11-6-2011 Weekly landscape show and tell.

[Ben_Egbert]

Rick & I are hosting the Weekly Landscape Thread on rotating months. Our hope is that someone else will step up to take a month in the rotation. Andy (SeaScout851) has been kind enough to volunteer to sub for us when we are out of town during our designated months. However, we really need someone permanent in our rotation to give the hosts a longer break and to provide the fresh perspective of another individual.

The gist of the weekly topic is to share, learn and grow with help from like-minded shooters. BUT REMEMBER, you are amongst fellow photographers interested as much in how you got the shot and made the presentation as they are in the presentation itself. Be sure to provide a unique title.

How it works here:

To post your submission, return to the first message and hit REPLY. This gives each submission it's own thread within the topic (view the topic in Threaded View to understand).

We ask that that you embed your images (displayed within the message - instructions for doing this are here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/rules.asp?forum=1029 ) rather than provide a link. This should make it as convenient as possible for all to view and comment. Please provide the shooting information for each image in the message body where possible (Camera, lens, FL, aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc.).

Cityscapes, abstract landscapes, B&W are all suitable subjects here. Old images are also fine and do not need to be this week's shot nor does the image need to be shot with Canon.

--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[Ben_Egbert]

I was the first person in the parking area and had time to do one or two star shots until arriving headlights messed me up and before I could get focus.

I have all the predawn shots, then the aplinglow shots and even shots of the other folks leaving. I waited for this one, when the sun was high enough to illuminate these aspens.

I want honest critique good or bad. Focus and sharpness. Color, composition, exposure. Is this a worthy scene without clouds? How is the post processing. Can you see any halos? Is saturation ok? Is it too sharp or not sharp enough? No candy coating.

10-1-2011 Schwabacher landing. Grand Teton National Park Wy.

1DS-mk3, 24TSEmk2, F8, ISO100 1/160sec, 0.9 ND grad. No HDR, no Topaz. Fairly straight forward PP.



--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[Rick Knepper]

What I see is everything is sharp on the photographer's side of the river and the reflections on the river are sharp as well. It gets fuzzier on the opposite bank going into infinity.

This next I am sure is an optical illusion but the fall color is so vivid that against the mountains in the background, it looks like a separate image transposed. The fall color being vivid is a good thing though.

And lastly, the background mountains do not have enough contrast for my taste. Most of the time of course, contrast on objects in infinity has to be added in PPing and my tastes do change from image to image.

I was the first person in the parking area and had time to do one or two star shots until arriving headlights messed me up and before I could get focus.

I have all the predawn shots, then the aplinglow shots and even shots of the other folks leaving. I waited for this one, when the sun was high enough to illuminate these aspens.

I want honest critique good or bad. Focus and sharpness. Color, composition, exposure. Is this a worthy scene without clouds? How is the post processing. Can you see any halos? Is saturation ok? Is it too sharp or not sharp enough? No candy coating.

10-1-2011 Schwabacher landing. Grand Teton National Park Wy.

1DS-mk3, 24TSEmk2, F8, ISO100 1/160sec, 0.9 ND grad. No HDR, no Topaz. Fairly straight forward PP.



--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[jrkliny]

The first thing I noticed were the colors. Absolutely perfect with good impact and saturation while also appearing natural. I don't see halos or other flaws. I also like the composition with good foreground, midground and background interest. The clouds are not missed.

I can't tell what you did to control the dynamic range. Did you have to do blending or was the natural lighting perfect to begin with?

The focus looks good throughout. It does appear to be oversharpened especially the midground trees and grasses. I would not consider that to be a flaw in your processing because sharpening looks different on every monitor and I suspect my laptop would not be the gold standard. For printing I would want it at least as sharp as you have it if not more.

Overall this makes me want to go back to the Tetons. All I got was a day of clouds, mist and rain. I kept going to Yellowstone. I had planned to return but somehow I could not leave the thermal wonders. I guess I should post a couple for my contribution to the thread.

