show up well a 640x417.

Let me know if it's too dark (I even upped the brightness it a bit after I saw what it looked like on the site).