Learning Thread — Landscape Photography

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/26/2006 07:58:49 PM · #951

Originally posted by stdavidson:

Get it?

I think so. So it's not like MS Paint's airbrush that "scatters" pixels?

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/26/2006 08:07:02 PM · #952

Originally posted by justin_hewlett:

Originally posted by stdavidson:
Get it?

I think so. So it's not like MS Paint's airbrush that "scatters" pixels?

I dunno... I'm only thinking about it in terms of masking. But I do know that is how it works with a 'regular' brush. :) I think if you picked one of PS's funky brushes and painted on a normal layer it might do stuff like that.

Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD

06/27/2006 01:12:29 AM · #953

Originally posted by justin_hewlett:

In order to add to the discussion I thought I'd post some of my recent landscape shots for review. These were all taken a few days ago on a hike:

If needed, I can post orignals, processing steps, etc. Comments welcomed.

FWIW, my desolation entry was also taken that day.

Comments/critique welcomed.

MadMan2k

Sony Alpha a6400

06/28/2006 03:01:09 AM · #954

Here's a water shot of my own - I brought both cameras with me again; I'll have to remember to bring two tripods next time also!

I wasn't shooting for realism with the processing - used Tungsten WB (well, custom with tungsten inspiration to be honest) like I've seen Bear do on a lot of his awesome ocean photos and wanted to see what kind of results I could get with it. Also adjusted the tones a lot in Curves and to some extent Color Balance. I'm pretty pleased with it, altough it might be a little too blue.

06/28/2006 06:32:25 PM · #955

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

Here's a water shot of my own - I brought both cameras with me again; I'll have to remember to bring two tripods next time also!

I wasn't shooting for realism with the processing - used Tungsten WB (well, custom with tungsten inspiration to be honest) like I've seen Bear do on a lot of his awesome ocean photos and wanted to see what kind of results I could get with it. Also adjusted the tones a lot in Curves and to some extent Color Balance. I'm pretty pleased with it, altough it might be a little too blue.

Wow! That's really nice! If it's a little "too" anything, it's too purple, not too blue, but who cares, if it works for you?

R.

06/28/2006 09:35:01 PM · #956

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

Here's a water shot of my own - I brought both cameras with me again; I'll have to remember to bring two tripods next time also!

This is great - almost looks like a painting.

And it sure does make an interesting abstract when converted to B/W!

Message edited by author 2006-06-28 21:45:42.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

06/29/2006 02:32:58 AM · #957

We had some interesting weather out here today, with small pockets of heavy rain scattered among broken but bright sunlight. I wanted to see if I would get the combination of the sunbeams with the mountain. Only adjustments are an RGB Curve and a Blue Curve, along with some sharpening. Do you like it better with or without the road?

Uncropped 4:3 frame:

Approx. 2:1 crop:

MadMan2k

Sony Alpha a6400

Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD

06/29/2006 03:00:09 AM · #958

Thanks. You're right, the BW does make it look more abstract. I think I'm going to get a decent sized print to talk about it at the photography club I go to; I'll have to decide if a BW or color one will look better. Maybe I'll test it with some 4x6's first.

GeneralE - I like the one with the road better myself. The sky looks like it has a kind of greenish/yellow color cast, and like it's oversmoothed or something. Not too pleasant. And the road seems underexposed.. probably tricky lighting and a not-so-hot sensor.

Message edited by author 2006-06-29 03:05:14.

06/29/2006 05:20:28 PM · #959

Originally posted by GeneralE:

I like the one without the road better. I did a slight recrop on the full one though with a little more on the bottom and less on the right side. I also played with a levels layer with RGB Output adjusted to 0/249 to reduce the glare on the upper clouds and with Green Input set to 0/.9/255 to reduce the greenish cast that MadMan2k mentioned. Really interesting lighting to work with.

06/29/2006 05:31:48 PM · #960

Took this shot yesterday on my way back from a trip to Idaho. Stopped at a roadside rest area in the Crowsnest Pass area. Post-processing steps are included in the Photographer's Comments. Any tips for how to improve it would be appreciated.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/29/2006 05:37:18 PM · #961

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Do you like it better with or without the road?

Definitely the one with the road. Beautiful capture.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/29/2006 05:52:22 PM · #962

Originally posted by Prism:

Not surprising your DPC image is better than all the other Crow's Nest images online with the possible exception of Frank Slide which is a 360 degree panorama of a really neat area. Yours of a 'normal' area is so much better than other Net images it isn't funny.

Good overall quality, good post processing. Please come to Arizona and take pictures, both you and Justin (Justin_Hewlett), we'd have a great time! Promise, I'd show you some great photo opportunities.

Message edited by author 2006-06-29 17:55:41.

wheeledd

Panasonic LUMIX-DMC ZS100

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/29/2006 05:53:28 PM · #963

Hi,

I've finally been successful in making a panorama that I like:

This was taken at the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton, Ohio. Only a panorama could capture the full work consisting of nine massive stones. I made a 44 inch wide print and entered it in their annual photography contest. (jpochard won an honorable mention last year.)

I'd like to thank Jon and Steve for their help with panoramas earlier in this thread.

I also entered these two:

and

These I submitted as 16x20 prints. The web images on DPC don't do justice to them.