I was the first person in the parking area and had time to do one or two star shots until arriving headlights messed me up and before I could get focus.

I have all the predawn shots, then the aplinglow shots and even shots of the other folks leaving. I waited for this one, when the sun was high enough to illuminate these aspens.

I want honest critique good or bad. Focus and sharpness. Color, composition, exposure. Is this a worthy scene without clouds? How is the post processing. Can you see any halos? Is saturation ok? Is it too sharp or not sharp enough? No candy coating.

10-1-2011 Schwabacher landing. Grand Teton National Park Wy.

1DS-mk3, 24TSEmk2, F8, ISO100 1/160sec, 0.9 ND grad. No HDR, no Topaz. Fairly straight forward PP.



--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

--
Jim, AKA camperjim, formerly from liny, Long Island New York

 

[jrkliny]

Looks like I need to post three images this week. I have been working on a slide show of abstracts from the Yellowstone thermals. None of them really fit the category of landscapes but I can't think of Yellowstone without the intensely colored abstract images. I also have a geyser in portrait orientation. Some folks don't seem to care for portrait orientations so I threw in a third image.

As I remember these were pretty much out of camera with minimal processing. I would appreciate any comments and suggestions for improvement.
Thanks, Jim
--
Jim, AKA camperjim, formerly from liny, Long Island New York

 

[fritzli]

hi, Ben, this ist the most beautiful image i jave ever seen of this scene. really grat take. what it makes outstandign for me is the very interresting forground.
regards
jonny
--
http://jo-ko-fo-to.net - http://www.pbase.com/jo_ko

 

[fritzli]

Hi Jim, i think you posted the links for the images below your signature. that makes that i cant see them correctly.
regards
jonny
--
http://jo-ko-fo-to.net - http://www.pbase.com/jo_ko

 

[jgb]

Ben, very, very nice. The only minor criticism I could possibly make is that it seems just a tiny bit oversharpened to me; this is most evident in the grass.
--
Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/jon_b

 

[jrkliny]

I seem to have ongoing issues uploading and posting on this forum. Let me try again.













--
Jim, AKA camperjim, formerly from liny, Long Island New York

 

[fritzli]

Jim, i can see what you mean by preparing a slidshow w/ abstracts from the YST hot springs when i look at your first image, which i like. the second ist my favof the landscapes. good contrast bw vapor and dramatic sky
regards
jonny
--
http://jo-ko-fo-to.net - http://www.pbase.com/jo_ko

 

[Ben_Egbert]

What I see is everything is sharp on the photographer's side of the river and the reflections on the river are sharp as well. It gets fuzzier on the opposite bank going into infinity.

Hi Rick, thanks for the details critique, I really do appreciate it and this is exactly what I want.

I was focused on the mountain, as near as I could judge it using live view, and before the sun came up, live view worked pretty good. But sometimes a highly lit mountain with direct sun does not have a lot of contrast. It takes side light to get contrast. My biggest sharpness issue on this image was the tree on the far right side and the mountain behind it. Not nearly as sharp as the main range or anyplace else in the scene including the corner (seems strange). I have cropped out the softest area on the right.

This next I am sure is an optical illusion but the fall color is so vivid that against the mountains in the background, it looks like a separate image transposed. The fall color being vivid is a good thing though.

Those trees took on different colors as the sun arose. Once the sun was directly on them, they lit up like crazy as you see. That was the effect I wanted here. But as you say, the mountains suffer in contrast. They were burning and there may have been some smoke in the air. It was very visible below the near horizon. This place is down in a hole so it tended to block the worse smoke.

And lastly, the background mountains do not have enough contrast for my taste. Most of the time of course, contrast on objects in infinity has to be added in PPing and my tastes do change from image to image.

I haze brushed it. I am having trouble with the grass on the far bank looking over sharpened or something. I stayed on the conservative side for this image.

I was the first person in the parking area and had time to do one or two star shots until arriving headlights messed me up and before I could get focus.

