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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Outtakes from a winter stroll
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Showing posts 1 - 17 of 17, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 02/14/2006 09:35:40 AM · #1
Nauset Marsh, Eastham, Cape Cod



R.
 02/14/2006 09:50:00 AM · #2
what a beautiful area bear! I want to visit this area of yours someday and to know how your skies are always perfect!
 02/14/2006 09:57:52 AM · #3
Beautiful shots. That little touch of white the snow adds is really nice. I like how you arranged the canoe shot too.
 02/14/2006 10:03:04 AM · #4
Nice shots, bear. I like the tight crop on the canoes. Nice detail.
I might be more motivated to take winter strolls if I had your scenerey. You know, the sky is always bluer...
A beautiful area, for sure. Thanks for posting.
 02/14/2006 11:35:13 AM · #5
In the interest of full disclosure, I do need to point out that I frequently give my skies some "assistance" in post-processing :-) They're blue, for sure, but I throw in the gradients and generally pep them up a fair amount.

R.
 02/14/2006 11:40:40 AM · #6
ive tried gradients but I dont seem to have the knack of it yet. My skies are better since I started using neat image though. Gradiesnts are legal in advanced right? Need to work on that.
 02/14/2006 11:48:12 AM · #7
Originally posted by Kivet:
ive tried gradients but I dont seem to have the knack of it yet. My skies are better since I started using neat image though. Gradiesnts are legal in advanced right? Need to work on that.


There's apparently a difference of opinion on that at SC level, but so far they are, yes, and I'd guess they will remain so if they are used subtly.

Try making your gradient on a new, empty layer with a sky selection loaded. Make the gradient blue-to-transparent, then adjust hue and saturation and fade the layer until it looks right.

R.
 02/14/2006 12:10:55 PM · #8
Nice shots. That's a pretty area.. looks cold though

Kivet, you might also try the technique I use for touching up the sky; duplicate the background layer, run a Curves to darken it and a hue/sat to bring out the blue some more. Get it how you want the top of the sky to look, then click on the 'quick layer mask' button, click the gradient tool, and drag a white-to-black gradient from the top of the sky to the bottom of the sky. It doesn't duplicate what a polarizer does, but it can bring the effect out if you weren't pointing 90' from the sun, or if you didn't have one on.
 02/14/2006 12:12:07 PM · #9
ok will try that. If you have clouds in your sky do you select them as well or just the blue sky? Sorry if that sounds silly but im new to editing and I need all the help I can get!
 02/14/2006 12:28:33 PM · #10
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
In the interest of full disclosure, I do need to point out that I frequently give my skies some "assistance" in post-processing :-) They're blue, for sure, but I throw in the gradients and generally pep them up a fair amount.

I've been trying a new technique for bringing out "better" blue sky color...

Before:...After:

The technique is reasonably simple...
While in the channel pallet create a new channel mask by duplicating one of the RGB channels. I used the blue channel for this one. Then highlight the new mask with all other channels turned off and, with black selected as your color, use a brush with a lower opacity to subtly darken the areas of the mask where you want to block the effects. I darkened mine on the lower areas of the golden colored sky.

Then alt-click the mask to make it a selection. That is the key to the process. It gives you a terrific complex selection that blends well with the rest of the image. Then go back to the layers pallet and select layers->adjustment layers->color balance. This makes an adjustment layer with your selection as its mask. Then I adjusted the sliders in midtones, highlights and shadows to bring out the blue.

This works decent and blends well with the rest of the image. I overdid it for effect with this image but I'm sure it can be used to great effect to create those ribbon winning landscape skies we keep seeing in advanced challenges. :)

Btw... Original image before any post:


02/14/2006 12:39:11 PM · #11
Robert-On the two wide angle shots....where did you focus? Up front or neared to the center of the frame?
 02/14/2006 01:08:36 PM · #12
Love the first shot! Great color work there.
 02/14/2006 01:15:50 PM · #13
Interesting techniques here...

Kivet: I select the whole sky, including clouds. My gradients are subtle enough in cloudy skies that it works fine.

Pawdrix: all 3 shots were done at 200mm with the 70-200mm f/4... On the hikers shot I focused on the hikers and let the deep BG go a little soft. On the other one, I focused on the water a third of the way into the image, it's sharp throughout.

R.
 02/14/2006 01:27:32 PM · #14
Beautiful shots Robert.
 02/14/2006 01:33:07 PM · #15
I asked because I'm trying something new these days...kind of a subtlety that I learned from the Singled Out Challenge and that's been focusing up front and not as much in the center for these type of shots.

I noticed that I like the the forefront to be sharper and at that type of distance the depth of rest still falls into play quite nicely.

I'll post some images when I get a chance from my next wide open shoot.

Does anyone else use the type of focusing strategy I described and how do you like the results.
 02/14/2006 01:45:18 PM · #16
Originally posted by pawdrix:
Does anyone else use the type of focusing strategy I described and how do you like the results.


Yes, it's my most common focusing strategy, even in landscapes. I almost always front-load the focus and try to get some degree of separation-of-planes. Except when I'm using extreme wide angle, when it doesn't work very well. The 10-22mm has such massive DOF that if I front load the focus then ALMOST everything except the far horizon is in focus, and the lack of sharpness on the horizon looks bad. If I have really near foreground objects that bear the weight of the composition, I'll open the WA up and focus right at my feet and blur the mid-ground and background a little, but the front elements have to be the strongest elements for this to work.

R.
 02/14/2006 02:18:57 PM · #17
Originally posted by pawdrix:
I asked because I'm trying something new these days...kind of a subtlety that I learned from the Singled Out Challenge and that's been focusing up front and not as much in the center for these type of shots.

I noticed that I like the the forefront to be sharper and at that type of distance the depth of rest still falls into play quite nicely.

Agreed about this approach. With my film SLR I could see DOF pretty clearly and always used manual focus to do just that.

I can't really see squat with the digital I use now. It is impossible to see DOF while taking the shot. I am a slave to the autofocus. It helps me to use spot focus and find a place at the distance I want to focus on, but that does not always work well. I don't use manual focus much with this camera. It can be done, but is just to hard. :(
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