I would be glad to have comments on them.

--DanW

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

06/29/2006 07:12:35 PM · #964

Originally posted by justin_hewlett:

Originally posted by GeneralE:
Do you like it better with or without the road?

Definitely the one with the road. Beautiful capture.

Thank you -- lucky too! The greenish cast was probably introduced by me (with the blue/yellow curve), not the noise-reduction. Here's a "resized original" with no tonal adjustments -- sorry I forgot to post that before.

06/30/2006 12:33:11 AM · #965

Originally posted by wheeledd:

Hi,

I've finally been successful in making a panorama that I like:

This was taken at the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton, Ohio. Only a panorama could capture the full work consisting of nine massive stones. I made a 44 inch wide print and entered it in their annual photography contest. (jpochard won an honorable mention last year.)

I'd like to thank Jon and Steve for their help with panoramas earlier in this thread.

I also entered these two:

and

These I submitted as 16x20 prints. The web images on DPC don't do justice to them.

I would be glad to have comments on them.

--DanW

These should do very well, Dan. Especially the "Wheeler â�� Odyssey" shot, exceptionally nice.

R.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

06/30/2006 12:41:18 AM · #966

Originally posted by Prism:

That's nice -- the crop is an improvement for that view. As I noted, I probably introduced the green case myself; the Blue Curve which "whitens" the upper clouds almost runs in a gradient into yellow towards the bottom of the photo.

FYI: I say this is a "lucky" composition because it's taken on a freeway ramp, framed by guesswork and exposed by the camera while I was "otherwise occupied." I did remove a tiny bit of the back end of a car on the very left edge.

06/30/2006 01:04:52 AM · #967

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by justin_hewlett:

Originally posted by GeneralE:
Do you like it better with or without the road?

Definitely the one with the road. Beautiful capture.

Thank you -- lucky too! The greenish cast was probably introduced by me (with the blue/yellow curve), not the noise-reduction. Here's a "resized original" with no tonal adjustments -- sorry I forgot to post that before.

I decided to try my hand at this photo as well. I took a completely different direction than Prism, however. I kept the road in there and I upped the saturation quite a bit. I also did a lot of dodging in the foreground to bring out the white line and concrete barrier (as well as a masked levels adjustment to lighten the foreground overall). I added a black-to-transparent gradient up top in overlay mode to darken it. I also put a gradient on the left side to darken it and lessen the chance of the viewer's eyes leaving the composition early after following the road.

Edited to say: my "dodging" was done on a 50% gray overlay layer, as always.

Message edited by author 2006-06-30 01:06:20.

06/30/2006 01:51:50 AM · #968

Originally posted by stdavidson:

Originally posted by Prism:

Not surprising your DPC image is better than all the other Crow's Nest images online with the possible exception of Frank Slide which is a 360 degree panorama of a really neat area. Yours of a 'normal' area is so much better than other Net images it isn't funny.

Good overall quality, good post processing. Please come to Arizona and take pictures, both you and Justin (Justin_Hewlett), we'd have a great time! Promise, I'd show you some great photo opportunities.

Wow, thanks for the boost to my ego! I have learned a lot by following this thread and trying out the advice given by all the talented participants. DPC is really a great place to learn and improve your skills. By the way, I also have one of those standard viewpoint snapshots of the Crow's Nest pass in my portfolio but I liked the shot of the stream better. :)

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

06/30/2006 01:57:47 AM · #969

Originally posted by justin_hewlett:

Cool -- the foreground brightening of the white line and the barrier helps reinforce the idea the the sunlight is broken into separate beams, since the contrast of the rays themselves is more subtle than I wanted.

06/30/2006 02:00:59 AM · #970

Originally posted by Prism:

By the way, I also have one of those standard viewpoint snapshots of the Crow's Nest pass in my portfolio but I liked the shot of the stream better. :)

Left you a comment.

07/03/2006 01:37:24 AM · #971

I almost just got a personal best with my Motion Blur entry.

Again, this was taken on one of my hikes. I know you've seen plenty of my hike images of blurred water and trees, but this one tops them all IMO. One of my personal favorites actually. Comments/critiques welcomed. I can share editing details if necessary, but most are in the image details.

07/03/2006 12:43:50 PM · #972

Originally posted by justin_hewlett:

I almost just got a personal best with my Motion Blur entry.

Again, this was taken on one of my hikes. I know you've seen plenty of my hike images of blurred water and trees, but this one tops them all IMO. One of my personal favorites actually. Comments/critiques welcomed. I can share editing details if necessary, but most are in the image details.

Beautiful job on this shot, Justin! I would be interested in seeing the original shot from before your post-processing, just to see the differences.

I took your advice and darkened the sky in my "tourist" snapshot but then I decided to re-crop and re-edit the whole thing. Any comments or opinions on which version works better would be appreciated.

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

07/03/2006 12:55:41 PM · #973

Originally posted by justin_hewlett:

That's very nice. What sets it apart is the bit of misty BG at the top, gives it a sense of depth often lacking in more generic waterfall shots.

R.

overclover

Canon EOS-40D

07/03/2006 01:01:08 PM · #974

ok let me have it, I've been reading like a woman possessed and taking pictures before the crack of dawn and at dusk regularly like a true addict. I think Im getting somewhere.