I have all the predawn shots, then the aplinglow shots and even shots of the other folks leaving. I waited for this one, when the sun was high enough to illuminate these aspens.

I want honest critique good or bad. Focus and sharpness. Color, composition, exposure. Is this a worthy scene without clouds? How is the post processing. Can you see any halos? Is saturation ok? Is it too sharp or not sharp enough? No candy coating.

10-1-2011 Schwabacher landing. Grand Teton National Park Wy.

1DS-mk3, 24TSEmk2, F8, ISO100 1/160sec, 0.9 ND grad. No HDR, no Topaz. Fairly straight forward PP.



--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[Ben_Egbert]

The first thing I noticed were the colors. Absolutely perfect with good impact and saturation while also appearing natural. I don't see halos or other flaws. I also like the composition with good foreground, midground and background interest. The clouds are not missed.

I can't tell what you did to control the dynamic range. Did you have to do blending or was the natural lighting perfect to begin with?

Thanks for a good critique, much appreciated.

I blended in a lighter shot just at the lower rt corner and midway into the river. Neither shot had any clipping and were less than half stop apart, but I pushed the lighter one up about another half stop.

The focus looks good throughout. It does appear to be oversharpened especially the midground trees and grasses. I would not consider that to be a flaw in your processing because sharpening looks different on every monitor and I suspect my laptop would not be the gold standard. For printing I would want it at least as sharp as you have it if not more.

I also think the far bank grass looks oversharpened. Not sure what to do here. I plan to crop out a piece of it and just work it with various sharpening. This blobby rendering of grass and leaves is driving me nuts. I know the raw image is sharp there because individual blades of grass are sharp. But the seed heads and tree leaves tend to get blobby.

Overall this makes me want to go back to the Tetons. All I got was a day of clouds, mist and rain. I kept going to Yellowstone. I had planned to return but somehow I could not leave the thermal wonders. I guess I should post a couple for my contribution to the thread.

You should.

I was the first person in the parking area and had time to do one or two star shots until arriving headlights messed me up and before I could get focus.

I have all the predawn shots, then the aplinglow shots and even shots of the other folks leaving. I waited for this one, when the sun was high enough to illuminate these aspens.

I want honest critique good or bad. Focus and sharpness. Color, composition, exposure. Is this a worthy scene without clouds? How is the post processing. Can you see any halos? Is saturation ok? Is it too sharp or not sharp enough? No candy coating.

10-1-2011 Schwabacher landing. Grand Teton National Park Wy.

1DS-mk3, 24TSEmk2, F8, ISO100 1/160sec, 0.9 ND grad. No HDR, no Topaz. Fairly straight forward PP.



--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

--
Jim, AKA camperjim, formerly from liny, Long Island New York

--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[Ben_Egbert]

hi, Ben, this ist the most beautiful image i jave ever seen of this scene. really grat take. what it makes outstandign for me is the very interresting forground.
regards
jonny

Thanks jonny, much appreciated.

--
http://jo-ko-fo-to.net - http://www.pbase.com/jo_ko

--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[Ben_Egbert]

Ben, very, very nice. The only minor criticism I could possibly make is that it seems just a tiny bit oversharpened to me; this is most evident in the grass.
--

I agree and noticed it myself. I plan to work on that. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I used a PKsharpening capture sharpening for the start, and avoided haze brush when I did the mountains and finished with a Topaz sharpening globally. I also ran NR (very light) at the start to reduce noise in the sky and water. I have tested it and can't see any effect on anything but noise.

Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/jon_b

--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[Rick Knepper]

The first thing I noticed were the colors. Absolutely perfect with good impact and saturation while also appearing natural. I don't see halos or other flaws. I also like the composition with good foreground, midground and background interest. The clouds are not missed.

I can't tell what you did to control the dynamic range. Did you have to do blending or was the natural lighting perfect to begin with?

Thanks for a good critique, much appreciated.

I blended in a lighter shot just at the lower rt corner and midway into the river. Neither shot had any clipping and were less than half stop apart, but I pushed the lighter one up about another half stop.

The focus looks good throughout. It does appear to be oversharpened especially the midground trees and grasses. I would not consider that to be a flaw in your processing because sharpening looks different on every monitor and I suspect my laptop would not be the gold standard. For printing I would want it at least as sharp as you have it if not more.

I also think the far bank grass looks oversharpened. Not sure what to do here. I plan to crop out a piece of it and just work it with various sharpening. This blobby rendering of grass and leaves is driving me nuts. I know the raw image is sharp there because individual blades of grass are sharp. But the seed heads and tree leaves tend to get blobby.

You and I have discussed this before. Fine detail such as grasses bare branches in the mid-ground get blurred no matter what one tries. You might consider resizing to the desired dimensions before you leave the RAW converter aznd see of that helps. Would rule out jpeg artifacts.

Overall this makes me want to go back to the Tetons. All I got was a day of clouds, mist and rain. I kept going to Yellowstone. I had planned to return but somehow I could not leave the thermal wonders. I guess I should post a couple for my contribution to the thread.

You should.

I was the first person in the parking area and had time to do one or two star shots until arriving headlights messed me up and before I could get focus.

I have all the predawn shots, then the aplinglow shots and even shots of the other folks leaving. I waited for this one, when the sun was high enough to illuminate these aspens.

I want honest critique good or bad. Focus and sharpness. Color, composition, exposure. Is this a worthy scene without clouds? How is the post processing. Can you see any halos? Is saturation ok? Is it too sharp or not sharp enough? No candy coating.

10-1-2011 Schwabacher landing. Grand Teton National Park Wy.

1DS-mk3, 24TSEmk2, F8, ISO100 1/160sec, 0.9 ND grad. No HDR, no Topaz. Fairly straight forward PP.



--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

--
Jim, AKA camperjim, formerly from liny, Long Island New York

--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[fritzli]

a week ago, i got the chance to take some shots of my beloved Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau (EMJ) from the air. a friend of mine is a cessna pilot and he took me up there! all shot w/ 5D and 24-105, hand held of course ;-)

n°1 @50mm, f8, 1/400, iso 200



n°2 @97mm, f8, 1/500, iso 200



n°3 @105, f8, 1/640, iso 200



n°4 @55mm, f8, 1/640, iso 200



n°5 @60mm, f8, 1/400, iso 200 - with an unusal reflection (on the wing, which is overhead on this aircraft)



n°6 @24mm, f8, 1/640, iso 200 - an overview



regards
jonny

--
http://jo-ko-fo-to.net - http://www.pbase.com/jo_ko

 

[Ben_Egbert]

Not sure why the first images would not expand properly, but this set does.

I am not very qualified on abstracts, even when they are natural, but this one seems well composed, has great colors and is very well done.

I am a horizontal shot lover, but this geyser is an obvious vertical. The vertical is my favorite because it concentrates on the geyser. The horizontal has some pretty deep shadow to contend with. They are handled pretty well, but they don't add anything.

The exposure and composition of the vertical seem spot on and well done. I like it a lot.

--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[Mike K]

The day after visiting Bowling Ball beach, the tide was still a very low -1.4 at sunset, so despite the lack of interesting clouds I went to Rodeo Beach. Rather than shooting the featureless sunset my attention fell on this seaweed which was catching the setting sun.





I had to pick up the tripod between the waves and quickly back up, as the camera is at a very low position.
Mike K

 

[Ben_Egbert]

Nice work, The first and third are my favorites because the emphasize the mountain.

Your shots inspired me to go out Friday and again this morning to attempts some snow covered mountain shots. Nothing like your mountains of course, and I am early in the snow season yet.
--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben

 

[Ben_Egbert]

These are both nice and of the two, I like the second composition best. I do see some haloing on the far right horizon in both.
--
When you can't focus, nothing else matters
Once you can, everything else does.

http://ben-egbert.smugmug.com/

Ben